Atonement (Angel's Halo MC 5)

I pressed my lips to the top of her head and turned to see who was in the car I kept hearing. Quinn had several neighbors on either side of her, as well as across the street. It was a pretty safe area of the county, something I was sure my brother had made sure of before letting her move in to the house. It was safe, but more in the lower-class rather than middle.

The big, black SUV that was sitting at the end of Quinn’s driveway definitely stood out in this part of the county. The windows were so darkly tinted that I couldn’t make out how many people were inside. I didn’t know who the fuckers were, but somehow, I knew this was not a group of girl scouts there to sell us cookies.

I tightened my hold on her, shifting so she was shielded by my body, out of sig

ht of whoever was inside the beast of a utility vehicle.

The driver revved the engine when he noticed me looking their way. The back window on the driver’s side lowered and I barely had time to recognize the glint of the sun reflecting off the tip of a gun before the bullets started flying.

“Fuck,” I growled when I felt the sharp slice of pain of a bullet grazing my left arm and pulled my Glock out of my holster. I turned just enough to fire a few shots back, but had other things to worry about right then.

“Raider!” Quinn screamed in terror as the bullets kept coming.

There was no time to find the damn key and the door would take too long to break down. I needed to get her out of the line of fire. The living room window was right there.

Tucking her close, shielding her from the shower of gunfire, I grabbed the heaviest thing I could find in a split-second and used it to shatter the window.

Lifting her, I tossed her into the house before following her in. Glass was everywhere, but I didn’t have time to worry about Quinn getting cut. I was too damn worried about keeping her from taking a bullet. She was on the floor, yet the bullets were still flying too close to her body. I fell on top of her, using my body to shield hers as we crawled toward the back of the house.

Just as quickly as the bullets had started, they stopped. I didn’t understand why at first, but then I heard the distinct sound of sirens. For the first time in my life, I was glad the cops were showing up.

“Are you okay?” I demanded when Quinn just laid under me, so still I couldn’t even tell if she was breathing. “Quinn? Baby, talk to me.”

“I … I-I think I’m okay.”

My fear for her didn’t lessen. “You think, or you know?”

“I … I don’t know.” There was a quiver in her voice. “I think I might be bleeding.”

The thought of her hurt, of blood leaving her precious body because of those motherfuckers, had my rage boiling. I cautiously lifted myself off her and turned her over onto her back. Then I carefully ran my shaking hands over her body, trying to find where she might have gotten shot or where glass could have cut her. There were several scratches on her arms that I saw immediately, a few that might even need stitches.

Outside, I heard the powerful SUV burning rubber as they hurriedly drove off.

“Quinn!” Kelli shouted from what I could only assume was the direction of the bedrooms. I lifted my head when I heard her coming at a run. “Quinn!”

“Kelli, are you okay?” I demanded.

“I’m fine. I called the cops when I noticed the damn SUV out there. They told me it was probably just a fucking neighbor.” Her face was twisted in disgusted anger. “I was still on the phone with them when the bullets started flying in every direction.”

“I’m not complaining, but what the hell made you call the cops in the first place?” I slowly got to my feet, glass and other debris falling off my back. The room was clouded with a mist of dust, plaster, and small pieces of glass that had yet to settle down.

“Because I recognized the vehicle from the parking lot at work last night. I thought it was a creeper stalking Quinn or something.”

My blood turned to ice in my veins. “You recognized it? Do you remember who it belonged to?”

She grimaced. “There were two SUVs like that there last night, both of them full of guys in expensive suits. I think they were all together. They made Topaz happy when they started flashing around rolls of hundred dollar bills. It was why she was so set on Quinn dancing that set.”

“What did they look like?”

“Dark hair, dark eyes, tan complexions. I think I heard them talking in Italian.”

Three cop cars pulled into the driveway, their sirens deafening everyone in the room. I bent and lifted Quinn to her feet, my hands continuing to skim over her body in case I had missed any other injuries.

When I didn’t immediately see anything, except the scratches, I pulled her against me. I held her there for a long moment, my lips pressed to the top of her head as I kept reminding myself that she was okay.

A phone rang, making Quinn jump at the sudden noise. Kelli lifted the phone I hadn’t noticed she was holding to her ear. “Hello?” She rolled her eyes while she listened. “No, dumbass, I’m dead and talking to you from the grave. You fuckers are slow as hell, you know that? How about you go find who just shot up my house, huh? We’re fine in here.”

She hung up on them, shaking her dark head in exasperation. “That was the cops. They wanted to know if we are okay. Guess they are too pussified to actually knock on the door.”