Her reluctance to talk.
Her emotion.
Her pulling away from me since the night of Maverick’s wedding.
For the fourth time before leaving my house, I tried calling her, but again there was no answer. I climbed on my bike and rode off into the early light to look for her.
By now the morning had woken up, the traffic was heavier and there were more people out on the street. I rode to her apartment and knocked on the door, my gut knotting when there was no answer. I checked the doorknob, it was locked.
Pulling my phone out of my cut, I rang Ruger and asked him if Chastity had heard from Taylor. But she hadn’t.
“Everything alright?” he asked.
“No.” I looked at my watch. “I got a bad feeling.”
“You want me to do something?”
“It might be nothing. I’ll get back to you.”
Fuck!
Somewhere in the back of my mind a little voice whispered. He has her. But I pushed it away. This didn’t feel like Martel. Didn’t feel like he was involved. Plus, I wasn’t convinced there was a hit on me. Because if he really had a hit out on me, I’d be dead already.
Or else, he needed to get himself another hired gun.
No, this was something else entirely.
This was about her. It was what made her come by my house last night and say goodbye to me with her body.
With alarm twisting in my guts, I broke the door lock and stepped inside.
Three suitcases and a couple of cardboard boxes sat just inside the door, confirming my suspicion that she was leaving. Running away. But it looked like she had been interrupted while packing up the apartment.
That little voice whispered in my ear again. He has her.
Pulling my gun from my jeans, I moved through the apartment, checking rooms and cupboards. It was quiet. Deathly still. And empty.
Suddenly, Wendy’s crumpled body and lifeless eyes swung before me and I faltered, a wave of fear crashing over me. If something had happened to Taylor…
My nostrils flared as I breathed out my fear.
I will rain down hell and fury if they have hurt her.
I gripped my gun, ready to unload my clip into anyone who touched her.
That’s when I noticed the file on her desk.
I flicked it open and my heart came to a grinding halt.
What.
The.
Fuck?
The file was thick with surveillance photos.
Surveillance photos of me.
TAYLOR
My front door was ajar.
I pulled the Beretta from my handbag and raised it as I stepped into my apartment, because whoever was inside that door needed to understand who I was, and they needed to understand quickly.
I moved quietly, each step placed carefully, my breath paused, my finger on the trigger. But I faltered when I saw Bull, standing in the middle of the room with his back to me as he looked through the file on my desk. The file full of information about him. When he heard me, he swung around, his gun raised high and in my direction.
Just as mine was aimed at him.
Our eyes met across the room, and in that quietly tense moment, I confirmed his suspicions when I didn’t lower my weapon.
His eyes darkened and betrayal shimmered across his handsome features as the realization sank into his bones.
For a moment we said nothing. Our eyes said it all.
His: why?
Mine: because I have to.
The air tightened around us.
“How much is he paying you?” His voice was rough.
Mine was tight. “It’s not about that. I don’t have a choice.”
His jaw tightened. Because I had just confirmed it out loud.
“That’s bullshit. We always have a choice.”
I shook my head. “That’s not always true.”
His eyes blazed across at me, his jaw tight, his body tense. “Why.”
“They have Noah.”
He momentarily let his guard slip.
“Who has Noah?” His voice was edged with alarm.
“Alex. Until I get this done.”
He didn’t move. Not an inch. Not a flicker. Nothing. He just stared at me with those beautiful, bright eyes.
And I stared right back, my broken black heart pounding in my ears.
I exhaled and dropped my aim.
It was time to come clean.
After all this time. After all the secrecy. Finally, it was time this ended.
I put my gun on the table and sat down.
Leaning forward, I raked my hands down my face.
This was such a clusterfuck.
I wasn’t worried about Bull’s gun pointed at my head.
He wasn’t about to shoot me, just as much as I wasn’t going to shoot him.
But even so, there was a good chance I wouldn’t live to see sundown.
Not because of Bull.
Because of Alex. Because I was going to get my brother back, and I was ready to die trying.
“Was any of it true?” Bull’s voice was cold, with the hard edge of a knife blade.
I closed my eyes. “Every damn bit.”
I felt him pause. Felt my words ripple through his body. Felt him lower his weapon. “You’d better tell me what the fuck is going on, Taylor.”