Savage Burn (Savage Trilogy 2)

“Why is he coming back tonight?”

“He heard her ex was back in town and fucking her brains out.”

Anger explodes inside me. “You little bitch.” I punch him and it feels too damn good to stop at one. I punch him again and again and again until I’m yanked from behind.

I whirl on the new intrusion to find Adam standing behind me. “Enough,” he shouts at me, rain plastering us in sheets again. “You’ll kill him.”

“That was the plan.” I grab his shirt, frustrated as hell with his Navy SEAL save-the-day mentality. The day is only saved if Tag is dead. “You have two seconds to back the fuck off, fish man,” I warn, “before I flatten you like a damn pancake.”

“I’m saving you, not him,” he shouts at me. “His men will come at you, asshole. Look.” He motions to the car I’d run off the road and when I turn my attention that way, gaze lifting over Tag’s limp body, I find four men standing in the distance, lined up, ready to march and fight.

“You have no idea how many ways I’m going to make that man pay,” I growl.

“And I’ll help you,” Adam says. “But for now, get Candace out of here,” and on that, we agree.

I start walking, closing the space between me and the car. I want Candace out of here.

Muddy as hell, I dig the key out of my pocket, click the locks and open the door to the Porsche. I climb inside, settling me and a ten-gallon supply of mud into the leather seat before sealing us inside, and locking the door.

“Oh God,” Candace murmurs from the floorboard. “Are you okay?”

“Peachy keen, baby.” I eye the unmoving line of Tag’s goons, before leaning over the console toward her, taking the gun from her hand and sliding it under my seat. “And so are you. This is over for now.” I grab her hand and pull her to her seat. “Buckle up.”

“I saw you were fighting. Is that man—”

“Alive,” I assure her. “He gets to live a few more days, but not many.” I rev the engine and we’re already moving.

“Who?” She settles into her seat and buckles up. “What just happened? Who was that?”

“Tag,” I say, driving us past the four pieces of shit Tag brought with him, their presence proof that he had plenty of other men to do this job, to kill Honest Gabe. There’s more to this than I know. A whole fucking lot more. I glance over at her. “The mercenary I worked for. The one—”

“That wants you to kill Gabriel.”

“Yes,” I confirm, pulling us onto the main highway. “Him.”

“What did he want? And God, Rick, you’re covered in mud and you’re bleeding.”

This isn’t news, considering the taste of copper on my tongue. “He busted my lip,” I say and she tries to wipe the blood away. I catch her hand, mine covered in mud, a few cuts smarting on my knuckles. “I’m fine, baby.” I kiss her hand and then steer us off the highway at the next exit. “I need to talk to Adam. I’m pulling over at a gas station.” I don’t offer more right now. I damn sure won’t freak her out by telling her that Gabriel is on his way here until I confirm it’s true. I take the access road and turn right, into a car wash instead, where I shift into idle. “Stay here, baby,” I say, reaching for my door.

Candace catches my arm. “Rick.”

“I’ll tell you everything. I promise. Just not yet.” I lean in and cup her face, kissing her, smearing mud on her face as I do, but I don’t care. I don’t think she cares either. “I got this,” I promise. “I got you. I got your dad. Okay?”

“Yes. Yes. Okay.”

A vehicle pulls in behind us, the lights flickering in another coded message that tells me this is Adam. I kiss Candace’s forehead and exit the car in a barely-there sprinkle of rain. By the time I’ve shut her safely inside the Porsche and walked to the rear of the car, Adam is out of his vehicle as well, stretching his long-ass legs.

“What do I need to know?” he says, yanking down his hood, his dark hair a curled disarray, mud streaking his clothes.

“Tag claims Honest Gabe knows about me and Candace, and that he’s headed back here now. It’s his way of forcing me to kill him now. He wants to trigger me.”

Realization slides over his face. “He’s setting you up and he’s confident in his plan.”

“Yeah, whatever. I need to know if the dweeb is on his way back here or not.”

“And if he is?” Adam challenges. “Then what? What are you going to do, Savage?”

CHAPTER TWO

Savage

“Speaking of killing someone,” I say.

“Is that what we’re talking about?” Adam asks. “Killing someone? Because I didn’t know we were talking about killing someone.”