Loving Me, Trusting You (27 page)

Austin pulls together a large group of people to take with us while I pace outside next to my bike and let my mind run wild. I can't even believe this is happening. I can't even fucking believe that Gaine would do something like this.
Really, Mireya? You're surprised that someone loves you enough to try to protect you, to risk his life to save yours?
Did I want to leave Triple M? Fuck no. I would've been miserable, I'll admit it, but I was willing to do it to keep them safe. And now, if we don't catch up to Gaine before it's too late, he might not make it at all. If Bested by Crows gets ahold of him, the only hope we'll have is that they'll hold him as a hostage in the hopes of getting me instead.

I throw up one of my grandmother's favorite prayers, hoping that in some way, she'll be here with me tonight. I could use a bit of her strength.

“
Dios te salve, Maria. Llena eres de gracia: El Señor es contigo.
” I swallow hard and fight back the pain in my heart. It's not too late yet. I could be grieving for no reason. Hell, Gaine might be stopped at a late night diner nursing a cup of coffee and regretting his stupid ass decision. I keep praying. “
Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres. Y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre: Jesús.
” I close my eyes and listen to the sound of the doors opening behind me, the hurried footsteps across the pavement. “
Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros pecadores, ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.
”

“A-fucking-men,” Austin finishes for me, drawing my gaze around to his stoic face. He holds out his hand and gives me a pistol. I have no fucking clue what kind it is, but it's heavy and full of bullets, so it's good enough for me.

“
Amén,
” I whisper as I press it to my lips and then stuff it in the back of my pants. Hopefully I won't shoot myself in the ass before we get there. I look around at Beck, Kimmi, at the rest of the familiar faces, people I've known for years and said few, if any, nice things to. I wonder if they all hate me, if I'm the most unlikeable person in this group.
Not to Gaine you're not.
I ignore that annoying inner voice, the one that's decided to spring up at the worst possible moment, to try to remind me of all the wonderful things he's done, how amazing he's been. It's sort of the last thing I need right now. “Thanks,” I say because that's all I can get out, the only positive thing I can think to say right now. If Gaine survives this, if I survive this, I promise that I'll
try
to be different, that I'll let people in. I have to. I've been saying I want to move on all this time, thinking that vengeance and blood would get me there. In reality, I had the ingredients I needed all along. I suck in a deep breath. “Now let's get the fuck out of here.”

I turn around and straddle my bike, squeezing it between my thighs and letting the heat of the metal warm me up from within. Right now, deep down, my core has turned to ice, and I know that if I find out anything's happen to Gaine, it'll stay frozen solid.

These motherfuckers do not want to see this ice queen in action. If anything can make them retract their outdated thoughts on women, it would be getting their dicks shot off. Don't you think?

I have got to be the worst damn hero there ever was. What kind of man am I that I can't protect the woman I love? How pathetic must I be? These are the first thoughts that cross my mind when I wake up, lying on a cement floor in a darkened building. There's movement all around me, but I can't see shit. My eyes are blurry and my head is spinning, throbbing and sticky in the back.
Not a good sign.
Jesus Christ, I'm about as useless as a screen door on a submarine.

Did I take any of them down? And if so, did I grab one of my targets? I sure as shit hope so. My sacrifice better be worth it, or I'm going to go to the grave a fool and an idiot. I close my eyes and bring up the memory of Mireya's hot body in my arms, my cock in her sweet pussy. For a minute there, she was mine, and I know I can die happy if she gets away from all of this bullshit. Thing is, I know I haven't done enough damage to change anything.

Yet.

She's going to come after me now, I know it. I have to make this count before it's too late.

“Fuck,” I growl as I open my eyes again, struggling to keep the room from spinning as I focus on boots and bikes and low voices. As soon as they know I'm awake, they'll probably break my hands. Maybe smash my kneecaps in. The next few hours of my life are going to be torture. There are no ifs, ands or buts about that.

I just need to see how much damage I can do beforehand.

I push against the bindings on my wrists and ankles, testing them for strength. Whoever tied me up did a damn good job of it, and whoever knocked me out should win a fuckin' award. I can barely see, and I'm nursing the worst headache I've ever had in my life. But I have to keep going. After all, what would Mireya think if she found out my rescue mission ended before it had ever gotten started? And the teasing I'd endure from Beck? Hah. He'd dance on my damn grave.

I move my gaze around the room, ignoring the ache in my skull, while I try to get a head count. At the same time, I touch my pockets and see if they've left anything in them. Unfortunately, the only item I feel is the rusted wedding ring. My heart skips a beat as boots approach my face. High-heeled boots. The fuck? I think about closing my eyes, pretending I'm still out, but I don't know how much good that'll do me. Best I get this show on the road and see what sort of
Indian Jones
type magic I can muster up. You know the kind I'm talking about, like taking out ten armed men with a single whip. That's what I need right now. That or some duct tape and a Swiss army knife, so I could MacGyver my way out of this shit.

“Gaine?” the voice above me sounds surprised, but not apologetic. And familiar. Way too fucking familiar. “I have to say, I'm a bit surprised to see you out here by yourself, but I can't say I'm going to be complaining much.” My heart skips a few beats and my skin breaks out into a sweat. Ah, shit. Anybody but her.
Please Jesus
. When Melissa Diamond bends down and throws me a sultry smile, I almost piss my damn pants.

I gun my engine and haul ass down that highway, but it still feels like I'm crawling, skipping along the pavement at a merry pace.

“Fuck! Can't we go any friggin' faster?” I snarl into the intercom, desperate to reach the spot on the GPS where Gaine's phone is still sitting. An hour later, and it hasn't moved. I'm starting to flip shit.

“Goin' as fast we can, sugar. Hold tight, alright?” I want to speed ahead of the group, but I know I'm going to need them. To get Gaine out, if he's where I think he is, we're going to need every last body. And we're going to end up back at the hotel with a few less. This is what I was trying to avoid and now, here it is. There's nothing I can do about it.
Gaine, you fucking idiot,
I think.
How on earth did you ever think this was going to work out? Are you blinded by love? Is it making you as crazy as it's making me?

I swerve violently and almost crash into the median.

“You alright there, lady cakes?” Beck asks as I regain control of my bike and move back into the group. I open my mouth to respond, but I can't speak. My tongue is twisted and I feel sick inside.
I don't want to love him.
But I do.

“Why is this just hitting me now?” I scream into the mic. I'm sure I'm scaring the shit out of the rest of the group, but I can't hold it back. Gaine. I'm in love with Gaine. I say it aloud. “I'm in love with Gaine.”

Cheers ring out across the group, whoops and hollers that surprise the ever living crap out of me.

“Thank God,” Beck whistles, popping a fucking wheelie on his motorcycle like the stupid asshole he is. “You finally figured it out. Amen and praise Jesus. I've been watching you two sons o' bitches for years. This has been a long time comin'. Congratulations, darling.”

“Fuck you, Beck,” I snarl back at him, but inside, that bit of cold warms. Let's just hope I'm not too late to see it unthaw completely.

Melissa Diamond looks me in the face with a wicked expression, reaching out to brush my hair across my forehead. I don't know why she's here or what the fuck is going on, but at least I know who the rat is. Like husband, like wife, I guess. It shouldn't surprise me, but it does. I saw her face when it all went down, saw her spirit spiraling down in the days after. This isn't something that was cooking up alongside Kent; this is something new. I don't know when or how this got started, but Melissa is most certainly the one feeding Bested information. Goddamn it.

Maybe if Austin and Kimmi had talked to her before, we might've seen this coming? I thought she could help the group out; I never expected her to hurt it.

Her sultry smile turns sad as she leans in and rolls me onto my back, running her fingers down my chest. Her blonde hair brushes my face as she moves forward to whisper in my ear.

“I always wanted to fuck you, Gaine. You know that.” I don't have any friggin' clue what I should say to her, so I keep quiet. This is an unexpected twist, that's for damn fucking sure.
She goin' to rape me or something?
God, I hope not. “But you always turned me down. I respect you for that. You have a good heart.” Melissa bends down and grabs my hair with one hand, pulling my head back and kissing me while shouts and catcalls ring out around us. None of them are worth the breath to repeat. I squeeze my lips tight against her tongue, work so damn hard at fighting her that it takes me a second to realize what she's doing with her hand. A metal blade slides underneath my back and nicks my wrist, drawing blood even as it cuts my ropes.
What the fuck?

When she pulls back, she touches her other hand to my cheek.

“But you're too late. I've got this one taken care of, sweetheart. Live to fight another day, okay?” Melissa rises to her feet and stretches her arms above her head. From behind her, Will fucking piss ass Walker appears and slides his arm around her waist, pulling her close and smiling at me as he does it.

“Good evening, Mr. Kelley. So nice of you to drop in and pay us a little visit.” I look up at the man and all I see is red. I don't see a face or eyes or lips, just a shadow of a person, a wisp so inconsequential it can be shattered with a simple beam of light. “I can't imagine you expected things to go this way, but then, you shouldn't be so neglectful of your old ladies. Give 'em an inch and they take a mile.” Melissa smiles at me and puts a hand on her hip, sliding it back slowly, watching my face the entire time. When she dips her fingers into her pants, I'm clueless. All I'm thinking about is how I can use the knife she gave me to get Will Walker. It seems like my best hope for some sort of ending to this crap.