Tiff looked up into his eyes. She wished she hadn't. There was a kind of crazy there reserved for only the world's most demented individuals. His evil seeped into her blood stream, filling her with renewed dread.
Just when she thought she couldn't endure another second of the stare down with her captor, he broke eye contact. As if he'd got distracted, he released her and stepped away, taking long strides forward until he reached Bri, who was still lying on the bed. Tiff couldn't see exactly what he was doing, but when he stepped away again, Brianna was lying with her hands secured in front of her body with zip-ties, and Jake was striding back in Tiffany's direction.
There was no way she was going to allow him to restrain her. She needed to stay free if they had any hope of release. She held her hands out to block him, but Jake yanked her away from the door and swung her into the middle of the room, pouncing on her as she fought for her balance.
He growled with aggression as he grabbed the collar of her blouse and ripped it down the front, exposing her black lacy bra to his gaze. He had the zip-tie out, ready to restrain her, when the closet door crashed open, slamming the door into the wall as Lukus rushed through the opening, his gun drawn.
Lukus's arrival was a surprise to both Tiffany and Jake. Her relief only lasted a second and was quickly replaced with terror as Jake raised his weapon and pointed it directly at the love of her life. A commotion at the main door stole her attention away from Lukus in time to see Aiden rushing the room, his weapon drawn and his partner Josh on his heels.
Jake quickly snaked his arm around Tiffany's neck, pulling her in front of him as a shield as Lukus taunted him. "Drop it, Davenport."
"Nice of you to join us. You're just in time to say goodbye," Jake snarled.
"Do I really need to say goodbye? I'd rather just splatter your brains across the wall and be done with it."
Jake's grip around her neck tightened. Tiffany couldn't take her eyes off Lukus, praying it wouldn't be the last time they saw each other alive. Lukus was completely focused on the man holding the gun to her temple.
"You think you're invincible. I've already put Lambert in a body bag. It's up to you whether your fuckable fiancée here is going to be next or not," Jake went on.
For the first time, Lukus let his gaze connect with Tiff's. She saw fear flicker through his stormy green eyes before he steeled himself to taunt Jake again. "You're going to hurt her over my dead body."
Davenport's chuckle in her ear unnerved her. "That can be arranged."
From the corner of her eye, she detected Aiden and Josh moving closer, taking advantage of Jake's concentrated attention on Lukus. Determined to help the men who loved her, Tiffany locked eyes with Lukus again, this time sending him a silent message.
Time moved in slow motion. Lukus shook his head as if to stop her just as she lifted her free arm, pulling it down and back to land a hard elbow directly into Jake Davenport's ribs. His pained grunt was music to her ears, and his grip loosed on her neck.
Lukus leapt forward, focused on reaching her in time. He was running full out by the time he got to her, tackling her with the velocity of his lunge, and sending them both out of Jake's reach to topple to the floor. Tiffany landed so hard it knocked the wind out of her. Lukus landed heavily on top of her, wringing the last air from her lungs as he covered her body with his, protecting her with his life.
Three loud shots rang out, deafening the occupants of the small, enclosed room. Tiffany held stock still, praying those shots hadn't gone into Lukus. She hadn't felt him flinch in pain—a good sign. He moved off her just enough so that she could see Jake with three holes in the front of his shirt, spilling dark blood. His eyes were filled with incredulous surprise that he'd been bested.
Jake stumbled back until he slammed into the bedroom wall. Long red streaks of blood decorated the paint as he crumpled to the floor. His body shuddered one last time before he died, slumping over.
As her hearing returned, Tiffany could hear Brianna crying. The reality of how close they'd come to being kidnapped by Jake closed in, and Tiffany started to tremble.
Lukus stroked her body, checking her out. "Shhh, baby, I've got you." From the corner of her eye, Tiffany saw her brother stepping closer, to look down on her with a concerned gaze. In that moment, she remembered her recurring nightmare; the one where her brother burst in to save her just as Aiden had done tonight. The only difference was that he was not looking down on her with disgust, as in her dream, but with love and relief.
Aiden holstered his weapon and reached out to pull them both to their feet. Tiffany was close to her brother, and recognized he was struggling with his emotions. He still held Lukus's hand in his own, gripping it hard, as if he didn't want to let it go.
He cleared his throat. "I may not like it, but you've convinced me that you do love my sister… since it appears you're willing to risk your life to save hers. That's all I can ask for."
The men were still shaking hands when Brianna's cry diverted their attention. "Tiffany! Lukus! Untie me. I need to get to Markus."
All occupants of the room grew somber as they remembered they weren't Jake's only victims.
Now that Davenport had been neutralized, Tiffany's fear for her friends returned as she brought the men up to speed. "He shot Markus and
