Owen tries to reason with Bates again. “Dude, Tony is in jail. Whatever you two were planning for today is off. Give it up. You don’t want to hurt her.”
Bates chuckles sardonically. “Have you tapped her, Owen? I know that cop has, but what about you? Or were you too damn polite to fuck her sexy body when you had a chance?”
I stiffen. This asshole is on my last nerve.
Suddenly, Owen plows forward, rushing headlong toward Bates.
Luckily, I’m at a different angle, so the moment Bates turns his gun from Eve to Owen, I take my shot. I’m not quite fast enough. Bates also releases a round. I see Owen go down a split second before Bates.
Eve screams as she backs away from the body at her feet.
I run toward her, noticing Davis coming from the opposite direction.
I can hear Owen moaning on the ground, but I only care about Eve.
When I reach her, she throws herself into my arms, and I flatten her face against my chest so she doesn’t have to see the thick blood running out of Bates’s head. I practically carry her around the end of the car to block her view.
“Is he dead? Did you check? Are you sure?” she’s shouting and fighting against my hold.
As soon as it’s safe to loosen my grip, I lean her back, meet her wild gaze, and cup her face. “He’s dead, baby.”
“But are you sure?”
I shot the fucker in the center of the forehead. I don’t miss. “Yes, Eve.”
Davis reaches us. The other guy hurries over to Owen. When I glance over my shoulder, I see Owen is standing now. He’s holding his arm. Doesn’t look life-threatening.
Eve is sobbing. “I’m sorry. I never should have left the seminar. I didn’t think. I’m so sorry.” She’s apologizing to me?
“Baby, it’s okay. I’ve got you. Take a deep breath for me.”
She shakes her head, not getting enough oxygen.
I hold her biceps and meet her gaze. “Deep breath,” I say with more demand in my voice. I don’t want to dominate her here in the parking lot, but I don’t want her to panic or hyperventilate either.
She draws in a breath and lets it out slowly. “You came. How did you know?”
I pull her against my chest and hug her tight again. I never want to let her go. I’m struggling to breathe myself. If anything had happened to her…
She’s my life.
I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do about that, but I’m not leaving her ever.
Sirens get louder and louder a few moments before several police cars pull into the parking garage.
I see my boss first, and his brow is furrowed as he approaches me. I know he’s pissed. I’m not surprised. He’ll be mad at himself for not making the connection between Tony, Bates, and Owen. The self-recrimination isn’t warranted. No one would have expected him to see that picture, but he’ll be furious all the same.
I keep Eve against me, so she can’t see what’s happening around us, but I face the garage more fully now, watching as two officers approach Owen.
Davis turns toward us. “You okay, Eve?”
She nods against me, not meeting his gaze.
Davis waves the other man I don’t know over. “This is Spike, Brett Pauson. He works with me at Black Blade Protection.”
Brett holds out a hand and I shake it while still gripping Eve with my other. “Wondered who you were.” I shift my attention to Davis. “How did you have a man here so fast?” I’d canceled with Davis last night.
Davis shrugs. “Had a hunch. Didn’t like the feeling. So, I sent Brett anyway.”
“Thank fuck.” I glance at the group now hovering around Owen. “I have about two hundred questions.”
“You and me both.”
“I can tell you what little I know,” Brett says. “I was in the back of the conference room when Eve looked at her phone, so I knew she’d either gotten a text or a call.”
“It was a text,” she muttered against me.
I rub her back. “What did it say?”
She pulls back just enough to extract her phone from her pocket and hands it to me.
My heart is overflowing over the ridiculous fact that both men in front of me are going to realize I know my woman’s passcode. There’s something intimate about that kind of thing.
I open her phone and read the text. It’s from Owen.
I need to talk to you. It’s urgent. Can you step out of your meeting for a moment?
I tip her head back. “Then what happened?”
“I glanced at the exits and saw Owen standing outside the room pacing, so I excused myself and headed that way.”
“Unfortunately, it was on the opposite side of the room from where I was watching,” Brett adds.
“What did Owen want?” I ask.
“I have no idea. As soon as I stepped into the hall, that other guy grabbed me, covered my mouth, and manhandled me into the stairwell.”
“Which guy? The one who was holding you hostage?” I need her to clarify.
“Yes. And he seemed to know Owen.” She shivers and spins around, her gaze landing on the man we are all staring at.
“Let me at least explain,” Owen says.
One of the cops is crowding him, holding him by the arm—his good arm. Another cop is examining the wound.
Owen looks in our direction. “Please. Eve. Let me explain.”
The four of us walk over toward Owen. I can’t begin to imagine what he has to say, but we all want to hear it. My boss comes closer too. “Start talking,” I tell him, my voice filled with warning.
Owen winces as the officer wraps gauze around his arm. “I guess you know about Tony,” he begins.
I nod, not giving him more.
Owen looks like he’s about to piss himself. He’s not the firm Dom and Daddy I met last Friday. He’s in a fuck-ton of trouble, so it’s not surprising.
“I went to the same
