night, he would slip in through the patio door. He had never spoken about it when we were kids, and since I had come into his life again, the topic hadn’t been raised. I remembered one night when he had been laying on the couch, bruised and still bleeding. I never knew what to say. AJ ignored it; he did it because that’s what Carter wanted. But I couldn’t ignore it that night. I slept on the floor beside him. When I woke, his foot had slipped off the couch and rested against mine.
I didn’t move for hours. I held still until Carter took his foot away. When he woke, he never said a word. He got up and went back to his home. Thinking about it now, a few tears for him came back to me, but I remained quiet. When he wanted to talk about that, I would be there for him.
“Farve vouched for me. He said I was a good fighter and loyal.”
I knew the rest. They had taken him in and there had been more massacres left behind by him. When I was taken into social services and shuffled between foster homes, I still heard stories about Carter Reed, the Cold Killer. The stories had stopped by the time I graduated high school. It wasn’t until my first year at college that I realized why, he had moved up. Octave opened, and a few more clubs followed.
Four years later Carter Reed had turned into a legend.
He held me now and pressed another kiss to my cheek. He whispered, “Franco Dunvan replaced Cristino in the Bertal Family. They found out that everything I had done stemmed from AJ’s death. Everyone knew he’d been my best friend, so he wanted to put a hit on you.”
“What?”
He nodded, his eyes were remorseful. “But they couldn’t. What I had done was too big. The police were never pulled in because Tomino’s house was their base for making sex slaves. The Bertal family hid everything and cleaned it all up, but Franco wanted to avenge Cristino to make more of a name for himself.” Carter shook his head. “We heard his elders never allowed it. You were too young and you were an innocent, but that didn’t stop Franco from trying. He just never made any outright moves that the Bertal Family could link back to him.”
Everything in me hurt. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to feel. It hurt to think. It hurt to speak, but I rasped out, “They tried to hurt me? All my life?”
He nodded, framing my face with both of his hands. “I’ve been protecting you all your life, Emma. Mike and Thomas are only two in a long line of men that have been watching you. All your life. Since that day. This has all been for you.” He frowned. “You were supposed to have a guard at the penthouse. He was taking a piss when you slipped past, but the others followed you.” He laughed now. “I couldn’t believe that one. He vowed he’d never piss again to me.”
All my life? They’d been watching me? All my life? I couldn’t wrap my head around that. Wait, did he mean—I sucked in my breath. “Did you know about Jeremy Dunvan before I came to you?”
He nodded, waiting for my reaction.
My eyes were wide-open and panic rose. My chest felt tight. Something was pressing on it. But—I shook my head. It didn’t make sense. He knew, but how? Why had he waited for me to come to him?
I had looked away as I started to comprehend everything, but he turned me back to him. His eyes were tender, loving. His thumb brushed over my cheek. “My men took care of the body and the gun. That’s why the reports said he was missing.”
“But you never said anything to me…” I remembered the hysteria inside of me, the panic at what had happened, how Franco Dunvan was going to kill us. I gulped for a breath, my heart was racing again.
“I knew you’d be scared, but it was your decision,” he murmured. “I’ve always wanted you to be free as long as possible, but when you came to me—”
“Did your men know I was at Octave?”
He nodded. “I was already coming back when they got the call through to me. I knew you were there and that you had decided to come to me.” He tilted my chin so I was eye-level with him. “Finally.”
“You did all of that for me?”
“I would declare war for you.”
He stole my breath, again. It was becoming difficult to breathe around this man. I always felt like I was having a heart attack, and this was no exception. His hand fell down to my thigh and he trailed it over to the inside of my legs. As I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against his, his finger slid underneath my dress and slipped past my underwear for the second time that night. As I drew in a ragged breath, he pushed inside of me, all the way in. His breath was hot against my face, but I didn’t move. I didn’t want to move. He began to move in and out and I trembled on top of him. When he pushed a second finger in and kept the same rhythm, I opened my eyes. I was so close to him. He was gazing back at me, an intense look on his face as his fingers sped up.
I fought against making a sound, but I couldn’t help myself. A soft moan escaped me.
A smirk came over him and he reached around the back of my head. He kept a firm hold there, but it didn’t matter. I covered the small distance between us and touched my lips to his. A fuse was lit. It had already been lit, but when our lips touched, it erupted inside of me. I was burning up. His mouth opened and became more demanding. He commanded entrance. I gave it to him. I would give anything to him.
I loved this man.
I pressed harder against him. My hands clung to his shoulders, and I molded my body to his. I couldn’t get close enough.
“Emma,” he murmured against my mouth.
My tongue swirled up and brushed against his. “Carter.”
It was at that moment the car swerved, throwing me to the side. I would’ve fallen against the door, but Carter caught me. He held me in place as he pushed a button on the ceiling. “Gene?”
The same low voice from the club came over the intercom. “Sir, there’s three of them.”
Carter held still for a moment, thinking. Then he slid me off his lap and pushed me until I was on the floor. A different look settled over him, a cold mask covered his face. He was no longer the Carter I knew, the one who held me and kissed me. This was the one who killed, and as that sunk in, everything changed. Time slowed until every second passed in rhythm with my heartbeat.
The car slowed.
Carter reached inside a hidden compartment and pulled out a gun. It was black, sleek, and lethal. It fit like a glove in his hand and he moved closer to the door.
Then he burst out, exploding out of the car.
I jerked up from the floor as our car slammed to a halt. Doors were thrown open, rocking our car from the force, as people charged from the front. Then I heard the screech of another car’s brakes. Shouts were heard. Shots rang out in the air. Someone screamed.
I opened my mouth, trying to hear myself, but I couldn’t. It was as if someone had thrown a veil over me. I could see out, but I couldn’t hear, not fully. Everything was muffled. Then pain exploded inside my head, and as the ringing started to dull, I could hear again. I could hear too much now.
“Cart-” someone yelled. That sounded like Mike, was it? My heart was pounding.
I started to move closer to the door.
Bang! Bang!
I swayed to the side as someone flew against the car. Then, with a low grunt, he pushed off just as quickly.
“Carter!”
That was someone else, maybe Gene?
My heart was pounding in my ears as I moved even closer. My fingers grabbed onto the leather exterior, but I couldn’t get a good grasp. I was still kneeling on the floor and moved over until I was at the edge of the opened door—bang! Bang!
I jerked back, eyes wide. My heart jumped up into my throat. It was right there, ready to burst out of me, but then I gritted my teeth. I was a part of this. I was the reason for this. I had to see.
As I stuck my head out of the car, three pairs of legs blocked my view. They had formed a living wall to my opened door, and I fell to the ground. A burning sensation registered with me, but it was so far away. I barely felt it. I would deal with it later. As I knelt there, I peeked between their legs. They had them planted with their arms raised and guns pointed outwards.
I saw Carter in the distance. He was behind a car that had stopped behind us. Another was left abandoned to the side. All of its doors were open and a fire had started from inside. As the flames leapt higher, smoke filled the night sky. It was becoming overwhelming, but I couldn’t look away from Carter. A streetlight glowed above him, and I watched him lift a man to his feet, hit him with the butt of his gun, and let him fall to the ground, unconscious. Then he looked around. He looked calm. He wasn’t alarmed like me. But no, he wasn’t calm. He was enlivened. I sucked in my breath. His eyes narrowed. He raised his gun and thumbed off two bullets. A body fell against the front of the other car and slid to the ground. A gun scattered on the ground next to him. It slid all the way to our car and underneath. It was behind the tire closest to me and I reached for it.
I didn’t know what I was doing. I just knew that I needed to help. I needed to do something.
As I gritted my teeth, I stretched my arm out farther. The tips of my fingers brushed the metal. It was hot and burned me so I knocked it to the side to get a better hold. When my hand closed around the handle, I felt myself being lifted back to my feet. The gun came with me.
Mike was startled as he held me in the air. My feet dangled and skimmed the ground. His grip tightened on my arm and I knew it would bruise, but nothing mattered except the gun in my hand. And Carter. Where was Carter? I looked again.
He was fighting another man. This one was twice his size. He threw a punch. Carter dodged it and jammed his elbow into the guy’s face. As he stumbled back, Carter kicked at his knees. The man fell down, but Carter wasn’t done. He raised his gun once again and brought the back end of it down with all his strength. The guy fell backwards.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
More shots rang out.
Carter looked over. His eyes widened when he saw me, now clasped against Mike’s chest. Then he jerked his gun up and pointed straight at me.
I watched, in almost sick fascination, as his thumb pulled the trigger.
“Agh!”
Mike whirled. I went with him. We both saw a man behind us on the ground. Carter had shot him. Blood seeped from his forehead and his gun fell to the ground.
“Get her out of here!”
“Sir?”
Carter had sprinted back. He waved us off. “Get her out of here. Now.”
Mike threw me inside and flung himself next to me. I was pushed to the ground before I realized what was going on and the car sped off.
“No!” I tried to get up. “Carter!”
The hand on my head tightened. I was held in place. He had half of his body over mine and he yelled in my ear, “He’ll be safe.”
“Carter!”
Mike shook his head next to mine. His voice softened. “He’ll be safe, Emma. He wants you to be safe more than him.”
“No!” I tried to claw at his arm. I needed to get free and get back to Carter. “We left him behind.”
“No.” He shook his head again. Both of his arms came around me now. “There’s another car. He’ll come with that car.”
We had gone too far. I knew I couldn’t get back to him so I listened to what he said. Carter would come with the next car. He had to. Everything would be fine, but as we went back to Carter’s home, I looked down. The gun was still in my hand.
Carter watched as two cars sped away with Emma in the back. She was safe. He kept telling himself that. She was safe. He needed to make sure there were no others and he was one of the best. He was needed there, not with her. Not yet.
There was a third car, and he sprinted over to it. The driver had been shot and slumped over the steering wheel, sounding the horn. Carter pulled his body back to silence it. Then he sensed movement in the back seat and ripped out a struggling man. The man swung his arm around, trying to aim his gun at Carter but it was knocked away. The man kicked out. That was blocked as well. He swung his other leg at him, but was pinned to the car. He couldn’t do a thing but glare at his captor.
Carter stared at him. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t blink. His eyes were blank. They were ice-cold blue.
Gene hurried over. The taller, older man stopped and glanced around. He stroked his jaw. “That was the first hit.”
“I’m aware.” Carter glared at him. He threw the man to one of their guards and crossed to kick at one of the unconscious men. When he was rewarded with a moan, he hauled the guy up and threw him against a wall. “Who leaked her location?”
“We can interrogate them at the warehouse.”
“No!”
“Carter.” Gene stepped forward, placing a hand on his associate’s tense shoulders. “We will do this. Go to your woman. Make sure she’s okay.”
Carter knew he was right. Gene was always right. It was annoying. However, while he would normally ignore the unwanted advice, he listened this time. He remembered Emma’s face and how pale she had gone when she was lifted into the car.
He reached down, wound his arms around the struggling man, and snapped his neck. As he stood, Gene stepped back and asked him, “Did that make you feel better?”
“No.” He glanced up, an impassive mask over his face. “We leave for Chicago tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?”
Carter didn’t answer.
Gene sighed, “There’s another issue.”
Carter snapped his gaze to his friend. His jaw clenched as he waited.
“The boyfriend went back.”
Carter’s shoulders grew even more rigid. “Tell me he went for money.”
“There was no money with him. They’re getting him hooked. They can control him better that way, if they still need him.”
A savage curse came out, but Carter couldn’t do anything about that. He repeated instead, “We go to Chicago tomorrow.”
Gene never questioned him again.
“And call Noah. I don’t want her going to New York. It’s not safe.”
Two of his other men had pulled up on motorcycles. He gestured for one to step off, and he climbed on. He turned the bike around and went home.
The car sped into the basement, and Mike carried me through a door. It opened to the gym, and we kept going until we were in the kitchen. After he sat me down in the middle of the room, he swept it. Four more men followed and they went in opposite directions. They were checking the perimeter.
I couldn’t form a thought, much less a decision, so I stayed and swayed on my feet.
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
I glanced around the kitchen and croaked out, “Clear in here.”
Someone laughed somewhere in the building, but all seemed quiet as they filtered down to the kitchen area. Nope, only three of them did. Two were missing.
Mike said, “They took point outside your elevator.”
Oh. Of course. The elevator. Couldn’t forget the elevator.
“Emma.”
I turned. It was Mike speaking to me. Why was he the only one that ever spoke to me?
He gestured towards a stool that one of the other guys pulled out. “You look like you’re going to fall down.”
Oh. Then I swayed a bit more until the guy behind the chair took my arm and guided me into it. He pushed me up to the counter and I lifted my hands to rest on it.
“She has a gun?!”
The men whirled around, but it was Carter. He stood in the open door from the gym, and he was pissed. He rounded on Mike and pointed to the counter. “She has a gun?!”
He looked at a loss.
I sighed in relief. He was here. He was alive. He was furious, but damn he was hot. I couldn’t stop a blush from forming at my thoughts. Images flashed in my mind of us on the bed, in the car,