“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she gulps, looking terrified.
I’m moving faster now, filled with urgency to reach her.
I can see the black van moving slowly down the street toward them, and I already know what is going to happen. In a minute or two, it will stop next to them. They’ll throw her inside, and the door will close behind them, and I might never see her again.
The rage that floods me is indescribable.
Drawing my handgun, but keeping it low, I don’t think twice, catching the men by surprise, I step right into their circle and grab her. She screams in fright when I drag her backward against my chest, pulling her away from them.
One of the men sneers. I cock my head to the side, narrowing my eyes at him.
The others all look toward him. He’s in charge. He gets to make the decisions. They thought it would be an easy snatch-and-grab, despite it being peak traffic time in the city. They didn’t account for me being here.
I see the man glance down at my hand, taking note of the gun. He clenches his jaw tightly while I throw him a dangerous smile, daring him to make a move, knowing it would attract too much attention for him.
Blair is whimpering and digging her fingers into my arm, trying to pull my arm away from her body.
“Let me go! What’s going on?” she squeals.
“Stay calm, keep walking backward, just trust me,” I whisper in her ear.
“Simon?” she gasps in shock. She stops trying to claw my arm away from herself.
In front of us, the van has been parked next to the four men. The one in charge has made a decision. He shakes his head and says something I can’t hear. The others climb into the van.
Wheels spin, and it drives off. I don’t let her go or slip my gun back into the holster until the van is completely out of sight.
The realization slams into me.
I know those men because Jaco has hired them on several occasions. He sent them after her. And that means that he knows I’ve been plotting against him. He might even know I’m the one who killed Lucas.
Instead of coming after me, they went after something they think I care about.
Something I do care about.
Blair.
The van is gone, so I release her and let her step away from me. She spins to face me.
“Thank goodness you were here! I think they were trying to rob me!” she blurts out, almost in tears. “I didn’t know what to do. If you didn’t happen to walk past…I don’t…it was so scary!”
I pull her into a hug and hold her close. “It’s okay now. Seriously, it’s okay, they’re gone.”
Her body is shaking as I turn her away from the bus stop and start walking her back toward my car. She is muttering, in shock, all the way, not even asking where I’m leading her.
When I open my car door for her and push her inside, she doesn’t argue.
I climb in on the driver’s side and start the engine. “Are you okay?” I ask, turning to look at her.
She nods slowly, frowning and swallowing hard. “I’m a bit shaken. It was…it was just really scary,” she says, rubbing her eyes and letting out a soft sigh as she tries to pull herself together. “Thank you so much for being there. I don’t know…”
“Don’t even think about it. It’s okay now. Come on, let’s get off the street,” I say, pulling out of the parking bay and heading toward my mansion.
The bottom line is that for some reason, there are mafia men after her. I don’t know why yet, but there is no chance that I am going to leave her alone and give them another opportunity to come after her.It might be because of me; maybe someone saw us having dinner together the other night.
I can’t let her go back to her place; they might even be waiting there for her.
The only place she’ll be safe is with me, at my home.
I don’t really have a choice. She might not like it very much, but she’s going to have to deal with it.
I refuse to let anything bad happen to her.