As I peeled away, I continued shooting out the window, satisfied to hear at least one yowl of pain. Hopefully, he died slowly and painfully. Fuck, I hated this job sometimes. Another guard dead, and it could have been Tati this time.
These people were going down.
Chapter 20 - Tatiana
At the first gunshot, so fast and loud and full of broken glass and blood, all I could do was scream. It took me a minute to get myself under control, and by that time, we were careening away, jumping a curb and mowing down a trash can as Kon sprayed bullets out the window like a vengeful god.
I had never seen anyone so full of raw fury in my life. As soon as we rounded a corner, he bellowed back at me. “Are you all right?”
I tried to rise again, sorry I had the first time, to see the driver flop out like a fish, his vacant eyes staring beneath the hole in his head. Kon reached over and shoved me back down.
“Stay put,” he ordered, all that anger bubbling out in his voice.
I stayed put. Was he going to try to blame this on me?
He only stopped when we were miles away from the attack, and I was more than a little afraid of him when he turned around. His eyes were wild and angry, and he was backlit by a street lamp, making him look even more terrifying.
“Tati,” he groaned, leaning between the front seats and reaching for me. Now I saw that he looked as scared as I had been when the shooting started.
Before I could say a word, he wrenched me into his arms, shoving back his seat so he could hold me so tightly I could hardly breathe. I shuddered, realizing it was actually over, but also what could have happened.
It was a miracle he wasn’t shot again.
“I’m sorry about the driver,” I said when he eased up on his grip and ran his hands down my arms, looking for injuries.He had pushed me down so fast I didn’t even have a scratch from flying glass.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Only you matter. You’re safe.” He repeated it again, as if he were assuring himself more than me. As if he cared so deeply, he had to be sure.
It shook me up more than the attack.
I finally extracted myself, and we waited for someone to bring us a new car, with a windshield that wasn’t blown to hell. We drove home in silence while his men dealt with the wreck. Shock made everything feel fuzzy, but I went over the events again and again so I would remember.
Kon held onto my arm as we went up the elevator in more silence, and when we got inside the apartment, he began to pace, amped up and blaming himself.
“I put you in danger,” he said, fists clenched. “For nothing. Not again, never again.”
Anger practically flowed from him in waves, but underneath it all was that fear I saw in the car. For me.
I meant to tell him after he calmed down, but there was no sign of that happening. I grabbed his shoulders, making him stand still and face me. I didn’t flinch from the wildness in his eyes.
“It wasn’t for nothing, Kon. After the driver—before you shoved me down, I saw one of the shooters. And I saw him before, I’m sure of it.”
Now that I had this information, there was no way he could keep me from helping. Identifying that man could be the key to finding my father, something we both wanted. But all Kon wanted then was to continue beating himself up for the danger he put me in.
Still on the verge of madness, he was practically tearing his hair out, wrenching out of my grasp. I jumped in front of him before he could wear a hole in the floor.
“Stop, look at me,” I said, grabbing his face. “I’m fine. I’m here. I’m alive.” Anything to calm him down.
It did the opposite for both of us. The intensity of his gaze, the way he gripped my waist. I was suddenly as wild as he was, but not with anger or fear. I was no longer thinking about the man I recognized or the danger we had just been in. Kon could have gone after the shooters, but he acted with lightning speed to get me out of there and still couldn’t forgive himself for letting me go with him in the first place.
“I’m fine,” I repeated, my eyes honing in on his lips. Remembering those kisses. Wanting more.
He yanked me close, and his mouth crashed against mine. His hands moved down my back to grip my behind, holding me flush with his hard body. His breath was hot, and his tongue found mine, more than ready.
For a moment, I didn’t know where I was and wrapped my arms around his neck, just holding on.
“You’re in shock,” he rasped, our noses bumping together.
“I’m not,” I said, rising on my toes to kiss him again, the first time I initiated. I wasn’t going to stop. Let him try to make me.