“Gotta go, little mouse,” he said as he physically picked her up as he stood and climbed onto the bike, wishing he could keep her in front of him, his body between hers and the guards behind them, a shield that would offer her minimal protection, but protection nonetheless. But he couldn’t ride the bike that way, soMateo had no choice but to sit her behind him. “Hold onto me, and don’t let go. This isn’t going to be an easy ride.”
Just as the engine revved to life, the movement behind them turned into shooting.
Trusting that Lucky’s little fake drunk singing distraction hadn't prevented the man from getting himself out, he also trusted that the rest of the team was watching his back.
As he took off down the driveway, chaos erupted around them. Bullets flew in both directions, and even though the Delta Force team was outnumbered, he had no doubts about who was going to come out victorious.
Focusing on driving the bike, he wished he had a weapon on him so he could fire back. Although he trusted Trigger and his team, Mateo was used to working undercover, and when you worked undercover, you didn't work as part of a team. You watched your own back and were responsible for your own safety. Even knowing that there had been three other undercover operatives inside Azure hadn't changed how he operated.
It was always just him against the world.
Only now it wasn't. Now he was relying on other people to provide cover fire, and he wasn't sure he liked it. The last time he’d wanted to rely on someone else to help him, they’d ignored his pleas and walked away, leaving him to die.
But the Delta Force team wasn't his family.
They wouldn't take off and leave him and Ally to fend for themselves.
It wasn't reminding himself of that fact that calmed him, though, it was the arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Ally trusted him. Despite everything that she’d gone through because of him, she still trusted him, and that meant the world to him.
Also shocked the hell out of him.
Ally should hate him, and while he had no doubt that she was still hurt and angry, she didn't hate him. Maybe he still had a shot with her if he could make amends, prove himself to her.
Something he was more than willing to do. Trusting another person wasn't something he’d ever intended to allow himself to do, yet it felt so easy with Ally. It was the very qualities she disliked about herself that made it easy. Her quiet, steady presence, her softly spoken words, the way she analyzed everything, searching for the best way to proceed made her seem non-threatening, and he’d fallen for her before he even realized it had happened.
Now her life rested in his hands, and he couldn’t let her down.
Wouldn't.
Movement in the side mirror caught his attention as he peeled out of the driveway and turned onto the road. It was a car, and it was coming after them.
Damn.
They were being followed.
“Hold on,” he yelled to Ally.
“I'm not letting go,” she yelled back, and a note in her voice suggested she meant more than just that she would continue to cling to him as they sat together on the bike.
Veering off the road and into the jungle, he was sure the vehicle would try to follow, but they were going to be substantially less maneuverable out here. The problem was, the Delta Force team was no longer here to watch his back. They’d be coming, he had no doubt about that, and they’d cleared a safe path for them to escape, but they’d have to get back to their jeep, and then track him down.
For now, he was on his own. Just the way he was used to, but for once in his life it didn't feel right. Because he had Ally with him. His sweet, beautiful, trusting girl, who had received knockafter knock in her life, and who craved someone to see her, want her, desire her with every fiber of their being.
He was that person. No one could love her more than he did, and she hadn't survived the hell of the last couple of weeks only to die in the jungle.
Determination rushed through his veins, and he scanned the area. The vehicle was still hot on their heels, and he could see a man in the passenger seat leaning out the window, weapon in hand, aiming at them.
A single bullet could cause damage in so many ways. Not only could it rip through Ally’s flesh, killing her, possibly both of them, but it could also blow out a tire, cause him to lose control of the vehicle, and lead to them both getting captured if they weren't killed.
Up ahead, he spotted a river, and an idea formed in his mind.
It was risky, neither of them was dressed to survive a fall. At least he had coverings for his entire body, Ally’s flimsy dress covered barely anything. But there was no asphalt to tear at their skin, and cuts and bruises were better than a bullet, better than being captured, too.
So when the man fired, Mateo turned the motorcycle, let it slide out of control as though it had been hit, even though he’d acted before a bullet could get them. Turning his body as they fell, he tried to wrap as much of himself around Ally as he could as they both went flying toward the river.
Chapter
Seventeen