“I’m in trouble,” I whispered against Bear’s fur. “I think I’m falling for my hostage.” Exc ept Davian wasn’ t my hostage anymore, was he? In fact, we were going on a date tomorrow . The thought made me giddy, and I squeezed Bear tight enough that he snorted. “Sorry.” I patted his side gently . “Just thinking about Dav —” A sharp knock on the door silenced me, and Bear’s head snapped up beside me. I frowned, not wanting to get up from under the cozy pile of covers. But another three knocks sounded—more urgent—and I glanced at the clock. It was almost midnight. Who could possibly be visiting now? Whoever it was pounded on the door again, and I clung to Bear as his chest rumbled with a low growl. “Sadie? Open up,” a de ep voice I didn’t recognize called through the door. Goose bumps popped up along my arms, and I rubbed Bear’s thick fur. “Who do you think it is, buddy? ” I whispered, wishing Davian were still here. Maybe I should’ve asked him to stay the night. My cheeks warmed at the thought of what we’d be doing if he were still here, but that wasn’ t important right now . Focus . There’s a cre epy stranger at the door . Bear whined before hopping down from the bed. His lithe body trotted toward the door, head low to the ground. I moved to follow him—when a loud crack echoed through the apartment, and a large man barreled through my broken door . I froze in shock before recognizing Vince’s broad build and frigid glare. My brain took a moment to catch up, but Bear had already sprung into action—and he flew across the floor toward Vince with a deafening growl. “Bear, no!” I cried, jumping after him. But I was too late. Bear took Vince down in a single lunge, and they both hit the ground with a painful thud that made me wince. “Bear, off !” I shouted at the mess of limbs. Thankfully , he listened and got off the lar ge man. I grabbed Bear ’s collar and tugged him further back. Vince cursed and stumbled to his feet, glaring at Bear. “Damn mongrel.”
I scowled. “There’ s no need for name-calling. He was just protecting me.” Vince shouldered past me and marched over to the windows. “No time for that. Where’ s your fire es cape?” he asked, checking each window . When he found the right one, he jammed it open and beckoned me over. “/eave everything. You and the dog come with me.” My jaw dropped. “What are you —?” “Move it. Now . The Skulls are on their way up here.” My grip tightened on Bear’s collar, and I blinked back at Vince. There was no way I’d heard him correctly . “Those teenagers came here?” I asked, shocked. “They brought friends. Older friends with guns.” He stalked over and caught my arm, yanking me forward. “Move your ass, or I’ll move it for you.” He was so large he could probably lift me with one hand and not break a sweat. “Okay, okay,” I muttered as my heart thundered. The thugs were here— at my apartment ? I snatched a leash off the coffee table for Bear, then hurried alongside Vince to the open window . He shoved me toward it with little care, and I scrambled out first, with Bear jumping out after me. Vince followed before shutting the window behind him. I’d never used the fire es cape before. There’d never been a reason to. When I moved to go down the squeaking stairs, my knees wobbled and Bear took the lead. I followed as quickly as I could, with Vince hot on my heels. The cool night air se eped through my thin pajamas, goose bumps prickling across my skin. I wished we’d had time for me to change into clothes that actually covered my whole butt—plus a bra—but at least the paw print pattern was cute. The stairs creaked under our weight as I raced down behind Bear, and my heart stayed lodged in my throat until I dropped to the sidewalk in a graceless heap. Well, we’d made it down all four flights without anyone chasing after us. That was a good sign.
“&ar is across the street. Go.” Vince pulled me up and pushed me forward, not slowing down. Just as we st epped onto the pavement, a yell pulled my attention behind us, but Vince k ept me facing forward. He yanked open the back door to another dark SUV, and both Bear and I hopped inside. The door slammed shut behind us. Vince jumped behind the wheel and peeled away from the curb before I could even get my seat belt on. I struggled with both the buckle and my grasp on reality, but finally the seat belt clicked into place. Bear whined on the seat next to me, crawling closer . “Well,” I whispered to him as the adrenaline drained out of me and I slumped against the seat. He rested his furry head on my lap, and I scratched behind his ears. “So much for a quiet evening.” He licked my hand in response. “Vince?” I called to the front. A dark screen s eparated us just like in the other SUV , but maybe he could still hear me. “Where are we going?” Silence was the only answer . Bear nudged my side until I combed my fingers through the thick fur on his neck. “We’ll be okay ,” I assured him, trying to believe it myself. But I couldn’ t stop thinking about the scary men Vince had said were in my apartment building. Had they come for Bear... or me?
D a v i a n Lorenzo wasn’t feeling chatty. The middle-aged dry cleaner claimed he would never betray me or my pop, but more than one of my men had caught him sneaking off for secret meetings. I just needed to know which of the groups trying to make a play on our territory he’d buddied up with. Then there was the money he’d been skimming off the top of our operation at the cleaners. That was how Lorenzo ended up tied to a chair in a shed I k ept hidden in the compound’ s forest. He’d been invited—well, dragged —over for a little chat. Unfortunately , words didn’ t sway him. My fists also made little progress, aside from painting the floor red. Shane got in a few good hits, too, but our guest remained tight-lipped. I’d just pulled out my knife to aid the interrogation when Vince called, making me frown. My right-hand man never called just to chat. He was supposed to be having an uneventful night watching Sadie’s apartment. There was no reason to call. Unless something had gone wrong. “Give me a minute,” I told Shane, taking a few st eps away from the chair before answering the phone. “What happened?” “I’ve got Sadie with me, and we’re on our way to the compound,” Vince said. My grip tightened on the knife’ s handle. “R epeat that.”