Page 85 of August

If they succeeded in taking her back to the house, they’d make sure she didn’t escape again. They might even put her somewhere else. The bedroom had been bad enough, but the unknown made her footsteps falter.

“Keep moving,” Marko growled. She didn’t need to be a mind reader to surmise he was pissed off she’d made him look bad. Or worse—made him regret not being ruthless with her. She’d severed his olive branch and hadn’t even achieved her goal.

“Where’s Alvarez?” she asked, as the soles of her shoes scuffed over the uneven terrain.

She needed to keep them talking and distracted. Her brain worked at warp speed while her gaze whipped around the alley. If someone—anyone—would just drive down the laneway, she might have a damn chance at survival.

“He’ll be here.” Dismay saturated Marko’s tone.

“It’s none of your business,” Alec barked.

“I want to see him.”

Alec’s derisive laugh tweaked the hair on the back of her neck. “You’ll wish you never said that.”

Marko grunted. The backyard she’d escaped from loomed before her. As if of their own accord, her heels dug into the ground. “No.” She jerked in Marko’s hold.

He didn’t lose his grip, and Alec’s fingers jammed into her spine, shoving her forward. Common sense told her not to fight—she’d probably end up getting punched again—but the weight of trepidation was heavy in her stomach.

“Move.” Alec’s threatening tone sent a shiver to her toes, and he jabbed her spine again as Marko opened the gate.

The panic rushing inside her like a trapped tidal wave burst through the surface. Tearing out of Marko’s hold, she whirled around and kneed Alec in his junk. He yelped and keeled over. Curses and screams hit her back as she took off again. Furious footsteps scuffled after her.

She ran for her life.

CHAPTER 26

August’s body thrummed in the passenger seat. Anger, so monstrous and consuming, seeped from his pores. He kept his fingers curled around his Glock, and his free hand was balled in a fist on his thigh. He’d get revenge. He’d deliver justice.

The fucking bastard had played them. Had even sent a picture of Gigi to dupe him. That’s what pissed off August the most. Alvarez had Gigi. He’d killed Todd and gotten his retribution. He didn’t need to kill her, too. He didn’t need to play this fucking head game.

Now they were at war. Because even if Gigi was unharmed and in one piece, he was going to take down Alvarez.

“Did you get anything?” Rami asked from behind the wheel, lifting his gaze to the rearview mirror.

“Dare is working on it,” Toth said.

“We’re almost in city limits,” August said. “Maybe we should have asked Dana. She probably would’ve been quicker even with limited resources from the hospital.”

“Bro, it’s only been half an hour. He’ll get back to me. He knows the situation is urgent.”

The highway curved down the mountain and Seattle stretched out below. The city lights twinkled in the darkness. The black sky falling almost seamlessly to the obsidian ocean. The beautiful view only intensified August’s need to have his woman in his arms.

Had it really been only earlier that day he’d hugged and kissed her goodbye while she promised a big meal when he returned? Had it really been only hours before that he’d stupidly left her behind?

He hadn’t prayed much in his life. The memory of mumbling pleading words to the heavens while he’d been half dead on the jungle floor struck him. At that time, he’d wanted to live but had also been resigned to the possibility that he wouldn’t.

This was different. If something happened to Gigi, if he failed to bring her home, he’d never be able to live with himself. His mistakes would haunt him forever, and the stinging pain in his heart told him he wouldn’t survive her absence.

When had that happened? When had he gone from simply wishing he could have done things differently two years ago to not being able to live without her?

Maybe in the moment she’d called him from the diner, her voice frightened. Or the moment he’d seen her get shot at and watched Sherry fall. Going off the bridge and into the water had certainly shaken up some of his deep-rooted feelings for her.

In truth, there hadn’t been a point when his feelings for Gigi reemerged because they’d never left.

Even when she gave him the cold shoulder after Ivy’s rescue. He’d been hurt, but dammit, he’d loved her then and he loved her more now.

The stinging in his heart spread up his neck and prickled his eyes. If he was given another chance with her, he’d do better. He’d guard her with his life every fucking day if she’d just come back to him.

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