Page 56 of The Hunted

The very last person I trust to help me.

I thrash and scream with his hand over my mouth. Oh, my God. I’ve traded one devil for another.

“I know you don’t trust me. You have absolutely no reason to.” He continues to talk, and I begin to listen. I need help. I don’t know where Knox is, and I’m no match against Vaughn Bane unarmed. Something in Lazz’s tone sounds different, almost saddened.

“I promise you, I’m here to help this time. I want to be the one to put a bullet in that fucker’s head. I’m gonna let you go. You gonna keep quiet?”

I nod my agreement, my breath coming in pants around his hand still clasped over my mouth. He lowers me to set my feet back on the ground, then he removes his hand from my mouth. I spin and face the man who has terrified me on more than one occasion. He throws his hands up almost as a surrender. I don’t trust a word that comes out of his damn mouth, but at the moment, I’m in no position to deny the fact that I need help, his help.

“First, I gotta get you out of here. Knox will kill me if I don’t. I’m not going to deal with his shit over you, again.”

Again?I have no clue as to what he’s talking about, but there are more urgent issues at hand. Lives are at stake.

“I’m not going anywhere without Knox and my sister!”

It’s a demand, and as I stare Lazz down, I know it’s the truth. I won’t leave Knox alone with his father. There’s no way I could leave him here and live with myself, with the guilt if something were to happen to him.

“Your sister is safe. Ace took her outta here.”

“He did?”

Hope blossoms in my chest, and to my question, Lazz nods.

Relief washes over me.

Thank God she’s away from here. Safe.

Ace will keep her safe. I know he will. Knox will see to it.

“We gotta get moving, Raven. We can’t fucking stand out here in the open.”

He takes my arm and heads rapidly toward the estate. I drag my heels. Why is he taking me there?

“Where are you taking me? Why are you taking me to the manor?” Panic sets in. I’ve let him trick me. I begin to struggle, his grip tightening on my arm, but he continues to drag me along, unfazed by resistance. His large fingers bite into the flesh of my bicep.

“Keep moving, Raven. I don’t have time for this shit.”

“You’re hurting me, damn it,” I say as I try to wrestle my arm away from him.

He stops and turns to me.

“I need to make sure you are safe. There’s an underground tunnel system. It will take you out of the estate. I just need to get you back there,” he whisper-shouts at me while pointing to the manor. I’m not sure why he’s all of a sudden so concerned about my safety.

“Lazz, you mother fucker, let her go.”

I turn to see Knox step out of the shadows then I hear the click of the safety before I see the muzzle of the gun push up against Lazz’s long, dark hair. The barrel taps his skull, roughly. Lazz’s grip on my arm drops. I step swiftly to Knox’s side, and he pushes me behind him.

“Lazz, you need to get the fuck out of here. This has nothing to do with you.”

“The fuck it doesn’t. It has everything to do with me!” He turns. Knox doesn’t lower the gun. The barrel now points between Lazz’s eyes. Lazz grabs the barrel and pulls it right to his skull.

“The only way you are going to keep me from killing Vaughn Bane and every last mother fucker in Albatross is by pulling this goddamned trigger. They took everything from me. Every. Fucking. Thing.”

“My father is mine. You can have whoever else you want in the fucking organization, but that bastard is mine.”

Lazz’s tattooed hands come up and scrub against his face, knocking the gun back an inch, before he drops them, huffing out an aggravated breath. I’m so shocked by the exchange I just stand there frozen, useless.

“I can accept that, but you better fucking make him hurt. I so much as think you’re going soft on that son of a bitch, I’ll put a bullet in both of you.”

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