Page 27 of Bratva Hunter

Rory comes back moments later and picks up his black bag. “Stay close. We’re stepping across the hall to grab your other stuff, then coming back.”

He checks his phone and cracks the door open to peer out into the hall. Grabbing my hand, he leads me across the hall to the broken door that hangs haphazardly on a single hinge. Hepushes the door, and we slip by, into the living room. “Grab your stuff.”

I grab my bags and scoop the random stuff back in. They took my cash and the extra visa card. I scan the floor, looking for anything they missed. Rory reaches his hand down to me as he grabs my bags. I blurt out. “They could come back.”

“I think we’ve got a few minutes. But we need to move.” He wraps his arm around me and sticks his head out into the hall. Moving across the hall, we duck back into his condo. He shuts the door behind us and heads to the window to surveil the back parking area. “Grab the snacks out of the basket in the fridge and on the counter, throw them in one of the bags, and let’s go.”

I do as he orders, offering a silent prayer that we get away from the men to safety.

He hands me my backpack and hoists the other bags on his shoulder, leading us into the hallway. We walk by the plant and his camera catches my eye. “Shouldn’t you grab that?”

“No. It’ll be good to see if they come back here.”

“Okay.”

He steps out of the door into the side parking lot and uses a fob to open a black SUV parked nearby. We hustle to the vehicle as he tosses the bags in the back as he holds the passenger door open for me. “You should crouch down on the floorboard in case someone is watching vehicles leave.”

I skooch down and hold my breath. The vehicle shifts into gear, and we drive. A few moments later, the SUV raises and lowers over a speed bump. By the time I expel the breath I’m holding, Rory is making a right turn onto Camelback Road.

“You can sit up.”

“How the fuck do they keep finding me?”

RORIC

My eyes drift to her face as she catches my glare. “Start from the beginning.”

She blows out her breath. “I don’t want to get you involved. They are dangerous men.”

“In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I can handle them.”

“You don’t understand.” She swallows. “They’re killers.”

My chuckle sounds more ominous than I want, but her brow lifts. “I can handle them!”

“I saw my father murdered.” Her head snaps to watch for a reaction from me. I make sure to keep my face very still. “But that’s not why they’re after me. My father’s family knows I took a flash drive with files about the family business. They aren’t good people, if you get my meaning.”

“Go on.”

“I didn’t plan it, but after he was shot, it was just there in the laptop, so I pulled the flash drive and pocketed it. My father was akin to the devil. I mean that literally. His uncle is evil. He does evil things.” She shudders. “He would have trafficked me to some old rich dude, but my mother’s family has connections.” Her eyes focus on a moth against the glass, and then pivots to study my reactions.

Every part of me wants to pull her into my arms and hold her, making sure no one ever scares her again. “Where is your mother and her family?”

“My mother has lived in Mexico for the past twelve years. Her family lives in Dallas. Her parents’ friends ostracized her when my father’s identity was revealed. The rich girl who succumbed to the dirty criminal. She couldn’t take the spitefulness, so she left. The cartel…” She shakes her head. “You didn’t hear that.”

“It’s fine.” I hate the Aguilars more than I did before. Papa and Cynric need to know about the flash drive, and everything in my soul wants to keep her safe. “We’re going to get to safety.They won’t get their hands on you, but we need to figure out what’s on that drive.”

“I don’t care anymore what’s on it. I just want them to leave me alone.”

“Nevertheless, we need to figure out what they’re hiding, so we know how to protect you.”

She scoffs. “It’s not like we can just walk into the computer store and plug this into a USB port and read the files.”

“True. But I have a friend who can.”

“A friend? You… trust this friend?”

“I do. His name is Fingers. You’ll like him. I’ll call him, and he’ll meet us.” The lilt in my voice conveys confidence.

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