Page 135 of Salvaged Hearts

“I fucking see that, butwhy?!” Leighton demanded as the engine roared and Jax barreled toward our side of the bridge. My shoulders pressed into the leather with our increased speed.

“Because your sister stuck her nose where it didn’t belong.”

Every muscle in my body went rigid, but it wasn’t Royce’s words that held me captive—it was the pistol, now trained on Jax in the front seat. In the same breath, Jax lunged for the dash, where I knew he held his firearm in a magnetic holster below thewheel. Royce didn’t get closer, instead turning the gun toward me as he demanded, “Hands on the wheel, Reynolds.”

Jax froze, those dark eyes flicking to me in the rearview mirror as my gaze rotated between the threat and the man hellbent on mitigating it. Jaw flexing, Jax raised his other hand before setting it on the wheel.

“Royce,” I panted, tone desperate, “don’t do this. You don’t have to do this.”

“Didn’t want to,” he said, the words tight. While his gun stayed on me, his eyes were on Jax—he’d decided who the threat was.

Slowly, trying not to gain his attention, I glanced at Leighton. Nostrils flared, chest heaving, the anger in her eyes trumped the fear there as she sucked down air. Determination set her jaw when our eyes locked. We didn’t needwords. We had twenty-three years of sisterhood and decades of surviving six brothers together. I glanced down at Mattie’s untied combat boots before returning my focus to the psychopath now yelling at Jax as he revved the engine.

“Slow down!” Royce barked, turning the pistol on Jax.

“You’re gonna kill us either way. I’ll take you with us,” Jax promised flatly as the engine roared, towering bridge posts flying by us at a terrifying speed. His words pulled another sob from Mattie, and my heart cracked. Throat tight, I fought to swallow the terror pushing bile up my throat.

Fear served no one.

Fear clouded your judgment.

Killed your focus.

My peripheral vision caught the subtle movement of Leighton unlacing Mattie’s black boots.

“Royce, don’t do this,” I pled, voice infinitely calmer than the shit storm roaring inside my head. “You have ababyon the way. Awifewaiting for you at home. Put the gun down.”

“I don’t have a choice—theytookthem.”

My stomach bottomed out as fear wrapped around my windpipe. “Who?”

“All of them, Alice.”

“The kids?” I asked, voice cracking as his petrified eyes landed on my face.

“When we didn’t turn you over, they—they took Miranda today.”

“Who?” I demanded, equally horrified and hopeful as the end of the bridge crept closer. “I—it wasn’t supposed to go this way,” he said in a near-sob, light blue eyes watering as he wielded the weapon between me and Jax. “Ilet them in, Alice. I letherin. It’s my fault. If something happens to them, it’smy?—”

“Who took them?” I repeated. “Royce, if your family is in trouble, we can help you. Greyson can help you.”

“You’re all dead men walking,” he argued, shaking his head. His hand trembled, the pistol along with it. I wasn’t the only one to notice—Jax’s eyes flicking from the threat to the road. “We all are. You in exchange for them.That’s the price.”

“Get fucked,” Leighton spat, but I was shaking my head.

“I’ll go,” I barked, hands raised. “Just let everyone go, Royce. Let them get out of this, and I’ll come with you.” We were almost there. Almost across the metal monstrosity—certainly past the tallest point. If we could just get to solid land, Leighton and I could make our move.

But we wouldn’t get a chance. Because all at once, Jax shot a warning glare into the mirror and slammed on the brakes, sending everyone lurching forward. Royce’s face smashed into the dash as Mattie screamed, but it was the sound of the gunshot that reverberated inside my skull before the car veered violently sideways.

They say you see your life flash before your eyes when death has you in its claws, but that’s a lie. At least, it was for me.

Timestopped. Ceased to exist as we careened through the metal edging and hurtled toward the dark expanse of water. It suspended as the SUV hung over the bay, as blood splattered across the ceiling and dash.

It wasn’t mylifereplaying as the scream tore up my throat.

It was the sound of Greyson begging me to stay with him.

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