Page 78 of Her Reluctant Hero
The last of her courage was buried deep, but she found it and dragged it up. “Not anymore.”
He swung in an arc toward her but she didn’t duck, taking the blow full on the cheek. Her skin split and she staggered into the front fender of Danes’s truck, realizing he wasn’t holding on to her anymore. The heat of the engine beneath the metal seared her palms, but she didn’t have the energy to push away for a moment.
She was at Santiago’s mercy. From experience she knew that he had none.
The squeal of tires behind her made her heart jolt, turned Santiago’s attention away. She knew the sound of that engine. God help her, Alex had come. She shoved her hair out of her face, looked toward him, past Santiago. Her heart dropped, her hope with it.
He was alone, against seven men.
But Alex didn’t hesitate. He shoved open the truck door and ducked behind it, his pistol in front of him, trained on one man.
Beside her, Santiago laughed and moved in front of her, toward Alex. “The shining knight has arrived, Isabella,” he said, his voice booming. “Do you remember what I did to your last shining knight?”
She would never forget watching Eric die, screaming, then whispering her name. What had happened afterward, to her, hadn’t been as horrible. She could not bear living it again. She couldn’t let Alex die that way, but was powerless. “There’s nothing between us,” she lied, desperate, knowing Alex heard, hoping her words didn’t hurt. But it was the only way she could think to save his life.
He’d come for her. Had risked his life. The reality of the danger they were in threatened to choke her. Meeting Saldana had been more acceptable, less frightening, when only her life was at stake. Her gaze riveted on Alex, his lean face illuminated by the headlights, the muscle in his arms corded as he held the gun straight in front of him. A real hero. But he was all by himself.
“Send her over here.” Alex didn’t shout the words, but they carried a level of command she’d never heard him use.
Santiago shook his head slowly. “You are brave but foolish.” He looked back at Isabella with a bemused expression. “What is it about you that makes men willing to die for you?” Turning toward Alex, he reached inside his jacket.
The headlights glinted off metal as Santiago drew his gun.
“Alex!” she screamed in warning, frozen as she watched Santiago extend the weapon in slow motion.
“Get down,” Alex shouted at the same time.
Her muscles tightened, unable to obey his command until the first shot rang out over the tarmac, then her body loosened and she dropped to the asphalt, covering her head with her arms as gunfire erupted, striking the metal of the vehicles, eliciting shouts of pain, drawing the scent of blood.
Afterward, she would count less than ten shots, but an eternity passed before she could lift her head. Lionel Danes lay at her feet, vacant eyes staring at the darkening sky. Santiago stood at an odd angle, favoring one side, and blood dripped down one arm, pooling on the ground.
Beside his truck, Alex lay on his back, one leg bent. Completely still.
