Page 25 of Explode
I didn’t stop to give it a second thought. The instant I saw his face, theimage of Jacqueline’s head exploding from his bullet flashed in my mind. Rage sprung to life and thumped through my veins, and every lesson Miles and the guys had drilled into me went out the fucking window as I took off after Alex.
“Riley!” Miles yelled as I ran toward the bar, ducking as a bulletwhooshed past me and hit a bottle, glass and liquor going everywhere. The door at the end of the bar slammed, but not before I saw the back of a figure heading through it.
Keeping low, I ran the length of the bar. Many nights I had workedbehind here, covering shifts when the bar staff were short. Never in my life did I imagine that six months later, I’d be behind the bar with a gun in my hand chasing after a douchebag, intent on killing him.
The door swung open as I barged into it, and gunshots echoed aroundme as I ran down the stairs into the dimly lit cellar, gun held out in shaky hands in front of me, cocked and ready to fire. As I reached the bottom step, I paused.
The cellar hadn’t changed much since the last time I was down here.Barrels of beer and boxes of wine were stacked almost as high as the ceiling, and in rows that ran the length of the cellar. There was ample opportunity for someone to hide down here. I held my breath, listening to any sounds of movement, but I was met with the deafening sound of silence.
Tentatively, I took the last step into the cellar, my pounding heartthudding against my rib cage. Now I was here alone, I was really starting to regret my decision to chase Alex. But with gunfire still raging above me, I couldn’t walk away with my tail between my legs and ask one of the guys to come and hold my hand.
It was time for me to grow a pair of lady balls.
My hands shook as I peeked around the first row of beer barrels. When there was no one waiting for me, I tiptoed across to the nextrow and again peeked around. My brows shot up, and my hands dropped at the sight of Alex’s body on the floor. It was too dark to tell whether he was dead or unconscious, but either way, he wasn’t moving.
It was then I realized my mistake. My gun was lowered assomeone pressed up from behind me. One hand wrapped around my waist, while the other covered my mouth preventing me from screaming, and I was pulled back against a solid body.
My heart almost stopped as words were whispered in my ear.
“Hello, Star.”
Chapter 7
Kai
Ishouldn’thavebeenalive. I was damned to spend all of eternity inthe deepest pits of hell, tormented by the fact that I would never get to see my girl again.
Yet here I was.
One lucky son-of-a-bitch.
She froze as I pulled her against me, her luscious scent of sunscreenand strawberries engulfed me as I held her against my chest where she belonged.
I hadn’t intended to let her know I was alive, not right that secondanyway. But then, I hadn’t expected her to come running down the stairs chasing Alex fucking Barnes like she wasWonder Woman. The second I saw her, I knew that despite the can of worms I was about to open, I couldn’tnotreach out and touch her.
Six months without my wife had been worse than the deepest pits ofhell, but now I had her back in my arms, she wasn’t going anywhere.
“Hello, Star,” I whispered in her ear before burying my head in thecrook of her neck and brushing my lips over her delicate skin. I’d almost forgotten what she tasted like, and I couldn’t fucking wait to get reacquainted with every inch of her perfect body. I was going to spendweeksworshiping her, making up for every second we’d lost.
As if coming to her senses from the touch of my lips, she startedwiggling out of my grasp. I let her go, desperate to see her beautiful face. To stare once again into her gorgeous chocolate eyes that had a way of seeing through all my bullshit, and right through to my soul. She spun around, her brows raised, her jaw almost hitting the floor.
She didn’t say anything, and I gave her time to take me in, letting theshock settle. Her eyes roamed from my head to my toes, tears welling as an array of emotions played out on her face, before settling on a look of disbelief.
My heart beat wildly in my chest, the heart that had worked so hard tokeep me alive when I lost so much blood. The heart that had to be restarted three times, but didn’t fail.
The heart that belonged to her.
Riley’s eyes narrowed on my face, making sure she was really seeingwhat she thought she was seeing. I didn’t look like me anymore. My dark hair was longer, and as much as I fucking hated it, I had let my beard grow which was now thick around my jaw and mouth.
When her chocolate orbs met my dark ones, comprehension dawnedand she finally found her voice.
“Kai?” she said, her brows pulled together in question, bewildermentheavy in her voice.
“Yeah, baby.”
“Oh my god!” she choked on a sob, and then before I had time toprepare, she launched herself into my arms, jumping up, and wrapping her legs around my waist.
It was a good job I’d spent time recovering and building my strengthup because she barrelled into me with the force of a hurricane, it almost knocked me off my feet.
