Page 13 of Eros
“Okay.”
We slowly rose off the floor and ducked down behind the desk.
I didn’t question why he was trying to get me out of here. He could let whoever this was just kill me. However, all I knew was that I wanted to make it out of this alive. And if it meant following the man who kidnapped me, that was what I needed to do.
Suddenly, just as quickly as the bullets started flying, they stopped. It was so silent our labored breaths were all we could hear.
“Now!” he shouted. I took off running, and I didn’t stop. I had no idea where to go, but I kept running as gunshots rang out around us again.
“Get down to the warehouse!” he shouted into his phone after a few moments. “There’s a sniper. Bring no more than six of you. It won’t be long before the cops show up. Fuck, I don’t know, Knox! Just get here. Let someone know a woman will be heading that way. She’s under my protection.”
He ended the phone call, then pushed his phone into the back pocket of his blue jeans.
I followed him until we reached some old machinery and crouched down behind it. Bullets pinged off the metal, the sharp sounds echoing through the abandoned building. Each shot sent a jolt through me, and my head snapped down out of reflex, the sound echoing loudly in my ears. I didn’t know if the bullets wereanywhere near me, but I couldn’t help but move each time they dinged off the metal machinery around us. I wanted to scream, but that wouldn’t do any good. Someone was trying to kill us.
“See the door?” he asked, pointing over his shoulder to the small door only a few feet away from us.
“Yeah.”
He grabbed my shoulders and looked me in my eyes. The intensity and determination in them made believe that he wouldn’t let me die.
“You’re gonna make a run for it, and I’ll cover you. No matter what happens, do not stop running until you get to the SUV. I want you to go to 1123 Golden Gate Way. Tell them Prez sent you. Do you understand?”
“I’m not leaving you here!” I shouted. “Are you crazy! They’ll kill you!”
He smirked. “Are you worried about me, sweetheart?”
I rolled my eyes, though a nervous flutter in my stomach betrayed my nonchalant expression. “Of course not. I wouldn’t want anyone to die, including you.”
“I’m not going to die, Janea. I promise. Just do what I say, and we’ll both make it out of this.”
I frantically nodded my head. “Please tell me your name?”
He was risking his life to save mine. I at least needed to put a name to the face.
He brushed his fingertips against my cheek. “Nikolaus but most people call me Eros.”
“After the Greek God of Love and Desire?” I asked in disbelief.
He chuckled. “Yes, but now’s not the time, sweetheart. On my count, run and don’t look back. No matter what happens. You got it?”
“Yeah, I got it. Be careful, Eros.”
He winked. “One, two, run!”
Without hesitating, I raced toward the door as a barrage of bullets sounded behind me. Bullets whizzed by me as I ran as fast and hard as I could. I heard Eros curse behind me, but I didn’t look back just like he told me. No matter what I heard, no matter what happened, just keep running.
I ran until I reached the outside, the gravel crunched under my feet. I didn’t have a chance to take a breath because I had to get to the SUV. With my feet sliding on the loose gravel, I managed to reach his SUV. I jumped inside and slammed the door. Thank God, the keys were in the ignition.
When I tried to start it the first time, it just sputtered. “Come on!” I shouted as I tried again. “Come on!”
When it fired up, I couldn’t help but scream in excitement before speeding away.
Chapter Six
Eros
“Fuck!”IshoutedasI dived for cover again once Janea was safely out of the warehouse.
