Chapter 69
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
ASHER
TWO HOURS AGO
I tap out the final words of the text, hoping like hell they get here in time.
Keeping Rowan and Hannah in the dark is a risk, but everything has to go off without a hitch to make this work, and that means genuine reactions by all three of us.
Fuck, I hope those acting lessons my agent forced me to take for sponsored commercials stuck.
I’ve gone into hundreds of fights without a sliver of nervousness, but this is different. Hannah’s life is on the line, and that’s more than I’ve ever had riding on my shoulders.
The idea of her feeling pain or fear makes my chest ache, but if everything goes well, it will only be for a short time.
Silently, I vow to never allow her to be afraid for another second for the rest of our lives. Once this is over, I’m giving her the beautiful life she deserves. One full of love and happiness and everything her heart desires.
But we just have to get through the next few hours first.
The risk is in the time she’s between locations.
We have no way of knowing if Jeffrey will change his mind about his plan, or if he’ll catch on to ours and divert.
There are variables I can’t account for, and although I hate the idea of not being in control, I allow it to wash over me as we climb out of the car.
Her frantic words still ring through my mind, strangled I love you’s because she thinks we’ll never see her again.
But we will.
I’ve given her as much reassurance as I can, and I remind myself of that over and over again as cops shove us against the car, as they escort Hannah away from us, and again when I’m on my knees with my father beside me, guns to our heads.
Anger rolls off him in waves as he tries to spot our girl, but she’s slipped out of sight, and that pushes my anxiety up to a level I’m not familiar with.
Fuck.
I need this to be okay.
“New York will be a better place without you two walking around in it,” the cop behind Rowan says.
Even though I’m expecting it, the first shot takes me off guard, and for a split second, I think they didn’t make it in time and I’m about to die. But then the man who just spat his bullshit opinion slumps to the ground, quickly followed by the one with the barrel of his gun pressed to my temple.
“I hope we’re not late to the party,” Crew says, stepping forward from between two cruisers.
There are few times in my life when I haven’t listened to Rowan, but I’m really fucking glad I chose to go against him and let the guys know we were leaving the city and ask for an escort just in case.
I feel Rowan’s eyes on me, but I keep mine forward, watching as Bishop and Kaos step up on either side of Crew.
As much as I want to feel bad for dragging them into this mess, I know for a fact that the quiet life is starting to grate on them, and this is a bit of excitement they’ll be grateful for.
“Anyone else want to take a shot at our boys here?” Kaos asks. He’s always been a tank of a man, but from where I’m kneeling on the concrete, he looks like a goddamn giant.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as a few officers take a step back from us, and I can’t help but smirk. Jeffrey may have them in his pocket, but everyone in the city knows better than to fuck with the Syndicate of the Legion.
Crew steps forward and holds his hand out to help Rowan up before doing the same for me. “You two okay?”
“We’ll be better once we have our girl back,” I tell him, looking around and finding the town car missing as I expected.
“Camilla and Kovu have it sorted, and Wyatt is watching traffic cams to make sure they don’t reroute.”
The last part relieves some of the tension from my shoulders. Wyatt, one of the owners of the Scarlet Lounge, spends his spare time helping the Legion with computer shit I’ve never understood. He’s good at what he does, and if he has eyes on my girl, I feel a hell of a lot better about this plan.
“We’ll take care of them,” Bishop says. “Crew will go with you guys into the city.”
Rowan tugs me against him as we head toward the car.
“If you didn’t just save our asses, I’d be inclined to kill you right now.”
I chuckle. “Let’s go get Hannah.”