Chapter 16 #2
Now he flew over the veranda, aiming for the motorcycle.
If Ally wasn't there, he’d call the guys in closer, and they’d search for her, but it would be harder now everyone was aware there was a problem.
They’d have to kill most of the people here just to ensure they found Ally and all got out alive.
That wouldn't be a hardship on his part, but his need to shed blood paled in comparison to his need to have his little mouse safe.
Spotting two figures lying on the ground, he ignored the shouts and screams from the mansion and ran for them.
The soft ruffles of Ally’s tulle dress floated in the breeze, so there was no doubting that she was involved in the shooting, which was exactly what he’d expected, although he’d been clinging to the idea that maybe it had just been one of the Delta Force guys taking out security.
On top of her lay one of the guards.
Was the man trying to assault her as she lay bleeding out?
Rage coated his vision, and everything else faded away as he reached the man, grabbed his shirt, and literally threw him off Ally. The man went without a fight, and when the body hit the ground it bounced, but the man didn't move to get up.
Gaze darting between Ally and the man, he saw they were both smeared with blood. But whose blood?
Ally stared up at him, eyes open, glazed with shock, but not empty in death.
The guard, on the other hand, was still lying face down on the driveway. Mateo couldn’t see the man’s eyes, but if he hadn't moved, then maybe he was the one who was dead or dying, and his girl was merely covered in his blood.
Dropping to his knees beside Ally, Mateo pressed his fingers to her throat, relieved to find her pulse thumping wildly, and she blinked slowly before turning to look at him. He could see the second she registered his presence, because she blinked again, and then her eyes filled with tears.
“Mateo,” she whimpered, shoving up off the ground to wrap her arms around his neck and cling to him.
“He saw me, pointed his gun at me, he was going to call someone to tell them I was here, I knew if I ran away he’d follow, catch me, so I ran at him instead.
The gun went off. I didn't know if it was me or him who got shot, but there was no pain. I think … I think I killed him.”
“Yeah, baby, you did.” Grabbing her face between his hands, he held it firmly, squeezing just a little bit, because while his girl’s heart was still beating, his still felt stuck. “Don’t you ever run toward danger instead of away from it again.”
His warning just made her smile, and when he saw movement behind them, he knew that as desperately as he wanted to take his time reassuring himself that Ally was whole, they had to move or she might not be the next time a bullet was fired.
Just because Koa Rolland had spent a whole lot of money buying her and seemed proud to show her off to his friends didn't mean she was irreplaceable. The man would protect himself first before his investment, so while Ally had a better chance of surviving a shootout if they got stuck in the middle of one, there were no guarantees that Rolland’s people would do their best to keep her alive.
“Gotta go, little mouse,” he said as he physically picked her up as he stood and climbed onto the bike, wishing he could keep her in front of him, his body between hers and the guards behind them, a shield that would offer her minimal protection, but protection nonetheless.
But he couldn’t ride the bike that way, so Mateo had no choice but to sit her behind him.
“Hold onto me, and don’t let go. This isn’t going to be an easy ride. ”
Just as the engine revved to life, the movement behind them turned into shooting.
Trusting that Lucky’s little fake drunk singing distraction hadn't prevented the man from getting himself out, he also trusted that the rest of the team was watching his back.
As he took off down the driveway, chaos erupted around them. Bullets flew in both directions, and even though the Delta Force team was outnumbered, he had no doubts about who was going to come out victorious.
Focusing on driving the bike, he wished he had a weapon on him so he could fire back.
Although he trusted Trigger and his team, Mateo was used to working undercover, and when you worked undercover, you didn't work as part of a team.
You watched your own back and were responsible for your own safety.
Even knowing that there had been three other undercover operatives inside Azure hadn't changed how he operated.
It was always just him against the world.
Only now it wasn't. Now he was relying on other people to provide cover fire, and he wasn't sure he liked it. The last time he’d wanted to rely on someone else to help him, they’d ignored his pleas and walked away, leaving him to die.
But the Delta Force team wasn't his family.
They wouldn't take off and leave him and Ally to fend for themselves.
It wasn't reminding himself of that fact that calmed him, though, it was the arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Ally trusted him. Despite everything that she’d gone through because of him, she still trusted him, and that meant the world to him.
Also shocked the hell out of him.
Ally should hate him, and while he had no doubt that she was still hurt and angry, she didn't hate him. Maybe he still had a shot with her if he could make amends, prove himself to her.
Something he was more than willing to do.
Trusting another person wasn't something he’d ever intended to allow himself to do, yet it felt so easy with Ally.
It was the very qualities she disliked about herself that made it easy.
Her quiet, steady presence, her softly spoken words, the way she analyzed everything, searching for the best way to proceed made her seem non-threatening, and he’d fallen for her before he even realized it had happened.
Now her life rested in his hands, and he couldn’t let her down.
Wouldn't.
Movement in the side mirror caught his attention as he peeled out of the driveway and turned onto the road. It was a car, and it was coming after them.
Damn.
They were being followed.
“Hold on,” he yelled to Ally.
“I'm not letting go,” she yelled back, and a note in her voice suggested she meant more than just that she would continue to cling to him as they sat together on the bike.
Veering off the road and into the jungle, he was sure the vehicle would try to follow, but they were going to be substantially less maneuverable out here.
The problem was, the Delta Force team was no longer here to watch his back.
They’d be coming, he had no doubt about that, and they’d cleared a safe path for them to escape, but they’d have to get back to their jeep, and then track him down.
For now, he was on his own. Just the way he was used to, but for once in his life it didn't feel right.
Because he had Ally with him. His sweet, beautiful, trusting girl, who had received knock after knock in her life, and who craved someone to see her, want her, desire her with every fiber of their being.
He was that person. No one could love her more than he did, and she hadn't survived the hell of the last couple of weeks only to die in the jungle.
Determination rushed through his veins, and he scanned the area. The vehicle was still hot on their heels, and he could see a man in the passenger seat leaning out the window, weapon in hand, aiming at them.
A single bullet could cause damage in so many ways. Not only could it rip through Ally’s flesh, killing her, possibly both of them, but it could also blow out a tire, cause him to lose control of the vehicle, and lead to them both getting captured if they weren't killed.
Up ahead, he spotted a river, and an idea formed in his mind.
It was risky, neither of them was dressed to survive a fall. At least he had coverings for his entire body, Ally’s flimsy dress covered barely anything. But there was no asphalt to tear at their skin, and cuts and bruises were better than a bullet, better than being captured, too.
So when the man fired, Mateo turned the motorcycle, let it slide out of control as though it had been hit, even though he’d acted before a bullet could get them. Turning his body as they fell, he tried to wrap as much of himself around Ally as he could as they both went flying toward the river.