72. Chloe
CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
CHLOE
NOW
Ishould have known things were going too well.
Even running for our lives, I felt more at peace than I have in as long as I can remember, but it was bound to come to an end before long.
Because that’s what always happens in my life. The universe gives me a glimpse at what I could have, at what happiness could look like, and then it pulls the rug out from under me like some kind of cosmic joke.
Shouts from outside mix with the gunshots from the room next door, and my senses are overwhelmed, my entire body locked up with terror.
What are the chances we all make it out of here alive?
I heard what Corbin said. I heard him tell Ryker that we’re surrounded and that there’s no way out. I was listening as he told him that backup is twenty minutes away at best.
How is it possible that I finally had everything I’ve ever wanted, only for it to be torn from me hours later?
A soft sob breaks from my chest. I should be stronger than this, I’ve survived worse. But I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve been here before.
I’ve watched the people I love most in the world be slaughtered, and now I’m afraid history is repeating itself.
Ryker turns me around in his arms, his fingers capturing my chin as he tilts my face up to look into his golden eyes. “We are not dying here, Siren. None of us. You hear me?”
I nod even though he can’t promise me that. He can’t promise that we’re all getting out of here when there’s been a continuous stream of gunshots and eventually we’re going to run out of ammunition.
There was only one bag of weapons among the rest of our stuff, and it won’t be long before we run through the bullets, leaving us defenseless.
He thrusts a gun into my hand, and it almost falls through my trembling fingers. “You know how to use this?”
I swallow. “I’ve been shooting most of my life.”
“Good. Anyone that’s not one of us comes near you, point and shoot.”
“What about the guys that work for King?”
He smirks. “They could use a few days off to recover from a gunshot wound.”
I open my mouth to respond, but he’s gone, moving closer to the window.
Ducking behind the bed, I force air into my lungs, force myself to breathe through the never-ending panic that rages through my chest.
A figure appears in the doorway, and I lock eyes with Damon, his usually emotionless face showing something I can’t ever remember seeing before.
Fear.
“You okay, Duchess?”
“Yeah,” I whisper, holding the gun against my chest.
A bullet shatters the window, tearing a startled yelp from my throat. I may have spent the last decade living with a Mafia family, but I was sheltered during that time, and since leaving, I’ve found myself in the middle of two gunfights and being kidnapped several times.
I think I’d like to go back to my sheltered life now.
“Come on, Duchess. We’re getting you out of here.”
“No. I’m not leaving them!”
A deep rumble fills the space between us. “Chloe, they cannot focus while you’re in danger. The only way we’re all getting out of here without body bags is if you’re safe away from here.”
I bite down on the inside of my cheek as I mull over the options. Or lack thereof.
My being here is a distraction, and one that could cost the men I love their lives, but leaving them feels wrong. Like I’m abandoning them in their time of need when I’m perfectly capable to helping.
“Duchess,” he growls. “If you don’t get your pretty ass up, I’m going to throw you over my shoulder and drag you out of here.”
Eyes widening, I’m tempted to challenge him on it but decide that it’s probably not the time to be a brat to any of them, especially the one that’s spent years hating me and would care the least if I died.
I look over my shoulder to where Ryker is crouched beneath the window and find him staring right at us.
“One hair on her head is harmed, and you’ll find out what it feels like to have your skin peeled off piece by piece,” he warns.
“I won’t let anything happen to her,” Damon promises, taking my hand and tugging me up.
He pulls me further into the motel room until we’re standing in the tiny bathroom staring at the smallest window I’ve ever seen.
“There’s no way you’re fitting through that.”
Without bothering to reply, he steps up onto the lid of the toilet and jimmies the lock, but it doesn’t budge. This escape plan is going downhill fast, and we haven’t even considered the people that are probably on the other side of the window.
Shouts from the front of the motel pull my attention back to the room, my heart rate kicking up another notch.
“Cover your ears, Duchess.”
“Why?”
“Just do as you’re told for once,” he snaps, the butt of his gun poised to break the window.
Deciding to pick my battles, I do as he instructed, turning my face away just in case the glass shatters in this direction.
The window breaks with ease, and he takes the towel hanging from the rail and wipes away as much of the glass as he can before turning to me.
“I’m going to go out first just in case someone is out there. When I call out, I want you to climb through, and I’ll pull you out the other side, okay?”
I nod, swallowing heavily around the lump in my throat.
He takes another moment to sweep his gaze over me, as if he’s cataloging me to memory before he feeds his huge body through the tiny window.
How he doesn’t fall out onto his face on the other side, I have no idea, but I’m glad he’ll be there to catch me when I follow his lead.
Gunfire fills the bathroom, but this time it’s coming from behind the motel, and I scramble up onto the toilet to make sure Damon’s okay.
Two bodies lie motionless at one end of the alley that runs along the back of the motel, and I find Damon crouched behind a crate, unloading his clip on another two masked men.
Bringing my trembling hands in front of me, I use the ledge to steady my aim and take a deep breath.
I can do this. I’ve been shooting my whole life. What difference does it make that it’s at someone who is trying to kill us?
I squeeze the trigger three times, taking out one of the guys and earning me an irritated growl from Damon.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay inside until I called out?”
“Yep.” I pull the trigger again, this time hitting the remaining shooter’s arm and causing him to drop his weapon.
“You’re going to get me killed by Ryker if you keep this shit up.”
“One can only hope,” I snap back.
He smirks as he takes one final shot, killing the guy I disarmed. “You and I both know you don’t mean that.”
“Do we?”
Reaching for me, Damon carefully pulls me out the small window and lowers me to the ground but doesn’t release me.
His tattooed fingers wrap around my throat, tilting my face up until I’m staring into icy blue pools that aren’t filled with their usual contempt. “Yeah, Chloe. We do.”
To prove his point, he brushes his lips over mine before dropping the softest kiss to the corner of my mouth.
“Come on, Duchess. Let’s get you out of here,” he murmurs, dropping his hand from my throat and wrapping it around my waist instead.
I’m so distracted by the feel of his lips on mine that we’re almost at the end of the alley when I realize we’ve started moving.
Damon moves me to his other side, pushing me toward the wall as his mask of indifference slips into place. “If you move from this spot before I tell you to, the denial Kingston put you through will look like a fucking walk in the park compared to what I’ll do. Got it?”
I open my mouth to respond but quickly snap it shut again.
Did Damon really just threaten me with sex?