Chapter Six #2
How long before she could get out of the truck? Would he
insist on walking her all the way up or could she ditch him in the lobby? Maybe
in a few weeks she would be able to not want to cry when she saw him, but today
she was a mess.
She had to get it together or her da would know something
was wrong and she would end up in a session with Aunt Eve.
“I met someone. I thought we made a connection, but it was
all one way,” he said quietly.
Daisy felt her heart soften. “I can’t believe that. I’m sure
you misunderstood her. She’s probably going through some things.”
“Well, she left me sleeping after blowing my bloody mind,”
he admitted. “She didn’t leave a number, so I have to figure it meant way more
to me than to her.”
Of all the scenarios she’d gone through, she hadn’t thought
about this one. Where he got hurt. She hadn’t meant to hurt him. No wonder he
was acting like a wounded bear this morning. His heart was bruised. “I’m sure
she had something else she had to do.”
He stopped at a red light. “After midnight?”
She could see the MT building up ahead. Only a couple more
minutes and they would be safely in the building, and she could run away as
fast as her kitten heels would carry her. All she had to do was keep her mouth
shut. “Maybe she had an early call at work.”
Keeping her mouth shut wasn’t one of her talents.
“She could have left a note or given me a real name. I took
my mask off, told her real things about myself. Nah, she used me. Not how I
wanted to start this whole new life thing off,” he said as he eased up when the
light changed, but they were stuck behind a sedan trying to turn left without
an arrow. “But you know, live and learn.”
Okay, this was worse than being hurt herself. Her heart
actually ached.
“I came here hoping to start over again.” He turned her way
and gave her a halfhearted smile. “I’ve been kind of lost since I left the
military, like I don’t know where my place in the world is. Last night I guess
I felt alive again. But it wasn’t real.”
Her gut twisted. “It was real.”
“It was real for me. Not for her.”
She turned Nate’s way. Why the hell was she doing this? She
was literally one block from freedom, but the stupid traffic was killing her.
They were at a dead standstill for some reason.
She didn’t have to say anything. Not a damn thing. She
didn’t owe him. It wasn’t like telling him would help him. He would realize
he’d screwed his best friend’s sister, who he thought was useless and selfish.
So she didn’t have to confess to save his delicate masculine
sensibilities. Nope.
“It was me.”
He turned her way, his eyes narrowing, and then reached out
and hauled her down, shoving her torso over as the bullets began to fly.
* * * *
“It was me.”
Nate felt a deep sense of satisfaction run through him when
the little brat finally admitted the truth.
It didn’t last long because when he turned her way, he
realized a big SUV in the far right lane beside them had stopped in the middle
of the road, and the passenger side window rolled down.
They weren’t asking for directions. They had him in a trap,
closed in on all sides. He saw the barrel of a gun poke through the open window
and did the only thing he could. He reached over and shoved her down, covering
her body with his while he tried to keep control of the truck. The sound of
glass shattering filled the air as the assassin put three bullets into his
brand-new truck, and the world seemed to go chaotic as the people around him
panicked.
“Stay down,” he ordered as he pulled his SIG. They needed to
get to the MT building, and they needed to do it fucking now. The chaos would
help, but he needed cover fire. He kept a hand on Daisy’s back so she didn’t
decide to help him as he eased up and fired at the black SUV.
Nate took off, punching the gas and swerving into the
oncoming lane. He narrowly avoided hitting a sedan.
The back window of the cab shattered as they fired again,
and he heard the sound of tires screeching.
Had they turned so they could keep coming after them?
Nate took a deep breath and punched the gas again.
Daisy started to come up. “What was…”
He shoved her head back down. “Stay down or I swear to god,
you’ll get the bloody spanking of a lifetime.”
“I was only trying to check on you,” she grumbled.
“I’m fine.” He wasn’t. He was pretty sure he’d gotten
grazed. He could feel a burning sensation across his right bicep.
It likely wasn’t the only time he would be wounded in the
service of his submissive.
Adrenaline pumped through his system as he swerved back into
the right lane before making a hard turn onto the side street that would lead
him to the MT building. Behind him he heard the sound of metal striking metal
as two cars hit while trying to flee the scene of the attack.
“Call your dad,” he ordered.
He couldn’t be sure they wouldn’t follow him into the
parking garage. They had protocols. He couldn’t simply race inside. There was a
whole security system in place.
“Tell him we’re coming in hot, and we need the entrance gate
up,” Nate explained as he narrowly avoided an accident. He had to go up on the
sidewalk to get past the minivan stopped in front of a grocery store.
He glanced up and winced as the SUV started to gain on him.
“Hey, Da. How are you this morning? Did you get breakfast?”
She was going to make him insane. “Daisy!”
“Nate says I have to tell you we’re coming in hot. I don’t
know what that means, but there is someone shooting at us,” she said in a
shockingly calm voice. “Yeah, he pushed me down. Yes. He’s still driving, but
whoever it is keeps coming. I’m not sure what he did to upset them.” She
gasped. “Da, language. We do not know this has… He went into Irish. I can
barely understand him, but I did hear him yelling for Uncle Ian. Oh, should I
call the police?”
“Don’t bother. I think they’ll find us.” His arm was
starting to ache. “Hold on, love. And let’s hope they get the gate open. When
we get inside, you stay down, and you run when I tell you to. You run and don’t
look back. You get to the security desk.”
“I’m not going to leave you.”
A sweet thought, but he had to protect her. “You’ll do
exactly what I tell you to, Dais. I’m not fucking around. Here we go. Hang on.”
He swung the truck around, barely missing an oncoming car as
he rushed into the parking garage. The guard was there in the booth, obviously
trying to get the gate up. He felt the top of it scrape the roof of his truck
and heard a volley of gunfire.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Ian and Alex moving
toward the gate. The big guys moved like the predators they were, and they were
backed up by a whole bunch of guys with guns.
Nate slammed the truck to a stop as a freaked-out Li
O’Donnell came charging up.
“Daisy!” Liam opened the passenger side door. “My poor,
sweet, Daisy. What happened to you? Are you all right? We should call an
ambulance.”
Daisy was perfectly fine. Nate was the one bleeding, but did
Liam seem to care about his health? Nope. He was too busy looking his precious
angel over.
“I kind of hit my head when Nate pushed me down, but I’m
fine,” Daisy was saying.
“Nathan Carter, you have to be more careful with her,” Liam
complained.
“They’re clear,” Ian shouted. “Get MaeBe to pull our
security cameras. I want a plate number.”
“And get the conference room ready for the police visit
we’re about to get.” Alex had holstered his weapon.
“Come on, my sweet daughter. I’ll have a talk with Nathan
about how to properly watch after you,” Liam was saying.
It was time to start adjusting the whole O’Donnell family to
the new dynamic.
He slid out of the truck, slammed the door, and walked
straight up to his little brat.
Her eyes widened. “Nate? You’re hurt.”
He shook his head. “It’s nothing. You coming willingly?”
She waved him off. “Oh, I’m fine now. Da’s here.”
Liam nodded. “I’m here now, and we’ll get you a proper
guard. You’re safe now, my darlin’ girl.”
The hard way it was then. He leaned over and hauled her up
and over his good shoulder, securing her tightly against him.
“Nate,” she said with a gasp. “What are you doing?”
“Nathan Carter, you put my daughter down this instant,” Liam
shouted.
But he was walking away. “When she’s in a secure room and
she can’t get her pretty arse sniped, I’ll put her down. She made her choice.
She’s going to learn to live with it.”
“Her choice?” Liam sounded pissed.
“I had a choice?” Daisy asked.
“Oh, you did,” he promised.
“Daisy, stay very still. I think I can shoot the little
bastard,” Liam vowed.
He felt Daisy’s arms go out as though trying to protect as
much of his back as she could. “Da, don’t you dare.”
At least she wasn’t going to let her father murder him.
Yet.
When she found out his plans for her things might change.
Nate strode to the lifts and walked in as the doors opened.
He turned and looked out over the chaos. His truck had several bullet holes,
and all his windows had blown. He probably needed a couple of stitches. He was
going to spend the next hours of his life with the DPD.
He’d come here for peace, and his mother’s best friend’s
husband was staring at him like he was a monster. Alex and Ian stood on either
side of Liam as though they could stop the Irishman from taking out the man
stealing his precious saint of a daughter. Alex had a hand on Li’s shoulder,
while Ian was watching the whole scene play out with a grin.
There was no peace to be found here, but damn it felt good
to bloody feel.
“You could put me down, Nate. I think the danger’s over,”
Daisy pointed out.
Before the doors could close, he slapped her arse. “The
danger’s never over with you, love. I said you needed a keeper. Looks like it’s
going to be me.”
His decision was made. The doors started to close as Liam
pointed his way and said something that had Alex trying to calm him down again.
It was going to be a rough day. He was oddly looking forward
to it.