Chapter 10
10
TATE
I tried to learn meditation. All it did was put me to sleep. But maybe that’s for the best because Austyn and Walter felt free to discuss our situation. I’m unsure how to feel. Angry? Maybe. Disappointed? Disgusted with myself? Absolutely.
Austyn turns his back on Walter—not usually a good idea—and rushes over to me. “No, Tate.” I want to soothe the wrinkle on his forehead. Austyn worries about everyone but himself. “We were just working on a plan?—”
“I heard.” I stand tall and push my shoulders back. If only I could hide the exhaustion in my body. My heart. Would Aus really give me up? No. That’s why I have to do this. “Walter’s right.”
“Walter is never right,” he jokes, but I don’t smile. He needs to see that I’m serious. He raises his hand but stops short of touching me. “We’re stronger together.”
He’s so good. Sweet. “I can’t put you in danger, Aus.” His eyes shine with unshed tears. Tears for me. “I’ll be fine. They aren’t going to kill me. Apparently, they need me.” I smile to reassure him, not sure it’s believable.
“You heard Petroni. What if they hurt you?”
“I can take the pain.” My face heats with shame and my chest aches as I admit the truth. “I deserve it.”
Austyn grabs my chin, pulling my eyes to him. “No. You’re a good person, Tate.”
He doesn’t understand. But if I explain it, I’ll lose the way he’s looking at me right now. As if I’m special. I take his hand in mine and kiss his fingers. “Thank you for believing in me.” I want to tell him how I feel. How much he means to me. But I don’t deserve Austyn. Or happiness.
He swipes at his tears, but a few escape to fall gently down his cheeks. I want to kiss them away. Erase the pain and desperation in his eyes. Austyn clutches my hands. “Tate, please don’t do this.”
“It’s the only way I can protect you. Aus, I can’t be the reason—” I swallow as Walter’s words come back to me. They’ll hurt you to control him. Time to be strong. I drop his hands and step around him. “I’m not giving in. I’ll fight them, Aus. I won’t disappoint you.”
His eyes go soft, but he nods. The tension leaves my body, and I feel lightheaded. I can do this. Keep him safe. Austyn touches my chest and gives me a trembling smile. “Can I have a kiss?”
He gave in easily. Almost too easily. Is this a trick? My gaze shifts to Walter, watching us with crossed arms, and back. “Um, now?”
“For luck.” He wraps his arms around my neck and pulls me down. My hands settle on his hips on their own. “Please be careful,” he whispers at the edge of my mouth and then crushes our lips together.
Walter huffs, but I ignore him as our tongues slide together, and we kiss like it’s our last chance. And it just might be.
Walter clears his throat. “Um, gents? Now’s not really the time for that.”
I hate that he’s right. When I pull away, Austyn follows, his lips finding mine again and again. I give him one last kiss and hug. “I’ll never let anyone hurt you,” I whisper against his warm skin.
He grips me tight as if afraid to let go. How can I push him away? Austyn wants me—even after everything. I wish we had more time.
Pulling back, I grip his shoulders. “Don’t follow me, Aus. I’m serious.” I nod at Walter over his head. “Keep him safe.”
He chuckles. “Not sure your boyfriend needs me protection, but sure, lad.”
Austyn pushes my hands away, glaring at Walter and then me. “I can take care of myself.”
“Yes, you can.” I cradle his face in my hands and brush my thumbs over the freckles on his cheeks. What if this is the last time I get to touch him? Don’t cry, Tate, or he’ll never let you go. “Bye, Aus.” I kiss him one last time, and with a nod to Walter, I stride out of the barn.
Walter’s voice follows. “I did not see that coming.”
Austyn yells at Walter, but I’m not sure what he says. My focus is on the men surrounding me.
Petroni puts a finger to his lips. What if I don’t comply? If I warn Austyn, he’ll be safe. No. He’d rush out to save me.
The guard behind me jabs my back with his gun, and I follow them across the path. If I do as they ask, will they take me and leave Austyn and Walter alone? There’s a chance, and I cling to that hope. Once we’re several feet from the barn, Petroni turns to me. “You have been nothing but a pain in my ass.”
“Glad I could help.” The words slip out, but I’m not sure I care. Is Walter rubbing off on me? Or am I just tired of being nice?
He pins me with his stare, but instead of Petroni’s cold eyes, I see the wild beast eager to hunt its prey. I gulp. I’m the prey.
But I’m also the beast. Is that the last thing Belinda saw? A wild animal eager to kill her?
Oddly, that gives me strength—along with the guilt. I can protect Austyn. “I’ll do whatever you want. Just…leave the others alone.”
Leaning closer, his voice low, he says, “It’s more fun if you don’t cooperate.”
My stomach flips over, but I stand completely still. Don’t give him anything else. Definitely don’t throw up on his black leather jacket. Dogs bark in the background as I stare straight ahead, swallowing the rising bile in my throat. I failed Austyn again. Did I really think I could do this?
The beast surges inside me. Don’t give up . If I cause a commotion, they’ll have to do something, and it’ll alert Austyn and Walter. And if they kill me? Or Austyn gets hurt?
Just do it. No hesitation.
A sound or lack of sound tells me I’m too late. Walter strolls out of the barn and the guards train their guns on him. He shakes his head.
As a guard moves toward him, Petroni signals for him to wait. Cold dread runs down my spine. Yell. Do something, Tate.
But it’s too late. Austyn exits the barn and stops when he sees the men. His eyes widen as he searches until his gaze lands on me. His shoulders relax. He’s worried about me. And I failed him.
“Hands up,” one of the bigger guards says. Wait, that’s…Jatel. My earlier sparring partner. I wonder how his knee is doing. I hope he walks with a limp.
Austyn raises his hands. When Walter doesn’t comply, a goon points his gun at Walter’s head, and he raises his hands with a shrug.
“Glad you could join us, gentlemen,” Petroni says with a smirk, his eyes dark and dangerous. “Take their weapons.” Another guard grabs Walter’s sword and his gun while a goon takes Austyn’s rifle. The guard steps back, and hope curls in my stomach. It doesn’t last. “Check them again,” Petroni barks, “thoroughly, this time.”
I lurch forward—not sure what my plan is—and a gun is jabbed in my back. But it’s the one pressed against Austyn’s temple that stops me.
Austyn gives me a slight shake of his head. The guards search them again. But the one frisking Austyn is rougher. Or maybe that’s just my bias. Austyn jumps with a startled yelp. Did he grab his ass? My growl is out before I can stop it.
Petroni laughs as if all this is a game and I’m playing right into his hands.
“Is that it?” Walter asks in a snarky voice. “Austyn got the full treatment. I could be packing.” He winks at the guard. “I’m definitely packing, Joel. Maybe you should give me a thorough check.”
The goon shoots a help-me look at his boss. Petroni scowls and motions to the guard on the other side of me. “Cover him.” He stalks over to Walter and, without hesitating, punches him in the stomach. Walter doubles over. “That’s for thinking you’re smarter than us.” Then he yanks Walter up and backhands him across the face. “And that’s for blowing up our ammunition shed, you fucking asshole.”
Walter spits the blood from his mouth and grins. “Glad I could help.”
Petroni balls his hands into fists and looms over Walter. “I’m going to enjoy killing you.”
Despite Petroni being several feet taller, Walter doesn’t back down or cower in any way. “Harsh. It was just a few hundred guns. You have more, right?”
Petroni raises his fist to hit him again, his chest heaving, and then stops. The men stare at him as if they’ve never seen him lose control. He drops his hand and growls.
And for a brief second, I feel a warped kinship with Petroni. Walter has that effect on people.
I glance at Austyn. His guard watches the exchange eagerly. Clearly not a Walter fan. Does Walter have any fans? Although, I might become one, since the guard is so focused on watching Walter get abused, he’s no longer frisking Austyn.
Hope blooms in my chest, and I bite back a smile. They didn’t find the knife in Austyn’s boot.
But that doesn’t mean they won’t. They have ten men to our three. It’s suddenly too much, and I snap. “Why are you doing this?” I yell at Petroni. My courage is fueled by my fear for Austyn and my fury. How dare they kidnap people. Hurt them. “We have rights.”
“Ah, the rabbit has a voice. You do have rights, Mr. Goodman,” Petroni says, forgetting about Walter as he strides over to me. I don’t look at Austyn because I know what I’ll see. He wants me to stay quiet. “You have the right to remain silent.” He whips out a knife and holds it to my cheek. “Or I will silence you myself.”
I glower at him, not scared for once. This is all for show. He needs me. Did he watch The Godfather one too many times?
“Where’d he go?” a guard asks in a panicked voice—Walter’s guard.
I glance around the area, but Walter is nowhere in sight. A laugh tries to escape, but I tamp it down. My outburst was an unintended diversion, but it worked perfectly. As the men scramble, I catch Austyn’s eyes and wink.
After a few moments of searching, the goons give up. Walter is gone.
I feel hopeful, really hopeful, for the first time. Walter will save us. Does he have more explosives? Maybe he’ll find us a truck.
Austyn slumps, obviously not sharing my optimism. Does he know something I don’t? I swallow my dread as I realize what this means.
Walter isn’t coming back.