Chapter 19
NINETEEN
WEST
I held my breath as the engine crept closer.
I listened as it came around the back of the building and once it passed from my left ear to my right, I relaxed a little bit.
Maybe it was just a passenger car that got turned around.
Maybe it was some kids joyriding in their parent’s van and dicking off like all teenagers did.
However, once the van swung around to the front of the building, Chloe whimpered.
“Don’t show fear,” I called out softly.
“Easy for you to say,” she mumbled.
I heard her shifting around and I prayed with all of my might that they came at me.
After all, I was the one sitting against the wall that faced the door in the first place.
Maybe they’d zone in on me and forget all about the fact that Chloe was in the other room.
My eyes darted around, searching for hallways and exits.
I laid my eyes on my gun on the floor that I hadn’t snatched up.
Fucking hell. Of course, I’d leave it laying out there.
I scrambled to get to it and I holstered the gun on my hip.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Chloe hissed.
I shook my head quickly. “They’re going to know what happened the second they see these bodies. We’re sitting ducks.”
She peeked her head around the corner as the engine turned off. “Got any bright ideas, then?”
And that was when the front door burst open. “I think I have a few ideas of my own, yes.”
I didn’t recognize his voice or his face, but the way he stood and the way his men followed him around like drugged-up puppy dogs told me who had just entered.
Chloe rushed to me, gripping my leather jacket from behind and pressing herself to my back.
I wrapped my arms back around her. I cloaked her with my body, hoping that I could provide enough shielding to keep her out of harm’s way.
However, the second she slid something smooth and cold between my jeans and my back, I thanked my lucky fucking stars that I had fallen for a woman so God damn intelligent.
You found glass. Way to go, Chlo.
The man with the slicked-back black hair and olive skin donned a suit a size and a half too large for him.
He looked like a fucking bank broker or some shit.
Like an asshat on Wall Street that had just made his first million.
When he smiled, his teeth glistened in the measly amount of light filtering through the shattered windows around us.
He didn’t even try to hide the guns he had on both of his hips.
And as he stood in front of us, the putrid smell of his aftershave made me wrinkle my nose.
“What’s your name, son?”
I shook my head. “Don’t call me ‘son.’”
He slid off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves. “West, correct?”
I stared him down while he rubbed his hands together.
“Didn’t your mother ever teach you that it’s impolite to stare?” he asked.
“What the hell do you want?” I asked.
He slid his hands into his pockets. “Well, that’s pretty simple, isn’t it? Pretty…obvious?”
He tried peeking around behind me, but I moved with his gaze while Chloe clung to my leather jacket with both of her hands.
“I want the Lost Boys to no longer exist, of course,” Carlos said.
I snickered. “Good luck.”
He nodded. “Yes, yes. I suppose I need it. You guys have been a thorn in my side for much longer than I had anticipated. So, it seems the only way to stop all of this nonsense is to take you out, one by one.”
“West,” Chloe whispered.
“Every. Last. One of you,” Carlos warned as his eyes fell to Chloe’s shadow.
“Leave her out of this,” I growled, “or you’re going to regret it.”
He held his arms out. “And here I thought we were having a pleasant conversation.”
“You’ll never take out the club. We’re much too smart for that.”
Carlos barked with laughter. “Yes, well, your club has been very difficult to find. But now that I have you, I hope to get the information I seek.”
“And what information is that?”
“Don’t hurt him, please,” Chloe said.
“What the hell are you—get back here,” I grumbled.
But she slipped in front of me and held her arms out, as if her five-foot-six stature could somehow hide my mounting six-foot-two stature.
Carlos grinned. “Now, we’re getting somewhere. Hello, beautiful. My name is Carlos Bande—”
“I know who you are,” Chloe said flatly.
He clasped his hands in front of his body. “And you must be Chloe. Best friend to Lexi. Auntie to Natasha. Discarded by Dean—or do you call him ‘Frost’ now?—once he reunited his family.”
Chloe stuck to her guns, though. “You won’t get the information from us that you seek. That much has already been proven. So, you can either take us out or take us back. Those are your only two options.”
The smile that crawled across that man’s face was disgusting. “Wow, you really are a spitfire, aren’t you?”
And to my shock, Chloe sucked back the biggest wad of snot I’d ever heard, worked it to the front of her mouth, and spat it at the man’s feet.
Before anger washed over Carlos’ face. “You do know these shoes are new, right?”
I watched in horror as he removed a handkerchief from his pocket and bent down to wipe off his suede shoes.
The mark from Chloe’s spit sat there, glaring like a deer in fucking headlights.
While he was distracted, I slowly reached for the shard of glass she had slid against my skin.
I knew this man was about to come after her.
I knew he was about to double down and pull some bullshit.
And when Carlos rose back up, he focused his glare on Chloe. “That really isn’t the way a lady should act. Especially one as beautiful as yourself.”
She scoffed. “Yeah, well, my foster parents weren’t exactly accommodating.”
His eyes worked their way down her body, inch by inch.
“So, no one would miss you. That’s a plus as well.
Boys, what do you think? You think she’d be fit for Mr. Nurembacher?
Because I think she’s right up his alley.
He’s been looking for a new business venture. He might be willing to invest in her.”
I gripped the glass and softly pulled it out.
I kept my movement as small as possible so as to not startle the men who had us one-upped with guns strapped to every part of their bodies.
If they were going to kill us, I’d take a couple of them down with me.
But the second Carlos started analyzing Chloe like that, I knew what his plan was.
He wanted to kill me and sell her into the flesh-buying business.
“Some men would pay large amounts of money for a woman like you,” Carlos glowered.
And that was when he turned his attention back to me. “Thank you for bringing such a valuable asset to me. I’ll make sure your death is quick because of it.”
Then, he turned on the balls of his feet and walked back toward the front door.
Leaving us alone in our unrestrained state.
He snapped his fingers as he stood in the doorway of the open front door and his men rushed up beside him.
He peeked over his shoulder and tossed us a playful wink.
The mere fact that he hadn’t tied us up again told me that he had reinforcements for blocks should we try to escape.
The knot of worry in my stomach grew bigger, infiltrating my chest as my heart rate skyrocketed into the heavens. And the second Carlos closed the door behind him, I swallowed hard.
Before I whipped around and cupped her cheek with my free hand.
“We have to get out of here, Chloe, and we have to do it now. Follow my lead, don’t ask questions, and whatever you do…don’t deviate from the plan. It’ll get you killed.”