Chapter 10
Touch Her and Die
The attack came forty-eight hours later.
Sienna never saw it coming.
She left the hotel before sunrise, intending to meet a confidential source who claimed to know the identity of the person who planted the evidence inside her garage.
The meeting never happened.
A black sedan ignored a red light.
It accelerated directly toward her motorcycle.
Instinct saved her.
She swerved.
The sedan clipped her rear tire, sending the motorcycle skidding across wet pavement.
Metal screamed against asphalt.
Pain exploded through her shoulder as she hit the ground.
The sedan didn't stop.
It turned around.
Coming back.
Not an accident.
An execution.
Another motorcycle burst into the intersection.
Ryder.
Without hesitation, he accelerated directly into the sedan's path.
The driver jerked the wheel to avoid a head-on collision.
The vehicle smashed through a concrete barrier before disappearing into a cloud of steam and shattered glass.
Ryder abandoned his motorcycle and sprinted toward Sienna.
"Stay with me."
She pushed his hands away.
"I don't need your help."
"You've got blood on your jacket."
"I said I'm fine."
She tried standing.
Her injured ankle immediately gave way.
Before she hit the ground, Ryder caught her.
"I've got you."
She looked up furiously.
"I don't want you to."
"I know."
He lifted her anyway.
She hated herself for noticing he still carried her exactly the same way he had years earlier.
Carefully.
As though she might break.
The hospital confirmed a severe sprain, bruised ribs, and several stitches.
Nothing life-threatening.
Sienna signed the discharge papers within two hours.
She intended to disappear before Ryder returned with coffee.
Instead...
Roman stood outside her room.
"You really don't make life easy."
"I'm not trying to."
He smiled sadly.
"I missed that."
She looked away.
"I didn't miss any of this."
Roman's expression became serious.
"Someone tried to kill you."
"I noticed."
"And they won't stop."
"I can protect myself."
"I know you can."
He hesitated.
"But not from everyone."
Outside the hospital entrance, Ryder waited beside his motorcycle.
"I'm taking you somewhere safe."
She crossed her arms.
"No."
"You don't have a choice."
Her eyes narrowed.
"You still don't understand."
"What?"
"You lost the right to tell me what to do five years ago."
He accepted the words quietly.
"I know."
"Then leave."
He didn't move.
Instead, he handed her a tablet.
She frowned.
"What is this?"
"Traffic cameras."
She looked down.
Someone had been following her for three weeks.
Different vehicles.
Different drivers.
Always the same pattern.
Her expression slowly changed.
"They've been watching me."
"Yes."
"For how long?"
"Long enough to know your routines."
Silence settled between them.
Finally she whispered,
"So this wasn't random."
"No."
He met her eyes.
"It never was."
That evening, Ryder convinced her to relocate temporarily to a secure mountain lodge owned by one of Black Venom's oldest allies.
She hated every second of agreeing.
Not because she doubted the danger.
Because accepting his protection felt dangerously close to trusting him again.
The cabin overlooked miles of pine forest.
Far from cities.
Far from surveillance.
Far from answers.
"You'll have the upstairs room," Ryder said.
"I'm sleeping downstairs."
She looked suspiciously at him.
"You really expect me to believe that's because you're a gentleman?"
A faint smile appeared.
"No."
"Then why?"
"Because if someone comes through that front door..."
He looked directly at her.
"...they'll have to come through me first."
The words stole the air from her lungs.
Five years earlier he had failed to keep that promise.
Today...
He intended to die before breaking it again.
Near midnight, Sienna wandered onto the cabin porch.
The mountains stretched endlessly beneath a sky filled with stars.
She heard the screen door open behind her.
"You should be asleep."
"So should you."
Ryder joined her.
For several moments they simply listened to the wind moving through the pines.
Finally she broke the silence.
"Why did you save me today?"
He looked almost offended.
"I'll always save you."
"Even after everything?"
"There was never an 'after everything' for me."
She searched his face.
"You still think you get to protect me."
"No."
His voice was steady.
"I know I don't."
He stepped closer.
"But nobody else gets to hurt you."
She stared at him.
There was no arrogance in his eyes.
No claim of ownership.
Only fierce determination.
Duty had brought him back into her life.
Love had made walking away impossible.
Hidden in the darkness beyond the cabin, a rifle scope settled briefly on the porch before lowering again.
The unseen observer smiled.
"They're exactly where we need them."
The trap had begun once more.
This time, however, neither Ryder nor Sienna intended to let the past decide the future.
But love, once broken, is rarely repaired without demanding another impossible price.