Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Tears streamed down Serena’s cheeks and beaded on Milo’s leather jacket.
She peeked open an eye and Angelo’s brooding glare singed her to the spot.
He sat on the pavement leaning against his vehicle, his hands tied behind his back.
His hair fell in rumpled waves around his face.
Blood blossomed on his shoulder, through his light-blue shirt.
Brock’s legs blocked her vision as he stepped in front of Angelo.
Sirens sounded in the distance and the chirping of cicadas and crickets echoed in the night.
She sucked on another sob and pulled back to look at Milo.
His green rings drove into her, as vibrant as fresh-cut emeralds.
A ring of forest green etched his irises, and she let her hand slide over the much-too-long stubble dotting the lower half of his face.
His brow wrenched into a grimace, and he lowered his forehead to hers.
“I’m so sorry,” he breathed. His mouth lifted to press a kiss between her eyes and then dropped to the now tender spot near her ear and her lips. His heat seeped through her trembling limbs.
“For what? You saved me.”
“No, I didn’t.” His voice turned hard. “If you hadn’t elbowed him in the face, I wouldn’t have gotten a clean shot.”
She smiled. “That was pretty quick of me.”
His deep, throaty laugh pushed away some of the shock that had been closing in around her.
“You’re safe now, babe.”
Brock and Peyton’s voices penetrated the clouds separating Milo and her from the commotion around them, and Dani’s voice floated to her ears. Relief filled Serena, but she had to clear something from her chest before she peeled herself from the cozy, muscular cushion of Milo’s lap.
She traced his cheekbone with her thumb, committing the line to memory.
“Earlier,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Before we left for Peyton’s, you asked if I would forgive you.
” She lifted her eyes to his. The skin around his eyes crinkled, and a shadow of pain crossed his face. He nodded.
She wet her lips. “I forgive you for leaving me . . . Milo, we were kids. I don’t hold that against you.”
He grimaced. “I did it again at Alban’s.”
She pursed her lips. “Yeah, and I think you regretted that.”
He closed his eyes and shook his head. His chest expanded against hers. He opened his eyes again and, if she wasn’t mistaken, moisture clouded the whites of his eyes. He blinked, and it vanished.
“More than you’ll ever know.” The words pitched, tugging at her heart strings. She swept her other hand to the back of his head and rose up on her knees.
“Don’t do it again, all right?”
“Never.” A curse fell from his lips as her mouth connected with his. She eased her tongue through the part in his teeth and licked into his mouth. He splayed his hands against her back and his moan oscillated on her palms. She grinned and swept her tongue over his heady taste.
“Ah-hem.”
Serena jerked and swung her head to see Dani standing beside them, her toe tapping the pavement.
“I see nothing’s changed between you two.”
Milo’s hand fell to her ass, and then he shifted his legs underneath her and stood with her in his arms. Heat flooded her cheeks, and she wiggled until he set her on her feet. Damn, he was strong. Police cruisers skidded to a halt, and an ambulance rolled up the hill behind them.
Serena left Milo’s side and pulled Dani into a tight embrace. The scent of dirt, sweat, and blood surrounded her, and Serena squeezed her eyes tight. “Thank god,” she wheezed.
Dani chuckled. “Oh, come on. You really didn’t think that was how I was going to go down, did you?” Leave it to her sister to make a wiseass crack at a time like this. Despite her tough front, a quake rattled Dani’s shoulders. Serena pulled back to examine her face. Fresh fury flooded her veins.
“That bastard,” she hissed.
Dani touched her cheek. “Yeah, he got in a few good shots. You gave him what was coming to him better than I could have.”
An image of her running-shoe-covered feet bucking Ian’s body out of the car formed in her mind. She clamped her hand over her mouth. “Oh my god. I’ve killed two men . . .”
“Shh.” Milo’s sharp hiss brought her lips together. A car door shut and she looked over Dani’s shoulder. A man exited a black sedan. Serena pulled Dani beside her as she backed up closer to Milo.
“Who’s that?”
“Rhett.” Milo’s arm hooked around her waist. “I’ll talk to him, wait here.” Milo left her side and met Rhett near his car.
Peyton pulled her into a fierce hug, and Serena winced. The shock was subsiding, and pain sunk into her sore muscles. She hugged Peyton back and smiled.
“Thank you for everything.”
Peyton pinched her strawberry-blonde eyebrows together. “I hope you’re kidding. I’ve been sitting around wringing my hands like my nervous grandmother since they took you.” She turned to Dani and clasped her hand.
Serena frowned. “Wait. Dani, what was all that talk about the job being too big and me stealing your ex? I thought you were hinting at your next job, so we pegged Alfonso as being behind the kidnapping.”
Dani made an O shape with her mouth. “Shoot, I was trying to tell you it was Angelo.”
Serena tilted her head. “I don’t get it.”
“The job that was too big was the one that Sebastian and Angelo did together before Sebastian ratted him out, and the ex comment was to hint at Milo.”
“Well crap. That didn’t even cross my mind.”
Dani shrugged. “Sorry, I was trying to word it in a way that wouldn’t alert Ian that I was giving you a message.”
“I’m so sorry. I should have—”
“Stop,” Dani said. “There’s nothing you should have done differently.
It’s all over now.” Her words dropped with the weight of an anvil.
The glare of emergency vehicles and glow of flashlights illuminated more of Dani’s appearance than she’d originally taken in.
Greasy, tangled strands of her hair stuck to her face, and the neckline of her shirt was torn, revealing her breast cradled in a pink bra.
A bruise the shade of an overripe avocado blossomed around her eye.
Serena glanced over her shoulder so Dani wouldn’t see her wince at the sight of her. Her sister needed a shirt or blanket, or something. The area filled with officers, and two paramedics unloaded a gurney from the back of the ambulance. Serena started forward but Brock stepped in front of her.
His bare chest heaved and Serena rose her eyebrows an inch. What the hell?
“Can I talk to her?”
Serena swallowed and looked back at her sister. Dani stood with her arms circling her waist, her eyes glued on Brock. His T-shirt dangled from his hand.
“Uh, yeah. Peyton,” she said, jerking her head. Peyton let go of Dani and stepped away. Serena backed up enough paces to be considered a respectable distance, but in no way would she abandon Dani—even with Brock.
She watched as Brock said something to her sister, his brow crunched in a deep frown.
His hand came up and rubbed Dani’s arm and, just like that, her sister’s mouth quivered and she dropped her face to Brock’s bare chest. Tears crowded Serena’s eyes.
Dani needed to talk about what had happened.
Serena hoped to hell Dani wanted to talk to her, but if she chose Brock, then so be it.
As long as she wasn’t holding in the abuse she’d endured, which would be typical behavior for Dani.
Two cops strode toward Brock and Dani. Brock pulled away, shook open his T-shirt, and fit it over Dani’s head.
His arm locked around her waist. Dani’s hand shook as she pushed her hair behind her ear, her face now hard.
Given her ramrod stance, it was difficult to believe she’d been in tears only seconds before.
“You okay?” Milo approached, his hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket. Her gaze shifted to the man a couple of paces behind him. She nodded and cleared her throat.
“Ms. Smith, I have some questions for you, if you don’t mind.”
Milo hadn’t had a chance to prepare Serena for the cop’s questions, but she’d given her statement without pause.
She’d stayed as close to the truth as possible but left out every detail that would tie any of them to a crime.
Had Rhett not been there, things wouldn’t have gone as smoothly.
Rhett wasn’t stupid, and his old ally’s words echoed in Milo’s head.
You wouldn’t happen to know anything about a burglary at Titus Phillips’s house, would you?
All the self-control in the world couldn’t have hidden his smirk, but he’d feigned innocence. Rhett had made a face. Never mind. Don’t tell me any more.
His dad, who’d been loaded into a second ambulance, had lost a lot of blood.
Dani had already identified him as her captor, so if Angelo recovered, he’d be heading right back to jail.
Ratting out Sebastian had been tempting, but they couldn’t do so without tying Serena to Titus’s robbery.
Sebastian would get his karma. Milo just had to make sure Serena had no part in delivering it.
They rode in silence after dropping Peyton off at her apartment. They’d all stopped at the hospital long enough for Serena to assure Dani she would pick her up in the morning. Brock had insisted on staying the night there with Dani, and she hadn’t refused.
Serena’s hand buried itself into Milo’s while he drove.
“Do you think Brock and Dani will get back together?” he finally asked.
Serena chuckled, and the wire of concern that had been wrapped around his chest released a bit.
It was a frivolous, unnecessary question.
The last thing on his mind was Dani and Brock’s relationship, but the need to lighten the moment after the stress of the night weighed on him.
“No.”
He glanced at her before returning his attention to the road. “Why not? She was pretty content to have him at the hospital.”