Hard Bastard(37)

“Nice knowing you, traitor.”

I turned and walked away.

There was nothing left to do. I got back into the car and drove home, trying to figure out what my next move was going to be.

It was good that Alex didn’t know about Kuzma yet. That meant SadieSadie was still safe back home. I hated leaving her there alone but I knew that it was for the best. She needed some time to herself to try and heal, and I needed to make sure that I was sharp.

Now though, my place wasn’t safe. They knew where I lived and it was going to be the first place they checked. I probably had a few hours before orders came down from Vadik and men were sent out to my place to kill me and Sadie, but I wasn’t going to wait that long.

We had to get out ahead of this, or else we were both going to end up dead on the ground.





Chapter 15





Sadie





Alone in a strange house with the mob after me was not how I pictured my day was going to go. I figured I’d be in meetings, prep my cases, do my usual routine. Instead, I was sitting on the couch staring at a blank television with a gun in my hand, jumping at every single noise I heard.

From what I could tell, Gage’s house was outside of town back in the woods. I couldn’t see any neighbors out his windows, just endless forest. He had a short lawn on all sides and then the trees started. The driveway disappeared into the forest, blanketed by trees on all side.

I wanted to go outside and explore, but I was too afraid. Instead, I clutched the gun and didn’t move a muscle, straining to hear everything imaginable.

I kept picturing what I’d do if men suddenly tried to break into the house. My first thought was to scream and run, but maybe I’d take up the stance that Gage showed me and start firing. Maybe I wouldn’t survive, but I’d at least try and take a few of those bastards down with me.

I didn’t know what kind of life I was going to be able to have now that the mafia wanted me dead. We were probably going to have to go on the run, and I was going to have to disappear with Gage. Assuming Gage even wanted to do that. I didn’t want to rip him away from his life, but it looked like that had already happened despite everything. I uprooted myself once and moved across the country to get a fresh start and I didn’t know if I could do that again.

I likely couldn’t work. I definitely couldn’t work as an ADA, since that was way too public of a position. Maybe Gage could keep doing whatever it was that he did for the mafia, but probably not. I didn’t even know what he did, and that was frustrating in itself.

I was totally in the dark, and it looked like more darkness was coming.

The only light was Gage, and even that was murky. I didn’t know where that was going, or if it could even go somewhere. We were totally different people.

I wished I could go back in time and stop myself from taking on this case, but I couldn’t. Now I just wanted to see it through, finish it off, put those bastards behind bars, but I couldn’t do that, either. I knew that the police were corrupt and they weren’t going to be any help to me. As soon as I walked back into that DA’s office, I was totally screwed.

And that was messed up. The justice system should be there to protect people, but that wasn’t the case. They just wanted to make their money like everyone else in this corrupt world, and people like me were thrown under the bus as a sacrifice just to keep it all going.

I was so angry and frustrated. I didn’t know how long I sat there, staring off into space, my mind running in a million different directions. Suddenly, I heard a car come up the drive.

Fear lanced through me. It had been over an hour since Gage left, and I had no clue how long he thought he would be. He told me three hours and I should run, but did that mean he would be back much sooner if things were going okay?

My heart was pounding. I heard the engine shut off and the car door slam shut. Someone walked up the front steps and was standing outside.

There was scratching at the doorknob. I stood, panicking, and raised the gun.

I was going to take those bastards out. They weren’t going to rape me no matter what, they weren’t going to get their hands on me.

The door opened. I pressed the trigger, but it was harder than I thought it would be.

“Sadie!”

I looked up at Gage. I stopped squeezing the trigger.

“Fucking shit, girl,” he said, his hands out toward me. “Put that fucking gun down.”

I blinked then nodded. I slowly put it down on the floor.

“Fuck,” he said. “That’s one fucked up way to come home.”

“I’m sorry,” said. “I thought you were them. I wasn’t going to let them take me again.”

He grinned at me. “It’s fine. You just fucking surprised me.”