Risky and Wild(19)
“You'll be safe with me, love,” I tell her, lifting the keys from my pocket with a single finger and sweeping my cut back so she can see the gun in the shoulder holster beneath it. I don't like to carry unless I have to, but after my conversation with the mayor yesterday, I figure the cops should be a lot less likely to pull over a Wolf. “Grab your Glock and let's go.”
The driver's side window on my truck is fixed, but the front end is still a bit of a mess. Since it's mostly cosmetic, I figure I'll worry about it later. I only brought the damn thing to pack up Lyric's stuff, but now I'm really missing my bike.
“You alright over there, love?” I ask as I pull out of Lyric's driveway and follow her directions towards her sister's place. When I glance over, I can see her hand curled around the grip of the gun, her fingers sure and still, expression neutral.
“Fine,” she says, her eyes straying to the glove box for a moment before flicking back to me. “I won't hold what happened against your poor truck.” She smiles, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. Fuck. I almost lost her that day. She could've died … or worse. If I hadn't picked up that phone call, today would be a lot different. I wouldn't be sitting here next to Lyric; I'd be wondering where Mile Wide stashed her body, if they raped her first.
I clench the steering wheel hard, my knuckles white, the tattoos on my fingers stark in the random flickers of orange from the streetlights. There aren't many, especially in this part of town. The city doesn't like them, doesn't like anything that obscures the view of the sea. Two blocks later and everything is dark, most of the residents already asleep in the heart of small town suburbia.
“Thanks for taking me to see her,” Lyric says as she pulls in a deep breath. “I have no idea what I'm going to say when I see her, but …” A shrug of those small shoulders. “I'll figure it out. She has an on-again, off-again boyfriend. I might see if I can get her to stay over there.” Lyric's face flickers with familial annoyance. “Not that it's that difficult. I think she's in love with the guy, but my parents hate him so he's basically out.”
She pauses suddenly and looks over at me, like she's waiting for a reaction.
“What? You think I'll bail if your mum doesn't warm to me right away? Love, I think you have a lot more to worry about from my family than I do from yours.”
“Oh God,” she groans as she runs a hand over her face. “I can't talk about any of this right now. Let's just find Kailey, make sure she's safe and worry about it later.” There's a long pause as I take the turn onto her sister's street, flicking off my headlights and taking it slow, just in case. “Royal, do you have any sisters? Or brothers? Jesus, I don't know a damn thing about you.” She exhales a harsh breath and points out the window before I get a chance to speak. “Stop. It's right here.”
Lyric goes for the handle on her door before I reach out and grip her shoulder. I don't see anything out of place here, but Mile Wide's not going to make a scene if they decide to kidnap the mayor's daughter.
“Hold up there, Pint-Size,” I say, letting go of her shoulder and climbing out of the truck with a hammer on my belt and a semi under my cut. I move around to Lyric's side and let her out, locking the doors and watching as she slips her gun inside her purse. She looks at me for a long moment, my eyes adjusting to the darkness, taking in the gentle, rounded curve of her jaw and cheeks, the feminine softness of her lips.
“Kailey is … oh, screw it,” Lyric says, reaching down and taking my hand, her small fingers curling around mine as she leads the way through the front gate and up the walkway. I let her guide us, my eyes searching the darkness for any sign of movement. I don't expect to see anyone from Mile Wide here tonight, but I sure as hell didn't expect Landon to betray me either.
Life's a bitch sometimes, isn't it?
We pause just outside the front door as Lyric digs around inside her purse and comes up with a key. She doesn't even knock; that's the thing that saves us.
The door unlocks, and I put a finger to my lips, putting Lyric behind me as I slip an arm along the red painted wood and push it inwards, letting it swing softly against the wall. A golden strip of light falls across the cement porch beneath our feet just a split second before a shot rings out, clipping the wood support beam to my right.
“Fuck.” I pull Lyric down and then slip inside the house, sliding my Ruger out and pushing my back into the stairwell to my right before standing up and aiming my gun over the railing. “Sorry, mate.” I pull the trigger once, putting a round through the man's muscular arm before I hit him in the back of the head with the butt of my gun. It takes me all of three seconds before I see the other guy at the top of the stairs.