Hands grabbed her and startled her into a yelp. “Not yet, sweetheart.” She didn’t recognize the voice or the rough grip. Fear overwhelmed her, and she struggled to get free. But her captor seemed so much bigger and stronger. Panicked, she tried to turn to see him. “I’m gonna break your sexy little neck, bitch. And won’t that make him so sad?”
Then all hell broke loose. What sounded likemuffled pops, stools breaking, and swearing added to the scent of blood, suddenly pooling beneath her feet.
She shrieked and jerked out of her assailant’s arms—right into Noel.
“Are you okay?” he growled. “Addy, are you okay?”
She nodded, shaky and confused.
He pushed her toward the front door and tucked her under a counter. “Stay low and don’t leave.”
She nodded,still unsure what the hell was going on.
The door had closed again, and Noel was fighting with someone. But on the floor in front of her lay a man with his eyes closed, a bullet lodged in the center of his forehead.
None of it looked real. It couldn’t be real, could it? This had to be some kind of gag. Where was Deacon?
Noel and the tall man he fought returned to view, andshe watched in astonishment as Noel used hand-to-hand moves she’d once seen in a Kung Fu movie. He moved with grace and lethal purpose as he smacked a knife out of the tall man’s hands, then struck his forearm at the man’s throat, kicked at his knee, and aimed another blow at his solar plexus. He then flipped the man onto his back, the guy landing in the blood next to his associate.
A gunappeared in Noel’s hand, and he shoved it under his enemy’s chin. In a calm voice that scared the crap out of her because it was so unemotional, he said, “Who sent you?”
“Fuck you,” the guy wheezed.
Addy wondered if he’d broken some ribs, because the man sounded in pain and was having a difficult time breathing.
Noel stared, his gaze emptier than anything she’d seen. Thenhe removed the gun from the underside of the man’s chin and shot him in the knee. The man would have screamed loud enough to bring attention had Noel not covered his mouth. Noel returned the gun to the man’s throat. “Your name, or you lose the other knee.”
It was like something out of a gangster movie.Oh my God. Noel shot someone.She glanced at the dead body.Killed someone.
“Ican get it off your prints easily enough,” Noel said quietly. “But I’ll let you live if you give it to me.”
Her mouth dry, Addy found it hard to breathe.
“Wilkes, you bastard. Yeah, you know that name. You killed my brother.”
What?
Noel aimed the gun higher, at the man’s thigh. “Femoral arteries can be tricky things. Who’s your friend?” He nodded to the dead man.
“I just met Rene yesterday. And before you ask again, I can’t tell you who hired me. It was a contract hit. You know how that works.”
Noel shot a glance at Addy, then murmured something to the guy she couldn’t make out. He pulled back the gun, then slammed it into the man’s head and knocked him out. Then Noel was on his phone, asking someone named Big Joe for assistance.
Hehung up, stood, then found tape to tie up the living guy’s hands. The dead body he left bleeding all over the floor. Noel moved to the front door and locked it. Then he crouched by Addy, who couldn’t stop shivering.
He sighed and held out a hand. “It’s okay, honey. The danger’s gone.”
When she just stared at him, fuzzy and weepy and scared, he stroked her cheek. And he looked…sad.
“I’m so sorry, Addy. If I’d thought you could be in danger, I never would have brought you with me.” Then he tugged her to her feet and shocked her once more. He hugged her tight, patted her back, and she let the tears fall.
Noel felt like absolute shit.Had he been just a few minutes faster, it wouldn’t have taken him so long to track her down. As it was, he’d almost had aheart attack when he’d burst into the abandoned storefront to see some dickhead with a gun in one hand grabbing her by the throat.
To be honest, he’d expected more of a fight. But Rene had gone down too easily. Wilkes had challenged him, but with nothing Noel couldn’t handle. Again, these assailants just didn’t measure up. No way the Business had sent them.
So where did that leavehim?
With a frightened woman he’d just exposed to intense violence. A woman who would never look at him the same way again. He hugged her tighter and turned her from the bodies. Poor Addy. She should never have borne witness to this.
