But the guards’ silent slide to the ground suited his purposes. He glanced back without slowing down. Mark and his men would remove the bodies and take out their replacements, leaving Aiden and Dmitri free to search the warehouse. There was a second team coming in from the backwith the same intention. At the south warehouse, James was doing the same thing. One of them would find her.
They had to.
He strode into the warehouse and froze. Charlie sat in the middle of the space, her head lolling, covered in so much blood it was a wonder she had any left in her body. He started for her, but Romanov threw out a hand and stopped him short. “Not yet.”
That’s when he noticed the moaning body at Charlie’s feet. Mae.
Aiden shoved Romanov’s hand away and stalked across the space. A movement in the hallway between two stacks of pallets morphed into a massive man who looked intent on murder. Aiden didn’t give him the chance to take another step. He shot him.
He kicked the chair across from Charlie out of the way and pointed the gun at Mae.
“Wait.” Charlie’s voice rasped through the roaring in his ears.
He didn’t look away from the woman on the ground. “This is the only way.”
“Aiden,wait.”
He kicked the knife away from Mae’s side and then used the same foot to flip her over onto her back. Her nose was definitely broken, the bottom half of her face covered in blood. She blinked at him. “What are you doing here?” The words came out jumbled.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t shoot you.”
“Aiden.” Charlie took a shuddering breath. “Aiden, call my dad. Do this the right way. Please.”
He didn’t want to. Mae was a threat—even if the theoretical trial managed to come down in their favor and puther behind bars, she could orchestrate a whole lot of damage from a prison cell. “You won’t be safe as long as she’s alive.” His finger hovered on the trigger, his need to keep Charlie safe overriding everything else.
But if he shot Mae right now in cold blood, he’d lose Charlie forever.
He took one step back, and then another. “Romanov, get something to tie her with.”
“This is a mistake.” But the Russian did as he asked.
Aiden grabbed the knife from the ground and moved to cut Charlie’s ties. “How hurt are you?”
“I’m alive.”
It was an answer and no answer at all. He kept a hand on her shoulder so she wouldn’t slump out of the chair, and moved around to check her injuries. There were shallow cuts everywhere, but judging from the amount of blood that was half-dried, she wouldn’t bleed out like he’d feared before they could get to safety. He glanced over to make sure Romanov had secured Mae and then back to Charlie. “Fuck, Charlie.” He kissed her, quick and light, and then picked her up to cradle her against his chest. “Let’s go home.”
The fact that she didn’t argue with his carrying her told him exactly how hurt she was. He turned to Romanov, but the Russian had a phone to his ear and a vaguely annoyed look on his face. He hung up and slipped it into his pocket. “We have to leave now.”
“Cops?”
“Feds.”
It figured. He didn’t know if John Finch had a way to track his daughter, but if Aiden had been driven batshit crazy with the knowledge that Charlie was at Mae’s mercy, surely even a stone-cold bastard like the fed would be affected.
He held Charlie closer and started for the door. “Leave Mae for them.”
“Gladly.” Romanov didn’t follow him, though. “You may use my residence for a stopover before returning to Boston.”
“Where are you going?”
“I have business to attend to.”
It wasn’t really an answer, but Aiden had more pressing concerns than Romanov’s games—namely, getting Charlie somewhere safe so he could clean her up and figure out how badly she was injured.
So he could apologize for getting her into this mess to begin with.
He shouldered out the door and stopped short. Mark and his men were facing off with cops. All had their guns drawn and steely looks on their faces, but his attention was caught and held by the man in the center. John Finch.
