Inside, the house erupts in chaos. Ava’s scream tears through it.
Basement.
I kick the door open and take the stairs two at a time.
At the bottom, I find her.
Tied to a chair. Blood on her cheek. Hair tangled. Still fighting.
The blond woman turns.
I shoot her in the leg. She drops, screaming.
A man steps out of the shadows. I know that face from Ghost’s photo.
Richard Smith.
“She came back on her own,” he sneers.
I hit him so hard he crumples like paper.
“Mason,” Ava chokes.
I’m already untying her. Her skin is ice. Her lips split and shaking.
“I’ve got you,” I murmur. “I’ve got you, baby.”
Saint and Havoc crash in behind me.
“We’re clear,” Havoc pants.
I lift Ava into my arms. She clings to me, trembling, face buried in my neck.
“I thought you weren’t coming,” she whispers.
“I’m here,” I tell her. “I’ll always come.”
Outside, Saint is already calling in an anonymous kidnapping tip. Our cleanup crew handles the rest before the sirens ever get close.
I carry her away from the house, away from the woods, away from the man who hurt her.
And I swear in my bones, he will never touch her again.
Chapter 10
Viper
Theridebackisa blur.
Ava clings to me on the bike, arms wrapped tight around my waist, her body trembling with exhaustion.
Her face is tucked against my back, and I can feel every shake of her breath through my cut.
The engine roars beneath us, but the only sound I care about is the steady thrum of her heartbeat pressed to mine.
The roads twist through Lovestone Ridge, familiar and dark. She’s quiet. I don’t push her to speak. Not yet. Not until I get her home.
My home.
