“Kevin. He took Celine by gunpoint, and I have no clue where they’re going. We’ve got to find her.”
Spencer took the information and promised to handle it before disconnecting.
Lane sank onto the hard gravel and allowed himself one more second to wallow in the guilt and fear weighing him down. He couldn’t lose Celine. Not again. Not after they’d made their way back to each other and had a future full of everything he’d ever dreamed of waiting for him.
Sniffing back tears, he rose and tightened his jaw. He stared at his buddy, knowing Duke would stand beside him and do whatever it took to get her back.
Because if he didn’t, there was no way he’d ever survive.
20
Celine kept her gaze fixed outside the passenger side window, memorizing every turn Kevin made as he zipped out of town. The further he drove the more confused she was by their location.
The starless sky didn’t help. The world beyond the headlights remained hidden in the shadows. The street signs close to invisible as they whipped by.
Silence settled over the car like a scratchy blanket—awkward and uncomfortable. She searched for something she could say to make Kevin see reason. To change his mind, turn the car around, and leave her out of this.
Curiosity got the best of her, and she couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. “I still don’t understand what I have to do with any of this. You said these goons came after me to show you they’d hurt the people you love, right?”
Kevin tightened his grip on the steering wheel and nodded. “Yep.”
“Then they, what, kidnapped you? Took you somewhere to beat the crap out of you then just let you go?”
“You’ve always been a smart one, haven’t you?”
She rolled her eyes but kept pressing. “Then what’s the point of taking me now? I don’t have any money. No assets. Hell, my house is a rental. I didn’t get a penny from you, never asked for a damn thing after I left. So what’s the point of hauling me out of Lane’s house at gunpoint and shoving me in your car?”
Nothing but the whoosh of tires over the asphalt and silence answered her.
“Dammit, Kevin! Tell me what you want from me!” She slapped her palm against the dashboard, angry with being at his mercy.
Lifting his hand, he aimed the gun her way. “Stop it! Stop yelling and asking so many damn questions. It doesn’t matter now. All that matters is I figured a way out of this, and you’re the key. Now keep your mouth shut.”
Tears streamed down her face. She bit into her bottom lip to keep from saying more. A whimper leaked from her mouth, but she couldn’t chance pissing him off enough that he’d shoot her in the car. Kill her before she had a chance to come up with an escape plan.
Minutes rolled into miles and her heart ached with each passing second. So much distance between her and Parker—her and Lane. The reality that she might never make it back to them crushed her like a ton of bricks.
No. She couldn’t think like that. Couldn’t go to that dark part of her mind where defeat was imminent. Shewouldfind a way back home to her family.
Family.
She closed her eyes as her breath hitched high in her throat. She finally had a family. A man she loved, who seemed hellbent on showing her that he wanted her in his life. A child she adored more than life itself.
And come hell or high water, she’d find a way to get back to them.
The vehicle slowed and jostled, alerting her to the change of terrain under the wheels. Her body bounced with the motion, and she squinted out the window. The outline of the mountains dominated the horizon and a blast of lights sparkled in the distance.
“Is that the casino?” A new fear spiked in her chest. If Kevin brought her somewhere that was just the two of them, she might find a way out. But the casino? If he was hand delivering her to the goons he needed to pay off, her chances of surviving this grew slimmer and slimmer.
Kevin didn’t even spare her a glance. Just kept staring out the front window, kept driving.
“What? You can’t pay them so I’m the payment? Hand me over and it’ll wipe your slate clean?” Hysteria spiraled out of control inside her, looping her insides into a jumbled bunch of strobing panic.
Another turn led them away from the glimmering lights, but it did nothing to release the pressure threatening to blow like an active volcano.
Oh God, what would they do with her? It’d be better to take a bullet to the head than endure whatever a bunch of criminals planned.
Memories of her attacker laying on top of her flashed in her mind. Her stomach heaved. No, she couldn’t go through that. Not again.
