The tension is terrible in the car, and I know we all feel it. This whole scenario seems inevitable and a little anticlimactic, and that makes me nervous.
We drive for ten minutes, and I sit up straighter in the passenger seat as Saint pulls into the entrance of Prestwick Forest.Is the training facility in here?
Saint parks in the gravelly parking lot, cutting the engine. No one speaks, and I grow tired of the awkward atmosphere. “Someone, say something.” My gaze jumps between them. “Anything. Even if it’s you hate me.”
“Lo.” Saint leans across the console, taking my face in his and smashing his lips down on mine in a surprising move. He ravishes my mouth, kissing me like he’s afraid he might never get to do it again.
I barely hear the other vehicle pulling up alongside us because I’m so consumed in his kiss. He pours it all out, letting his lips do the talking.
“What was that?” I ask when we break apart.
“This is fucked up, babe.” A muscle pops in his jaw. “He can’t get his hands on you.”
Things slot into place. They’re not taking me to the training facility. They’re taking me someplace else. “Where are you taking me?”
“Someplace safe,” he replies.
I grab onto his arm. “You heard him. He will kill you if you cross him.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Caz says, poking his head through the gap between the front two seats.
“We’re not letting him do this to you,” Theo adds, determination transparent in his tone and his face.
“You’re one of us,” Saint says, grabbing the back of my neck and planting a hard kiss on my mouth. “And we protect our own,” he confirms when he rips his lips from mine. He climbs out of the car, rounds the front, and opens my door.
“Stay safe, princess,” Caz says, tilting my face and leaning forward to press a forceful kiss to my lips. His tongue swirls around my mouth, and I sigh against his lips. When we break apart, he rests his forehead against mine before sitting back in his seat.
“We’ll see you soon,” Theo says, planting a tender kiss on my cheek. It’s a genuine, concerned gesture that gives me so many feels. As he conveys silent promises with his eyes, I swallow over the messy lump in my throat, not properly understanding why they would go against their president for me but grateful they are.
Galen gets out of the Mitsubishi, eyeing me with suspicion. “What’s going on?”
I slide out of Saint’s car.
“I need you to take Harlow to the safehouse out by Grenlow.”
“Why the fuck are we taking her anywhere?” he demands.
“There isn’t time to explain,” Saint says, opening the passenger door of Caz’s ride and ushering me inside. “Just protect her until we get there. I’m counting on you.”
Galen stares at his cousin as if he’s insane. Then, he slowly shakes his head, walking back around to the driver side and getting in.
Saint crouches down before me, taking my hands. “We’re going to grab some shit from the house. I’ll get some of your things, and then, we’ll follow you up there. Galen will keep you safe.”
I wish it was anyone but Galen I was going with, but Saint calls the shots, and he knows what he’s doing. I need to place my trust in him because I don’t have many options right now. “Okay.”
“Give me your cell,” Saint commands, and I hand it over. He smashes it with his foot until it resembles nothing more than scraps of metal and glass. There wasn’t time to save the footage from the field to the cloud, so the recording is lost to me now. “I’ll bring you a burner,” he adds before nodding at Galen and walking off.
Galen starts up the car, backing out as we watch Saint get into his Land Rover.
We don’t speak, but that suits me fine, because the waves of hostility rolling off Galen aren’t comforting. I lean my head against the window, closing my eyes but not falling asleep, because I need to keep my wits about me.
When we pull into the gas station on the outskirts of Prestwick a short while later, I sit up straighter, my head whipping to Galen as prickles of apprehension skate across my skin. I reach for my gun, but cold metal presses into my temple.
“I’ll blow your brains out without hesitation,” he threatens, pushing the muzzle in harder as he drives around the rear of the building one-handed. “Take the belt off and toss it in the back seat.”
I do as he asks, glaring at him the whole time. “Whatever you’ve done, you should reconsider.”
He snorts. “Shut your mouth. There’s nothing you can say that’ll get you out of this. I’m not like the others. I’m not so easily manipulated.”
