“When we reach New Orleans we will.” Thankfully, the driver turned into the station.
“You mean amongst thousands of soldiers, all armed with Ak-47s and other big machine guns. Do they carry grenades with them too? I mean…” Another yawn. “No decent mafia man would be without his grenades. Right?” Her giggle indicated her level of exhaustion.
“Absolutely. We have big tanks as well. Just in case we need to run over any giant Humvees.”
“Mmm… Sounds great.”
Smiling, I stared at the darkened road, wondering how in the hell I’d gotten here. I didn’t need to see if she’d fallen asleep. I could tell by her soft snores. While I was tempted to continue driving, when the sign for the motel came into view, I knew stopping for the rest of the night was the decent thing to do.
Up until a week ago, I’d say decency wasn’t on my list of attributes, but around her, that’s all I wanted to be.
A civilized, respectable man.
CHAPTER 23
Fleur
“Don’t you fucking touch her.”
“She’s my fiancée, Dan. I’ll touch her any time I want. Now, be a good little boy and get the fuck out of here.”
“Leave him alone, Zane. I’ll talk to him. Come on, Danny, just walk with me.” I touched his arm, trying to steer him toward the door. In doing so, I threw Zane a nasty look. Tears were already fogging my eyes from the pain, my cheek starting to swell.
“Yeah, sure,” my brother growled, taking a step back. Then Zane made the mistake of laughing and that was all Danny could take.
He threw himself at Zane, tackling the man to the floor.
“Stop. Danny, please just stop.”
Danny threw a punch, catching Zane in the nose, but my fiancé was too strong, pitching my brother halfway across the room. That didn’t stop Danny.
“Stop it. Both of you.” As soon as I threw myself in the middle of them, I was tossed aside.
“Don’t you dare touch my sister!”
I slid to the floor, winded from the hard blow, yet I fought with everything I had to scramble to my feet. Zane would hurt him.
It was too late. Zane had him by the throat. “Let me tell you something, kid. If you dare walk into my office again, I will kill you.”
Gasping, I threw my arms out, fighting the horrible man as he squeezed my brother’s neck. “No. No…” Seconds later, the images in my mind began to fade as light pulled into my periphery of vision. My breathing continued to be labored and every muscle in my body was clenched tightly.
As I slowly glanced around me, it took a few seconds to realize what I was looking at. The light was bright enough that the shadows from the horrible nightmare began to fade, leaving the sight drab and ugly. A strange giggle formed, which was completely out of place. A horrible sense of loss tumbled through me and I realized almost instantly why.
Danny was dead. Zane had made good on his threat.
After taking another deep breath, the fog began to lift, exposing the full ugliness of the motel room. At least we were safe.
Only where had Montgomery gone?
An instant sweep of terror forced me half off the bed. There were bags in the room, a liquor bottle on the table. A chair had been propped up in front of the door with the old-fashioned security chain in place. I planted my feet on the floor, feeling both unstable and full of anguish. What if he’d left me here? Did I have my phone?
Would he do something like that?
No, he wouldn’t. Montgomery was many things, but a cad wasn’t one of them. No. Not him.
Panic swept through me and I rushed to the window, peering out around the drapes. Where the hell had he parked? There was almost no light in the parking lot and what there was created ominous shadows.
Just like the motel where Danny had…
