“Kam?” He stretched out a hand for her to take. “It’s me. Come on. We’ve got to get you to a safer place.
Her head shot up, her eyes frantically searching his. “Van? Oh, thank God!” She took his hand and let him pull her out of the shower. “I woke up to someone shooting and saw thatyou were gone, and I thought…” She threw herself into his arms. “I thought you were dead.”
Not yet.
“I’m good.” He kissed the top of her head while simultaneously easing her back out of his arms. “But we need to get the hell out of here, and I can’t do that unless I know you’re safe. So I need you to do exactly as I say…no arguing this time. Got it?”
Her head bobbed with a jerky nod.
“I want you to go into the kitchen and get under the table. And I want you to stay there until I come get you. Okay?”
“Okay, but…what about you?”
He looked down into the eyes of the woman he knew he was falling for and said, “I’m going to end this.”
She didn’t argue or try to stop him. It wouldn’t have done her any good. Instead, Kam’s gorgeous face fell into a look of acceptance and resolve as she leaned up, kissed his lips, and told him?—
“Please be careful.”
He watched as she did exactly as she’d been told. Keeping her deliciously naked body down low, Kam went straight for the booth a few feet away and disappeared beneath the table.
Good girl.
Van continued dodging bullets on his way back to the cabin door. A cool and collected rage coursed through his veins, and he was more than ready to take these fuckers out.
They’d come after him. His home. And most importantly, his woman.
There was no way in hell he was letting them get away.
With his gun up and at the ready, Van moved cautiously as he went back outside. The boat was coming back around to his right, and this time…he was ready.
He crouched down behind the table mounted to the deck. He held his gun steady, knowing approximately right whereto aim. The sound of the other boat’s motor grew nearer, and when Van spotted the first man he saw…
He took the shot. The passenger of the boat jerked back before falling into the water. Van shot again, this time aiming at the driver, but his bullet missed its mark, and the man continued to live.
One down, one to go.
The remaining attacker kept a hand on the wheel while shooting blindly toward Van’s boat. Those bullets went wide, but they kept him pinned down behind the table long enough for the target’s boat to disappear to the other side.
Anticipating the asshole’s next move, Van left the cover of the table for the opposite—and wide-open—portion of the small deck. An eerie calm fell over him, and he may have even smiled just a tad, because the idiot trying to kill him had played right into Van’s hand.
Speaking of hands…
He lowered himself into a squat, raised his gun and waited. As expected, the asshole driving the other boat had spun back around.
Three…two…
Van pulled his trigger. The driver’s right arm flew back. The gun he’d been holding fell from his hand before hitting the edge of the boat and falling into the water below.
But he hadn’t gotten the man well enough, because the asshole was still alive. Not only that, but he was driving the hell away. And his boat was too fast for Van’s bullets to stop it.
Fuck!
He blew out a breath and waited, not trusting that the hit man wouldn’t return. Only when the guy’s boat became so small it was impossible to see did Van rush back to check on Kam.
“It’s me,” he announced loudly the second he opened the door. “You can come out now. It’s safe.”
She immediately crawled out from beneath the table and ran to him. He’d barely made it down the few stairs before she threw herself into his arms.
