“You ready?” Asher asks, and she nods through another barrage of tears.
Fuck, I hate to see her cry like this.
Tears of pleasure are one thing, even tears of release, but this is something else entirely, and it’s something I can’t fix.
He’s the first to reach for the handle, and I follow his lead, hoping like hell he knows something I don’t because he’s exuding calm like he used to when he stepped into the octagon.
I used to think it was a show he put on for the crowd. A mask of indifference for his opponents. But after watching him for years, I realized he wasn’t nervous. He wasn’t afraid.
He was ready.
Hannah takes a little longer to climb out, and I wish like hell she’d been sitting behind me, because now there’s a whole SUV between me and the two people who make up my heart.
My son and my woman.
“Hands up,” someone shouts from behind the door of a police cruiser.
I grit my teeth as I follow the command, all the while my eyes track over every face in the sea of blue and red.
Every single one of them is loyal to Jeffrey Malone, which means they’re a threat, and I’ll make sure they all pay the price for this misstep.
It’s not until all three of us comply that I see him. The man responsible for my girl’s misery.
He stands at the back, his town car parked a few yards away, and when he meets my eye, he smirks.
The motherfucker smirks.
Forcing a calm breath into my lungs, I push all the calm I can muster into my words. “What’s the meaning of this?”
Officers descend on us, not providing any explanation as they slam me against the side of the car, stealing the air from my lungs.
“Careful with her,” Asher growls, and a fresh wave of rage rushes over me.
Death will be too kind a fate for whoever has their hands on my woman, and I fully intend to deliver the fucker to the Grim Reaper myself.
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
HANNAH
The air whooshes from my lungs on impact, but the uncomfortable feeling is quickly replaced with pain.
Asher’s words go ignored as the officer gathering my hands behind me takes pleasure in shoving me into the cool metal for a second time, just to hear me yelp.
“We haven’t done anything wrong,” I force the words out, but they’re hysterical. I’m so scared, I don’t know how to regulate my body, let alone force anything resembling calm to the surface.
“You’re required by law to read us our rights, including explaining what you’re arresting us for,” Asher growls, pulling my eyes to his murderous gaze.
Once my hands are secured behind my back, I’m tugged away from the SUV and shoved forward. I almost lose my footing but manage to stop myself from falling.
I catch sight of Rowan being dragged forward by another cop, but some of his anger falls away when he meets my eye.
“I’m going to sue every single one of you motherfuckers,” Asher snaps. “I hope you and your families aren’t fond of your lives, because I’m going to take every single cent you’re worth. You have no grounds to arrest us.”
“You’re being arrested for attempted abduction of Hannah Malone,” the officer with the megaphone provides.
“They weren’t abducting me! I want to go with them!” I shout, my body trembling with a toxic cocktail of fear and rage.
He shrugs. “That’s what’s been reported.”
