Page 69 of Vicious Temptation

She doesn’t answer as she edges around me, moving closer to the bleeding man sprawled near the door.

“What are you doing?”

“I need to see something.”

“Don’t get close to him.”

She kneels anyway, ignoring me as if I’m no longer in the room.

“Remi,” I grit out.

Before she can touch him, tires screech on the pavement outside. My attention snaps to the front windows as two blacked-out cars barrel into the lot, and armed men pour out.

Fuck.

This wasn’t random.

“Incoming!”

Remi’s head snaps up, but there’s no time to explain. I sprint toward her, hook an arm around her waist, and haul her up as I run toward the back of the shop.

“Thiago!” she shouts. “Put me down. What is it? What did you see?”

I kick open the back door and set her on her feet. “More men. Armed. Move.”

That’s all it takes.

She runs beside me toward the truck, and I yank open the passenger door.

“Get in.”

For once, she doesn’t argue.

I barely wait for her door to slam before throwing the truck into gear. The tires spin as I punch through a chain-link fence and tear down the back alley, checking the rearview mirror until several turns put enough distance between us and the shop that I’m certain no one followed us.

“What the hell happened back there?” I demand.

“What makes you think I know?” she fires back. “I’ve never seen that bastard in my life.”

I believe her.

“Can you think of any reason someone might target you?”

She stares through the windshield, her lips pressed tightly together as her breathing slowly evens out.

“No.”

This time, I’m not sure I believe her. She won’t look at me, and there’s a stiffness in her posture that wasn’t there a second ago.

But I don’t push.

She was just shot at and nearly killed. No matter how composed she looks, nobody walks away from something like that unaffected.

“I have to call this in. You’re going to have to stick around for questioning.”

“Take me home.”

I exhale slowly. “Remi, I can’t do that. There’s probably surveillance footage, and we can’t sweep this under the rug.” I look over at her. “I need you to understand that.”