Page 26 of Hunted

But you still did it. The unsaid words hung in the air between him. Finally she said, “Good.”

She sat back in the seat, the air in the truck suddenly cold and dead. “So what are you going to do with me now?”

“I have no fucking idea.”

Gunn ran his hands through his hair. Kissing her had only made the mixed-up craziness worse. The skin on his neck stung where Mikey had cut him. He touched the faint line, already healing. No injury he’d had in the last year had healed that fast.

Just being near her was good for him—and the worst possible thing in the world for his pack. What the hell was he supposed to do with that?

Except go with his gut. Because as crazy and infuriating as she was, at her core, Mikey really was one of the good guys.

He was the one who’d broken her trust. She’d never broken his.

Gunn took a deep breath. “Okay,” he said. “This is probably the only place we can even have this conversation.”

Still, he hesitated. Then he shook his head. He had to go for it.

“I can’t believe I’m even doing this,” he murmured. “Outlaw Ridge isn’t what you think it is.”

Mikey raised her eyebrows. “You mean, not a bunch of criminal mercenaries with no consciences? Just a bunch of good guy kidnappers.”

Gunn gave a mirthless laugh. “No, we're not fucking good guys. We’re fucked-up bastards, every last one of us. We've all done shit that we're ashamed of. We've all broken the law. We keep breaking it. We're not like your squeaky clean Dudley Doright Enforcers.”

He stared out the windshield, trying to figure out how to make her understand. “We're just a bunch of guys who got sick of all the bad shit going on in the world. When we get the chance, we make a little bit of it right, if we can. And we don't stay on the right side of the law when we do it.”

He turned to look at her. “Mikey, you know what it’s like out there. So many people the law can’t touch. Politicians, mega-rich corporations, billionaires pulling the strings of governments and economies. And just… assholes screwing over the little guys and using legal loopholes to do it. Human laws and shifter laws.”

He shrugged. “We take them down, when we can.”

“Like Robin Hood and his merry men.” But her voice was softer. Less sarcastic than her words.

That made him laugh. “Have you met Sanchez? Merry as fuck.” Then he got serious. “Every man in that place has been broken by the system. Spies, special ops, and yes, criminals. They all came here because they had nothing left. And every one of them got a new purpose, a chance to do some good. To fight back.”

He added, “The law’s not on everybody’s side. That’s why we break it. But if anyone finds out…”

Her face had changed—he could almost see the gears turning inside her mind. Was he finally getting through to her?

He let her mull it over, even though everything in him was screaming from the time it was taking. Finally she said, “What about that little girl? The diplomat’s daughter?”

That brought back his anger. “Poor little kid,” he said. “She’s not his daughter—not by blood. He adopted her overseas to use as a pawn in a much bigger game.”

He heard her quick intake of breath. “So you’re trying to tell me Dobe wasn’t kidnapping her?”

“Hell yeah he was. She was in danger. Still is. We were getting her out.”

That got a long silence. He could tell she was fighting with herself, trying to figure out whether to believe him or not. She whispered, “You’re trying to tell me I messed up a rescue mission?”

He grimaced. “‘Fraid so, Princess.”

She smacked his arm. “Dammit! Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you ever tell me any of this?”

“Are you kidding? Enforcer Girl? Everyone you know would be fighting to be the first ones to take Outlaw Ridge down. Why the hell do you think I was going to quit, when I met you?”

Mikey stared at him. He had told her he was going to quit, back when they were together. Had sworn he was on the verge of doing it. But after he left, she’d figured that was a lie.

But he was right. She’d always known Gunn worked outside the law, and she’d always known that her family probably couldn’t turn a blind eye to that.

Not that the Enforcers and the Shifter Council didn’t turn a blind eye to a lot of things people wouldn’t believe—some of them doing the same kind of thing Gunn claimed to be doing.