Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
His head lowered. His lips were so close to mine his breath warmed my skin. His gaze captured mine. The air in my lungs seized as I stilled, dreading yet craving the moment he claimed my mouth with his. My back arched off the car. The smallest fraction of an inch, barely a submission…but he noticed…of course he did.
He inhaled sharply, expanding his chest, pressing it harder against me as he tightened his grasp. “Madison, I—
“There they are!”
Over Pierce’s shoulder, one of the injured guards from the conference room raced toward us, gun drawn.
I heard the report of a bullet a fraction of a second before it punctured the side of the car only a few inches from where we were standing. The impact vibrated through the metal and into my spine.
Pierce’s large hand cupped the back of my head, and he thrust my body forward, completely shielding me as he pushed me into the passenger seat of the car and slammed the door shut.
My hands shook and my ears rang while he raced around to the driver’s side and slid behind the wheel.
I covered my head and screamed as another bullet shattered the back passenger side window, sending a shower of broken glass into the interior of the car. Pebbled shards hit the backs of my hands and the nape of my neck. I clenched my jaw and curled my body into a tighter ball, fighting against my body’s trauma response and memories of the night of the crash.
Pierce threw the car into reverse. The tires screeched as the car pitched backward out of the parking space. It fishtailed on the wet pavement when he threw it into drive and hit the gas. Two more bullets punched into the metal frame.
“Get down,” he thundered, wrapping his hand around my neck and pulling my head down onto his lap, tossing his suit coat over my head for protection.
The gunfire became muffled, then distant, then disappeared altogether. The only sounds left were the engine, the rain hammering the roof, the swishing windshield wipers, and the wind whistling through the broken window. Pierce’s breathing was freakishly controlled.
Suspicion crept in. No one was that in command of their emotions. We’d just been shot at. The only rational reason for his now-calm demeanor was if this was all part of his plan. The guards. The gunfire. All of it designed to make me think the worst. To gaslight me, like he had been from the beginning.
His hand was still on the back of my neck, his thumb pressing into the hollow behind my ear. I placed my palm on his hard thigh and cautiously tried to raise my head up, dislodging his suit coat. He didn’t let go. The muscle in his thigh was rigid under my cheek.
Swiping the clinging wet strands of my hair aside, I looked sideways up at him.
Pierce kept his eyes on the road. Anger made his full mouth a tight, thin line as he inhaled deeply through his nose.
The rain pelted the windshield as he took me further and further away from the courthouse.
This man had just turned me into a fugitive from the law.
And the worst part—the part that made me want to scream—was that pressed as I was against his thigh with his hand on my neck, I didn’t feel trapped. I felt held. And that terrified me more than the bullets.
CHAPTER 16
HAILEY
Icy drops of rain stung my heated cheeks as Greyson pulled me out through the heavy doors of the courthouse.
My shouts lost to the wind, he pulled me past several startled onlookers and through the parking lot.
In my struggle to keep up with his long stride, my foot slipped on the slick pavement and my knees buckled.
If it weren’t for his powerful grip on my upper arm, I would have fallen flat on my ass in a mud puddle.
He tightened his hold, casting a frustrated glance down at me over his shoulder. His brow furrowed. “Stop fooling around and come on.”
I dug my heels in. “I’m not fooling around. Sorry if I’m not accustomed to being dragged across a stupid parking lot by a Neanderthal posing in a thousand-dollar suit.”
He stopped walking and looked down at me with a stare that dared me to keep talking. “It’s a five-thousand-dollar suit, and would you rather I toss you over my shoulder?”
Damn, this man rattled me. He carried himself like the thought that someone might object or rebel had simply never occurred to him.
The gray skies and fragmented light carved deep shadows beneath the cut of his jaw. His dark eyes looked nearly black, giving him the sinister appearance of an avenging demon.
I pulled back. No, the threat wasn’t idle.
He wrenched me forward.
Our bodies slammed together, robbing my lungs of air. I braced my palms against his chest on instinct, and my fingers splayed wide but couldn’t span even half the width of him. I was five-foot-five and furious, and none of it mattered against the sheer size of this man.