“Getting gas,” he grunts, pulling into a gas station.
“I’ll pay,” I mutter, and step out of the car when it stops.
I drag my feet into the gas station and am greeted by an overly cheerful clerk. I force a smile and walk to the display cooler. I open it and pull out some water, then I grab a few bags of chips from one of the nearby aisles before going to the counter to pay. Raide’s finished pumping gas by then, so I pay for it all. When I get back out to the car, Raide is back in the seat, but there’s something different about him. His eyes are trained forward, and he’s so stiff, it looks like he might shatter at one touch.
I get in and shut the door, and before I’m even belted in, he takes off. He’s going fast, and his eyes are fixed on the road. He’s scaring me.
“Raide?” I whisper. He doesn’t answer me, he just goes faster and faster. “Raide?” I say again, my voice rising.
Suddenly he slams his foot on the brakes and the car skids to a stop. I have to brace myself so I don’t launch out the windshield. He pulls off the road and gets out, slamming the door so hard, I jump. I get out with shaky legs and see him rounding the car, gun out.
I skid to a stop.
“Who are you?”
I blink. “I don’t know—”
“Who the fuck are you?” he roars.
I shake my head, my entire body has begun to tremble. “Raide, I think you’re confused.”
“Who’s Don?”
I flinch.
“And Vance?”
Another flinch.
“And fuckin’ Julio?”
I swallow and step back toward the car.
“Don’t you fuckin’ move, Grace.”
Oh. Shit. “Raide,” I try again.
“Answer the motherfuckin’ question!” he bellows. “Who the fuck are you?”
“I’m a bounty hunter.”
His face blanks while his entire body jerks, then something I never wanted to see washes over his features: Hurt. Betrayal. “What?” he rasps.
I close my eyes and take a shaky breath. “I’m a bounty hunter, Raide. I was assigned to you, but—”
“Turn around!” he roars.
“Raide—”
“Turn around.”
Tears spill down my cheeks. “You don’t understand, I didn’t want to—”
“Turn the fuck around!”
He screams this so loudly, I let out a frightened cry. He’s scaring me. I turn slowly and glance at the compartment in my car where I keep my Taser. I make a quick choice and lunge forward, flipping it open and yanking the gun out. I spin, but Raide’s quicker—he knocks the Taser out of my hands. It goes skidding across the dirt and into the darkness of the trees. I don’t think, I react as I would if this were anyone else.
I lash out and grip Raide’s wrist, twisting so hard, he’s forced to drop his gun. It clatters to the ground, but Raide is a solid fighter. He doesn’t need a weapon to restrain me. He takes my arm, twisting it behind my back. I cry out in pain but also lash out, thrusting my foot backwards and hitting him so hard, he roars in pain and lets me go. I lunge at him, and we crash to the floor.
We’re rolling in the dirt, trying to restrain one another. We flip ourselves toward the trees, and Raide manages to pin me on my back. He’s a big man, and even with all my training I’m no match for him. He takes both my hands and shoves them above my head holding them with just one of his. I cry out and buck my body, trying to dislodge him, but it’s pointless. He’s got one over me. He reaches down beside him and comes up with my Taser.
“No,” I rasp.
“You fuckin’ lied to me. You betrayed me. You made me fuckin’ care!” he barks.
“Raide, please!”
He looks away and his eyes are so full of pain, I want to cry out and hold him close to me. I can’t, though. So, while he’s not looking, I twist my body, releasing one of my hands. I launch it upward, hitting him right in the throat. He falls backwards with a grunt and I get up, turn, and run full-throttle toward my car.
That’s when he presses the button.
And my world goes black.
Chapter Twenty
I wake with a start. My body goes into automatic panic mode and I thrash. It takes me only a moment to realize I’m handcuffed. I blink rapidly, and my entire body hurts, like someone has taken me for a few rounds in the ring. It takes me another moment to gather my bearings and realize I’m at the cabin again—handcuffed to Raide’s bed.
Raide is sitting on a chair at the end of the bed, head in his hands, looking utterly broken.
My heart tears in two.
“All those times,” he says, knowing I’m awake even though he hasn’t looked up. “You were following me, I wasn’t wrong.”
“Raide,” I croak.
He lifts his head and pins me with a glare so intense, I flinch and shut my mouth. “You were fuckin’ playing me.”
“Raide,” I whisper. “It’s my job.”
He laughs bitterly. “Wonder what your boss would think about you being in my bed?”
I close my eyes and turn my head to the side.
“You’re a good player, Grace. You had me good.”
“Raide, that wasn’t pretend.… What we had—”
“Don’t you fuckin’ lie to me,” he spits. “You’ve done enough of that.”
“I’m not lying!” I cry. “You meant— You mean something to me. Raide, I…”
“You what?” he bellows.
“I’m falling in love with you.”
His entire body jerks and his eyes grow wide and almost terrified. “You liar,” he whispers.
“I’m not lying,” I croak. “It wasn’t meant to happen, but … it did.”
He laughs so coldly, my heart skitters. “Yet you were still going to bring me in.”
I swallow back my tears and rasp, “I was doing that for you.”
He laughs again, but there’s absolutely no humor in the broken sound. “For me? Tell me, Grace. How much was I worth?”
I flinch and hurt boils angrily in my belly. “Raide—”
“How much?” he hisses.
“Thirty thousand.”
He lets out a long, pained breath. “So tell me again how you’re doing it for me?”
“You can go in, you can plead your case, and you might get free. If you kill him, Raide, you’ll go away forever.”
“Do you think I give a shit?” he barks.
Tears trickle down my cheeks.
“Don’t you cry, your tears mean nothing to me.”
My body starts to heave and I manage, “Your sister wouldn’t have wanted this for you.”
“Don’t you dare”—he bellows, leaping up and sending the chair launching across the room.—“talk to me about my sister! Don’t you ever, fuckin’ ever, talk about her. You know nothing about her. You know nothing about me.”
“I know you’re wanted for a crime you didn’t commit!” I yell. “I know you’re a good man.”
“Yet you’re still willing to put a big fuckin’ knife in my back.”