LIEF
Hunter pulls Valerie into his arms honeymoon style as she faints. He and Chase walk her to her car and that leaves me to take care of Sven. My hands shake for the first time in years as I do the necessary things to ensure he won’t be recognized or found anytime soon. Once done, I get on my bike and see a text from Hunter.
They took her back to her place. I meet them there, walking through the door and finding Chase on the phone while Hunter gently strokes Valerie’s face. The tremor in my hand returns. She’s no pet. Sweet, often, but the bite she has … more of a viper than any woman should.
Sitting on her other side, I look at her neck, noticing the red marks there, thick and frustrating, just like those around her wrists. One is worse than the other, bruised and open. But the blood on her shirt isn’t hers. And her chest rises and falls with each breath.
“She’s alive.” Hunter sighs, pulling her hand up and against her cheek. “So fucking smart.”
But our battle isn’t over. She manipulated Sven, got him to put the safety on, had him willing to untie her and let her free. If she can talk him down from his drug-fueled edge, she can manipulate us just as easily.
I almost believe she’s been doing it the whole time.
She got me to open up to her when I’ve always been careful to keep myself a mystery. Hunter is more devoted to her than I’ve ever seen. From Chase’s tone, he’s willing to go to war with his father to keep her safe.
Going to her bathroom, I pull out the first aid kit, find alcohol, and soak a cotton ball. Putting it under her nose, she comes back, a disgusted look turning her features before her gorgeous dark eyes open.
She glances at the three of us and jerks her hand from Hunter, crawling back on her bed until she realizes there’s nowhere to go. Her eyes focus on me and I see her groping for something under the pillow.
“Your taser is in the bathroom,” I say.
Her eyes widen and I can see the panic worming its way through her brain. “Get out. All of you. Now. Get out!”
“Valerie,” Hunter hums, then he studies her white lips, pale face, and damp eyes. “Take a breath, sweetheart.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do!” She raises her voice, then pats her back.
“I have your phone,” Hunter says. “We need to talk about this.”
“You need to leave.” She shakes her head. “You lied to me! You …” Her gaze flicks back to me. “I should have seen it.”
“You weren’t supposed to see anything,” I reply.
“Oh, because that makes it so much better, Lief?! You kidnapped someone. You chased me down with that man! How can I …” She shakes her head and rubs her hands over her face.
Chase jerks his head to the door and I nod once. I know I need to guard us and give us time. I gently pat Valerie’s ankle, not making a fuss when she jerks away. “You are stronger than you think, little viper.”
With that I walk to the door, glance out the peephole, open it, check the area, then draw the top lock. I text Mr. Volkov that we have everything handled, then turn my phone off as I see Hunter ease away from her too.
He paces at the foot of her bed. Chase takes the spot beside her.
“Valerie.” His voice breaks as he says her name.
She pulls her knees up but looks over at him.
“This isn’t an easy position for you. I know that. When Hunter stopped hiding things and my dad brought me into this shit, I didn’t know what to do or how to think. I tried to find our mom, tried to run, tried to say I didn’t want this life at all.”
“I don’t want this,” She whispers.
“And that’s reasonable. You were just taken and barely got away with your life. But this is not what it’s like all the time. We promised to protect you, didn’t we?”
She hesitates, eyes flicking between us again. I can practically see her planning her escape. I cross my arms and lean against the front door. We’re multiple floors up and there’s no fire escape for her to use.
Something I hated when I first came to her place because it would be easy to trap her, but now …
“We did, we were just slow on the draw. And I don’t blame you for not trusting us to fix things. Not when we kept so much from you. But if you would have known, you would have been in even more trouble, babe.”
“I’m not safe when I’m with any of you,” She whispers. “And I’m furious and scared and I … this isn’t the life I want.”