But she didn’t hear him. Nor did she notice the figure trailing her, moving like a panther through the jungle at night. Silent, deadly, and definitely stalking its prey. Oh hell no!
Jace’s guts twisted as he watched the man pounce and ensnare Laurel in his arms. She thrashed, skimming the assailant’s shin with her heel, but he was so much bigger than her, and so damn strong. He clamped his hand over her mouth, preventing her from screaming as he dragged her—not into the back rooms of Heels, thank God, but into the patchy woods next to it instead.
Jace sprinted for the spot where they’d disappeared. He wasn’t even trying to be subtle when he crashed through the scrubby shit at the fringe of the trees and barreled in their direction. No fucking way was someone going to take Laurel from him. Not now. Not ever.
He loved her. Even if they never said the words or acted on the emotions underlying everything they did together, he knew she felt the same about him.
So when he saw that ginormous dude with oddly perfect hair—no flabby Heels bouncer either, but someone who knew his way around a gym—manhandling Laurel, Jace lost it.
The bastard was talking but Jace didn’t pause to hear what he was saying. “Hey, calm down. Not going to hurt—”
Jace slammed into the bastard and didn’t hesitate before plowing his fist into the man’s super-solid ribs. He hoped he hadn’t bitten off more ass than he could kick. This guy was fit as fuck and young. Seasoned too. He didn’t seem fazed by Jace’s attack. Until Laurel helped out by kneeing the dude in the nuts. Hard.
“Oof.” He crumpled into the dirt, grabbing his junk. It looked like he was about to make some half-assed excuse that Jace was not about to give him the chance to utter. He popped the guy under his jaw and roared internally as his bright blue eyes rolled back in his head. Out cold.
“Shit!” Laurel glanced around frantically as she scrambled to her feet and flew to Jace’s side. “You were right. This is too dangerous. Hell, it could even be a trap. I’m an idiot. Let’s get out of here.”
“We can’t leave this guy here. The last thing we need is for him to run his mouth to Draven. He knew who you were, didn’t he?” Jace scanned the area around them, but no other goons seemed to be approaching.
“Yeah. He called me by my name.” Laurel groaned and nudged the bastard with the toe of her shoe. “What the fuck are we going to do with him?”
Jace didn’t say anything. She must have read his mind, as she often did, because she waved her hands in front of her chest. “No. No way. We are not taking him with us.”
“Youwere the one who was right, Laurel.” Jace hugged her tight, trying to subdue her trembling, which he knew had no more to do with being cold than her goose bumps had earlier. “We’ve gotta help the people who were in the old canning station tonight, wherever they are now. This guy knows what’s up with that. I’m sure of it. We’ll get the info and then dump him. Come on, help me get him to the cabs.”
“We’re going to take him where? To our place? Do we really want him knowing where we live?” Laurel asked pretty valid questions. It wasn’t like Jace took hostages every day, though. He wasn’t an expert. What the hell option did they have? They had nowhere else to go.
“We’ll blindfold him before he comes to and after we get answers we’ll toss him in another cab back here or maybe drive him to a bus stop on the other side of the city.” Jace sounded more confident than he felt.
“Uh…” Laurel didn’t seem convinced, but she too seemed to regret the way they’d parted earlier. It was always like this with them. They were on the same path. They just couldn’t get their shit together enough to walk in step. She licked her lips, making him wish for the thousandth time that day alone that he had the right to kiss them. “Okay. Fine. Let’s do it quick before he wakes up.”
Jace nodded. “He’s a big motherfucker. Why couldn’t he have been scrawny? Let’s get our arms around him. Act like he’s blackout drunk and I’ll do the rest, okay? I’ll hit his head on the window if he starts to come to.”
“Yeah. Sure. Let’s go.” Laurel planted her feet and crouched before slinging one of the guy’s arms around her shoulders. Several tattoos of much better quality than Jace’s poked out from beneath his fancy jacket. The dude could probably hike to the North Pole without freezing to death in that thing. He didn’t seem like one of Draven’s regular henchmen.
Please, God, don’t let this be another huge mistake.Jace cursed. When would their past leave them the hell alone? When would they really be free of it? Ever?
He used his anger to fuel himself as he levered the unconscious guy to something approaching vertical, his head lolling from side to side. Laurel steadied him on the other side, and together they waddled their way to where only one taxi was idling in the parking lot. Someone was ahead of them in line, but Jace said, with his best friendly grin, “Would you mind? I’d like to get this dumbass home before he gets sick again.”
“Ah… yeah. Go right ahead.” The dude waved them ahead and even held the door for them. No one wanted to be around for that.
“Thanks.”
“We’ve all had those nights.” The club patron chuckled.
Except they hadn’t. Jace didn’t drink to excess. Never had, never would, because the last thing he ever wanted was to be out of control of his situation again. No fucking thanks.
Jace leaned forward to tell the cabbie their address rather than shouting it—just in case—but when he checked on their captive, there was no hint the guy would be waking up any time soon. He hoped he hadn’t seriously injured the fucker. He didn’t want that on his conscience.
It was a shame he’d had to put his fist to such a pretty face. And that hair, damn. Even after their tussle it looked like it belonged on a Hollywood action movie star more than an everyday man.
Ugh. Jace must be hard up if he was thinking the evil prick who’d tried to steal Laurel was hot as hell. But he’d sure never seen one of Draven’s stooges look like this before.
Laurel was peeking over Jace’s shoulder too.
“You recognize him?” Jace murmured in her ear.
She shook her head, then stared out the window. It seemed like she might have been holding her breath until they pulled up outside their building. Then she came around to the curb and helped Jace wrangle the dude out of the car. Their captive groaned when Jace planted his shoulder in the guy’s flat-as-fuck abdomen and hefted him over his shoulder, but stayed draped there as Jace hauled him up the stairs and inside.