“Safe house, a good bit outside the city. I’ve already got a pair of guards on their way. They should get there before us, so we can get you settled in as quickly as possible.”
“Thank you.” Exhausted, Cyrus leaned back against the seat and pulled Mina onto his lap. She tried to wiggle away, but he gave her thigh a quick, hard swat that had her settling down, though not without a glare.
“So,” she said, her voice tight with what seemed to be a mix of fear and growing anger. “Is anybody going to tell me what the fuck just happened back there?”
ChapterTwenty-Four
Packed into the back of a sleek, black SUV with windows so dark she had no clue how they passed inspection, Mina listened to the men talk while her brain worked furiously to come to terms with everything that had happened over the past couple of hours.
Cyrus had told her about the photos, despite his obvious reluctance to do so. That, combined with the fact that they had actually been shot at, was enough to convince her that moving to the safe house for now was the best idea all around.
Still, she had a life. Work, stories, deadlines that wouldn’t wait just because someone was threatening to put a bullet in her. Cole had made them turn their phones off before he’d confiscated them, so she couldn’t even call anyone to let them know she was all right. Would Cole be able to notify everyone, or was that in itself too dangerous? Would her parents worry when they couldn’t reach her? Would she still have a job when this was all over?
She couldn’t quite hold back the whimper her tumultuous thoughts prompted, and Cyrus immediately tightened his hold on her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“We’re almost there, Ace. You have my word I’ll keep you safe.”
“And yourself.” Lifting her head, she gave him her own stern stare, though she wasn’t sure it had quite the same impact he usually had on her. “You’re the one who got shot. I want your word that you’ll keep yourself safe, too.”
“I can take care of myself, baby.”
From the driver’s seat, Cole snorted, his eyes sparkling with amusement when she met his gaze in the rearview mirror. “Sure you can, pretty boy. Which is why I spent our entire childhood saving your ass from one disaster or another.”
“I seem to recall savingyourass plenty of times as well.” Aggravation filled her man’s voice, but there was no heat behind it. She recognized it as the shit-talking most men did with their close friends, and it loosened the knot of worry her stomach had tied itself into.
“Oh yeah?” Cole shot back teasingly. “Like when?”
“Like that time you got yourself caught tagging that house and I managed to convince the police that you were an artist hired to do a mural.”
“I only got caught because you were too busy flirting with Lisa Morrison instead of being the look out.”
“Still.” Cyrus shrugged, and when she looked back at him, there was a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Saved your ass and got a date with pretty little Lisa. That definitely goes in my win column.”
Gasping, Mina placed a hand over her heart and let her eyes go wide with feigned shock. “Cyrus Banks. Were you a bad boy back in New York?”
His smile turned sheepish. “A bit, yes. It was just harmless pranks, for the most part.”
She was about to ask for more details when the car slowed and Cole turned onto a gravel road. Sitting up straighter, she leaned forward, straining her vision to try and see what lay ahead.
It wasn’t, as she’d half expected, a run-down shack in the middle of nowhere. Well, they were definitely in the middle of nowhere, judging by how long they’d been driving and the mass of trees surrounding them. But the house itself looked to be in decent shape. It looked like any other craftsman style home you might find in the suburbs, and the porch light shining even made it seem warm and inviting.
If they hadn’t been running for their lives, it would have been a great little romantic getaway.
Parking at the top of the long driveway beside an identical black SUV, Cole killed the engine. “All right, kids. Home, sweet home. I’ll give you the grand tour, introduce you to the guys, and then I’ve got to get back.”
“Oh.” Disappointment made her chest ache all over again. “I was hoping you’d be staying so I could hear more about Cyrus’s wild ways.”
“Another time,” he promised, flashing a smile in the rearview mirror. “Once this nasty business is all over, we’ll have dinner and I’ll tell you anything you want to know. You just have to do me one favor.”
“What’s that?”
Twisting around in his seat, he pinned her with a look so reminiscent of the ones Cyrus was fond of giving her it was almost creepy. “Listen to my men and do as you’re told so you can keep that pretty face safe. I’ll be mighty pissed if you get yourself hurt, and the last thing you want is two pissed off Doms on your ass.”
Shock temporarily robbed her of speech, but Cyrus’s smothered laugh snapped her out of it enough to scowl at the pair of them. “You think you’re funny.”
“Sorry, Ace. Pretty sure the military surgically removed Cole’s sense of humor years ago.” Suddenly, there was a hand in her hair, pulling her head back. “I would never let another man touch what’s mine. But I’d be happy to add Cole’s portion to whatever punishment you might earn for not following orders while you’re here.”
Despite the events of the past twenty-four hours, despite the grief that still sat heavy in her chest, her pulse quickened at his threat. “That doesn’t seem very fair.”