Dangerous Protector (Red Stone Security #14)(29)

Tegan had no idea how dangerous Gina truly was—and that probably wasn’t even her real name. As Tegan turned to see how far behind her Gina was, she inwardly cringed.

Gina stepped up right beside her and pressed the gun into her ribs. She was using one of Tegan’s jackets to cover it up. Must have grabbed it from the coatrack in the foyer.

“We’re just going to walk down to my place and you’re going to have a little talk with my Enzo. You’ll tell him what he wants and we’ll all go our separate ways.” Her voice was a low murmur as they walked across the little stone path that led to the sidewalk.

Tegan’s instinct told her to simply stop moving, to refuse to go any farther. But she didn’t know this woman at all. She had no idea if she would hurt those kids or just shoot Tegan and run. She knew for a fact the woman was lying to her. Tegan wouldn’t be walking away from this. There was no way they’d leave her alive once they got what they wanted—or didn’t in this case. Once they realized she didn’t have what they wanted she’d be useless. Disposable.

As they reached the sidewalk, Aaron’s familiar blue truck pulled into the driveway.

Oh God. No, no, no. She hadn’t even seen him driving down the road, hadn’t been able to focus on anything other than Gina and the gun. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide from him. “Let me get rid of him. If you hurt him, you’ll never get your f*cking diamonds,” Tegan said through gritted teeth. They would never get them anyway, at least not from Tegan. But she had no problem bluffing to save Aaron’s life. She couldn’t let him get hurt because of her. It wasn’t an option.

The woman’s dark eyes narrowed slightly but she nodded. “Do it fast,” she murmured.

Aaron’s truck shuddered to a halt and the big, sexy man jumped out, slamming the door before he hurried toward her, moving like a lethal predator.

A mix of concern and, yeah, anger played across his features. He flicked a glance at Gina, who was still standing incredibly close to Tegan, and nodded once in a half greeting.

“What the hell are you doing?” he snapped, clearly not caring that they had an audience. He clutched a piece of paper in his hand and she realized it was the note she’d left him.

Bone-numbing fear punched through her. Why the hell had he come? “I…can’t stay with you anymore. What we had was nice but I’m not interested in playing mom for your kid.” The words were harsh but it was the only thing she could think of to get him to leave. “Don’t call me again.” She also hoped he realized that she was in danger and called the cops. Regardless, she just needed him to let her go. All it would take for Gina to hurt him was to raise that gun and pull the trigger.

A wave of nausea swept through her at the thought. She couldn’t let that happen.

“Tegan—”

“Leave me alone!” Heat infused her words before she looked at Gina. “Come on. Let’s go.”

He stared at her wide-eyed, as if she’d slapped him in the face. As if he had no idea who she truly was.

He had to know better. God, she hoped so.

The whole scene was weird with the cop car in the driveway next to Aaron’s truck—with no police escort in sight—and she silently prayed that Aaron realized that.

Gina tightened her fingers around Tegan’s arm, hidden by the bulky jacket. The gun stayed pressed against her ribs as they started walking down the sidewalk. Once they reached the corner it wouldn’t be long until they reached Gina’s place. She couldn’t believe Enzo had been so close to her all this time. She’d never been safe. Not truly.

Tegan’s legs were stiff as she walked. She resisted the urge to turn around, to look at Aaron. She couldn’t risk—

Gina grunted as a huge blur of motion slammed into her from behind.

Aaron tackled Gina, moving like a pro football player as he knocked her to the ground. The gun clattered to the sidewalk.

Without thinking, Tegan lunged for it, grabbing it as Gina screamed out in rage. The sound cut off sharply as Aaron wrenched her arms behind her back.

Gina started whimpering in pain. “Please don’t hurt me. He made me do it.” Her voice was so different from the demanding, angry woman she’d been inside Tegan’s house.

“Shut the f*ck up,” Aaron snarled.

Tegan held the gun at her side, unsure if she should train it on Gina, she was shaking so badly. It was clear Aaron had everything under control as he secured her wrists together with his huge hands.

“Are you okay?” he asked, looking up at her, fear etched into every line of his face.

She nodded. “Fine.” She wasn’t fine, but now wasn’t the time to have a breakdown. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the woman across the street rushing her kids inside. Hopefully they’d call the cops. “I…oh my God, I need to check on the cop. And call Carlito.”

Aaron paused for a moment then nodded. “Let’s go.”

“I think De Fiore might be at her place. She was taking me there. It’s around the corner.” Tegan pointed toward the end of the street. “It’s not even a block down.”

Aaron pulled out a pistol before he stood and yanked the woman to her feet. Keeping her wrists secured, he marched her back to Tegan’s, ignoring Gina’s protests as he propelled her. He was vigilant, looking over his shoulder and scanning the street like a trained warrior.