The Dom Who Loved Me (Masters and Mercenaries #1)(94)

If she gave up the package, they were all dead. She could see that now. She looked down, and Sean’s face was tight. He was trying so hard to move, but his body simply wouldn’t. He practically vibrated with frustration.

“I would stay down if I were you, Mr. Taggart.” The CIA agent walked out calmly. The gun in his hand was focused on Sean and Grace, but his eyes moved around the space, watching for threats.

“Get out of here, Grace,” Sean pushed her away. He didn’t seem to be able to use his left hand at all. He shoved her with his right. Even in the moonlight, she could see the desperation in his eyes. “Go. Whatever you do, don’t give him the package. Find Ian.”

She couldn’t do that. She wasn’t even sure if she trusted Ian at this point. Panic threatened to swamp her. It boiled up like bile in her throat. She was the only thing standing between Black and Sean.

“Oh, dear, I’d rather you didn’t run.” Black took careful aim and put another bullet in Sean’s leg, this time the left.

Grace had a hand on Sean’s body when the bullet hit his thigh. She felt his every muscle jerk and twist. Sean groaned as the blood started to flow again. Tears streamed down her cheeks making the world a watery mess. How much more could he take? Black was playing with them. When he was done, he would simply put a bullet in Sean’s heart, and she would watch him die. What could she do? Sean’s whole damn life, every day he might have from here on out, depended on her.

“Don’t shoot again or I swear I won’t be responsible for my actions.” Ian walked out from behind the brick enclosure that held the doorway. It didn’t matter now because Black was on them. Grace moved to put her body across Sean’s. He couldn’t take another freaking bullet. She tried to cover as much of him as she could. Her body was the only shield she had. She buried his head in her chest.

He tried to push her away, his right hand coming up weakly. She looked down at him. He was so beautiful. Her heart was filled with him. He couldn’t die here.

“Oh, that’s sweet.” Black was standing next to her. “And not something I can allow.”

Grace gasped as Black’s hand tangled in her hair, and he pulled her up. Every nerve in her scalp lit up with pain, but she forced herself to fight him. He hauled her up anyway, like a rag doll in a child’s merciless hands.

Black held her tight. “Now, Tag, I’m taking my package and getting the hell out of here. This is my retirement. You can shoot me, but I’ll take out your brother’s little girlfriend, and I might be able to get him, too. What’s it going to be, Tag? You let me leave with the girl, and your brother lives to see an operating table. Otherwise…”

“I will never forgive you,” Sean vowed with a shaking voice. Grace didn’t think he was talking to Black. His head was up, his eyes staring at his brother as though he could will Ian to do something. “Do not do this, Ian. You know what I want.”

Ian’s face remained a stoic mask. He didn’t glance down at his brother. His eyes were steady on Black. “Take her.”

“Good choice. He can always find another girl.”

Grace held tightly to the thumb drive as Black dragged her to the wall. She craned her neck to look down. There was an empty balcony below, a twin to the balcony where the party was still going on. That balcony was lit with twinkling lights. It seemed like it was worlds away from her now. The balcony below was dark and quiet. It was the only real escape route Black had. Ian had called for an ambulance. There were going to be cops and paramedics in the stairwell, and any minute they would show up here. She was sure Black was in good physical shape, and he was probably very athletic. But damn, that was still a long fall. Once he had them both on that balcony, he would kill her. He didn’t need her, only the package. She would be dead weight after he had that.



“Grace!” Sean had managed to turn over and was trying to crawl toward the gun he’d tossed away.

He wouldn’t stop. Her Viking would die before he let her go. It would have worked. It would have worked between them. She could have had a whole rich second life with Sean as her husband. All of the reasons to be afraid vanished in the face of his struggle. Love for Sean was all that mattered now. He wouldn’t stop fighting for her. She owed him the same.

She had seconds before he got to the gun, and Black was forced to kill him. She had one shot at saving the man she loved. She understood why Black hadn’t gone for the package before. She had it, and he had her. They were at a stalemate. Ian couldn’t shoot because he didn’t want to hit her. If she didn’t have the package, Black would kill her in an instant.

But he’d overestimated her will to live in a world where Sean was gone. Perhaps this time chaos would be her friend.

“You want the package?” She drew her arm back and tossed it over her shoulder as hard as she could. It went sailing over the wall. “Go get it!”

The minute the package left her hand, all hell broke loose.

“Fuck,” Black cursed and leapt to the wall as Ian started running toward them. Grace tried to move away, to get to Sean, but Black caught the neck of her black cocktail dress. It bit into her flesh, choking her. She was still his shield. Ian couldn’t get a shot that didn’t hit her. “If I’m going down, I think I’ll take you with me.”

And Grace went flying. The world seemed to slow down. Ian ran toward her, but she was moving faster. Her stomach lurched as she fell backwards, watching the building and safety and Sean get further and further away.