Dare To Run (The Sons of Steel Row #1)(86)

The man I’d let live the other night came out of the bedroom, one arm clenched around Heidi’s throat way too tightly, and the other holding a gun to her head. She had both hands wrapped around the man’s forearms, and stumbled forward as he nudged her with his knee. He laughed and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Easy. Wouldn’t want you to get hurt . . . yet. Not before we finish what we started the other night.”

“My, my.” Chris grinned and dusted his hands off. I knew that grin all too well. It was the one he’d always worn right before he did something that would get him, and me, in trouble. “Welcome to the party, doll. Good of you to join us. Please contain yourself, and save the begging for your lives for later.”

She glanced at me, then back at Chris. Her lip was swollen, and blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth. They’d hit her. “Go to hell,” she snarled. “I don’t beg.”

“Let go of her right now,” I said, my tone deceptively quiet. Rage hit me hard, slamming into my chest and stealing my breath away. “And I’ll let you—oh, who the hell am I kidding? I’ll still f*cking kill you.”

I swung my gun toward the man holding Heidi, but Chris sprang into action. I pointed my gun at him immediately, ready to find out who the hell could shoot the fastest, but he didn’t threaten me. No, he pointed his gun at her. “Easy. If you shoot me now, I’ll still fire as I go down. And so will Tom. And let’s not forget the gun held to your head by dear old Phil . . .”

I blinked. Blood ran into my eyes, stinging, blurring my vision even more. “I don’t give a damn. It’ll be worth it.”

“You might not give a damn about yourself.” Chris stepped closer to Heidi. “But you care about her. You care about her so much that you’d die to keep her safe, and we both know it.”

I didn’t look at her. I couldn’t afford to. “You’re wrong. She’s nothing to me.”

“Oh?” He tsked. “Tom. Go ahead and taste the goods, since he doesn’t give a shit.”

“Gladly.” He lowered his hand and cupped Heidi’s breast, squeezing cruelly. “I’ve been waiting a long damn—”

Heidi squirmed, struggling to get free. Her hair fell in front of her face, obscuring her. “Get your hands off me.”

The nausea hit me even harder. And the rage . . . oh f*ck, the rage. I tried to keep my cool, but it was impossible with that little shit threatening my woman. I stepped forward, but the man behind me clocked me on the head. “Don’t move again,” he warned, “or I’ll shoot you in the leg.”

I’d forgotten all about that little shit. I’d been too busy watching Tom asking to be killed. Slowly. “Touch her again, and I’ll cut your hands off.”

Tom grinned and squeezed her breast again. “It’ll be worth it. These are some fine tits. I’ll—”

That was it. He was dead.

“Enough, Tom.” Chris flexed his jaw, looking uncomfortable for the first time since he’d announced his betrayal, and headed across the room. “That’s no way to treat a lady.”

Heidi lifted her chin, those blue eyes of hers blazing with so much strength and courage that I wanted to cross the room and kiss her . . . before hiding her. “As if you know how to treat one?”

“Oh, but I do.” Chris caressed her chin, and Heidi flinched away. His back was to me, which was a bold move on his part. Cocky, too. Like always. “It should have been me who saved you that night. God knows he doesn’t know what to do with a woman like you. If he did, you wouldn’t be here right now.”

“Go to hell,” she snapped, spitting in his face.

Chris laughed and swiped his forearm across his cheek. “I gotta say, I love that feisty spirit of yours. It would be so much fun to break it . . .”

I swallowed back the curses trying to escape. “Touch her, and I’ll kill you so slowly you’ll be crying for your ma like you did that time you fell out of the tree.”

Chris snorted. “As if you could.” Then, to Heidi, “Easy, doll. I’m not gonna hurt you. Just your lover . . . as long as he’s a good boy and does what I say.”

She glanced at me. She looked terrified now.

Because they’d threatened me?

No one was watching me besides the man behind me, so I took a calculated risk. They hadn’t killed me yet, so Chris obviously had some elaborate plan B. Something that would make it look as if he had nothing to do with this mess. And Heidi was part of it . . .

Just like I was.

Slowly, I turned my gun and aimed. The man behind me didn’t even notice. I took a deep breath and steadied my hand. I couldn’t be even a fraction of an inch off, or Heidi would die. Inhale. Exhale. Boom. I squeezed the trigger, and Tom stood there for a second, not moving, before the gaping hole in his head spurted blood.

Heidi screamed and covered her ears, and Tom collapsed back into my bedroom. For a second, time held still. No one moved. Not even Chris. “Heidi! Run!”

Then everything exploded, because Heidi ran for the door. Chris chased her, and I whirled to fight the man behind me, who still stared at his dead friend stupidly. Lifting my gun, I squeezed the trigger—and nothing happened. “Shit.”

The click of the empty gun firing jerked the f*cker out of his trance, and he snapped to attention. I tossed the useless gun aside, cursing Chris for giving me a gun without a full mag and myself for not taking the time to reload. Phil clocked me in the temple with his gun . . .