Dare To Run (The Sons of Steel Row #1)(88)

I swallowed past the aching lump in my throat. He’d said those words so passionately, so realistically, that for a second . . . I believed him. But I was so conflicted. I’d asked him to leave with me numerous times, and each time he’d rejected the idea. It had to be a ploy, to throw Chris off-balance, to give Lucas an opportunity to attack.

Chris laughed. “Damn. Most guys come out of lockup mean sons of bitches. But not you. Look at you, a *-whipped little bitch.”

Lucas cracked his knuckles, his face flushing with anger. The muscle in his jaw ticked, his telltale sign of being pissed off. For once, it wasn’t directed at me. “Call it what you want. All that matters is that neither of us has to do something we’ll regret.”

“Nah.” Chris shook his head. “I’m not buying it.”

Just like I didn’t buy that if Lucas signed the papers, and I witnessed them, I’d walk out of here without another scratch. We were both dead, unless Lucas did the killing first. But even after all this, and after seeing the lengths Chris had gone to . . . Lucas hadn’t shot him. I was sure he could’ve. But he hadn’t.

He was looking for a way to end this that didn’t involve Chris never seeing the light of day again. When he’d been on the floor earlier, lying motionless and pale, I’d gone through an emotional roller coaster of grief and fear. And when I’d thought he might be dead . . . I’d died.

The pain and fear had crept into my heart, grabbed hold, and hadn’t let go.

Which was exactly why his words hurt so much.

I wanted them to be true. I wanted him to want me. Need me. Love me. But I just couldn’t believe him. Even last night, when he’d pulled me into his arms in bed, he’d warned me not to read into it too much. I’d listened. I wouldn’t stop now.

“It’s the truth. Right, Heidi?” He held my stare before slowly looking to the left. I believed he was telling me to dodge left when he made his move . . . and hoped to hell that I was right. We couldn’t afford any miscalculations right now. “Weren’t we just talking about how we wanted to get out of here, make the first left we found, and keep driving?”

While I didn’t think his plan could possibly work, it wouldn’t stop me from trying to help him in any way possible. Licking my sore, raw lips, I nodded. “Yeah. It’s true. We were talking about it last night. We were gonna run for it this morning. Start over.”

Phil’s arm tightened on my throat. “Bullshit. It’s a trick. He’s going to kill us, just like he killed them. Who’d walk away from this? The Sons own this town and now Lucas is up there at the top.”

“Shut up,” Chris growled. “I didn’t ask for your opinion, nor will I ever ask for your opinion.”

“No.” Phil shook his head, swinging the gun from my temple to Lucas. “No. If you won’t kill him, I will. I won’t let him get away with—”

No, no, no, no.

I kicked backward, knowing Phil was distracted, and that it was now or never. When he grunted and loosened his grip, I threw myself to the left, like Lucas had wanted. Gunshots boomed over me, and I had no idea who shot whom, or who missed whom, or if Lucas was still alive. I rolled to my knees, my ears ringing, and lifted my head in time to see Phil lunge for me. I cried out and scrambled to my feet. The second I steadied myself and turned around, another gunshot boomed. Phil froze, arm extended toward me. I stumbled back, sure he was going to grab me.

But he made a gurgling sound, spat out blood, and hit the floor. I covered my mouth, watching as his eyes glazed over and all signs of life left him. I couldn’t look away. I had no idea if Lucas was dead or alive, or if Chris was about to kill us both, but I couldn’t look away. No way. I’d just watched a man’s soul leave his body.

How had my life come to this?

Shaking my head, I stumbled back more, until I hit the wall. Finally, I snapped out of it and scanned the room. “L-Lucas? Lucas!”

“Here,” he said from the left. “Are you hit?”

I turned my head and found him. He had blood running down his face and it looked as if he’d ripped the stitches open in his arm, but otherwise . . .

He looked uninjured.

Besides the fact that Chris had a gun aimed at him and he was defenseless. And we were both about to die. Yeah, besides that, he looked great.

“No.” I forced myself to breathe. I’d forgotten how. “You?”

“I’m fine.” He looked at me and smiled. Actually smiled, as if we weren’t seconds from being as dead as the guy at my feet. My heart twisted so hard I was sure I would fall over dead, or that I’d been shot in the chest. But I wasn’t bleeding out. I was just dying because I knew how this ended. “Four down. One to go.”

Chris clamped a hand over his shoulder, which gushed blood. “I’m not going down. You might have shot me, but I’ll be walking away from this alive. Sign the f*cking will.”

They stared each other down, neither one moving. I didn’t know what was happening here, but I could feel the energy charging through the room. After what felt like months of silence, Lucas spoke. “You let her walk out of here after she signs it, and then I’ll sign. But not till she’s clear of here. After that, you can try to kill me. If you succeed, you’ll be set. That’s the only way you get what you want.”