Hard to Fight (Alpha's Heart, #1)(45)

He ignores me and gets in. “You get in or I leave you here.”

With an angry grunt, I get in. Raide yells out something to Benny about coming back to get his things, then he speeds off down the road. The tension in the car is thick, and pain has lodged itself deep in my heart. There’s nothing more to say. Raide used me. I used him. We both f*cked up. I open my messages on my phone and I send one to everyone on my team.

G—Bringing Raide in. About three hours. Need manpower.

Then I stuff the phone into the cup holder. Raide and I drive in silence. There’s clearly nothing more to say. Tears burn under my eyelids but I don’t let them flow. I can’t. My phone dings a few times but I ignore it. What I’m about to do is going to break my heart, tear it into a thousand tiny shreds, but I don’t have a choice. It’s for the best, for both Raide and me. The more time I spend chasing him, the more I fall for him. The more time he spends chasing Kelly’s killer, the more he loses who he is.

“Getting gas,” he grunts, pulling into a gas station.

“I’ll pay,” I mutter, and step out of the car when it stops.

I drag my feet into the gas station and am greeted by an overly cheerful clerk. I force a smile and walk to the display cooler. I open it and pull out some water, then I grab a few bags of chips from one of the nearby aisles before going to the counter to pay. Raide’s finished pumping gas by then, so I pay for it all. When I get back out to the car, Raide is back in the seat, but there’s something different about him. His eyes are trained forward, and he’s so stiff, it looks like he might shatter at one touch.

I get in and shut the door, and before I’m even belted in, he takes off. He’s going fast, and his eyes are fixed on the road. He’s scaring me.

“Raide?” I whisper. He doesn’t answer me, he just goes faster and faster. “Raide?” I say again, my voice rising.

Suddenly he slams his foot on the brakes and the car skids to a stop. I have to brace myself so I don’t launch out the windshield. He pulls off the road and gets out, slamming the door so hard, I jump. I get out with shaky legs and see him rounding the car, gun out.

I skid to a stop.

“Who are you?”

I blink. “I don’t know—”

“Who the f*ck are you?” he roars.

I shake my head, my entire body has begun to tremble. “Raide, I think you’re confused.”

“Who’s Don?”

I flinch.

“And Vance?”

Another flinch.

“And f*ckin’ Julio?”

I swallow and step back toward the car.

“Don’t you f*ckin’ move, Grace.”

Oh. Shit. “Raide,” I try again.

“Answer the motherf*ckin’ question!” he bellows. “Who the f*ck are you?”

“I’m a bounty hunter.”

His face blanks while his entire body jerks, then something I never wanted to see washes over his features: Hurt. Betrayal. “What?” he rasps.

I close my eyes and take a shaky breath. “I’m a bounty hunter, Raide. I was assigned to you, but—”

“Turn around!” he roars.

“Raide—”

“Turn around.”

Tears spill down my cheeks. “You don’t understand, I didn’t want to—”

“Turn the f*ck around!”

He screams this so loudly, I let out a frightened cry. He’s scaring me. I turn slowly and glance at the compartment in my car where I keep my Taser. I make a quick choice and lunge forward, flipping it open and yanking the gun out. I spin, but Raide’s quicker—he knocks the Taser out of my hands. It goes skidding across the dirt and into the darkness of the trees. I don’t think, I react as I would if this were anyone else.

I lash out and grip Raide’s wrist, twisting so hard, he’s forced to drop his gun. It clatters to the ground, but Raide is a solid fighter. He doesn’t need a weapon to restrain me. He takes my arm, twisting it behind my back. I cry out in pain but also lash out, thrusting my foot backwards and hitting him so hard, he roars in pain and lets me go. I lunge at him, and we crash to the floor.

We’re rolling in the dirt, trying to restrain one another. We flip ourselves toward the trees, and Raide manages to pin me on my back. He’s a big man, and even with all my training I’m no match for him. He takes both my hands and shoves them above my head holding them with just one of his. I cry out and buck my body, trying to dislodge him, but it’s pointless. He’s got one over me. He reaches down beside him and comes up with my Taser.

“No,” I rasp.

“You f*ckin’ lied to me. You betrayed me. You made me f*ckin’ care!” he barks.

“Raide, please!”

He looks away and his eyes are so full of pain, I want to cry out and hold him close to me. I can’t, though. So, while he’s not looking, I twist my body, releasing one of my hands. I launch it upward, hitting him right in the throat. He falls backwards with a grunt and I get up, turn, and run full-throttle toward my car.

That’s when he presses the button.

And my world goes black.





Chapter Twenty

I wake with a start. My body goes into automatic panic mode and I thrash. It takes me only a moment to realize I’m handcuffed. I blink rapidly, and my entire body hurts, like someone has taken me for a few rounds in the ring. It takes me another moment to gather my bearings and realize I’m at the cabin again—handcuffed to Raide’s bed.