Mine To Protect (Mine #6)(33)

“Zoe!” Victor was rushing after her. Victor. Poor Victor. She’d forced him to Vegas for nothing. Put him in the line of fire for nothing.

She hit the bottom of the stairway.

“Wait, Zoe!”

She didn’t want to wait. She wanted to get the hell out of there so she could stop feeling like such a fool.

But he was fast. Damn him. His hands curled around her shoulders and he spun her back. “Stop.”

“I don’t want to stop. I want—”

“You didn’t do anything wrong. You were a good f*cking friend to her. You risked your life for her.”

Her eyes burned. “We weren’t friends.” All along, Michelle had been using her. Not looking past the shadows that surrounded Zoe, not offering friendship in spite of Zoe’s criminal world ties…

Footsteps thundered on the stairs. She looked up. Cain was rushing down toward her. No, she did not want to deal with him then. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Michelle went completely dark over a month ago.”

Cain’s words froze her.

“She had been working undercover, making her way up the ladder slowly but surely as she gained the trust of that group. She was sure she’d get to meet the boss soon enough, one-on-one, and that was what we’d been waiting for.” He’d stopped on the second step from the bottom. Cain raked a hand through his hair. “This guy—he’s so sneaky. Smart. He’s some freaking shadowy puppet master who has plenty of fall guys to do his dirty work. Powerful guys who shouldn’t be bowing down to him, but they are. The drugs have tripled on the streets and the weapons—they flow in like a freaking river.”

Victor moved, positioning his body protectively in front of hers. Why? It wasn’t as if Cain was going to attack her. He and his buddy Roy had already done their damage.

They all sold me out.

“Michelle used you,” Cain said and his words were cold and brutal. “It was her job. She needed an in with the guy, and you were that in. We heard rumbles that he wanted you. Probably for payback against Luther Bates. Isn’t that what everyone wants?” His gaze cut to Victor and his lips curled in a hard smile before he focused on Zoe once more. “Everyone. Being who you are, I’d think you’d have gotten used to that shit by now.”

“Watch your f*cking mouth,” Victor warned him.

She put her hand on Victor’s chest. “If I can’t hit a cop, neither can you.” Her chin lifted as she faced Cain. “You think I’m supposed to just smile and say… ‘Okay. No harm, no foul. She was just doing her job?’” Beside her, Victor stiffened. “Screw that. She did do harm. I risked my life for her.” For nothing.

“She went dark.” Cain grabbed the wooden bannister. “You know what that means? It means no communication from her at all. It means we don’t know if she’s just in deep cover and can’t contact us…or if she finally made face-to-face contact with the puppet master and he figured out that she was a cop.”

Zoe didn’t move.

“If he found out, she’s dead.” Cain eased down another step, his expression tight and angry. “Do you understand? She’s—”

The second floor exploded. The boom was deafening, a roar that had her screaming even as the force of that blast picked Zoe up and tossed her through the air. And as she flew, as she screamed, she saw the flames rolling across the ceiling…

Oh, dear God…we’re all dead.





Chapter Ten


“Two million f*cking dollars…” Zoe heard the whisper distantly. It was almost…giddy.

She cracked open her eyes, but she just saw fire. Flames rolling. She coughed and her whole body ached. She was trapped—her legs and lower body were beneath some heavy chunks of wood. The stairs? The bannister?

Someone grabbed her wrist. Held tight. Tight enough that she thought the bone might break. And then she was being dragged by that punishing grip on her wrist, yanked out from beneath the chunks of wood. She tried to turn her head and see who’d grabbed her. “Vic…”

“He’s dead. Not going to save you this time.”

The voice was familiar, but it was hard to hear the male clearly because the flames were crackling and roaring. Heat lanced across her skin. Had he said…

Victor is dead?

“No.” Her legs kicked out. He was dragging her by the right hand and her left flew up and yanked at his fingers. “Let me go!” Victor couldn’t be dead. He was wrong. She’d heard wrong. Victor was fine. Victor was—

Lying a few feet away. His eyes were closed. His body still. Blood slid from a wound on his forehead. “Victor!”

A gun pressed to her cheek. “Stop your damn screaming.” Her gaze jumped to the man who held that gun. Even before she saw his face, she knew who he was. His voice had clicked. He had clicked.

Roy was holding his gun on her. Roy was glaring at her. And Roy…

“I can kill you here, but I need you alive—if I’m going to get her, then I need you alive.” He grunted. “Plus, there’s talk of a freaking bonus…I like bonuses.” He hauled Zoe to her feet, but kept the gun shoved against her cheek. “So play nicely, and I won’t let this bullet blast through your pretty face right here and now.”