Playing Dirty (Risky Business, #2)(55)

“So what’s your plan if someone had been in here?” I asked him when he returned. “You don’t have a gun on you.”

“Don’t I?” he asked.

Hmm.

“But I guess with those moves you were pulling on Mac, you might not need a gun.”

He stopped in front of me and I had to lean back to look him in the eye.

“You liked the moves?” he teased, bracing a shoulder against the same wall I was propping up.

“Pretty badass,” I said with a shrug. No need to overdo it. Parker’s ego didn’t need stroking.

The sound of a key in the lock had me turning toward the door in time to see Ryker walk in.

Surprise and relief flooded me and I flew at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. His in turn circled my waist, holding me tight.

“You said you couldn’t come tonight,” I said, worry surging again with a vengeance. “Is everything okay?”

“No, everything’s not okay,” he said grimly.

I leaned back so I could look at him. “What’s wrong?”

But he didn’t answer that; instead he frowned, his hands moving from my waist up my back. “What the hell are you wearing?”

“I told you I had a work thing tonight,” I said, moving back so his arms dropped to his sides. I wondered what my dress had to do with anything, and I hadn’t liked the tone of his voice.

The buzz of Parker’s cell phone interrupted us.

“Tell me what’s going on,” I said, lowering my voice as Parker answered.

“What the hell do you want?” The tight fury in Parker’s voice caught my attention and I glanced over at him. “Go to hell.”

My jaw dropped and I took an unconscious step toward him. Who in the world was he talking to?

Parker’s head whipped around toward the windows.

“Incoming!”

Before I could figure out what that meant, Parker yanked me down to the floor in one smooth move, his body flattening on top of mine. Ryker reacted to Parker’s shout instantly, dropping the same as Parker had. I opened my mouth to ask them what was going on, and that’s when all hell broke loose.





CHAPTER ELEVEN


A hailstorm of gunfire shattered my windows and I screamed. Parker moved his body to lie even more fully atop mine, smashing me into the carpet, his arms and chest covering my head.

It seemed to go on forever, endless bullets whizzing by above us and shattering everything. A cacophony of glass and porcelain, stoneware and wood, all being destroyed. My entire apartment was disintegrating around me, and the only thing protecting me from being ripped apart, too, was Parker.

At last it ended, as suddenly as it began. I was so terrified, I was sure I was about to pee my pants. Was I okay? Was Parker? And Ryker? Oh God, what if one of them was hurt? What if both of them were hurt?

“Sage. Sage, are you okay?” Parker’s voice in my ear. He was alive. He’d lifted off me slightly and I could breathe easier.

I nodded. “Yeah,” I managed to rasp. I twisted, trying to get out from underneath him. I had to check on Ryker, but felt Parker’s palm on the back of my head. “Stay down,” he ordered.

“But Ryker—”

“I’m fine,” Ryker said. “You two all right?”

“Yeah,” Parker answered.

“Let’s get out of here. I’ll cover you; get her in the hall.”

Parker didn’t reply but his arm moved to wrap around my waist, lifting me as he crawled toward the door, which was half hanging from its hinges. Ryker stayed behind, weapon in hand and his eyes trained on the view outside the broken windows, but we made it to the hallway without any more gunfire. Then Parker was on his feet and lifting me up to set me on mine.

Ryker was right behind us on his cell, barking orders in cop jargon of codes and numbers that I couldn’t follow.

We were moving fast, my hand locked firmly inside Parker’s, and we stopped at the stairwell door. Parker and Ryker glanced at each other and had some kind of unspoken communication. Parker nodded and Ryker moved in front of us, gun raised as he eased open the stairwell door.

Parker tucked me into him, turning us slightly away from the door, his body tense against mine. Knowing they were both expecting something bad made my stomach tighten with dread and I cringed closer to Parker.

But nothing happened. No one burst out of the stairwell and no gunfire erupted.

Then we were moving again, down the flights of stairs, where they repeated the process at the door to exit the building.

Sirens screamed in the distance, coming closer. Ryker and Parker finally spoke.

“Who gave you the warning?” Ryker asked.

“Viktor Rowan,” Parker replied.

Ryker’s gaze sharpened. “Tell me.”

“He was taking credit for pushing Sage into traffic,” Parker said grimly. “It wasn’t just a random act.”

Ryker cursed. “That’s what I was coming to tell you,” he said to me. “He was on the security footage.”

“I thought Viktor was killed or arrested,” I said in confusion. The last I’d seen him had been when the car he’d kidnapped me in had crashed.

Parker looked at me. “He escaped, Sage,” he said. “That night when he had you prisoner in the car, they got the two men with him, but he disappeared. His security people were almost on us when we pulled you out and our guys would’ve been outnumbered. We had to leave and that’s when he got away. Back to Russia, they think.”