Series: Lee Savino
Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Not that humans would recognize my claim on her.
And I do want to lay my claim on her.
“Put me down!” Paloma beats on my back with her fists.
“Hold on. I’m going to get you out of here,” I tell her. I dash through the dark forest. The sky overhead is overcast, and I take advantage of the darkness to cut across Thom’s estate to find the road. We’ve outpaced the guards, for now.
I burst out of the trees onto the road. The roar of an engine tells me a car is coming.
Perfect.
A black Lamborghini roars up to us. I can tell by the way the car hugs the shoulder of the road that the driver is inebriated. It’s one of Thompson’s guests exiting the property, not a guard.
The driver doesn’t see me in time to stop, but I throw a leg out and stop it with my foot in the grill. The back tires skid to the side. The grill folds and dents around my foot.
Paloma kicks her legs. I still don’t set her down, not until I reach the passenger’s door, throw it open, and hold out my hand for the passenger inside–one of the plastic models from the party.
“Are you okay?” the drunk driver asks. He’s in a tux, still wearing his mask, which sits askew on his face. A white dust of cocaine around his nose and his date’s remind me that they were part of my tour group.
“Oh, it’s you!” the model giggles. She takes my hand, and I help her out of the car, then gently settle Paloma in her stead.
“What are you doing, man?” the douchebag in the driver seat demands.
“Get out. It’s an emergency. She needs medical attention,” I clip.
It’s not really a lie. Her reactions are slowed, I presume from the medication they gave her. Otherwise, I think she would be harder to manage.
“What? Oh, damn.” The driver’s reactions are slower than Paloma’s.
I’ve already fastened Paloma’s seatbelt and shut her door.
I jog around the car, throw open the driver’s side door, and pull the guy out of the car. He forgot to wear a seatbelt.
His bad.
I toss him to the side and jump behind the wheel before Paloma can get her door open. She’s fumbling for it, but her reactions are slow.
I slam my foot down on the gas pedal, and we shoot forward, accelerating from zero to ninety in about three seconds.
Damn. This is fun. I keep my foot pressed down, watching the speedometer climb to one hundred. One-ten. One hundred and fifteen miles per hour.
I definitely picked the right car to steal.
Paloma’s hand is still on the door handle, like she’s considering whether she can open the door and jump out.
“Careful, princess. We’re going way too fast to survive a jump,” I warn.
She looks over her shoulder behind us at the black SUVs just now pulling out of the drive. “Yes, I see that. But they’re going to find us, you know.”
“Not if I can help it.”
I fish my phone out of my pocket and dial the number of a wolf shifter I know. Not Brick Blackthroat, the alpha who I box with at the gym, but his enforcer, Sully.
“Sully, hey,” I say when he answers. “Darius Medvedev. The, ah–” I’m trying to think of a code word for bear, but he cuts me off.
“Yeah, of course. I know who you are. What’s up?”
“I need a safe house–out of the city. Can you hook me up?”
“Yeah. Where are you now?”
“Hamptons.”
“Roger that. You have transpo? Is Rhode Island too far?”
I let out a breath. “That’s perfect.”
“Texting a location.”
“Great. Thank you.”
“You need protection?”
“No, I got it.”
“Care to tell me what’s going on? I know your kind like to go solo, but–”
“I’m good.” Wolves. Their pack or die thing is just way too much. “I’ll be in touch if I do need an assist. I appreciate the offer.”
“Yep.” Sully ends the call without further niceties. I appreciate a guy who values efficiency over bullshit.
Paloma stares at me with wide, brown eyes. “Safehouse?” she demands. “Who are you?”
I flash her a grin. “Darius Medvedev, at your service.”
“Service? Is that what you call snatching me from my bedroom in the middle of the night?” She looks down at her miniscule satin PJs. “With no clothes?”
I don’t mean to, but I glance at her incredible, full breasts shifting beneath the thin pink satin of her cami. The corners of my lips kick up. “I fail to see that particular aspect of our adventure as a problem.”
“Oh is that what you’re calling this?”
“I had to get you out of there.”
She looks back over her shoulder, but I’m driving over a hundred miles an hour. The headlights from the SUVs behind us grow smaller and smaller. “You have to take me back.”
“Not happening, princess.”
“You don’t understand. Thom is not a nice man. He will kill you. He’ll kill us both if he thinks I’m a part of this.“