Part 1 (2/2)

”Hey, Lightning. Good fight last week,” someone yelled as they pa.s.sed by.

Gage nodded to the person and then continued, ”Weve got plans.”

I didnt know about that and hoped it was a lie. I wanted nothing more than to get him alone and work out this adrenaline and energy coursing through me. Gripping Gages hand tighter and stepping closer to his body, I smiled politely at Coach Finnegan.

”Well, Ill see you at practice on Sunday then?” At my nod he continued, ”h.e.l.l of a job tonight girly. h.e.l.l of a job.”

Gage dropped my hand and slid his arm around me, turning me away from the older man and towards the door.

”Thanks, see you Sunday,” I called over my shoulder with a giggle as Gage whispered in my ear.

”I need you alone. Now.” His voice was low and heated, and his breath sent chills down my skin.

Escaping out of the side door, we made our way to the deserted parking garage. Even with the crazy city traffic, Gage had insisted on driving. The garage was filled with cars, but empty of people. Our whispered teasing echoed in the concrete s.p.a.ce, and our steps were even louder, bouncing off the walls around us.

He laughed into my neck, swinging me in front of him so I was forced to walk backwards as he dragged his nose over my skin.

”Babe, I knew you could do it.” He growled as his lips reached my ear. ”You were hot as h.e.l.l in that ring. That girl didnt stand a chance.” His lips claimed mine, and his hands slid to my a.s.s, easily lifting me onto him in an instant.

I gripped him tighter, wrapping my legs around his waist with a small moan. The slow burn that had been simmering low in my stomach erupted.

”My s.e.xy fighter,” he mumbled, sliding his lips over my chin to my neck.

My head fell back with a laugh, giving him better access. I loved the shocks of sensation he sent through me, all the way to my toes.

He pushed me against the SUV, reminding me of where we were. h.e.l.l if I could stop this though. I didnt want to stop him.

”My champ.” I blew into his ear before sucking the lobe into my mouth, and my fingers curled into his hair.

He walked us around the car and then opened the pa.s.senger side door, setting me on the seat. With his hands free now, he slid them under my s.h.i.+rt. His head dipped down to my neckline, nipping and licking the skin at my collar and completely stealing my air in a rush of fire.

He froze, and I popped my eyes open.

Before I even registered what stopped him, he was up and whipped around. He had one gun pressed to the mans chest in front of him, and another aimed at a second mans head.

”Drop it,” Gage demanded of the second man who had a gun vaguely pointed in my direction.

I sat up, drained of all heat as I processed the scene. The taller man in front of Gage with spikey black hair and black eyes didnt have a gun. Gage must have taken it because I didnt recognize the gun he had aimed at the man. The second man, a shorter man with a bald head, lowered his gun. He was looking directly into the barrel of Gages gun, a gun I recognized, the one he carried on him at all times.

”Good.” Gages voice was calm, and his face blank. ”Now Regan, go back inside. Wait by the locker room. Ill find you soon.” He didnt take his eyes off the men in front of us.

I was already reaching under the seat. I had hoped Id been paranoid in thinking I would need this again one day, but it proved useful now. Pulling out the gun I had strapped there, I clicked off the safety and stepped out of the car.

Aiming directly at the second man, I removed the gun from his hand and stood beside Gage. ”Im not going anywhere.”

I felt Gage look at me, and I let my gaze meet his out of the corner of my eye. He was smiling as he shook his head, but he surprised me by placing a brief kiss on my neck.

”Well okay then.” Gage slid one gun back into his waist, looking between both men. ”Whos going to talk first and tell me what the f.u.c.k you think youre doing?”

2: Smoke And Mirrors.

NEITHER MAN RESPONDED TO GAGES QUESTION. THEY stared at us, lips closed. The silence stretched, filling with tension till it burst with a gunshot.

Gage had moved fast. He shot the man in the foot with one hand and caught his crumpling body with the other, pressing him to the car at his back. All within one explosive heartbeat-my explosive heartbeat.

The shot mans moan echoed in my head like grinding metal, but I strengthened my grip on the gun in my hand and feigned confidence while my heart hid in my stomach.

”Someone probably heard that. So talk now or the next bullet will be in your head.” Gage pressed his gun to the tall mans dark hair. ”Youve got till three. One...Two-”

”Alessandra,” the spikey haired man practically yelled, eyes twisting in an attempt to see the gun pressed to his temple.

Gage released his grip on him, and he sunk to the ground.

”Alessandra?” Gage questioned the bald man at the end of my pistol, but he didnt respond except to glare at his companion who was knelt on the ground, gripping his foot.

The purr of a motor starting from across the garage stilled us, and then headlights brightened the area.

Gage yanked the man on the ground up by the collar of his s.h.i.+rt and pushed him into our SUV.

”Get back here,” he ordered me with a nod of his head.

When I took up his spot behind the door, he stepped in front and pressed his gun to the bald mans back, out of view of the pa.s.sing car.

Except it didnt pa.s.s. Headlights spotlighted our group, and then a sleek black limo eased to a stop directly in front of us. One of the tinted windows slid down.

”Get in Lawson,” an unseen female called from inside the darkened interior, just as another car pulled up behind it.

The drivers of both cars stepped out. Two gorilla looking men. One opened the back door to the limo; the other approached us. He spoke in a rough language, Russian probably, and the bald man with Gage responded in the same quick tongue.

The man bleeding all over the floor of our car tried to call out to them, but I stepped closer and pressed my gun into his neck to silence him. I kept looking to Gage, but his back was to me.

The driver stopped in front of Gage and jerked his head to the open limo door. ”You can go with Mrs. Rusnak. Ill take care of these two.”

My blood froze, cracking my veins. Alessandra Rusnak. Anatolis wife.

”Regan, you should go inside now,” Gages voice was deceptively calm, but he wasnt fooling me.

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