“But tonight, you’ll drip blood all over, so let me wrap it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She huffed out a disgusted breath, but she was smiling, and Vincent knew that, at some point in the last twelve hours or so, he’d won her over. Her bite-fueled orgasm notwithstanding, she wasn’t ready to jump into bed with him yet, but she liked him. She felt a loyalty to him. After all, she’d risked her life to get in here and save him, hadn’t she? But, as he watched her clean and bandage his arm, he had a feeling it was his kindness toward Moreno, and his obvious anger at the way Enrique had used and abused him, that had won her over. Lana might not let anyone get too close, but she cared about right and wrong. And Vincent had shown her that he did, too. He’d gotten over the first hurdle with her, but now he had to get past that last barrier. The one that didn’t let her care too deeply, because life had shown her that to care was to be disappointed.
Vincent would show her differently. It was only a matter of time.
But speaking of time, theirs was rapidly running out. Camarillo would be sending someone soon to find out where his pet vampire was, and why he didn’t show up at the kitchen on schedule.
Vincent waited until Lana had finished wrapping his arm, then took her hand. “I’m good, querida, but I can’t take on an army by myself. So we’re going to make a run for it. You know a quiet way out of here?”
Lana nodded. “The SUV is less than a half mile away, parked behind a hill just east of here. I came over it this morning. But if you can get us out the gate, it will shorten the distance we have to run.”
“We make directly for the gate then. I can—”
“Also,” she added, interrupting him. “Fidelia Reyes—the woman who cut you—told me that most of Camarillo’s guards are gone. There’s a big drug shipment or something. They’ll be back tonight, but they might not have arrived yet. I didn’t hear anything today that sounded like a bunch of guards coming back, no big noise of vehicles arriving.” She frowned, then admitted, “Although I did fall asleep for a few hours.”
“If there’d been something, it probably would have woken you, so let’s hope for the best. We’ll go for the gate. Jerry and I can move a lot faster than you, querida. So, you’ll let me carry you.”
“I will not!”
“Lana,” he said patiently. “I won’t leave you, and if we travel at your human pace, we’ll all die. Do you understand?”
Her mouth tightened and she gave him a rebellious stare, but then jerked her head in a nod. “Fine.”
Vincent grinned. “I’ll be careful, and I won’t tell anyone.”
“Asshole,” she muttered. “You want a weapon?”
“No. You keep those. Just try not to shoot me or Jerry, okay?”
She gave him a one shoulder shrug coupled with a twist of her luscious lips that was a very clear maybe.
Vincent winked at her, then turned to Moreno. “You ready, Jerry? You understand the plan?”
“Yes, sir,” he responded with far more energy than he’d possessed earlier. “I know the layout and the guard dispositions. There will be two men at the gate, and others patrolling the compound. Lana’s right in saying most of the guards are gone, but others will be here. I can run fast, sir.”
Vincent nodded his approval. “I know you can. I’ll take care of Lana. You just keep up. Anyone takes us on, we take them out. Can you do that?”
“Yes, sir. But if I may suggest, sir?”
“What?”
“A stealthy departure would be best. The cartel owns this town and everyone is armed. Only one guard will be waiting outside this building for me, and I know him. He knows I’m harmless, and he’ll probably assume you are, too. He won’t expect a woman, but—”
“I can take care of any guards we meet. They won’t think anything I don’t want them to,” Vincent said confidently.
“If they won’t expect a woman to be with you, who am I going to be in this little scenario?” Lana asked.
Vincent slung an arm around her waist and pulled her across the dirt floor, bringing her close enough to kiss, if she’d let him. The look on her face told him that was a good way to get bitten, so he simply grinned and said, “You’re dinner, what else?”
Lana rolled her eyes. “Don’t forget the gun.”
Vincent laughed and tightened his hold for a moment before releasing her and standing upright for the first time. Or as upright as he could in the tight enclosure. “Everyone ready?” he asked, all joking set aside.
He glanced at Jerry who stood next to him and said, “Yes, sir.”
Lana had just finished tucking the first-aid kit back into her pocket. She rolled to her feet, the 9mm gripped in her right hand and held down against her leg, so that it was readily available but not advertised, and gave Vincent a tight nod.