on the Romano compound.”
“Romano as in Nunzio Romano?”
“Yes. I need to save her,” she added defensively. “She has a three-month old baby, and her life is in danger. Please. She looked out for me when I was on the compound and this is the least, I can do for her. Just let me go. I only need John’s help. This has nothing to do with you or Liam. Let me go.”
She stole a long glance at him, couldn't have missed the clenching of his jaw even if it was for a split second. She instinctively realized he knew her story, that Liam had taken him into his confidence and told him everything about her. And yet it was something he hardly ever shared with anyone. But Kade seemed to know intimate details of that day.
A shiver skittered down her spine as she thought of how differently her life could have turned out if Liam hadn't saved her. She felt embarrassed that Kade knew. That she had been powerless and helpless when Nunzio had almost defiled her forever. Blood seeped into her cheeks, but she held her head high and kept her gaze straight at him even as she struggled to be freed.
After what seemed not even half a moment, he released her.
“Get in the car,” he ordered. She stalled, panting and scared as she watched him open the passenger door for her. “Get in,” he said one more time, leaving her no choice but to obey.
He started the car and took off, and nothing confused Olivia more. Was he going to help her? The idea that someone like Kade, who looked intimidating on his own without uttering a word, was going to drive the getaway car made her feel infinitely better. But with that came the price she would have to pay.
He would undoubtedly tell Liam, and she shuddered to think of the consequences. Consequences like Liam had never yet dished out on her before. Every part of her frosted over, then instantly burned her down to a single flame.
If… when Liam found out, she knew he would administer a punishment she couldn't even begin to imagine, and it scared the living daylights out of her the same way it destroyed her breathing, and she was ready to just completely acquiesce.
“Do you have a plan?”
Was he testing her?
She stared straight ahead and raised her chin. She wasn't that stupid. “It's the last day of the month, so most of Nunzio's men are out doing collections.” Collections was too civilized a word for what Nunzio's men did. They went from houses to businesses, to bars and restaurants in the neighborhood and demanded their monthly protection fee, which was odd because the only threat was Nunzio himself. She hadn't hated a man more than him in her whole life.
“I can slip in through a gap in the vineyard fencing, that no one knows about.” She kept her fingers crossed that it hadn't been discovered and fixed. If she allowed that thought to enter her mind, she would drown in helplessness.
“If I stay on the perimeter, I'll remain undetected. I know how to get to Bethy's unit without being seen. I… I used to use that path before a lot. I'll pick her up and bring her to the car.”
Kade didn't say another word as he drove John's car. He seemed to handle the small vehicle with reckless ease, and she didn't worry about her safety as he sped down the less-than properly maintained roads that led to Nunzio's compound.
Her gaze landed on his hands at the wheel, the strong veins that showed his power. She remembered his fingers inside her, those same long and hard fingers that had made her come while her husband watched. She really had to stop thinking about that. But she did the same with Liam when they drove together and worked herself up into a tight ball of arousal from just seeing his hands at the wheel. She shook her head as she imagined their hands on her body, stripping off her clothes.
As if she had said something, Kade turned his attention to her for long enough that she worried he might lose control of the car without his eyes on the road.
She didn't even bother shouting internally at herself for her thoughts. She knew she was procrastinating from having to face what lay ahead of her. They were nearing the compound as the roads became more winding, narrower as they circled the mountain.
Her palms grew sweaty.