Bad Men - Piper Stone Page 0,49

her.

To own her.

There was nothing good that would come of this, but I was unable to stop, feeling victorious as her moans of helplessness became ones of utter bliss. We were like oil and water, fire and ice, our body temperatures skyrocketing as we both plummeted straight into hell. Nothing and no one was going to prevent me from having her.

I closed my eyes until the door was thrown open, the sound of Diego storming inside jarring.

“We need to get out of here, now,” he hissed.

Jerking back, I glared at him until I noticed the anxious look on his face. “What is it?”

“Just get everything you can and get moving.” Diego shifted immediately toward the location where he’d placed the duffle containing the guns and ammunition.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I snapped.

“Now, goddamn it. The place is gonna blow.” The bag in one hand, he grabbed Lindsey’s arm with the other, the sound of shattering glass as she dropped the tumbler jarring me into action.

While I might have trust issues, there was no way Diego was going to allow Lindsey to be killed. The reason was simple.

He was falling in love with her.

Fuck me.

Wasting little time, I managed to grab the communications console, cursing Dante’s name all over again. Either he’d sold us out himself or there was a serious issue with the entire procedural system. As I bounded outside, the gun in both hands, I swung in a giant circle, lagging behind them. While I didn’t see a damn thing—no lights, no activity of any kind—I could feel a level of danger that I hadn’t before. Someone had been to the house.

“You don’t know the vehicle hasn’t been rigged,” I hissed as I approached.

“Not from what I could tell, and we have no other options,” he retorted.

What I did know about Diego’s expertise was that he was well known for his detection of various bombs, his innate ability self-taught. If he was wrong, we were dead.

Diego shoved her onto the floorboard behind the front seats before tossing the bag and jumping into the driver’s seat. “Let’s go. Go. Go!”

I crawled into the passenger seat, giving him a hard look. “You better be right.”

His smile was laced with a snarl as he turned over the engine, chuckling before jamming the gear into drive. He slammed on the accelerator, flooring the engine as I breathed a sigh of relief. After roaring out of the carport, he threw a hard left, shifting gears flawlessly.

“Do you mind telling me what the—”

Boom!

Chapter 9

Jack

Betrayal.

The word hadn’t left my mind since the explosion. We’d been lucky to get out alive. Even thirty seconds later and there was a distinct possibility one or all of us would have been injured. The number of explosives used had been enough to level a city block.

Someone wanted us dead in addition to the Serpent.

I’d bet my reputation on it.

The question that troubled me the most was how we’d been found. Either the minion Dante had sent sold us out or there was some kind of tracking device, although we’d swept the house as well as the Jeep in front of the contact, searching for any sign of an issue. Damn it. Was Dante losing his touch or was there another player in the mix?

I turned my gaze in Diego’s direction, studying his pensive face. All three of us had remained quiet since leaving the area, the lovely doctor ashen white. While I should be surprised that my partner knew where he was going, somehow, I wasn’t.

When I heard her stir, I shifted my gaze. Her eyes were open wide, her hand trembling as she placed it on the back of my seat.

“Where are we headed?” Lindsey asked, obviously still shaken from the experience.

“Trujillo,” Diego answered. “And it’s going to take us a few hours to get there.”

“Too dangerous,” I snarked. “We need to find somewhere closer in case we’re being followed.”

His grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Explain to me where else we can go that will be safe. The Serpent will have all the airports under control, which is why we were waiting to get the hell out of this country in the first damn place. From what I can tell, it would seem we have a tail all the way from the pits of the jungle.” He shifted a gaze toward me, shaking his head slightly.

“One that’s far too good,” I hissed.

“At least we’re not being tracked now as far as I can tell. That’s why