She glanced up without moving her head or her trigger finger. Looking into her eyes was like watching a storm roll over the horizon and devour the blue skies. It was magnificent. Unstoppable. And deadly. “I have to end this, Jay.”
“There’s a better way.” He hadn’t worked out what that was yet, but he’d make damn sure it was a solution she would walk away from.
Colson remained in the driver’s seat with the engine running. The bodyguards had spread out, but not one was in sight. Where were—
Nathan poked his head around the SUV nearest to Charlee.
Jay tried not to fidget or make eye contact. No one looked in Nathan’s direction. Was the rest of the team hiding? Planning an attack from concealment?
His muscles tensed in readiness. His pulse fired with purpose. An idea played out in his head. It could work. Adrenaline flooded his body with instant energy.
Roy shifted to a sitting position in a cautious stiff movement. His breathing was quieter, steadier, as he looked between Jay and Charlee. “You lied.” His eyebrows lowered over his narrowing eyes and his nostrils flared. “You’re fucking this lowlife?”
Jay’s fist clenched. “That’s rich coming from a rapist.”
Charlee snorted. “There’s a hell of a lot of horny girls willing to lower themselves for Jay Mayard.” She shrugged. “He’s a wet-panty dream. I’d do him.”
Was the casual disregard in her voice and posture enough to convince Roy? The man’s blank face revealed nothing. Jay burned to put a bullet hole in it.
“Put your guns on the ground.” Tony stepped from around a parked car. Nathan, O’Neil, Vanderschoot, and Edison rushed in from nowhere and everywhere. Five on five, each of his team covered the three thugs and two cops.
Jay released a breath, but anticipation billowed in the wake of relief. With her gun leveled on one of the officers, Tony looked at him out of the steely eyes of a Marine and waited for his signal. She was prepared to fight this with muscle and gunfire.
And Charlee stood at the center of the web formed by the projectile paths of ten guns if they went off.
Jay’s plan would ensure her safety. He was used to being the coward, the social retard, the pain in the ass. That was his go-to. He would fight this with evasion and bullshit. “Roy. Got some bad news for you. My team leader just gave me visual confirmation that you are being recorded.” He jerked his chin at the SUV they arrived in that morning and at the backup vehicle they had returned in. “They activated video and audio equipment on the dashes when we arrived. The recordings are fed live to my team in L.A. If anything happens here, it will be broadcasted.” He held Roy’s glare and made sure he didn’t miss a single word. “Charlee will never see the inside of your stockroom again.”
Unease rippled through the gunmen. Roy rose to his feet and held up a hand to stay them. “Miss Grosky shot me. Did you record that? Are you recording the weapon she’s aiming at me now?”
“Of course, she wants to shoot you, you rapist motherfu—”
“When we pulled into the lot,” Tony said, “we logged Miss Grosky defending herself during an attempted kidnapping.”
A shiver ripped down his spine. If that was true, how close had he been to losing her? “This ends now. Charlee is going to holster her gun, and I am going to escort her to my car.” He captured her huge eyes. “Go ahead. They’re covering you.”
The cop at the business end of Tony’s Glock kept his own gun trained on Charlee. “We can’t let you leave, Miss Grosky.”
The pressure in the air was going to pop. Any second, someone was going to pull a trigger.
Tony was the calm in the eye of the storm. “What’s it going to be, Mr. Oxford?”
Roy watched Charlee with an infatuation that consumed his entire demeanor. “Stand down, officers.” When they lowered their guns, he said, “Your turn, Charlee.”
She inhaled through her nose, flicked the safety on, and tucked the gun at the small of her back.
Jay wiped a sweaty hand on his shirt and offered it to her. She grabbed it so quickly a thrill rushed through him. He waited for his shadows to crawl out of their holes and chase her away, but as Nathan joined them and they walked her to the SUV, he only felt her hand. Her essence. His Charlee.
“You want to know how it feels?” Roy’s query tingled over Jay’s shoulder.
His gait faltered. Would Roy call his bluff on the recording? How many guns were pointed at their backs?
He pulled Charlee closer and picked up his pace. Nathan positioned himself behind them.
Roy let out a mirthless laugh. “Imagine losing your fame, your money, your drugs, your band…whatever it is filth like you values.”
Determination powered his strides. His blood pumped with one intent. Get her the fuck out of there. Ten more feet…eight…six…