I forgot about the people, the officers, the death . . . all of it. I could’ve forgotten about the entire world in that kiss if an officer hadn’t come up and interrupted it.
I hadn’t heard whatever he’d said, but his hushed words made Lucas tense. His arms tightened around me as a curse slipped from his lips. “Briar,” he said so low I barely heard him above the ringing in my ears. “I’m going to put you down and walk you back to the police car.”
“Wha—”
“There are people taking videos of the scene on their phones. If you were just a girl who had been sold at an auction, I still wouldn’t be able to risk a video of you ending up online. But you and I both know there are a lot of people looking for you.” As soon as he felt me stiffen, he placed one more soft kiss against my lips, then let me slide down his body.
He curled his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into the safety of his body and allowing me to bury my head against his chest in an attempt to shield my face from any cameras or phones.
Once he had me in the police car again, his large frame blocking anyone from seeing in, his haunted eyes locked with mine. “When we get home, we need to talk.”
I searched his expression, and asked, “Is everything okay?”
“After this, nothing’s okay. But we can’t talk here. I need to get you home right now.”
“But what about the police? Don’t I need to tell them what happened?”
“Blackbird,” he said in an amused tone. “You’re mine. They won’t ever need anything from you, and they’ll take the driver at his word.”
“The driver . . .” I mumbled, and looked around until I caught sight of the driver from out the back window. Looking back at Lucas, I said, “I don’t know what you’ve said to him, but you will not fire or threaten him.” I tried to have the same sure tone Lucas always had, but my words came out as more of a plea.
Lucas’s eyes were dark when he glanced back to the driver, but his tone was still amused. “Won’t I?”
“He saved me, Lucas,” I whispered. “I was standing right next to him when it happened. He did what he was supposed to.”
After a brief pause, Lucas nodded and blew out a harsh breath as the driver approached us.
“Mr. Holt, I am—”
“Take Briar home for me. Keep her in this car so she won’t walk in front of any more cameras. Make two officers check the house before you let her inside. I need to take William’s car back to him and discuss some things. I’ll be home soon.” When Lucas bent close to kiss me, my disappointed look had his eyes narrowing. He straightened out of the car to look at the driver, and his voice dropped low so it wouldn’t carry, but there was no mistaking the honesty of his words. “Thank you for saving her.”
The driver looked stunned. “Of course, Mr. Holt.”
Lucas was gone after giving me a short, passionate kiss, and within five minutes, so were we.
Once we were settled in the house and the police officers were gone, I turned to the driver. “I think I’m just going to go soak in the bath for a little bit.”
“Okay, Miss Holt.”
I stopped on the way to the stairs. “You know, after today I feel like I should be allowed to know your name.”
His head shook. “I am your driver, that’s enough.”
“Of course it is,” I mumbled.
“Miss Holt?” he called out when I was about to turn the corner. “I have never heard him thank anyone in the years I’ve worked for him.”
Why didn’t that surprise me? “Well, you’ve more than earned it.”
Chapter 35
Day 116 with Blackbird
Lucas
I stepped out of William’s car slowly, my face a carefully composed mask of peace that promised so many things that were far from that. Glancing at his house as I rounded the back of the car, I lifted the trunk and let my eyes roam over things that my mentor always kept in his personal car.
Golf clubs, blankets, water, baseball bat, shotgun . . .
I grabbed the bat and stepped around the car again, letting my gaze trail back to the house as I tested the weight of the bat in my hands. I knew he would be watching, because I knew he would have been waiting for me from the moment he’d had his driver bring him home.
At the last second, I dropped the hold on my fa?ade and smashed both driver side windows, then the windshield. By the time I had rounded the car and was smashing both passenger side windows, the door to the house was thrown open and a handful of his women ran outside.
They yelled for me to stop as I dented the frame and hood of the car, but never made a move toward me. Smart.
I stepped back to look at the car, nodding as my calm slipped back into place.
“Done,” I told them, letting the bat fall to the ground as I headed back to the trunk.
I didn’t stop walking, only slowed enough to snatch the shotgun out as I headed toward the house. The rest of the women lined the entryway with looks of shock, disappointment, and fear.
“Lucas, stop this at once.”
“What is wrong with you, child?”
“What are you doing?”
“Have you gone mad?”
“Don’t hurt him.”
They all continued their yelling and questions, but I never stopped walking until I was standing outside William’s office doors.
“It would be best if you stayed out here,” I murmured in a bored tone.
I didn’t pay attention to anything else they said, I simply stepped calmly inside.
“That was quite a temper tantrum,” William bit out from where he stood at his window, overlooking the driveway.
“How brave of you to let your women try to stop me.”
He loosened a long, slow breath through his nose, and tsked. “That’s my favorite car, Lucas.”
“You won’t be needing it anymore,” I assured him.
He turned slowly and looked me over from where I stood with his own shotgun aimed at his stomach. The expression on his face was one I had seen numerous times since I’d bought Briar. He was disappointed.
I didn’t give a shit.
“One day you will thank me. You’ll realize it would have turned out badly. You were way beyond the bond the two of you were supposed to have. She would’ve become a ransom, or a target for a grave.”
I didn’t respond.
“Put the gun down, Lucas. You’re acting like a spoiled child who had his toy taken from him. You’re mad now, but it wouldn’t compare to the pain later.”
“Her name . . . how did you find it?”
The corner of his mouth twitched wryly. “I have my ways.”
I nodded absentmindedly. I should’ve never put it past someone like William to break every rule he enforced without a care for the consequences. Because he knew he was untouchable.
At least, he had been.
“I’ve let you get away with too much because of who you are,” I said darkly. “That ends today. If you ever touch, or try to take Briar from me again, I promise you won’t live another day.”
Shock flashed through his eyes, but he composed it quickly.
I smirked. “What is it we say? Oh. Right. Because she’s still breathing . . .” Dropping the barrel a few inches, I aimed at his right knee and shot.