I hear Shane dig around in his bag, and then an unmistakable start-up song as he turns the burner phone on. I can only hear his side of the conversation, but it’s enough for now. “Hey, Chucky. What do you got for me?”
There’s silence for a moment, and I assume Chucky must be giving Shane some type of update. “So, he’s a ghost? Probably wishful thinking to hope he left town straight from the job. What about us? Heard anything about my girl, Ma–Meghan?”
A zing goes to my heart when he calls me that. His girl. I like that, even if I know there’s more to him than meets the eye. He’s hiding something, but at his core, he’s a good guy. I’m sure of it.
His girl. It makes me smile.
My sweet musings are abruptly stopped when I hear Shane start cursing. “Fuck. What the hell should we do then? She’s got people who are gonna fucking notice if she goes missing.”
Missing? I think back to our conversation in the car and wonder again if Shane is a mob guy. I try to think it through. Is he lying about being Dominick’s guy?
If so, why would he run with me? Or maybe he’s not running with me? Maybe he’s kidnapped me for Dominick and is making it seem like I need to run so that I’m a cooperative and stupid victim?
But to what end? If Dominick wanted me dead, Shane could’ve done that multiple times already. We’ve been driving on some lonely stretches of highway, and he could’ve dumped my body along any of them and I likely wouldn’t have even been found.
Or he could be Sal’s guy? Protecting his boss, or heck, maybe taking me to his boss?
But Shane has been protective. I at least know that and truly believe that’s real. He wants to keep me safe, not turn me over to a mob boss to be handled like a witness in some B-grade movie. He’s even bordered on the near-obsessive sometimes, not allowing me to go into the convenience stores at gas stops without him escorting me, even if it’s just to pee.
No, I don’t think Shane’s a gangster, even if he’s worked for gangsters. There’s more going on, and I’m going to have to stay on my toes since Shane is hiding what that is, but I trust him. Lord help me, I’m listening to my gut and heart more than my brain, but that’s what I’m going with.
I hear him wrap up the call with Chucky and quickly hop in the shower, wetting my hair and scrubbing my body as fast as possible. Luckily, the soap is barely better than rubbing sand all over my skin and I’ve got plenty of reasons to hurry it up. As I emerge from the steamy bathroom, Shane walks past me, his face hard, jaw clenched.
I open my mouth to say something, not even sure what, but he simply shuts the door in my face and I hear the water start back up again for his shower. I pull on the same tank from last night and clean panties and sit down on the bed, fighting the urge to lie back on the scratchy sheets. “Not this time,” I promise myself softly. “I have to stay awake. We have to talk. There are too many questions that need to be answered.”
It takes Shane awhile, though, and I’m lying down by the time the bathroom door opens. Shane is quiet, tip-toeing to put his clothes over the chair before carefully sliding into bed behind me. Still, he can sense the tension in my body as he lies down, and he props himself up to whisper, “You awake?”
I turn to face him, curling up on my side as he lies on his back. “Yes. What did Chucky say?”
He looks down at me, his smirk visible even in the low light, that amused glint back in his eyes. “Who?”
“Stop jerking me around,” I reply. “You know who.”
“Were you eavesdropping, Maggie?”
I growl at him, sounding more like a kitten than the tiger I’d prefer. “Well, what did you expect? You’re not telling me anything. Two days ago, I was a waitress minding her own business. Today, I’m on the run from the fudging mob—oh, excuse me, mobs. Or what is the proper term?” I say, emphasizing the ‘s’ to illustrate just how crazy my life has become in the last forty-eight hours. “And you’re hiding stuff from me. Yeah, I eavesdropped. I’m furious. I’m . . . scared.”
My voice cracks, the fire snuffed out by the cold fear in my heart. Shane grimaces, like my anger and fear physically hurt him. “Come here, Angel.”
He pulls me to him, pressing my head to his chest as he wraps his arms around me, holding me tight, grounding me to him. “Don’t be scared. I’ve got you, and I’ll keep you safe.”
“You keep saying that, but I don’t even know what or who you’re keeping me safe from,” I reply, even as my body says it doesn’t care about all that, the comfort of having Shane hold me telling my traitorous body everything it needs to hear to relax. But I still talk, demanding even. “Tell me what Chucky said.”
Shane lays a light kiss to the top of my head. “Not too much, actually. Hitman is in the wind. They figured out who it was without your input. Dominick knows we’re gone, and he’s pissed and is trying to track us down. But Chucky doesn’t know if it’s because he wants to protect us or kill us. Dom’s playing this very, very close to the vest, which is his style.”
I fall silent, trying to take it all in. I know there are more questions to be asked, and I want to be strong and fierce, but this is so far above anything I’ve ever experienced it’s crazy. My brain’s being overwhelmed. I just want to go back to the way things were. My boring life was safe. Secure.
I break down, tears trekking silently down my cheeks, pooling on Shane’s chest. He rolls us, my back hitting the bed as he holds himself on his elbow beside me, his thigh on top of mine, splitting my legs.
He swipes at my tears with a gentle thumb, his voice soft but still strong. “Don’t cry, Angel. I know this is a lot, but it’s gonna be okay.”
I know my eyes are glossy with tears, my face flushing as I try to stop the torrent. “Ugh, I’m sorry for crying. I swear I’m not such a baby. Usually I never cry, but this is all so . . .”
“It’s fine, Angel. It’s your emotions needing an escape. The fear, the nerves, the . . .” He stops and I wonder what other emotion he was going to list because I’ve got a few in mind. Desire. Need. Hope.
Instead of continuing his list, Shane leans down, catching a tear with his tongue as it streaks down my face before kissing the trail away.
He lays more kisses along my cheeks, moving down to gently kiss my jawline and then my neck. I can feel the shift in him, going from comforting caresses to heated desire, and it awakens the same lust in me.
He talks into the curve of my neck, sending warm shivers through my chest and down my spine. “Your tears are salty, but here . . .” His tongue sneaks out for a lapping touch of my skin. “Here, you’re sweet. So very sweet, Angel. It makes me wonder what you taste like all over.”
I whimper, his words amping up my desire, bringing my focus to him and him alone, the rest of the world and my fears fading away. I need this, this release from the fear, release from the worries. For that, I need him. The wolves are out there, hunting us, and we don’t even know why.
Shane isn’t telling me everything I should know about him, and I haven’t been honest with him either.
But right now, I don’t care. Secrets, lies, risks, fear . . . they all slip away in his arms.
Chapter 16
Shane
Feeling Maggie whimper under my tongue, the sound echoing in my ear, is pure liquid desire and heat being poured into my body. If I were a car, it’s a shot of nitro and my engine’s ready to tear up the pavement, but I hold back. I want more of those throaty sounds from her, want to make her moan and scream my name.
I know that we shouldn’t, not in the middle of this shitstorm. She’s going to regret this later, regret me and probably hate me. But I’m a fucking selfish man, and if she wants this now, wants me to make her forget everything else for a little while, I’m going to fucking make her forget it all.