I smile. “Well, if anyone deserves some fun, it’s you. Declan, you were incredible throughout the entire trial. I only hope to possess half your talent one day.”
His smirk reminds me of Curran’s. “Maybe you’ll get your chance. You did one hell of a job on this case. Truth is, I needed more help than I asked for, but you had me covered, worked hard, and never disappointed me despite my demands. I recommended you for the assistant DA spot opening up in the Trial Unit. You want experience, you’ll get it there.”
He laughs at my stunned face, continuing before I can thank him. “The pay is abysmal for a starting position, but working for the county is not without its benefits. Did you know for every year you work at the DA’s office as a prosecuting attorney, the county will pay twenty percent of your school loans?”
“No, I didn’t know that,” I stammer.
“Now you do.” He waits as if debating what to say next, odd for someone who has a gift with words. “Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen with your pending lawsuit, Tess. But no matter what, this should show you that you’re going to be okay.”
I nod, although by now I’m pretty choked up. “Thank you.”
He shrugs. “That’s what family’s for, Tess.”
Declan lets me deal with my girlie emotions while he calls in a food order at the bar and grill a few blocks from his apartment. He parks near the entrance and steps out. His guard steps out with him and follows him in like they’re old friends. After months of working together, I suppose they are.
I text Curran to let him know that we’re almost at Declan’s. I hit send and debate whether I should also tell him about Declan’s recommendation, but a knock against the driver’s-side door has me looking up.
Declan’s hands are full of takeout. I don’t remember him ordering so much, but hurry to unlock the doors to his sedan.
I realize too late that it’s not Declan when a strange man slips in and presses a gun against my side. “Don’t move. Don’t scream.”
He flips the locks and two more men jump into the back. “Got her?” someone says.
Something hard and cold presses into the back of my skull. “Yeah. Drive.”
The driver cranks the engine and eases onto the street as if he has all the time in the world, even though I recognize my time is already up.
Chapter 30
Tess
I often wondered what I would do if I were ever in a dangerous situation. But right now, right when it’s happening, I can’t think straight, and my body is shaking so violently my phone falls out of my hands.
“Fuck,” the driver says. “We have a tail. Who is that? Another one of your boyfriend’s cops?”
It takes me a moment to register what he’s saying. This man thinks Declan is my lover. “He’s not my boyfriend—”
The barrel of the weapon smacks me hard against my head, making me cry out. “Shut up, bitch,” the man behind us says. “We saw you with him.”
My mounting fear makes me desperate. “Please, don’t do this. I’m pregnant.”
“Sure you are,” the third man says, cutting me off. To the others he says, “We have to kill her fast.”
“Easy,” the driver says. “Too many witnesses out here. It don’t matter how much she’s paying us if we’re not around to spend it.”
“Sh-she?” I manage.
The men in the rear seats laugh. “Montenegro’s wife. Your man took away hers, she’s taking you away from him. Fair is fair, sweetheart.”
The car continues forward, accelerating enough to put some distance between us and the restaurant, but not enough to arouse suspicion from the cars on either side of us. I try to keep track of where we’re going, but each turn makes it more challenging.
We pass Franklin Square and make a left onto North 5th. Panic pounds the blood coursing through my veins, making me dizzy, and making it harder to focus. As far as I can tell, we’re near Penn’s Landing, but heading further away. Three more blocks, then another right. Jesus, where are we?
“Did you lose the tail?”