Out of the corner of my eye, the light in the warehouse suddenly turned on, causing Dev’s gaze to stray.
I took advantage of the distraction and in one quick breath, I lifted my arms into the air, balled my fist up tight and elbowed Dev in the solar plexus as hard as I could.
“Fuuuck!” Dev screamed, firing off a shot in my general direction as he lost his grip on me.
I rushed forward to escape him.
He stumbled back, tripping over one of the bodies of his men. When he fell, he dropped his pistol and his eyes darted around in search of it, reminding me of a trapped rodent searching for an escape. He was without his men, and now he no longer had a hostage to ensure he’d leave alive. Desperation had set in.
I kept waiting for Gray to take his shot, but it didn’t come.
Something was wrong.
I felt it deep in my gut.
Had Dev’s two men—Mac and Smokey—who’d been watching from the distance found Gray? Was he fighting on the roof for his life, or was his existence already forfeit?
Dev started to laugh when he realized I was alone and unarmed, that he could now finish me off and there wasn’t anyone to protect me.
I’d been right on one account.
Dev had followed me into a trap, but the trap failed.
I had no idea where Flynn was, or if Gray was still alive.
I was on my own—facing off with a madman who would stop at nothing to kill me.
My only shot in hell was making it to the van and praying his man had left the keys in the ignition.
If not…
I took a step forward only to have pain lance its way up my leg.
I looked down and realized I’d been hit when Dev’s pistol fired. A river of blood poured from the wound, trickling down my calf and into my boot. I became light-headed.
“Where’s your boyfriend now, you fuckin’ cunt?” Dev taunted, rising from the ground with a pistol he’d found by the body of one of his men. “You think his name on your shoulder is gonna protect you?”
I hobbled toward the van, my hand to the wound on my leg. But my palm kept slipping off because of the blood.
The air smelled of gunpowder and death.
“You don’t think I knew this was gonna be a set up? Of course I knew.”
“Then why did you let my guy kill two of yours?” I asked, feeling faint.
“Sometimes you have to sacrifice a few for the many,” he stated. His eyes took on a deranged glint in the moonlight.
Spots marred my vision and my breathing was already labored as my heart tried to pump more blood and oxygen to the wound in my leg.
“You didn’t think I knew about your alliance with Flynn Campbell? Or your boys’ meeting with the Jackals. The Jackals would be idiots to pick the losing side in a drug war.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask how he knew. But I realized it didn’t matter. He had been one step ahead of me and I was going to die for it.
“I know all, darlin’. I own this city.”
I reached the van and grabbed the door handle as Dev slowly approached from behind, not at all concerned that I was attempting to escape. The door was locked and my hand slid off the metal, leaving behind a bloody trail. I whimpered, even as I felt myself sinking to the ground.
As I rested against the wheel of the van, Dev crouched down to get into my face.
“I admire your balls.” He grinned. “For a woman. Still, you’re just a woman.”
He caressed the side of my face, almost tenderly, almost like we were lovers. Lovers entwined in blood.
My vision was hazy and I refused to let Dev’s face be the last thing I saw before I bled out. I focused on the warehouse behind him, a slight smile curving my lips when I saw the tendrils of smoke curling out from the warehouse.
“Guess you don’t know everything,” I wheezed.
Dev frowned and then looked over his shoulder, following my line of sight. “No,” he whispered, rising from the blood-soaked pavement beneath us.
He repeated the word over and over as he watched the warehouse of cocaine slowly become engulfed by fire.
“How? How did this happen?”
I wanted to tell him. I wanted to gloat. But I was having trouble staying awake. And just before I passed out, I swore I heard the faint rumblings of a motorcycle.
I was being lifted off the ground and pressed to a warm, solid chest. The cotton T-shirt smelled familiar. Like my favorite detergent—and Colt. I would’ve snuggled closer, but everything felt heavy. My head, my limbs, my entire body.
“Fuck.” The voice sounded very much like Colt’s. Which was impossible because Colt was in jail.
And I was dying.
Maybe it was an angel with Colt’s voice escorting my soul to heaven. My internal voice snorted at the thought. If anything, it was the devil shepherding my soul to hell. For the things I’d done. For the wrongs I’d committed. For the life I’d chosen.
I felt something cinch around my thigh.
“Brother,” came another voice I recognized.
Zip.
Why was Zip with the devil taking me to hell? Did devils work in pairs? Deranged thoughts. Thoughts from deprivation of oxygen.
“I can’t lose her.” Colt again.
Bleak.
So, so bleak.
I wanted to tell them that I was still here and I wasn’t ready to leave yet. I wanted to tell them that I had more living to do, more loving. I’d just found my father. I’d just unofficially adopted an eleven-year-old boy that I had no idea how to raise. And Colt. I couldn’t leave Colt.
I finally found the strength to open my eyes and stared into Colt’s intense brown gaze.
And then I died with a smile on my lips.
Chapter 30
Hell looked very much like a hospital room.
I blinked heavy eyelids, staring at light blue walls and a white ceiling. The IV in my arm tingled with pain when I moved my hand.
Colt was sitting next to my bedside, his head lolling to his shoulder as he slept. I thought about calling out to him to wake him up, but I didn’t want to disturb him.
Cottonmouth had me doubting I could even form a word.
I slid my finger back and forth across the sheet that was covering me. My nail on the cheap fabric made a sound, causing Colt to jerk upright in sudden alertness.
We stared at one another and then Colt was out of the chair and at my side. “Darlin’.”
“Water,” I growled through a parched throat. “Please.”
He grabbed the pitcher and poured water into a plastic cup. When I had my fill, he set it aside.
I had so many questions I wasn’t sure where to start. So I began with the most obvious one. “How long have I been here?”
“Brought you in last night. They rushed you to surgery for the bullet wound in your thigh. They dug it out, transfused the fuck out of you, and here we are.”
I looked out my window and saw the fading sunlight.
“Gray? He was—”
“Fine. He’s fine. Reap and Boxer found him wrestling one of Dev’s men on the roof. Gray managed to slide his knife into the other one.”
I breathed a sigh of relief that Gray was alive.
“He feels guilty as fuck, you know. Since he was supposed to pick Dev off.”
“Nothing goes according to plan, right? Dev told me he knew about the set up. Is that true?”