The man smirked. “One.”
My father’s hold tightened on my neck and I struggled for air. The man followed us down the stairs, his gun clearly pointed at my father’s head. “Two.”
I could feel my father’s breath on my cheek, he looked left and right, trying to find his way out of this. The gun in his hand started to shake and I knew he was out of time. I clenched my eyes shut and waited, the heavy silence consuming us. And then I heard it, the shot rang out and I screamed. In all the commotion, I felt hands grab at me and I tumbled to the floor.
The gun in his hands went off and I screamed again as Micah grunted, grabbing his arm. Blood seeped through his crisp white shirt, but he paused long enough to glare up at someone. I looked back, and another figure loomed in the distance. Micah ran down the stairs towards me, but his words were meant for the man behind me. “You son of a bitch.”
“Three,” the figure appeared behind us. He shrugged and smirked at Micah as he made his way over to us.
Micah grabbed me, lifting my father’s dead weight off me. I clung to him as he sat back, rocking me in his arms. “We’ll settle this later,” he glared at the man who now stood before us.
“Whatever you say, boss. Just remember who saved her life.”
He ignored him and swept my hair out of my face. “Are you alright?”
“You’re hurt!” I dragged my hands to his arm and he flinched but continued to focus on me.
“I’ll be alright. It just grazed me.”
“It looks bad, we need to get you to the hospital.”
“No hospitals. I don’t want people to know we were involved.”
“Then we need to go, people will start asking questions soon.” I searched the empty streets, glad there wasn’t a soul around. The sun had set, and twilight had settled in, casting us in shadows. The courthouse was on the edge of town, far enough away that if we were lucky, no one had heard the shots.
I rose and helped him up. “We need to go get you checked out.”
He stopped me, concern in his eyes. “Are you alright?”
I looked up at him, cupping his cheeks. “I am now. You came back for me.”
“Didn’t I tell you that was the plan?” He smiled, and I hugged him tight.
“I knew I could trust you. Deep down in my bones I knew you’d save me.”
“Angel,” I leaned back to stare into his eyes. “I think you came to save me, in more ways than you can imagine.” He paused for a moment while taking my hand and pressing it near his heart. “I love you, Sarai, and there was no way in hell that I was going to let anyone take you away from me again. Not when I just found you.”
The two men that had helped us were standing in the distance, but there was someone missing. “Where is Jebediah?”
Micah shook his head. “Let’s just say he got taken care of.”
“That asshole deserves anything he gets, but he’ll be out of your hair soon, Miss.” The stranger came up to us and I looked up at Micah who rolled his eyes and looked away.
“Sarai, this is Eric Halthorn, he works at Edge. And this is…”
“Justin. Nice to meet you,” the other man took my hand and gave a firm shake.
“I don’t understand,” I looked at Micah who took a deep sigh.
“It’s a long story. Come on, I’ll tell you on the way to Edge.” He pulled me away from them and pointed at Eric as we left. “You and I aren’t done yet.”
The man simply nodded. “I’ll see you later then.”
“What was that?” I whispered to him as we left the location.
“Someone who is going to get his ass kicked.”
11
Micah
As soon as I saw him, I geared over to him and laid him out flat. One solid blow and he went down. “What the fuck!” He seethed up at me as blood seeped from his lip.
Crouching down over him I threatened the one man I knew would kill me if he could. “You ever use me or mine as bait or target practice again and that will be a bullet instead of my fist.”
He looked at me for a long drawn out moment, his jaw clenching as he swiped the blood away. “Fair enough.”
“Asshole.”
I stood up and Sarai took my hand, instantly calming my nerves. “It’s alright, Micah. If it weren’t for him I would be married and trapped right now.” She looked at Eric and smiled. “Thank you.”
“See now that’s what you say when someone saves your life.” His smug grin made me growl, but Sarai placed a hand on my forearm, stopping me.
I knew what he’d done. Lied to me to set me up for a bounty. I also knew the asshole got half the cut. I pointed my finger at him. “Keep laughing, motherfucker.”
“That’s enough!” Alexis’ voice rang out. “What the hell are you two on about? You want to scratch each other’s faces out, you take that cat fight outside. Not here.”
She looked at both of us and we both looked away. Sarai smiled at me and I couldn’t help but pull her to me. “Thank you,” she whispered in my ear, a soft kiss melting my heart.
I stared at Halthorn and grimaced. “What did you two do with Rothshire?”
Eric shook his head. “You don’t need to worry about that.” He leaned forward, pulling out some documents from his back pocket. “I think this belongs to you.”
He threw them down on the desk beside Sarai and she lifted them, slowly skimming the contents. “It’s mine?”
“All yours, sweetheart. Half the deeds in there belonged to you. Looks like your mother left you a solid inheritance. You’re also co-owner to the Hidden Route. I think you may have to clear that up with Landon Cartwright.”
“Co-owner?”
“Honey, your father had his hand dipped in every establishment here in Crescent Springs. You own half this town.”
“That’s impossible,” she looked up at me in shock, the papers trembling in her hands.
“It’s alright, Angel. I’m here for you.”
She leaned into me and all I could do was hold her tight. “I’m going to take her outside. I think she needs to breathe.”
Alexis nodded at me, placing a hand on my injured arm as I swept past her. “I’m glad you found what you were looking for, Micah.”
I leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You’re still my girl, Mistress.”
She smiled, and I took the woman I loved outside and away from prying ears. I tugged her towards the back of the building where Alondrea had set up a small sitting area outside. Sitting on a bench, I pulled her onto my lap.
“What is it, Angel?”
“You love her?” She looked up at me and I smiled.
“I do love her, yes.” She looked down and I tipped her chin up to look at me. “As a friend, Sarai. She is my business partner and friend. When I said I loved you I meant every word of it. There is no other woman for me.”
“I just…”
“Hush now,” I caressed her bottom lip. “Give me a kiss and show me just how mine you are.”
She blushed and leaned forward, her lips hovering over mine. “I love you,” she breathed, and my heart skipped a beat.