DOM: Alliance Series Book Three (112)

“They’ll drive with us there, then break off.”

I’ve gotten so used to having someone drive us around that it feels weird to be alone in a vehicle with Dominic. And I hate that it makes me feel a little nervous to not have extra security on hand. Apparently I’ve gotten too used to the chauffeured, bodyguard lifestyle.

The brake lights of the two cars illuminate in the snow as they approach a stop sign.

I almost snicker at them stopping. Bunch of law-breaking gangsters stopping for street signs when no one is around.

To hide my smile, I look out my window.

The ground drops down about ten feet into a ditch, and I can see the top curve of a large culvert running beneath the road.

I’m suddenly reminded of a time when I was a kid; I wandered into a small one next to a park, and a toad jumped onto my foot.

It scared the crap out of me, but it’s a fun memory. A happy one.

I want more of those.

Bracing myself to talk to Dominic, telling myself to be brave, I turn to my husband.

And our world explodes.





CHAPTER 76





Dom





Everything rolls.

Upside down. Right side up. Upside down.

The crunching glass and bending metal sound quiet. Too quiet. Muted compared to the explosion that went off under the road.

The vehicle stops, the passenger side crunching against the ground a dozen yards away from where we started.

I don’t wait.

Don’t check for wounds.

I just grip the handle above my driver-side door with my left hand and undo my seat belt with my right while bracing my knee against the center console so I don’t crash down on top of Val.

“Valentine!” I shout.

My voice echoes in the small space, and I have to blink to clear my vision.

She’s slumped against her door, the muddy ground of the drainage ditch pressed against her window.

Keeping hold of the handle, I swing my legs free and stretch down until I’m standing on her doorframe, my back to the windshield, covering my wife.

“Val!” I shout louder, panic infusing my voice.

And then she moves.

Her hand lifts.

“I-I’m okay,” she croaks, but I hear it.

She’s not okay.

Only, there’s no time to do this right.

“Come on, Angel.” It’s hard to maneuver in a vehicle tipped on its side, but I manage to crouch down and undo the belt that saved her life. “We gotta move.”

My hands reach her shoulders just as the automatic gunfire starts.

The sound of heavy metal slamming into the underside of our SUV peppers the air.

Valentine scrambles up, and I stay crouched over her as she climbs between the seats toward the back.

A round hits the windshield. Followed by a dozen more.

I had enough time to see the vehicle in front of us get totally fucked up in the explosion before we rolled off the road. They’re out of the game. And I have no idea what condition the other two cars are in.

And if you don’t know, you have to assume they’re out.

So it’s just me.

Just me and my fucking wife.

I keep my hands on Valentine as I help her climb through the wreckage past the second row of seats.

The windshield spiderwebs behind us.

Bulletproof glass is only good for so many rounds.

It’s meant to get you through the shit, not to hunker down in the middle of it.

More gunfire.

I listen for a half a heartbeat. It’s not automatic, but a different caliber.

My men.

The return fire will keep the enemy on the front side of our location.

“Right here.” I push Valentine into the corner between the back of the rear seat and the passenger side wall that’s against the ground.

She drops down, sitting with her back to the seat.

I kneel in front of her. “I need you to stay right here.” Her eyes are wild. Full of tears. “Tell me you will stay right here.”

She’s nodding, even as she begs me, “Don’t go.”

I grip her face and kiss her. Hard.

“Call your brother and don’t fucking move.” I press my phone into her hands and move to the floor of the car, which is vertical on the opposite wall of our confined space.

The trap door is a little bent, but I tear it off, revealing my weapons.

The gun in my holster won’t do it against multiple combatants. But this will give us a chance.





CHAPTER 77





Val





Dominic pulls a long black gun from the hidden floor well, followed by a rifle and several clips.

With a pile of weapons and ammo ready, he kicks open the back door, the edge of the large hatch scraping against the ground.

I want to yell for him to stop.

To come back.

But then he’s crawling through the opening to the outside. Where the bullets are.

He’s crouched just beyond the interior, staying low, keeping his head down.

His eyes flick to mine, then he moves over, out of my view, to the back corner of the downed SUV.

And he unleashes. The sound of bullets leaving his barrel is almost deafening.

I can’t lose him.

My fingers fumble with the phone. I don’t even remember when I started to cry, but my vision is blurry as I look at the screen, which unlocks with my facial recognition.