Page 47 of Defending Mateo
“One of the team that’s going to get you the hell out of here,” he finished for her.
Leaning in, he wriggled a small metal tool in the lock where the chair was attached to her collar, and a second later, it fell away.
“I wasn't expecting singing to be the way you got me out of here,” she said, as he wrapped one of his large hands around her bicep and helped her to her feet. It had been hours since she was last standing, and her head swayed slightly as she got her balance, her legs protesting being straight after being forced into a kneeling position all this time.
“Wanted to avoid gunshots if we could. Don’t want to risk you getting hit,” Mateo told her as he helped her step down from the platform. “I’ll carry you if you need me to,” he said when she wobbled slightly, the cramps in her calves and the high heels not a good combination. “But it’ll draw more attention to us, and I want to get you out the door before someone stops Lucky.”
“Lucky?”
“The guy who’s singing very badly right now.”
Nodding, she straightened, willing the pain in her legs away. There was no time for it now. Not if she wanted to make sure that she and Mateo, and this Lucky guy, got out in one piece. If she made a scene and they were spotted, then the lives of the men who had come to rescue her would be in danger, and that was the last thing she wanted.
“I can walk, you don’t need to carry me, just a little cramp, no big deal,” she assured him, curling her fingers around his when he slipped his hand into hers.
“Then let’s get out of here.”
When he began to tug her in the direction of the French doors behind them, she went eagerly with him, more than ready to be out of here. Just because King hadn't physically hurt her, he’d made her come against her will, touched her when she didn't want him to, and made her kneel before his guests and service them like she was nothing more than a plaything. He wasn't a good guy, and she hoped that Mateo or one of the Delta Force team would kill him. She’d recover a whole lot quicker if she knew the man who had bought her was no longer breathing.
It seemed to go so smoothly.
So easily.
They were walking across the room, and everyone else’s attention appeared to be fixed on the man called Lucky, who was currently singing, badly off-key, at the top of his lungs.
Ally couldn’t believe that they were just going to walk out of here. When Mateo had first told her a team would be coming in after her, she’d been expecting men in tactical gear breaking through windows, or shooting down anyone in their path. Not this. Not just walking out the door.
But of course, it didn't really turn out to be that beautiful.
Right as Mateo opened the door, there was a shout behind them.
“Hey! What are you doing? Isn't that?—”
“Go,” Mateo whispered harshly in her ear. “There’s a motorcycle parked out front. I want you to get as close to it as you can and hide.”
“You're leaving me?” Automatically, her fingers tightened around his. She didn't want to be alone again. Mateo had only just gotten here, he couldn’t leave her already.
“Only for a moment. Just have to make sure you get out.”
“But—”
“No time for buts, little mouse. I came here to make sure you get home.”
“You have to get home too.” As badly as she wanted to go home, she didn't want it to be at the expense of anyone else’s life, certainly not Mateo’s.
“Go, little mouse, now,” was all he said, and he gave her a shove out the door at the same moment that more shouts echoed behind them.
Because she knew if she stayed, she would be a distraction, Ally ran. Out onto the veranda, where a few couples had obviously wanted a moment alone and not been drawn in to takea look at the loud man singing. Thankfully, none of them seemed to pay her much attention. If they looked at her at all, they didn't seem to recognize her as King’s new toy.
As she crossed the veranda, she looked for the motorcycle Mateo had mentioned. She had no idea where it was, and the grounds were extensive. Kicking off the heels as she ran down the steps, she could move more easily without them, she continued scanning the area, desperate to find their way out of here.
There.
When she saw it, she made a beeline right toward it, realizing too late that a young man stood close to it. He had a weapon in his hands, but it wasn't aimed at anything, he appeared to be examining the bike.
Did he know that it was Mateo’s, and that it was going to be their getaway vehicle?
Veering slightly off to the side, toward a huge flowering bush that she thought she could hide behind, she was almost there when the man turned.
