Page 43 of Damon

Damon sped away, leaving the street before the police arrived. “I’m going to let you out in a few blocks. It won’t be long before the cops are right behind me. I can’t let them find you with me.”

I did a double take. “Are you kidding? You’re going to dump me out on the side of the road?”

“I am not letting you go down for this, Athena. Don’t fucking argue with me right now. I’m doing what I have to do to protect you.” There was no room for argument in his tone.

Damon took erratic lefts and rights, weaving his way away from the crime scene. Once we left the rich neighborhood, he pulled over to let me out. When I didn’t immediately get out of the car, he leaned across me to shove my door open. That’s when the sound of sirens in the distance could be heard.

“Go, Athena,” Damon barked. “Now. Before they catch up.”

I cast a frantic glance down the street behind us. “I can’t leave you alone.”

Gritting his teeth, Damon cast his eyes skyward, as if silently praying for strength. Then he roughly shoved me out of the car, sending me tumbling onto the sidewalk. I caught myself with both hands splayed on the concrete, pain shooting through one wrist.

“Get up and run,” he shouted. There was a split-second of hesitation before he said softer, “I love you.”

Then the car door closed, and he was gone with a squeal of tires.

With Damon’s words reverberating in my ears, I shoved to my feet and ran. My wrist ached from the fall. Still, I was grateful it hadn’t been an ankle, especially in these stupid heels. What had I been thinking when I chose them?

In a residential area I didn’t recognize, I kept moving, hoping to find my way to an area where I could potentially hide out in a business of some kind. When the sirens grew louder, I ducked down behind a large electrical box on the corner until the noise faded away.

Would they find Damon? What would happen if they did?

The thought of losing him made my stomach twist. Maybe I didn’t have it in me to be with a man who lived such a life. At the same time, I knew that I didn’t want to go back to life without him.

Dammit, when had this happened? How had I not realized that I was falling for him? Instead, it had taken potential disaster to hit me over the head with it.

Holding up my long skirt, I ran from street to street, hiding out in back alleys and backyards whenever a car came along. The sun had set a while ago, casting me in darkness. Only the street lights provided a glow to light my way.

Because I knew we had been going on a job, I didn’t bring my phone. That left me with no way to contact anyone to come get me. I needed to make my way to a public place where I could make a call. Enough time had passed that I was starting to wonder what had happened with Damon. Shouldn’t he have come looking for me by now?

When I finally turned the corner and saw lights indicating a row of businesses up ahead, I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe I could use the phone in a coffee shop. My pace slowed, my legs and ankles throbbing with each step.

I blinked back the sudden swell of tears that filled my eyes. Now that the immediate danger was over, I was overwhelmed with emotion. In my mind, I continued to see that moment when the groom lay there still and bloody. As thankful as I was that it hadn’t been Damon, I didn’t want that for anyone. This had all gone too far.

I was about to enter a late night café when a black Mercedes pulled up beside me. Someone called my name.

I turned to find Noah in the driver’s seat, Dominik in the passenger side. Never had I been so grateful to see familiar faces.

All but falling into the back seat, I said, “God am I glad to see you guys. Where’s Damon? Is he okay?”

Noah paused a moment before turning around to meet my eyes. “He’s been arrested.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

DAMON

I wasn’t sure how long I’d been sitting in that goddamn interrogation room. The cops were going round and round in circles. Asking me the same questions over and over as if they expected a different answer. I had told them my story, and I was sticking to it.

Not long after I let Athena out, the police caught up to me. I knew better than to take them on a wild chase through the city. Even though I was tempted to ditch the car and try to go on foot, I pulled over and let them grab me instead. Anything to make sure they didn’t find out about Athena and go after her too.

Despite the fact that I didn’t put up a fight, the cops were anything but nice. Roughly dragging me from my car before slamming me to the ground. A knee shoved against my back while they tightly secured cuffs around my wrists.

Now here I was sitting across from two asshole cops, waiting for this to be over. They’d removed the handcuffs so I could drink from the bottle of water they’d provided. I hoped that Noah had found Athena. I hated the thought of her being out there in the city trying to make her way home.

“Let’s go over this one more time,” said Officer Jennings. A shorter man with a stocky build. Thinning hair and a heavy beard. He’d been asking most of the questions. “Tell me again what happened.”

“Jesus Christ,” I muttered. “I know this is some tactic to get me to break and confess to some shit that I didn’t do. It’s not going to happen.”