Take It On The Run

Chapter 51

POV: Sloan

One minute, I'd been reaching for the knob to the bathroom, and the next, a stranger had muffled my cry for help and shoved me into a pitch-black room.

I knew Liam Murphy had enemies, but to attack his fiancé in his own club while he was here? That was ballsy as fuck.

But it wasn't one of my betrothed's adversaries who held and caressed me now. Avery's intoxicating spice and pine scent flooded my senses just before he spoke. Then, suddenly, his husky voice pierced the veil of silence, hitting me like a punch to the gut.

"Hello, angel. It's good to see you again."

My knees buckled, and his grip on me tightened, trapping me against his chest.

This...this couldn't be real. It had to be a dream or a trick of the mind. Avery couldn't be here, holding and touching me like this. Still, my heart sang at the mere possibility.

"Is it...is it really you, babe?" I dared to ask even as I allowed myself to melt into him.

"It is, angel. And I'm not alone. Deacon and Reed are here too."

I wished that I could see them right now. "No Sumner?"

"Sum would be here if he could," he said apologetically before kissing the side of my neck.

I missed Sumner, but at least all four of them wouldn't be apprehended by Liam's goons if they caught us in here together. I didn't know what I'd do if he got his hands on Reed, Deacon, and Avery. Liam hadn't brought the guys up again since the limo, which made me believe I'd been convincing enough over these last few days to make him forget about them altogether. But if he saw them here...well, I didn't want to think about how that would play out.

My voice cracked. "You shouldn't be here. Liam owns this bar. His people are everywhere."

"We needed to see you," Deacon said in that low familiar voice that made my knees weak and my toes curl. "We knew the risks. One of his employees also worked with my staff last year during a Guinness tasting. She'll call if anyone approaches the closet."

My eyes prickled with hot tears. "You came for me? After everything?"

This time Reed spoke. "We'll always come for you, princess. Never doubt it."

"But I..." my throat bobbed. "I did things with him...I—"

"It doesn't matter what you did, Sloan," Avery insisted reassuringly as he continued to play with my breast, his hard body cupping mine.

God, he felt like home.

Someone stood before me now and gripped my hips with their large hands. Wrapped in shadow, Deacon declared, "We will always want you, sweetness. Always."

My lungs rattled with a painful sort of dryness, but I managed to hold back my sobs, more out of self-preservation than anything else. Smeared makeup and bloodshot eyes would equal questions and suspicion from my fiancé later. He was incredibly observant. Too observant, in fact.

"If I'm gone too long, he'll come for me," I whispered. It didn't escape me that I sounded like a battered woman, scared out of her wits for simply talking to these men.

Avery's breath coasted along my cheek as he spoke. "Do you want us to get you out of here? Because we will, angel. There's a car waiting just outside the service entrance. Your father's place is nearby. We can protect you."

I shook my head and then remembered that they couldn't see me. "No. I don't want to run anymore. This ends now, one way or another."

Deacon's low growl sent goosebumps skittering across my flesh. "Not if it ends with you dead or being repeatedly assaulted against your will. We'll find another way."