Wulf’s heart began to beat once more as he took in Mary Jane, a disheveled mess. He thanked God she was alive. The mansion had been surrounded in chaos while he strategically moved throughout it in search of her. He’d feared the worst.

Wulf sidestepped the large cook. He quickly scanned across the room for more threats. But the shootout in the dining room still rang loud and clear.

“Mary Jane, we have to go,” he ordered. Though getting out of the house was paramount, he reached out to embrace her. She pushed him. “What did I do?”

“You bastard!” Mary Jane screamed.

“Shhh!” He put a finger to his lips. There had been more movement in the house when he scoped out the place. He’d run through the kitchen entrance upon seeing her through the window.

On instinct, Wulf knelt.

“Lalina.” The voice was soft, sincere, and held a hint of madness. The kitchen door swung open again. Wulf reached for Mary Jane to yank her down, but she stood rooted in shock.

Hector held a bloody hand to his chest but smiled at her. In his other hand was the shiny, pearl handled Desert Eagle. The barrel of the 44 magnum gun was at her heart. “Sorry about your last meal; my team can be a bit overzealous at times. There’s nothing like seizing the moment when shots are fired. Let’s take this party into the office, shall we? I have a camcorder to set up.”

Wulf looked up as Mary Jane nodded. He almost rose but at his angle noticed the gun in the man’s hand and couldn’t risk her life while lunging at the man.

Mary Jane argued, “Oh, I get it. You plan to record my death? A few hours ago, I was really thinking about dying…about the man I care for with every bit of my heart and soul, and how he abandoned me.” She gritted her teeth, the tremble of rage in her voice was enough for Wulf to grimace.

Hector chuckled. “You’re chattier than before. I enjoy a laugh.”

Wulf attempted to catch Mary Jane’s gaze. All he needed her to do was get down as swiftly as possible. But instead, she started out of the kitchen with Hector. In a crouched position, he moved toward their voices.

The dining room was a massacre. Riddled bodies slumped over tables, on the floor, and in seats. He traded the knife for a nine-millimeter. Checked the clip and continued to follow the sound of their voices. They were heading up the stairs. While heading up the stairs, he could hear their seemingly friendly chat.

“Please have a seat while I ready the camcorder,” Hector ordered to Mary Jane.

“Okay.” Mary Jane was so complacent that, although he could not observe them, Wulf had a hunch she had something up her sleeve. Don’t get yourself killed, MJ. He fisted the gun in his hand while coming down the corner closer to the room where their voices traveled from.

Wulf peered into an office. Hector was an easy target, but still held his gun on Mary Jane. She caught Wulf’s gaze as she sat on a chaise near the cherry wood desk. She was pulling something out of her pocket and behind her back.

“Get down,” he mouthed with tensed lips. She shook her head no.

The minx was unpredictable, and Wulf feared shooting a man with his finger on the trigger trained at Mary Jane. Especially if she refused to cooperate.

“I’ll have more help in a few minutes,” Hector warned, “but I need you to cooperate and not try to run. If you do, realize that this property is surrounded. My men will be on you before you can make it off my land. Got that?”

“Sure.” She shrugged as he turned around to look in the drawer of the desk. Wulf ducked out of the doorway as Hector rustled around in his desk. The moment Hector turned back around, Wulf glanced inside to see Mary Jane stuffing something into a bottle behind her back.

“Did I say you can move?” He faced her.

“Not even for a better backdrop?” Mary Jane held a throw pillow in front of her.

Assuming she was harmless, Hector turned around to check another drawer.

“Ah ha! Here we are.” Hector grabbed a camcorder. The instant he glanced Mary Jane’s way, she swung her arm forward, the chemicals in the bottle soaring out and spraying his face.

“Hold your breath!” Mary Jane shouted to Wulf as she ran toward the door. Just speaking sent fire racing down her throat and lungs.

Hector reached for Mary Jane as she darted past him. Wulf took the shot. A bullet pierced straight through Hector’s right eye. The drug lord fell backward into a clay statue that fell and shattered along with his dead body.

Wulf and Mary’s hands connected, and they ran downstairs and out the door. Heavy exhaust sounds sparked through the air. As Hector had said, there were more men coming. SUVs were packed with armed men ready to strike.

“Wulf,” she gasped the words, voice hoarse.

He tugged her hand.

“But that’s the way down—”

“Trust me,” Wulf barked.

They sprinted toward the thicket, lungs working overdrive.

Hard voices shouted words in Spanish and footsteps pounded the pavement as men got out of cars behind them, but Wulf and Mary Jane escaped into the foliage before being noticed.

The sun had fallen, but the stars had yet to reign. And it was an hour into driving when Wulf realized Mary Jane hadn’t said a single word to him. He’d just pulled back onto the highway after navigating rocky, curvy terrain. He rubbed a hand along the back of his neck and then shook his heavy arms. While taking the road at about five miles over the speed limit, he contemplated their interaction after the explosion. Fucking ironic. She hates me like this is day one.

“I thought you left me, MJ,” he spoke, the sorrow woven into his tone.

“Good thing you’ve vowed your love to me, Wulf. You promised to me on countless occasions that you’d never leave me as I lay in your arms crying about stupid dreams.” Her voice raised with each word. “You made promises! Now, was it my imagination? I could’ve sworn I saw you earlier today, after that nasty motherfucker wedged his tongue down my throat. You left me.”

A heavy grumble vibrated through him. “I apolo—”

She cut him off in a monotonous voice, “We’re both alive.”

The tires screeched and Wulf jerked the wheel to the right. They went swerving onto the gravel. Mary Jane’s beautiful brown eyes glowered at him, and she held a hand against the dashboard.

“Fuck that, Mary Jane!” he shouted. “You don’t get to turn off, okay? You don’t have the right. We’ve been through too much shit together.”

Her steely gaze slid away from his and to the open road. For a second, Wulf noticed a softness in her eyes, but the rest of her was like a detached shell. She said, “Drive.”

Adrenaline washed through his veins at her flippant demeanor. I keep fighting for this woman and she doesn’t give a fuck. But what he’d said was true. After all the crap they’d gone through together, he’d be forever loyal. Wulf’s head dropped back against the headrest as he breathed heavily. “I fucked up. I thought you left with Keegan and Megan.”

Mary Jane sniggered, still glaring out the window. She was pulling even further away from him than they’d been in the past few days. “Why the fuck would I leave with those people?”

“Those people? They’re your family!” Wulf reached over and grabbed her chin. He forced her to meet his gaze, and her lips trembled in indignation. “I went to see Amy and Tom after I learned that you hadn’t run off on me.”

Mary Jane silently stared out the window.

“After I left, they were murdered. The only man in this entire world that you never get a fucking attitude with—he did it.” His gaze latched on to hers again, searching for a shred of humanity. The grit of her jaw was all the emotion he’d see. Wulf let her chin go. Again her gaze went to the road. This time, she turned her body away from him, lifting her knees onto the seat and positioned herself along the side window.

Wulf pulled back onto the road. “They were our friends.”

The blood in his veins boiled. Mary Jane was being seriously callous, and he’d just risked his life for her.

Wulf drove in silence; his jaw clenched. He heard a quieted sob coming from Mary Jane. Not sure if he should strike up another conversation, he reached over to grab her thigh. Her hand went to the top of his and the only sign that she gave a damn about Tom and Amy was a soft squeeze.

“Thank you for saving me,” she mustered after a few more minutes.

“I’d do anything for you, Mary Jane.”