Carter Reed 2

Two more gunshots rang out from the back of the house. I had to go. A wall went up in me. It was time to kill, not love. I nodded to Michael. “Take her.”

She jerked out of his hands. “What the hell are you doing? I’m not going anywhere.”

“Emma, go with Michael. We need to sweep the house and see who else is here. Go with him. There’s a car outside. You’ll be safe there.”

She opened her mouth. I knew she was going to keep arguing, so I cupped the side of her face. Her protests died down.

“I can’t be distracted. Please. Go with him. So I know you’ll be safe,” I whispered, pressing my forehead to hers.

“I’m scared for you,” she whispered back.

“I know. But I’ll be fine.” I gave Michael a look. “Take her.”

“Ca—” she began.

But instead of grabbing her arm, he bent down and threw her over his shoulder. Then he was gone, and I knew he’d drive her to the house.

She was safe. Emma was safe. I had to keep telling myself that as I looked down at Cole, still unconscious. Hearing another gunshot, I left the room. We’d come back and pick him up. Peter needed me now.

“Where are you taking me?”

I was pissed. Goddamn this crap—making me leave all the time. I got it. I couldn’t fight like them, but I was tired of being treated like I was helpless. I wanted to fight. No, it was more than that. I wanted to be there to protect my man. This wasn’t just about Carter protecting me. It went both ways now. We were an evolved couple, damn it.

Michael had put me in a car waiting in the driveway and was behind the wheel and moving in an instant. There’d been a truck beside it, and I knew that was left for Carter and Peter. Cole—I remembered him and jerked upright in my seat. “We have to go back.”

“No.” Michael kept driving.

“Cole. We have to go back for him. We can take him to the hospital.”

“Carter will take care of him.” His voice was gruff. “And Carter and Peter will be fine. They can handle themselves. It’s you we need to worry about.”

“But—”

“Emma, it’s not just Carter who cares about you.” His knuckles were white as they gripped the steering wheel. His jaw clenched. “It’s us, too. We care about you, and we’re like a family now. So…you’re going where you’ll be safe. Okay?”

The fight left me. I knew they cared, but hearing it now—my eyes got misty. Goddamn, I wanted to go back so much, but hearing that, I couldn’t do a thing. I leaned back in my seat, folded my arms over my chest, and said, “Well, I care about you guys, too.”

“We know.” He glanced out of the corner of his eye at me in the passenger seat. “We know.”

I couldn’t talk. My throat felt swollen. I loved these guys, too. Family. He’d said that word, and he was right. I looked down at my lap, but I couldn’t stop thinking about that. A year ago, I’d had Mallory, Amanda, and Ben. That was it. And even then, we hadn’t been the family I’d thought we were. We were always dysfunctional. But now, so many things had changed. A family closeness had formed among Amanda, Theresa, Noah, and me. Then there was my actual sister and now Peter, Drake, and Michael. A laugh slipped out. It wasn’t just Carter and me after all. We had all these people loving us, worrying about us.

“What’s funny?”

“Just…with all of this.” I gestured around the car, but I was indicating our life. “The people trying to hurt us, you guys, with everything that happened because of Mallory a year ago. I have family. That’s an amazing thing”

And I was an idiot.

“Take me to Noah’s building,” I told him.

His hand tightened over the steering wheel. “No.”

“Michael, please. I left them before. I have to make it right.”

“You’re not safe there.”

“Who’s going to go against Carter now? I heard what Gene said in there. He’s wounded the entire Bartel family, and now that Gene’s gone? There’s no one left. I’m safe. Please? I need to make it right with Amanda and Theresa.” I had to. I hoped he understood.

He sighed. “Ten minutes. We go in and out. That’s all the time you have. Ten minutes.”

Ten minutes was all I needed. A smile stretched over my face. “Thank you, Michael.” It stayed there until we walked down the hallway to Noah’s place. We’d slipped in the building through the back door, but in an instant Noah’s front door opened, and Brian stood there. When he realized it was me, he disappeared for a beat.

Amanda and Theresa appeared at the door. They took one look at me and stood side by side. Amanda’s hands went to her hips. Theresa’s folded over her chest. They were like a scowling human wall, barricading me from further entry. Noah stood in the back, his gaze flickering from me to Theresa and Amanda and his frown deepening. But he seemed more wary of them than me.

Michael stood behind me and remained quiet. Yep. This was all me.

“You’re not going to make this easy, are you?” I asked them.

Their faces remained unchanged, as if made of stone.

Not the right thing to say. I cleared my throat to try again.

“Right. Well. Okay. First off, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I left, and I’m sorry I didn’t say good-bye or explain why I was leaving.” Oh, boy. “This guy told me I have ten minutes before I have to get somewhere safer, but I want you to know I made him bring me back. He’ll throw me over his shoulder if he has to, so I have to make this quick.”