Read Retribution Boxed Set (Books One and Two) Online
Authors: Cindy Stark
The car swerved around another corner, but she
couldn't look away from the man lying next to her.
"It doesn't matter. Don't worry. You're
going to live.” He sat up again, firing shot after shot. Allie wanted to cover
her ears, but she had one arm pinned beneath her while the other hurt like hell
from Joey knocking her down.
Through the open back window, she heard tires
shriek from the other car, followed by a loud, resounding crash.
"I hope you're dead, asshole.” The brute
spit out each word into the darkness of night, and then turned and fell against
the seat next to her.
The man behind the wheel slowed before turning
another corner, and then everything was quiet except the sound of the engine
purring beneath them, speeding her away from what was left of her tattered
life.
"Get us off the streets, Max. The cops will
be swarming soon.” The brute held out a hand to her. "It's okay. You can
get up now," he said, in a gentler voice.
Allie was beyond emotion. For a moment, she
wondered if she could trust the big man next to her, and then she decided she
didn't have it in her to care. She tried to get up. Each movement sent a jab of
pain spearing through her. "I can't. I'm stuck.” She'd managed to get
herself nicely wedged between the front and back seats.
"Give me your hand."
The sound of his voice soothed her, and she
wanted to go to him. Perhaps it was because he offered her safety, or maybe she
needed to feel a living body next to her. "Something's wrong with my arm. It
hurts to move it.” She lifted her hand toward him, a burning pain coursing up
her arm. She gasped and cradled it against her. "I can't."
"Hell. Max, pull this beast over for a
minute so I can get her off the floor."
"I'm
trying
to get us out of here
before the cops flood the city.” Although the shooting was over, tension still
strung along each of Max's words, belying the calm manner in which he drove.
"Pull over."
Apparently, the brute was in command, because the
car slowed to a stop. The driver got out, and Allie's head fell back as the
door opened behind her.
Max looked down into her eyes and smiled. It
wasn't a kind smile, though. In fact, there wasn't any emotion behind it at all.
He was a few years older than her and wore a baseball hat backward that partially
covered his sandy blond hair. She found him attractive in a powerful kind of
way—sort of like a moth might find a light bulb. "Well, you've got
yourself into a bind, haven't you?"
Was there a sneer to his tone? "I guess I
have," she answered, stiffening as he placed his hands under her armpits. She
wanted to remind him she'd been forced into the car and onto the floor, but it
might be best to not make enemies at the moment.
"Quit flirting with her, Max."
She shifted her gaze to the muscled man who knelt
over her, and she wondered where that remark had come from. She didn't think
Max had been flirting. In fact, if anything, he seemed annoyed he had to stop
the car to help her.
Her rescuer's hands slipped to the underside of
her bare legs. He was a few years older, too, and even better looking than Max.
His rough fingers grazed the backs of her thighs and, once again, she found she
couldn't look away from him. This time, the dome light in the car gave her a
better look at his features. Dark hair, military short. Stubble shadowed his
jaw. His lips were set in a thin line, and a hard look hovered in his midnight,
mesmerizing eyes.
She focused there as Max tightened his grip under
her arms. She needed the comfort she'd found moments before when the shots had
been whizzing past their heads.
"You got her? Her brute's gaze didn't waver
from hers.
"Got her," Max answered.
"Okay, lift."
Allie bit back a cry as the two men pulled her
from between the seats. "Oh, God," she said as she finally sat
upright on the backseat, grasping her injured arm with her now free hand. "It's—"
She pulled her hand away and gasped again. The
too-familiar sticky feeling threatened to send her over the edge. It was like
Joey. Just like Joey. She held her shaking, red-stained hand out in front of
her as her eyes began to blur. Was it her blood or Joey's? She suddenly
remembered she needed to get help for him. "Joey's going to die.” She
looked at the brute, feeling more and more helpless. "Am I going to
die?"
"Shit.” The man next to her pulled her
favorite black jacket down her arm as he cursed. "She's been hit."
Why had she worn that jacket anyway? It had been
so warm out. She really hadn't needed it. And now it had a big gaping hole in
the fabric. Just like her life.
The inside of the car tilted, and she reached
out, trying to grab something to steady her.
Max caught her hands, holding them. "There's
glass stuck in her," he said, sounding as though he was talking through a
tunnel.
"Get us out of here, Max. She's going into
shock."
She slipped toward the voice next to her as a car
door slammed shut.
"I'm on it, Jase."
Jase? She mumbled and winced as someone prodded
her injured arm. "Where's Joey? She leaned against the body next to her,
finding the comfort she'd been searching for. Warm arms circled around her,
pulling her close.
It was Joey. He was here. He'd keep her safe. She
let herself fade into oblivion.
Click
here
to purchase SWEET VENGEANCE
Aspen
Series
Wounded
(Prequel)
Relentless
(#1)
Lawless
(#2)
Come
Back To Me
(#4)
Stand-Alone
Titles
Cindy Stark lives with her family and a sweet
Border Collie named Boo in a small town shadowed by the Rocky Mountains. She
currently writes romantic suspense and contemporary romances.
To find other books by Cindy, visit her website
at
www.cindystark.com