I’m frozen in place as I watch cars surround Storm and guns point right at him. Fear beats down on me and I can’t seem to drag my eyes away from the situation that plays out in front of me. I have to help him. I can’t allow him to be hurt because of me. He doesn’t deserve that. All he’s done wrong is save a girl whose family decided she was more valuable to them than they ever realized and sold her to the highest bidder.
The phone in my hand vibrates and Everett’s name appears on the screen. I quickly answer it and bring it to my ear. “Hello,” I say quietly.
“Ayvah?” a deep voice rumbles on the other end of the phone.
“Yes. Storm told me to call you, but you beat me to it.”
He chuckles. “It’s kind of my job. Where is Storm now?” His words are strained but gentle. He’s trying not to scare me even though the scene playing out in front of me is enough to make the contents of my empty stomach gurgle painfully.
I take in an unsteady breath. I need to get myself together, because the only person who can help Storm is on the other end of the line, and he can’t help him if I lose my shit. “He’s talking to a woman. There are about ten, maybe fifteen men surrounding them, all with guns.”
“Very good, Ayvah,” he praises. Perhaps he can tell how terrified I am by the way my voice shakes.
“I’m scared,” I tell him honestly.
“I know you are. But try not to be. Storm is very capable of talking himself out of just about anything, and your back up is just a couple of minutes away.”
“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” I whimper, tears rolling down my cheeks even as I try to blink them away.
“This isn’t your fault, Ayvah and if Storm hears you talking like that, I can assure you’re going to be in trouble.”
“More trouble than my parents selling me and him having to protect a virtual stranger?”
Everett laughs. “He’s met his match with you, I can tell.”
“What does that mean?”
“It doesn’t matter.” He’s quiet for a moment before his voice fills the line again. “Backup is just over a minute out. How’s he doing?”
“The men with the guns are getting closer,” I tell him, watching as they surround not only him, but the car as well. They’re coming for me, and maybe I should just hand myself over to save everyone else all this hassle. “I think I should help him,” I whisper.
“Ayvah, don’t you get out of that car. If he finds out I let you walk into the middle of that he’ll fucking kill me.”
He’s joking. Surely he’s joking. Why would Storm care if I get gunned down? I’m just a charity case he picked up at his club and felt sorry for, and I can’t allow him to get hurt because of his kindness. “I have to.” I end the call and flick the lock of my door before swinging my body out of the car.
My heart beats so hard in my chest I wonder if it can jump clear across the street, but somehow that’s the least of my worries right now because all the guns that were on Storm only a moment ago have moved to me. I’ve never been held at gunpoint before, never so much as been threatened with a weapon, so when there are no less than ten pointed at me, I struggle to drag in a breath through the panic clawing up my throat. Maybe I should have stayed in the car.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Storm growls, the anger in his gray eyes disarming me. He’s never looked at me with anything close to this, and I find my stomach dropping. I was naive to think he could ever feel anything for me apart from pity.
“I can’t let them hurt you because of me,” I tell him, taking a few more steps. No one has told me to freeze but I’m starting to wonder whether that’s assumed when you have this many guns pointed at you.
“Ayvah I presume.” The woman smiles and takes a step toward us before Storm pushes me behind him.
“You can continue to address me,” he rumbles.
The woman’s smile turns to a smirk and it makes my stomach flip with nervous anticipation. I’ve lived a fairly sheltered life. I haven’t had many friends, I’ve never had a boyfriend, our family doesn’t extend past the four of us, and apart from that I’ve always been a bit afraid of the world. But I don’t need to have been around the block a few times to know this woman is straight up evil. “Interesting,” she says quietly, but by the way Storm stiffens I can only assume he heard her. “As a businessman, I know you understand that we can’t just let her go. We paid a high premium for your girl there, we have a number of buyers who are interested in her, and I don’t like to disappoint my clients.”
“Well seeing as you shouldn’t be trafficking humans in my city, I don’t really give a fuck about your clients being disappointed.”
“But that’s the thing, Storm. It shouldn’t be your city. It rightfully belongs to me.”
“You have a very fucking warped perception of how the transition of power within the families works, Annalise,” Storm snaps. “You never would have been handed the reins because you were a fucking teenager. Someone else within the ranks would have taken over and by the time you were old enough to take your place, the rest of the family would have outvoted you, a. Because you’re a woman, and b. Because you wouldn’t have known the first thing about running a criminal organization.”
I look between the two of them, confusion tugging at my brows. I’m definitely missing something here. I mean, I know Frost Industries isn’t one hundred percent legit, but what does she mean she should be running things? And who the hell even is she?
“You don’t know that,” she hisses.
“Yes, I do. I know because I was around when shit went down with your father. I saw the men in the ranks look down upon my mother when my father included her in decisions, and I’m here to tell you that you never would have been given the reins.”
Her face hardens and I can’t help but step forward. I don’t want Storm to be hurt because of me, and if that means diffusing this situation and handing myself over, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
“Ayvah,” Storm snaps, his hand wrapping around my wrist and tugging me behind him. When did he move?
Tires screech at the other end of the street and I chance a look away from the tense situation and saw an SUV similar to the one Storm drove today careening toward us.
“We’ve got company,” one of the men yells and all the guns move to the car heading in our direction. The moment there are no weapons pointed at us, I lean against the car and let out a sigh of relief. This may not be over, but at least I’m not likely to die in the next few minutes.
“They got here quicker than I expected,” the woman muses, her attention not moving from us.
“Your brother isn’t as useless as you think he is, it seems,” Storm says. Brother? I’m definitely missing something here.
Three more cars race toward us from the other end of the street and some of the tension eases from Storm’s shoulders. Anger vibrates off him as he backs us into the side of the car, effectively shielding me from any potential fire. The fear raging through my veins makes it hard to drag in a breath, but having his body pressed against mine gives me a sense of safety that seems out of place.
Men pile out of the cars wearing tactical gear and holding guns so big I’m sure they belong in a war somewhere far, far away from Chicago. They move as one, forming a barricade and outnumbering the men who seemed so overwhelming just a few moments ago.
“So it would seem,” the woman murmurs, her eyes falling to where I’m hidden behind Storm’s huge body. “It seems you’re out of the woods for now, pet. But one thing you should know about the big bad wolf, you’ll spend your life looking over your shoulder waiting for him to strike.”
Before either of us can respond, she turns on her obscenely high heels and walks back to the car. She pauses as she waits for one of the men to open the door for her before slipping into the back of the blacked-out SUV without another glance.
Storm keeps me pinned between his back and the car until the cars have turned off the street before turning with undeniable rage in his eyes. After all the kindness he’s shown me, I’m not used to seeing such anger on his face, and I can’t help but flinch away from it.
“Get in the car, Ayvah,” he growls through clenched teeth.
I stay rooted in place for long seconds, as if my mind is trying to convince me if I move, something bad is going to happen, but when Storm turns to me and I see just how furious he is, my legs move of their accord.
I’m in so much trouble.
