Chapter 18

My stomach churns with a mixture of dread and despair. There's no way I can fend off Tony and Gino, and the more I fight, the worse it will be in the end.

No matter what I do, I'm going to be drugged, impregnated, and used as leverage against Nolan.

"Please." Tears stream down my face. "Don't do this."

"Cry all you want." Gino wipes the blood off his neck as he stomps over to grab my arm once more, yanking it straight out to expose the larger veins at my inner elbow. "Soon you'll be crying for a different reason."

My heart pounds as Tony picks up the syringe, drowning out any hope I had left. Ringing fills my ears, and darkness threatens to swallow me whole.

"I'd prefer you not do that, Tony. Forced Heat is dangerous to Omegas."

Backlit by the sunlight spilling across the floor behind him, Nolan looks like an angel walking into my hell.

Am I hallucinating? Did I miss the sting of drugs? Am I already lost to the fever? Is this my mind's way of keeping me safe from what's about to happen?

Then Nolan's beautiful voice knocks me back to reality. "Don't make me repeat myself. Drop the syringe, Tony."

Tony spins around, the syringe raised in threat as he stares at his boss. "What the fuck? How did you get here?"

"I've been having you followed for months." Nolan tsks with disappointment. "You're too unaware of your surroundings to succeed in this business."

Gino darts behind me, a revolver appearing in his hand that he presses against my temple. "Stay back!"

Nolan ignores him, his green eyes meeting mine as if we're the only ones in the room. "You promised not to run away again, Leo."

"I'm so sorry," I sob, unable to rein in my emotions now that Nolan is here. "I never meant for this to happen."

"You have some explaining to do once we get you out of here." His focus shifts to Gino, and his expression turns cold. "Let him go."

Authority snaps in his tone, but as Betas, Gino and Tony remain unaffected by his Alpha Command.

Gino lets out a scoffing laugh. "You Alphas always think you're top of the food chain, but you can't do shit to us."

"That's right." Tony waves the syringe toward me in threat. "Whereas a whiff of this bitch in Heat would bring you to your knees."

Shivers of fear go through me. Nolan's putting himself in danger, and I don't know if he can take on both Tony and Gino.

"You're not the one calling the shots here, Rockford." The revolver shoves harder against my temple. "The only way you're walking out of here with Leo is if you deliver a suitcase of cold, hard cash to us."

"Twenty million dollars, Rockford." Tony puffs out his chest. "That's what it's gonna cost you to keep your precious Omega alive."

My heart leaps into my throat as fear courses through me, followed by crushing guilt. There's no reason for Nolan to give up so much for me when I'm not even carrying his child.

"Nolan, just go," I plead, my voice barely audible. "I'm not pregnant, so I'm not worth that kind of investment."

Gino yanks on my hair hard. "Shut up, bitch!"

Nolan's fierce eyes remain locked on me. "Who do you belong to, Leo?"

"You," I whisper.

"And I protect what's mine." The conviction behind his words pushes back my despair.

"That's all very sweet, but confessions of love aren't going to cut it." Gino points the revolver at Nolan. "You have two hours to bring us the money, or you'll be burying the Omega."

"I have a counteroffer." Nolan lifts a finger.

The window shatters, followed by a sharp crack that echoes in the warehouse. Gino screams, and the weapon clatters to the ground. He stumbles back, clutching his shoulder where blood gushes out.

As Nolan rushes forward, he pulls a gun from inside his jacket, firing at Tony.

The other man dives to the side, and the bullet misses as he scrambles behind a stack of crates.

Nolan shoots Gino again, this time in the head, and brains splatter over the concrete. Dropping beside me, he yanks a knife from his pocket and slices through the ropes that still bind me.

Eyes fixed on Gino's still body, I remain frozen in shock. No more torment and fear of scraping together enough money to pay him. No more choosing between food or being beaten. No more flinching every time someone knocks on my door.

It's finally over.

"Leo, come on." Nolan grabs my hand and pulls me toward the open door.

Before we reach it, return fire comes from where Tony had hidden. There must be guns in the boxes, and now bullets fly wildly past us.

I stumble, expecting the agony of a bullet in my back. My feet tangle together, and I fall. Nolan wraps an arm around me, lifting me and swinging me behind a metal rack.

"Stay down." Tension fills his voice. "Jade, what's the situation?"

Confused to hear Jade's name here, I glance up at Nolan and spot a black device in his ear, allowing him to communicate with the stripper.

But why would Jade be here?

After a moment, Nolan swears and turns to me. "When I say go, run in a crouch to those crates by the door."

I follow the line of his arm to a stack of three red, metal boxes near the door. It's not much cover for two people, and I swallow hard.

Nolan's fingers graze my cheek. "Don't hesitate, just go. I'll be right behind you."

A tremor goes through my body, but I nod.

With a last look at me, Nolan raises his gun and starts firing. "Go!"

I force my feet to move, racing in a crouch across the open area, my eyes on the sunlight spilling through the door. At the crates, I fall to my knees, my pulse pounding in terror.

Nolan slides in beside me a moment later, his gaze sweeping over me in assessment.

"Rockford!" Tony's angry voice taunts from somewhere in the warehouse. "You fucking asshole. You think you can just walk out of here?"

Instead of answering, Nolan leans out and fires.

A shout of pain follows, and Nolan shoves me toward the door. "Go, now. There's a black SUV out front. Caleb is waiting there."

Heart in my throat, I bolt for the door and race into the bright evening light. More gunfire cracks through the air, making my ears ring, and the acrid burn of gunpowder stings my nose.

I spot the vehicle, the back door open, and leap inside. Plush leather catches me, filled with Nolan's pheromones. I scramble over to make room, and the seat bounces as Nolan jumps in behind me, slamming the door shut.

Nolan reaches over to drag me close, checking for wounds. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Are you?" My hands run over him, fearing bullet holes, but he seems unscathed. "You shouldn't have come. You're such a bad businessman."

"I certainly underestimated the volatility of my investment." He pushes back my limp bangs to examine my face. "This is the last time I see bruises on your face. Understood?"

Done with being hit, I nod. "How did you even find me? They were still working out how to send the ransom threat."

"I told you before that I had someone watching Tony." His touch moves to my nape, caressing his Mark. "I'm sorry I didn't come faster. We had to get our people in place."

Behind the wheel, Caleb twists around to stare at us. "What's taking Jade so long? Our cleanup people need to wipe the scene before the cops arrive."

"He was under fire." Nolan cocks his head, but the sound of the gunfight has stopped. "There was a third shooter."

A sick feeling rises inside. "Mr. Bugrov."

Nolan's eyes lift to mine in surprise. "Your apartment manager?"

"He was in on it with Gino and Tony." Now that we're safe, tears threaten once more. "He's the one who told them we'd gotten close."

An icy chill fills Nolan's face. "I should have shot him the first time we met."

"Contemplate murder later," Caleb interrupts. "Is Jade alive?"

Nolan's lips part to answer just as the door on my other side yanks open, and Jade leaps in, a scoped rifle in one hand and blood oozing from his arm. "Go, go, go!"

Before Jade is even settled, Caleb slams on the gas, and the wheels squeal as the SUV shoots forward.

Jade drops the gun to the floorboards and wrestles his door shut, cursing with pain as the motion pulls on his wound.

"Shit." Caleb's eyes dart to the slender Omega in the rearview mirror. "How bad are you hurt?"

Jade leans his head back and closes his eyes. "Just get me to a doctor, and don't fucking tell Aaiden I got shot."

"Yeah, no, I'm not hiding that from the President. I like my balls attached to my body." Caleb yanks the wheel to the right, and we bounce over the curb, then out onto the street. "Take your lumps, brat."

Jade kicks the back of his seat with one heavy combat boot. "What do you think he's going to do to my shitty ass trainer, who let me get wounded while he hid in the car?"

Caleb speeds through a yellow light. "Did you at least kill the fucker?"

"He got away while I was bleeding," Jade grunts.

Caleb pounds the steering wheel. "This is why I keep telling you to work on being ambidextrous."

My eyes jump from Caleb to Jade, whose long, tightly braided hair emphasizes his beautiful features. Dressed completely in black from the neck down, he's a far cry from the scantily-clad, sex-kitten stripper I'm used to seeing at Velvet Oasis, and the difference leaves me reeling.

I reach out to touch Jade's tense arm. "Are you going to be okay?"

Pain-filled blue eyes meet mine, and he smiles at me. "Yes, sweetie, it's just a graze. All the blood makes it look worse than it is."

Relief floods me before I remember that I'm not the one who should be comforting Jade.

Awkwardly, I half stand in the confined space and try to move around Nolan. "Here, we can swap places."

Large hands grip my waist, stopping me, and Nolan's narrow gaze fixes on me. "What do you think you're doing?"

Pain cuts through me, and I look away from him. "Jade needs you. He's hurt."

"Need Nolan? I'd rather be shot again." Jade barks out a laugh. "I love you, Nolan, but if you touch me, I'll kill you."

Nolan gives me a stern stare. "This is why eavesdropping is bad."

Angry that they're mocking my broken heart, I glare at Nolan. "Assignations in the middle of the night are bad, too."

He tugs my stiff body onto his lap. "You could have just asked."

I flatten my hands on his chest to stop him from cuddling me close and overwhelming me with his pheromones. "Are you and Jade lovers?"

"No. Jade is Mrs. Bustly's son and Caleb's apprentice." Nolan gently catches my forearms and pulls them to the side, collapsing me against his chest. "We grew up together, and he's my inside man at Velvet Oasis."

Jade grimaces with pain but smiles. "If you stick around after this, I'll tell you all the family secrets. I know where the bodies are buried."

Relief melts away everything else, and I turn my face into Nolan's neck, breathing him in. "Thank god."

"As punishment for breaking your word and running away, I was planning to tie you to our bed for the next week." Nolan's touch ghosts over my raw wrists, and a comforting rumble rises from his chest. "But I'll have to come up with a different punishment."

"I'm sorry." My gaze drops to our hands. "It was stupid of me to leave like that."

"Not stupid." His fingers twine through mine. "But foolish, considering what's going on."

Jade pokes him in the cheek, leaving a bloody fingerprint behind. "If you hadn't kept him in the dark, this wouldn't have happened."

"You're right." Nolan raises his voice. "Caleb, take us to the townhouse. The doctor can meet us there while I tell Leo everything."

"You sure about that?" Caleb glances back at me before returning his focus to the road. "There's no putting the secrets back in the box once it's open."

Nolan tips my chin up. "You're going to stay with me forever, right?"

"But I'm not preg?—"

His finger on my lips stops the words. "Do you want to leave me?"

Tears sting my eyes, and I shake my head.

His expression softens. "So, you'll stay with me forever?"

"Yes," I whisper. "I'm yours."

He pulls me close. "Then it's time for you to know everything."