Danger

L il had called to tell her that Anthony had a price on his head, and couldn't let the Dead Rabbits kill him for money. She felt bad lying to Declan and stealing his car, but she had no choice. Bringing him along would have had her on edge and Lil promised to keep him out of it if allowed her to tag along.

sat down the street from the building that Lil was sure Anthony was being held in. Declan's little sister wasn't just an asset to her finding Anthony, she was quickly becoming one of 's only friends. Letting Lilliana meet her at the building might have been a mistake, but she needed the help. Going into the Dead Rabbit's territory without backup would have been a mistake—possibly one that might end up getting both her and Anthony killed.

Lil knocked on her car door window and nearly jumped out of her skin. She lowered the window, mean mugging Lil. "You scared the hell out of me," said.

"Sorry, didn't mean to. I didn't think that an MI6 agent could be scared," Lil teased. She rounded the front of the car and got into the passenger seat and smiled over at . Lil was the happiest badass woman that had ever met. It was one of the things that she liked the most about her.

"Well, we can. I'm already on edge about getting my brother out of there," said, nodding up the road to the building he was supposedly being held in.

"We've got this," Lilliana assured. "You'll have your brother back and we'll get you both back to the safe house. I'm betting that Declan is pissed off that you just left, but he'll get over it. He's my most forgiving brother." This was the part that was trying to avoid—having to give Lil the truth. She wasn't going to like what was about to tell her, but it had to be said.

"I'm not going back to the safe house if we get Anthony out of there. We're going home. I've got a place where we can lay low and I'll keep my brother safe there," said.

"And what about my brother?" Lil asked. "You do know that he has feelings for you, right?" She did know that, but she couldn't think about feelings and all that stuff right now.

"I can't think about Declan right now. My focus has to be on keeping my brother safe, and after I do that, I'll let Declan know that I'm okay," said. It was the only way to get her brother to safety, then she'd think about feelings and everything else that had happened between her and Declan.

"I'm not going to tell you what to do, but think carefully before you ditch my brother. He could help you," Lil said.

"I'll think about what you said, but right now, we've got movement," said. Two men came out of the building, got into an old pickup truck, and left the parking lot.

"Well, that helps," Lil said. "My intel was that there were eight Dead Rabbits in that building and your brother. "Two just left, so we're down to six guys that we'll need to take out to get to Anthony.

"I can do the math, Lil," grumbled. "The odds still aren't great."

"That's where you're wrong," Lil challenged.

"Six to two, Lil," drawled, "those aren't the best odds." Lil nodded across the street and looked to see who she was looking at.

"Actually, it's six against seven," Lil said. "The odds are in our favor. I brought some backup." recognized the bartender from Savage Hell—Sprite if she remembered correctly. Savage and his husband, Bowie were in the front of the vehicle and Lil's brother Cillian and another guy were in the back seat with Sprite. "Who's the guy sitting next to your brother?" asked.

"He's my husband, Cian," Lil said. She smiled at her husband and blew him a kiss, causing to roll her eyes.

"Are you sure that it's a good idea to get them all involved in my mess?" asked. "I'd feel awful if something went wrong and they got hurt."

Lil laughed, and turned back to look at her. "You have no idea how capable they are," she said. "Don't worry about us. Just focus on getting in there and finding your brother. We'll handle the Dead Rabbits. It's not our first run-in with them."

"I appreciate the backup," said. "We should get going before those guys come back." Lil signaled to the guys across the street, and they all got out of the truck. Lil and followed them to the back of the building, hoping to get in unnoticed.

"You go find Anthony," Savage whispered. "We'll handle the rest."

"Got it," said. She headed off down a long, narrow hallway, opening doors as she went. The building must have been used for offices, judging by all the doors and the desks left behind. Whatever it was used for, the place looked like it had been left in a hurry.

heard someone talking at the end of the hallway and she pulled her gun from the shoulder holster. She walked down the hallway, hoping that no one would hear her and get spooked. The last thing she needed was to end up in a cell with her brother.

She was just about to turn the corner when shots rang out in the opposite direction from where she had just come from. knew that the Dead Rabbits were aware of them being there. Time was running out and finding Anthony was going to be harder to do.

turned the corner and found it empty. Whoever she had heard earlier was gone, probably to find out what was going on. She quickly worked her way down the hallway, opening all the doors on her way, and by the fifth door, she was about to give up. She opened it and found her brother, bound to a chair, gagged and unconscious. He looked as though he had been beaten to a pulp and she worried that she might not be able to get him out of the building in his current state.

"Anthony," she breathed, running into the room to her brother. "Can you hear me?" She quickly pulled the gag from his mouth and started to work on the ropes that bound him to the chair. "Anthony, wake up," she shouted.

Lil ran into the room and stood, drawing her gun. "Calm down, it's just me."

"Jesus, Lil," spat, "I almost shot you."

"He looks like hell," Lil said, looking over her brother. "Do you think he'll be able to walk?"

"I can't wake him. Maybe they gave him something," said.

"We'll have to carry him out together. You take one side and I'll get the other," Lil ordered.

"What about the others?" asked.

"They are wrapping things up with the Dead Rabbits. We got all six of them and Savage is making sure that they are good and secure before he calls the police. He has a friend on the force, and he'll take care of them once he gets here, but we need to be gone by then—unless you want to answer a whole lot of questions. They said that they'll meet us later, up at the safe house, and we'll all come up with another plan to get Anthony to safety. Just give us a chance to keep you both safe, . Don't run away just yet. My brother deserves more than that from you." didn't bother telling her friend that she didn't plan on going back to the safe house or Declan. She didn't want to take the responsibility of having to worry about both him and Anthony. Her brother had to be her top priority and then, she'd find a way to deal with her feelings for Declan. She was just going to have to lie her ass off and figure the rest out later.

"Sounds good, thank you for everything, Lil," said. She wasn't sure that she'd get another chance to thank her friend once she and Anthony went off-grid.

"You don't have to thank me," Lil insisted, "it's what friends do." They worked together to finish freeing Anthony and pulled him up from the chair. By the time they got him to 's car and put him into the passenger seat, Anthony started to come around. She promised him that he was safe now and that she'd take care of him as she buckled him in and shut the door.

She pulled Lil in for a hug, knowing that it might be the last time that she would see or talk to her friend. released her and nodded. "See you back at the safe house," she lied.

"Yep, see you there," Lil agreed. rounded her car and slid into the driver's seat, not bothering to look back at her friend as she drove off. There was nothing more to say or do—she had to get herself and Anthony out of the country before the Dead Rabbits figured out who took her brother and came after them. She just hoped like hell that the UK was going to be far enough away for them never to find her and Anthony.

She and Anthony had spent two nights in a motel close to the airport. She didn't let her guard down and was running on very little sleep, but she knew that she had to stay on her toes if she wanted to get Anthony out of Huntsville safely. She had intel that the Dead Rabbits had doubled their forces in town and knew that they were hunting for her and Anthony. She needed to get them both out of town, onto a plane, and back home to her safe house. It was the only way. She just had a few loose ends to tie up before they could leave, and one of them was a big Irishman who was probably pissed off at her. She couldn't blame him, but dealing with Declan was something that she wasn't looking forward to. She just needed to bite the bullet and call him, because once she got home, she didn't plan on reaching out to anyone. Having her call traced wasn't something that she could risk.

Calling Declan would only end with him trying to talk her out of her plan, but she needed closure. Without it, she worried Declan would come after her and she couldn't allow that. She had to keep her brother safe right now, and that meant letting Declan go—no matter how much doing so would break her heart.

"Ready to go?" Anthony asked. His face looked like someone had used it as a punching back and his right arm was in a sling, but the doctor said that he was going to be okay. "Are you sure that this place is going to be safe? What if the Dead Rabbits find us there?" he asked.

"It's safe," assured, "I've had this house for ages and have used it many times to lay low when a case went sideways." The house was nestled on a hillside, just outside a little town in Yorkshire. She found it years ago when she needed a place to lay low for a few weeks. It was for sale and the old man she bought the cottage from willingly accepted her cash offer and assured her that he'd tell no one where she was if anyone came around asking about her. The locals kept their mouths shut when it came to talking about each other to outsiders and she was now a local, even if she only spent a few months out of the year at the cottage.

"Our flight leaves in three hours," Anthony said. Her brother was always a stickler for staying on a schedule and being on time for everything. "We should get going."

"Agreed," said, "but, I have one phone call to make before we head to the airport. Can you give me just a minute?" she asked.

"Sure, I'll be downstairs waiting, but don't take too long," her brother ordered.

"Got it, I'll make it fast," she promised, giving her little brother a mock salute. He shook his head at her and headed downstairs to wait for her as pulled her cell phone from her purse, taking a deep breath before calling Declan.

"Where the hell are you, ?" Declan answered.

"Is that any way to answer the phone, Declan?" she teased. He was justified in his anger toward her, but she couldn't let him get to her. 's heart couldn't take much more.

"Don't fuck with me, I'm pissed off that you just took off and didn't tell me. I thought that we were a team," Declan said. He wasn't going to make any of this easy on her, but had to at least try to make him understand.

"I had to get Anthony out of there, and I did. We're going someplace safe, and I don't want you or anyone from Savage Hell following us. Tell your sister that I'll be in touch when it's safe," said.

"You'll reach out to Lil when it's safe, but what about me? Will you be reaching out to me too, ?" he asked.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"You thought I was a good idea when we were living together. I thought that we had something, but I guess I was wrong," Declan spat. She could hear the hurt in his voice, and it was breaking her heart.

"We did have something," she insisted, "but, it can't continue. I need to keep Anthony safe, and I can't worry about anything else right now. You're a distraction, Declan, and I can't have any of those right now."

"I see," he breathed.

"This is hard on me too, Declan," she insisted.

"I don't think that's true, ," he said. "You see, I'm in love with you and willing to fight for us, but you don't feel the same. As you've said, I'm a distraction for you, and you're focused on keeping Anthony safe. I get it, but don't lie to me and tell me that this is hard on you too, ."

"Did you just say that you're in love with me?" she almost whispered. The pause on the other end of the call made her think that she had heard him wrong, but she was sure that she hadn't.

"I did say that," he admitted, "not that it matters now."

"You're right, Declan," she said, "it doesn't matter. I have to go. We can't stay here, it's not safe." She wanted to tell him that she loved him too, but that wasn't something that he'd believe right now. Saying that to him would only cause problems, and she didn't have time for problems right now. She already had enough of them. Instead, ended the call, not saying anything that might give Declan hope. That was best for both of them.