Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Jake

Even over the chopper, I hear the change in vibration of another engine starting.

I look over my shoulder in time to see the taillights of the Accord turn off and the car jolt forward.

"What the fuck?"

And that's the moment that Nia glances back at me from the driver's seat. She looks scared out of her mind, her big eyes even wider and her lips parted as the car moves.

"Stop," I rumble, taking a step in her direction but she shakes her head, and I know, she's running again. Who can blame her?

"Seatbelt!" I bellow over all the noise, making a gesture with my hand as I spring toward her.

I watch her click in and for a moment, relief washes through me. But gripping the wheel she hits the gas and takes off.

The car swerves this way and that, like Nia has no idea how to steer. My heart jumps into my throat as I stare for another second before I pivot back to Roman. "We have to catch her. "

"No," Roman answers. "Let her go."

I finish my turn back to him and, without warning, swing my fist, clocking him a good one in the jaw. Fucker deserves it.

And right now, I'm not playing.

Roman, Mason, Leo. They are tough men. I won't deny it. But none of them have done what I had to, none of them have my grit. It's a fact that they all know, but Roman is getting a solid reminder lesson.

He reels back, closer to the chopper, and grabbing him by the collar, I bend him down below the blades and push him toward the door.

We are not going to stand here and argue, we are going after Nia, and I don't have time or patience to explain.

But he recovers before I can shove him into the bird and hits me with a good gut shot that has me doubling over. I let him go with a push to the side and jump in the helicopter myself. "Follow that car," I bark at the pilot, Carl.

Carl knows every Kincaid, he's been with the family for a long time, and he knows that Roman and I are equals, at best.

As the actual patriarch of this family, I'm being generous.

Roman jumps in just before the chopper lifts off the ground. "You were going to leave me?"

"At a fully stocked house," I answer back, pulling the protective headphones over my ears that are also equipped with microphones so we can better hear each other. He pulls his on too. "Yes. I was going to leave you. And you fucking deserve it."

"I meant what I said this morning. Let her go. It's the easiest way for this whole thing to go away. We don't need her anymore."

"I need her," I answer back, knowing what I'm revealing. "And I'm not letting her go, so you can either help or get the fuck out of my way."

"Jake. You're not thinking straight."

I glare at him. "I'm thinking the same about you. I don't know what's twisted in your brain, but I know what kind of man you are. I was there when you moved heaven and earth to help Charlotte."

"Charlotte was innocent. "

"Nia is innocent," I fire back, done with this conversation. "You don't know shit."

"She's Toni's daughter. Of course she's not innocent."

"Wrong on both counts. Like I said. You don't know shit." I turn to the open door of the chopper, watching the Accord careen down the road, bouncing from side to side. She's driving way too fast, and she doesn't seem to have control of the car.

My heart is pounding as I watch the car bounce over a rock, nearly running off the road. "Baby girl," I'm talking to myself now. "Slow down, sweetheart. You're going to get hurt." I can hear the fear in my own voice.

The tarred road is coming up and while I'll be glad to see her on a real surface, and not bouncing all over the rocky desert ground, she's coming into the turn way too fast.

And worse, another car catches my gaze coming down the road toward Nia. Is it my imagination or are they on a crash course?

My fists pound on my thighs a roar rumbling from my lips. "Nia," I grit out. "Please."

"You love her," Roman states quietly, watching the car too.

"She's been a victim this whole time," I answer back, not touching the L-word. "And she's still done nothing but help us."

"How has she helped us?"

I glare at him for a split second before my eyes return to the car. "I'll tell you after I know she's all right."

But the Accord is even less stable than a moment before.

And the car that's coming…a state trooper.

A snarl rips from my throat.

She hits the tar, not even coming close to making the turn.

She does pump the brakes, the car slowing. The trooper swerves and she shoots off the other side of the road, bouncing wildly until the sedan jolts to a stop in some shrub brush.

I see the airbag deploy and another snarl rips from my lips.

And then nothing.

Nia doesn't open the door. She doesn't even move as the chopper does a circle. "Land," I bark at Carl .

"How are you going to explain what just happened to the troopers?" Roman asks me.

"You're a smart kid," I answer back. "Think of something. Fast."

"Christ," Roman growls out on a frustrated breath. "You're serious?"

But he doesn't say anything else as the bird hits the ground and I spring from my seat, racing toward the car.

I wrench the door open, Nia is so still I stop, my breath sticking in my chest.

"Ow," she moans as her head turns toward me. "That hurt."

"Nia." I'm down on my haunches, unbuckling her seatbelt. "You scared me so much."

My eyes are scanning her body. My breath rushes out, she looks…unharmed. Nothing broken, no blood.

"Not as much as you scared me."

My stomach clenches as I go to pull her out of the car.

"Stop," one of the troopers commands. My teeth gnash but I obey. "You can't move her in case she's injured."

Roman steps up next to me. "I was just explaining to the officers that we saw the car from the chopper while we were surveying our land," Roman gives the officers a large smile.

"My wife was attempting to teach herself to drive," I add, not even looking at the troopers. They will not deny me access to her, not now, and not at the hospital because I know that's where we're headed next.

My ring still glints on her finger.

I brush Nia's blonde hair back from her cheek as her eyes slide closed. "Hey," I say, her eyes opening back up. "No falling asleep now."

She blinks at me slowly. "I'm not a good driver."

"No shit," Roman murmurs.

"You can say it," she ignores Roman. "I don't have the skill to get myself out of any of this do I? I'm at your mercy. At his."

"No," I shake my head. "I told you. I will?—"

"I'm going to need you to make that promise now," she whispers to me.

I instantly know what she's talking about. "I don't want to promise that, because it's not going to come to anything like that. I meant every word I said."

"Promise anyway."

"If I'm going to betray you," I say, "then my word doesn't mean anything anyway."

"What is she saying," one of the officers asks.

Roman steps between them and us. "Gibberish. My uncle is just keeping her talking. Concussion probably. How long until the ambulance arrives?"

"Nia," I say just loud enough for her and Roman to hear. "I am not going to hurt you for any reason."

"No. Promise. Promise you'll end me before you give me back. I have to know it won't be his way." She lets out a sob. "Promise. Please."

I know she needs to hear the words. Some men might lie. Others might be willing to really do it. But I could never hurt her and I'll never hide the truth from her again. "I made you a different promise, remember? I'll die before I let him hurt you. I swear, I meant it, Nia. Every word."

Her eyes go wide.

Roman gives a loud cough to cover our conversation but I see him shift, his gaze flitting back to her. "I'm beginning to understand," he says to me.

"About fucking time," I rumble back, stroking her cheek as her head lulls back, her eyes fluttering closed again.

"No sleeping," my light strokes turn into a pat. "You need to stay right here with me."

Her eyes fix on mine again. But they're dilated, the pupils so big, I mutter a string of curses under my breath.

In the distance, I hear the sirens as I give her arm a vigorous rub. "Nia, baby girl, want to hear another story?"

Her eyes open again. "Story?"

"Yeah. This one is about Mason and Leo."

"Mason and Leo," she lifts her head. "Your nephews?"

"That's right. They love each other, but they fight like two bickering old women. Always have. Mason thinks he knows everything, and Leo has always run hot under the collar."

Her eyes are focusing on me, and I reach for her hand and slide her fingers into mine. "Me and Jess are a little like that. So different. But I love her."

I want to pull her out of the car so badly, take her in my arms. "That's exactly right. So the two of them fought all time. But then it changed."

I'm just trying to keep her talking. Keep her engaged. "What?"

"I told you, Leo was with my brother when it happened."

She nods, the tiniest little jerk of her chin.

"And he went from hot to…"

"Batshit crazy," Roman offers as the ambulance pulls off the road, the two officers going to meet it.

"That's about right. And in his crazy, he nearly detonated us all. He was hard, and angry, and he forgot how to think with his heart. He almost really hurt Mason and Charlotte, Mason's wife."

"Leo did that?" she asks, but her eyes are getting unfocused again.

I grip her hand tighter. "He did and I thought for sure we were going to lose him."

"What happened?"

"He found Kim," I answer, bringing the back of her fingers to my lips. "And she taught him how to love again, reminded him of the man he was always supposed to be. Brought him back from the darkness."

"The man he was supposed to be…" she whispers, and I see her fading again. I give her arm a little shake.

"The man who protects the people around him. Just like I'm going to protect you."

But her eyes close again.

"Nia," I bark loud enough for her eyes to flutter open before they start to close again.

But she can't close her eyes. Not now. My heart is thundering in my ears. "Wake up." She has to be all right. Because I've finally admitted to myself that I love her….