4. Kade

4

Kade

I push past the people hovering around the entrance to the rest stop. From a quick scan of the seating area, she's not here, so I head toward the bathrooms. An older woman stumbles out of the women's bathroom looking terrified.

"Gun," she mutters, her eyes darting back and forth.

Looks like I made it here just in time. Without further ado, I burst through the door to find a guy pointing a gun at a red-haired woman with a baby in her arms and a toddler hiding behind her legs.

I grab his wrist before he can react, twisting the weapon away and disarming him. Tessa's eyes flare with relieved recognition. I figured she might not remember me, but she clearly does.

She pulls the kids aside and moves out of the way. The gunman swears at me, but he's a fucking amateur.

If we weren't in a public place, with women and kids nearby, I'd shoot the bastard, but we are, so I knock him out instead, confiscating his weapons, phone, and everything else he's carrying. He'll walk away from this, but it might take him a while to get going.

When I stroll back out of the bathroom, Tessa's waiting near the coffee shop, anxiously clutching her phone.

"You OK?" I ask her, scanning her from head to toe to make sure she's in one piece. I tell myself it's because Alberto tasked me with protecting her, but really it's because I'm low-key shocked at how hot she is.

The slightly gawky teenager with a bad attitude has blossomed into a stunning young woman. Redheads have always been my weakness and despite how tired and obviously stressed Tessa is, her hair is the most vibrant shade of red I've ever seen. It practically glows in the unflattering overhead LEDs.

"Not really," she replies through gritted teeth. The baby in her arms whimpers with distress. "A man's tried to shoot me twice tonight and I'm feeling pretty pissed about it."

"Mommy!" the little boy peeks out from behind her, looking both shocked and impressed. "That's a naughty word!"

I kinda want to laugh, but now is not the time. If one asshole has already found her, there will be more on the way. Possibly already here, although nobody stood out to me.

"Come, we should get going. Do you have everything?"

"I need the car seats."

"OK, show me where you parked."

I grab the baby's bag and pick up her little boy. He doesn't protest.

Just as we're leaving, a cop car pulls up outside. The frightened woman leaving the bathroom must have called them. They charge in, weapons in hand. Good. I hope the cunt I knocked out is still incapacitated. A night cooling off in the cells will be good for him. Not that he'll be there for long. A Bratva lawyer will make sure he's released within a couple of hours.

Once the kids are settled in the back of my SUV, we head out. Tessa doesn't say a word, but I notice she keeps staring at her phone.

"Turn it off and take the SIM out."

"What? Why?"

"If someone's after you, they might try to track your phone."

"Oh, right... Yeah. Didn't think of that." She frowns, a small wrinkle forming between her eyes. "I need to contact the kids' daycare, work... FUCK!" Her voice breaks. "I have a fucking life. He's... he's fucked it up so much." Tears trickle down her pale cheeks. Both kids are asleep, so I don't hold back.

"Tessa, until we can ensure you are safe, you can't go back to work or anywhere else you'd normally go. Same for the kids." She needs to understand how serious this is.

From what she told Alberto, her boyfriend, or whatever she calls him, is in shit with the Russians. Sergei Mashkov would love to usurp Alberto.

He most likely wants his grubby little paws on Tessa so he can blackmail Alberto or force his hand in some way. For years, Tessa has flown under the radar. Safe from Alberto's world.

Not anymore.

I'm not sure how her boyfriend found out who she really is, but now the cat is out of the bag.

"SIM," I remind her. Wiping her face with her sleeve, she turns the phone off and slides the small SIM out.

"Good girl." She looks up at me through wet lashes, her dark, almost black eyes fathomless wells. It's unusual for a redhead to have such dark eyes. I can feel myself falling into them, and it's a wrench to tear my attention back to the here and now.

Pushing the flood of unwelcome thoughts out of my brain, I grip the steering wheel so hard it squeaks under the strain. "Get some sleep. We have a long drive ahead of us," I snap, far harsher than I need to be.

The way she flinches and leans into the door, trying to edge away from me, makes me feel like a complete asshole, but this attraction I feel for her needs to be nipped in the bud right now.

Tessa is my boss's daughter.

She's out of my league.

So why does forbidden fruit always taste the sweetest?