Chapter Five STONE sped through the parking lot, looking for Lily’s unit. The big, multibuilding complex was spread out over a wide area with a meandering road in the middle. Damn it, where was she? He didn’t see her car, either. After driving to the exit, he turned around and trolled the parking lot again, this time checking down all the side paths for her car. If she had come here to pack up, she wouldn’t be far from that little yellow vehicle. Craning his head to see down a smaller lane to the right, he caught sight of a bright, sunny color. He burned rubber and hauled ass to get there. “C’mon. C’mon . . .” He prayed it was Lily’s car. Because if he couldn’t find her, he’d have to hunt her down, which probably meant heading for the Keys and hoping he could figure out which of the seventeen hundred islands she might have fled to. What a fucking nightmare. As he skidded around the corner, he saw her hustling toward the little Bug, rolling a suitcase. She also carried a duffel on one shoulder and another big tote on the other. In her hands, she struggled to hold a clearly heavy box. Suddenly, as she stepped over a curb she couldn’t see, she tripped. The box tumbled out of her hands and clattered to the concrete. She fell to her knees. The tote slid down her left arm. The duffel cut into her right. The keys fell from her fingers and skittered across the lot. She leapt to her feet and started gathering everything again. The fear and defeat on her face stabbed Stone square in the chest. But he gave Lily credit. She swallowed back her tears, then shoved the contents of the box back inside and rearranged her luggage, refusing to let the setback stop her. Stone was even more determined not to give her a second opportunity to flee from him. As she finally reclaimed everything she’d dropped, he jerked to a stop sideways behind her Volkswagen, blocking her exit. He shoved his extended cab into park and hopped out. She caught sight of him, then started racing for her car. He dove for her keys, but Lily realized what he intended and dropped everything again. Because she was closer, she managed to scoop them up first. He could have taken them from her but that wasn’t going to build her trust. “No.” She shook her head adamantly. “Let me go.” “Don’t leave.” “I have to.” “I know you think you’re in danger. Someone from your past, right? You don’t want him to catch you or put anyone you care about at risk.” Her big eyes widened with surprise. “How did you—” “I was born but it wasn’t yesterday, baby. Let me help you.” He reached for her. “How do I know you’re not involved? You seem to understand this situation pretty well and you just got out of prison.” She stood and gripped her tote, then began backing away. “Don’t come near me.” Stone sent her a reassuring stare. “I have nothing to do with anyone trying to scare you. Hell, Jack Cole got me out of prison to help solve a cybercrime.” “Did Axel know that?” “No. “Then I don’t trust you.” Clearly she’d been deeply attached to Axel, and that made Stone jealous as hell. “If you don’t believe anything else, then believe I’m here to help you.” Lily shook her head and gathered her scattered belongings again. “It’s not that simple. You don’t understand how ruthless this monster is. It’s better if I go. Tell Thorpe and Axel I said good-bye,” she choked out. “Thank them for everything.” When she tried to dash past him, he snagged her arm, holding her just tight enough to make her stay. “Baby, let me help you.” “You can’t. Besides, you look at me like you’d ultimately want sex in return. I don’t like it and I’m no good at it.” “Whoa.” He held up his hands. “I never said anything about an exchange of protection for sex.” She kept on as if he hadn’t spoken. “Sometimes in bed I freak out or cry or . . . God, I need to stop babbling and get out of town.” As Lily darted for her car, Stone filed away that assessment of her sexual prowess and blocked her path. “Don’t run. No strings. I promise.” “Then why would you bother?” Stone tried to think through his answer fast. The truth—that he needed her to testify—would scare the hell out of her right now. He certainly couldn’t tell her that he wanted her so badly it was fucking with his brainpan because that would freak her out, too. Unfortunately, that didn’t leave him with much. “I can’t stand to see you terrified, and I promised Thorpe I’d keep you safe.” “If you don’t want sex, you feel sorry for me, and I can’t handle that. Just let me go before this guy finds you with me. He’ll kill you. He’ll kill us both.” She looked ready to beg. “Please move your truck. Otherwise I’ll jump the curb and drive over the grass to get away.” Her little car wouldn’t make it, but Stone would bet she’d give it a hell of a try. And he was running out of options. The last one he had up his sleeve pissed him off but if it worked, he’d get over himself. “Be logical. The person who left those flowers isn’t a nice guy, right?” If anything, she paled more as she shook her head. “No.” “I’m going to venture that he might even be some sort of criminal.” Lily pressed her lips together. Her chin trembled as she fought her fear. “The worst.” From everything he’d been told, Canton was a sociopathic prick who deserved a place of honor in the ninth circle of hell. “You don’t know anything about being a criminal.” “I know about running from one.” He’d give her that. She’d managed to keep herself alive for the past seven years. “But do you want to keep running for the rest of your life? How long before it wears you down? How much longer do you want to keep leaving family and friends to start over, all alone?” His words seemed to slice at her heart, and he hated the way tears filled her eyes. “I don’t have a choice.” “You do. Maybe it takes a criminal to think like one.” She glanced up at him in surprise, as if that thought had never occurred to her. Then she frowned. “You said you’re not a violent person.” “Prison teaches a man a lot about the lengths he’ll go to in order to stay alive.” “You can’t kill him.” Her voice trembled. If Canton had frightened Lily this much, then it would be Stone’s pleasure. “I can outsmart him, find other ways to make him disappear. Let me handle this.” “Why would you want to?” “Do you want to have this conversation again or start making a dent in the problem? You don’t owe me sex, and I don’t pity you. Can we leave it there for now?” Lily paused, looking torn, like she wanted to say yes but didn’t want to drag him into her nightmare. “Baby,” he crooned. “Don’t worry about me. Whoever he is—and you can tell me about him later—I got this. I’ll keep you safe.” She still didn’t jump on his offer. Normally, Stone would appreciate that she was thoughtful and logical and wasn’t about to let him bulldoze her. Today, it was damn inconvenient. “It’s my problem,” she murmured. And she didn’t want to be a burden. He understood. All too often, he had a bitch of a time asking for help himself. “You’re in over your head.” Lily let out a breath as if she couldn’t deny that. “I don’t know how long this will take. You can’t put your life on hold—” “Let me worry about that. It’s handy that the men I work for refuse to leave a woman in danger when they can help. I agree with them. Call me old-fashioned. Or a caveman. They’re both true. Let’s go.” He retrieved the bulky box she’d dropped earlier and dragged the duffel off her shoulder. “Bring your tote and get in the truck.” Finally, reluctantly, she nodded. “Thanks. I don’t have much, but I’ll pay—” “You don’t owe me a dime.” Ire surged. He felt his face tense, his jaw firm into a hard line. “And I don’t want to argue about it.” This time when he gestured her to the truck, she nodded. “Thanks.” As he set the items he’d taken from her into the covered bed, she set the tote on the floorboard of the passenger’s seat. “Can you back your truck up a few feet? I need to move my car or it will get towed. I’d rather make sure Thorpe gets it in case the next sad sack he takes in needs wheels.” Stone saw the sign that proclaimed her car sat in a fifteen-minute spot. “Yeah, but if you run, I’ll hunt you down. Think long and hard about how that will end.” Lily scowled. “I’m going with you because it makes sense and you’re right about being in over my head. You’re supposedly with the good guys. You say you don’t want sex and you don’t pity me. That’s great. You also don’t own me.” Not yet, but the day wasn’t over. “In order for me to protect you, you’re going to have to listen to me and follow directions without question. You know how to do that.” He raised a brow at her. And it burned him that Axel had taught her. She flushed, then lowered her gaze. Something about the gesture made him hard as hell. His entire body tightened, lungs squeezed. An ache for her that had been coiled deep for months began to unfurl. Stone forced himself to breathe. Now wasn’t the time for this. “I do,” she admitted softly. “Now move your car. I’ll follow and watch.” Keys in hand, she headed to her little yellow Bug, skirt swishing with the breeze. He backed away and gave her enough space to move her vehicle from the side of the building, into an assigned spot under an overhang. He frowned when she stepped out of the car, then dashed back to his truck and reached into her tote. “The complex issued new parking tags yesterday. I need to hang it from my rearview mirror or they’ll tow me before I can mail my keys to Thorpe.” But it wasn’t a hangtag she pulled from her bag; it was a shiny new gun. Lily pointed it in his face. “The guy who’s after me knows what my car looks like. Get out and give me your keys.” So she could disappear alone? “Not a chance, baby. You won’t shoot me.” “You don’t know how determined I am,” she insisted. “I’ll do it. I—” A deafening explosion rent the air as a ball of orange fire burst and swelled. Heart hammering, he whirled around in time to see the blaze roar and belch while it swallowed Lily’s car whole.
Chapter 5