亚洲日本韩国国产

Angela barely had time to put on some pants—the first one she spotted was black yoga pants, so that\'s what she went for—and a slightly loose sweatshirt. Forget the bra. She had no time to fix herself. Then she was racing down the hall and stairs with Gael.

The Escalade was already waiting out front when they got out. He must have ordered his soldier while she was in the closet, she thought. Her father\'s security guards by the steps looked worried with their brows furrowed at her, so she cast them a small smile before getting in the middle seat of the car, her way of telling them, "It\'s okay." She certainly wasn\'t sure if anything was okay.

Gael got in right after her, firing instructions to his solder, the driver—Rio, she thought his name was—as he slammed the door shut. Then the vehicle lurched forward, and they were soon speeding towards the gate. The estate\'s guards quickly opened it when they saw the car from afar, causing no further delay.

Angela\'s heart thrummed in her chest. She knew it was dangerous, which was why Gael didn\'t want her to come in the first place. But she refused to stay still. Did he expect her to just wait like a good little wife, hoping for her military husband to come back from WWII?

Of course, her situation was different. But that didn\'t change the fact that she wouldn\'t just sit and do nothing.

Gael had been on his phone, talking to Giovanni. They spoke Italian, so she didn\'t really understand what they were talking about. And she was too nervous to try and make sense of it. Her knees bounced up and down as she fiddled with her fingers. Then she lowered her gaze to her feet.

"Shit," she muttered with a stunned expression.

Gael had just finished his phone call when he heard her, his head snapping in her direction. Angela rarely cussed. She usually preferred tamer words, unlike the crass words most of the male characters in her books say. So he drew his brows together, worried. "What?"

He followed the direction of her stare, landing on a pair of white fluffy bunny slippers on her feet—the kind with adorable ears propped on its round head.

Angela slowly lifted her eyes to meet his, looking flushed as she bit her bottom lip. They stared at each other for a few beats, neither of them saying anything.

Then Gael burst out laughing as he slumped against the backrest, rubbing his forehead and then wincing in between snickers because his back was still such a killjoy. He cursed under his breath, shaking his head as he scanned her outfit from head to toe.

"You going to a slumber party or something?"

She frowned at him, giving him her back as she folded her arms across her chest. "You were going to leave me!" she bit out. Angela couldn\'t even remember how she managed to dress herself without falling on her butt as soon as he relented and let her go with him—but not after he said: "Get dressed in one minute, or I\'m leaving you here."

He probably thought it would take her long to get ready. Angela didn\'t doubt that he would actually happily leave her behind because he didn\'t want her to go with him. She didn\'t bother to comb her hair. After getting dressed, she grabbed her phone and sprinted out of her bedroom after Gael. He had been scowling as he walked out of the house, his focus on his phone. Now he was laughing at her.

Now that she thought about it, her father\'s guards back at home probably looked at her worriedly—perhaps strangely—because of her slippers. She mentally slapped her face.

Despite herself, she smiled as he reached for her hand and kissed her knuckles. Then he muttered, "You\'re not getting out of my sight. I need to be able to see you all the time. You got that?"

She nodded, her heart still thundering in her chest as they drove out of the city and headed towards the small town between Mayne and Harbor.

***

When Angela thought they were almost there, they continued on until they left the small town and were fast approaching the outskirts of Harbor City. Then they turned on a dirt path, the car slowing down as they surveyed the surroundings. There were no lights. It was completely dark.

"Have you held a gun before?" Gael asked Angela.

"I… Once." She cleared her throat and faced him, wondering why he asked. "Evan brought me with his friends to a range one time."

His jaw tensed, but he didn\'t say anything as he reached for the handgun behind him. Gael checked the clip, and she could see that it was loaded before he inserted it back into the gun smoothly.  He pointed at a small latch on the side. "This is the safety. I\'m turning it off, so keep the gun pointed down. I\'m only giving this to you just in case." She nodded. "Keep your finger off the trigger until you\'re ready to shoot. Hopefully, you won\'t be needing it."

Was this really necessary? Was it that dangerous that they needed guns? She was afraid, but she didn\'t protest when she received the gun from him. "Okay." The lethal machine was heavy and cold in her hands. She swallowed.

"I was going to bring you to a gun range when you\'re healed. I should\'ve done that earlier." He sighed.

Gael\'s phone rang, and he answered right away.

"Boss, is that you? I can see a black SUV about a hundred meters from us," said Trigger.

"It\'s too dark. We can\'t see a thing." Gael told the driver to turn off the headlights and scanned their surroundings once more.

"Here. I\'m waving a flashlight. Do you see it?"

Sure enough, there was a waving light ahead of them. The Escalade moved again, heading towards it. It looked like they were in the middle of a vast field. There was a house in the distance, but the area was completely dead.

The car stopped in front of a barn, and Gael told Angela, "Stay in the car." Then he got out and went to help his men carry an injured Rick and a man with his hands tied behind him and a sack over his head.

She watched the men move from the barn towards the vehicle, her heart racing and her hand gripping the handle of the gun. The men didn\'t waste time as they quickly hauled Rick to the back of the car with their captive, and then two of Gael\'s soldiers got in while Trigger took the front seat. Angela only realized that the third-row seats were removed, so there was ample space for four large men occupying the car\'s rear.

Gael came back inside the car and saw her eyes widen as they shifted between Rick and the man with a sack over his head, seemingly unconscious. Realization dawned on her that she knew who that man was, and her mouth hung open. Rick groaned in pain, and her eyes widened even more, her hands trembling around the weapon.

He took the gun from her hand and tucked them in the back of his waistband. She turned to him and found him pressing a finger over his lip as if telling her to stay quiet. Probably because their captive would recognize her voice then—not that it would matter. It wasn\'t like Leos could do something if he did. Gael just didn\'t want the bastard to know she was here.

The vehicle began to move, and Gael and his men spoke in Italian to each other, though they didn\'t talk much as if not to give Evan any chance to digest information from his captors if he spoke the language.

Once they were back on the road, Angela let out a sigh. A warm hand touched her, and she flinched. Then she realized that it was Gael. It was only the two of them in the row, but she felt a little jumpy.

Just as they reached a fork on the road, a black SUV suddenly cut in front of them, and the Escalade stopped abruptly, nearly colliding and swapping paints with the other vehicle.

"What the…" Gael muttered. Then his muscles tightened as he watched a man get out of the backseat of the other vehicle.

"Boss…" Trigger called, waiting for orders.

"Calm down."

Angela couldn\'t calm down. She peered at the window and saw William Park in a suit with no tie, his hands in his pockets as he fired off an order to the five men around him with guns in their hands.

"How do they even know we\'re here? Do they have 24/7 surveillance on the entire state or something? This is fucking ridiculous!" Trigger hissed.

One of William\'s men tapped the driver\'s side window, "Step out of the car."

"It\'s going to be okay," Gael whispered to Angela after telling his men to do as told.

\'Is it really?\' she worried.. Because by the looks of William Park through the window, the man looked like someone stole his favorite lunch, and he was about to exact bloody revenge.