Page 69 of Vengeance

"Maybe,” he said. "Or—" His jaw tightened. "Me." She stared at him, waiting for him to explain. "Dante couldn't control me anymore."

“I’m not following,” she said.

"If he couldn't force me to come home?—”

Understanding slowly dawned. "He'd use me to get you to do what he wanted.

Vengeance nodded. "He’d use the woman I—" He stopped.

She smiled softly. "The woman you what?"

His ears turned red, and she thought it was the cutest thing she ever saw. "I think you know."

"I'd still like to hear you say it,” she teased.

He groaned quietly. "You enjoy torturing me."

"A little,” Chloe admitted.

He stepped closer. "The woman I love."

Her heart skipped. "There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

"You happy?" he grumbled.

"Nope.” She slipped her arms around his neck. "I'm ecstatic." He laughed, and she went up on her tiptoes to kiss him—simply because she wanted to. When they pulled apart, she rested her forehead against his.

"They're not taking me,” she insisted.

"No,” he breathed, “They won’t take you, honey.”

"They're not taking you either,” she promised.

"No, we're ending this." His expression turned serious again. "Together."

She smiled. "Together." Outside, a raven landed on the porch railing and let out a harsh cry. Vengeance looked toward the sound, and his smile disappeared.

"What is it?" she asked.

He was already reaching for the pistol lying on the kitchen table. "The raven."

She frowned. "What about it?"

"It flew away." Before she could ask why that mattered, the distant rumble of helicopter blades echoed through the mountains. Vengeance's head snapped toward the sound and his face lost all color. "Damn it."

"What’s wrong?” she asked.

"Those aren't news helicopters." He grabbed her hand. "We're out of time." The helicopter grew louder, and another joined it, followed by another. Someone hadn't simply found the safe house; they were surrounding it.

Vengeance

The helicopters weren't military—they were worse. He was pretty sure that they were privately owned. Vengeance counted the distinct rotor beats as they echoed through the valley, and he was pretty sure that there were three of them. He knew that the Black Veil had money, enough to buy politicians, judges, and entire police departments, so buying helicopters would be nothing for them.

"They're too close," he muttered.

Chloe was already stuffing the last of their supplies into a duffel bag. “How long do we have?"

He glanced out the kitchen window and noticed that the treetops rippled beneath the approaching rotor wash. "Less than five minutes."