Page 49 of Run

“It’s not that hard to understand,” Marcus said, proving he was the one with a death wish. “I want you safe.”

“And you thought the best way to achieve that was by terrifying Ryan’s elderly relatives and then kidnapping me?”

David caught Abasi’s eye in the mirror. “Maybe we should step outside and let them discuss this on their own,” he said.

“Word,” Abasi answered but didn’t stop aiming at David’s chest.

“Elle,” Marcus said, “nobody can keep you safe from Tommy the way I can. You need to give me a minute to explain. Trust me, I only want what’s best for you.”

“Trust you?” There was a long pause before Elle added, “Thanks, but I’ll pass. Instead, I’m going to trust the only person who’s never let me down—Princess Leia. And do you know what she’d do in this situation? She’d say buh-bye and then go sort the problem herself. I’m done dealing with crazy. I’m especially done dealing with men who think they know what’s best for me yet manage to demonstrate their greater wisdom in the world’s weirdest ways.” She threw her door open. “You can keep David. You two have a lot in common.”

With that, she stalked toward the garage door—a tiny black silhouette buzzing with fury and topped with luminous blue hair.

“Is anybody going to stop her?” David asked. “She can’t go out there on her own.”

The two James men shared a look before Marcus sighed heavily. He handed David the keys to his cuffs.

“Maybe you’ll have more luck getting through to her,” Marcus said. “But, Knight, don’t wander off. We need to talk—for Elle’s sake. I’m not working with or for Tommy. Everything I’ve done, everything I am, it’s all to keep her safe. I’ve spent my entire life keeping that crazy woman safe. I can’t stop now when she’s in more danger than ever.”

With a nod, David undid the cuffs and climbed out of the car, wondering how he’d managed to become Marcus James’ ally that fast.

* * *

“Where the hellis the handle for this door?” Elle muttered as she searched for a way out of the garage. Shouldn’t there be some sort of mechanism to open it from the inside? Wasn’t it illegal not to have one? What if a child got trapped in there? Or a kidnapped hacker who wanted to get as far away as possible from the men in her life?

“Elle.” David came to stand beside her. “You need to come back to the car. We have to hear them out.”

“Nope. I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do. Can you see the button that opens this door?”

Of course, he made no effort to help her find it. “You can’t leave; it’s too dangerous out there on your own.”

Elle threw back her head and laughed. It was a brittle sound. “Yeah, because it’s super safe in here.” She crouched and tried yanking up the door. It didn’t budge. She glanced around. There was another, smaller, door at the far end of the garage, which she assumed led to the garden. It would do. Anything to get her out of there. Seriously. She was two minutes away from hijacking the car and making her own exit. “Never mind, I’ll go the long way round.” She stomped past David, the car, and the idiots inside it.

David strode around the other side of the car to block her exit. Behind her, the car doors opened. Great. The boys were ganging up on her.

“I would kill for a Taser right about now,” she muttered.

“We need to talk,” Marcus called out to her.

“No, we don’t,” she called back while glaring at David. “Get out of my way.”

“I can’t do that. We need to hear what your brother has to say. If he’s broken cover to help you, this is more serious than any of us realized.”

Oh, now she was seeing red. As in, literally. The garage was flooded with it. “More serious than half the world being out to arrest me? More serious than the other half wanting to kill me? More serious than that?”

“I don’t know.” He folded his arms.

Ooo, intimidating—not.

“What I do know,” he continued, “is that Marcus isn’t behaving like a man who’s out to use or hurt you. He’s behaving like a brother protecting his sister.”

“Protecting me? By abandoning me? By becoming like Tommy? By letting me think they were working together to hurt me?”

“It was the only way I could keep you safe.” Marcus’ deep voice echoed through the garage. “I had to keep my distance. It was for your own good.”

“Now, that sounds familiar.” Elle wanted to scream. “Are you two working from the same playbook?How to Deal with Elle? You’re both these big, bad, brooding men who feel the need to lurk in the shadows to protect the poor defenseless woman. Yet neither of you have the guts to actually speak to her and ask what she wants. Or have a relationship with her. You’re both cowards.”

She cocked a thumb over her shoulder at Marcus. “And if my brother spent ten minutes thinking things through, he might have realized that I’d rather have him in my life than skulking around the edges of it. Do you know who you both are? You’re Batman. Do you hear me? Both of you are Batman—the suckiest, most pathetic of all superheroes. He’s ninety percent angst and ten percent gadgets, and he’s too damn scared to show his true self to anyone who cares about him.”