Chapter 192
Chapter 192:
“He tried to make me go with him,” Eliza choked out, throwing her arms around his neck. She pressed her face into his tactical vest. It was hard and cold from the night air, smelling of rain and gun oil. “He locked me in. He said he bought me p>
“He bought nothing,” Dallas said, pulling her against him so tightly it almost hurt. He buried his face in her hair. “I had a sniper on him the moment he stepped out of his car. If he had dragged you out of here, he wouldn’t have made it to the gate p>
Eliza pulled back and looked at him. “You were watching p>
“I hacked the perimeter cameras,” Dallas said, his thumb brushing a smudge of dirt from her cheek. “I was a mile out when your tracker went dead. I ran the rest of the way p>
He stood and pulled her up with him. “We’re leaving. The car is waiting on the service road. Zane is there p>
“The door is jammed,” Eliza said.
Dallas looked at it. He didn’t bother with the handle. He stepped back, raised his boot, and drove it into the lock mechanism with a force that shook the entire wall. Wood splintered. The door flew open, and the timber Anson had wedged against it clattered uselessly into the dark.
Dallas took her hand. “Let’s go home p>
𝖲а𝘷𝖾 у𝗼𝘂𝘳 𝖿аvоr𝗶𝘵𝗲 𝘯o𝘃𝗲l𝘴 о𝗇
They ran through the overgrown garden, shadows stretching around them like reaching hands. Neither of them looked back at the rotting house, or the studio full of ghosts.
At the service road, a black SUV sat idling with its lights off. Zane Sterling climbed out from the driver’s seat and pulled the rear door open. “Target secure?” he asked, one hand resting on his holster.
“Secure,” Dallas said, and helped Eliza in.
He climbed in beside her. As the car pulled away and accelerated toward the city lights, Dallas drew out his phone.
“What are you doing?” Eliza asked, resting her head against his shoulder.
“Sending a message. To Anson. And to Buck p>
“What message p>
“That the sale is cancelled,” Dallas said. “And the eviction notice has just been served.” He hit send.
Eliza closed her eyes.
She was safe. But in the quiet of her mind, a new fear was already taking root. Dante Luna was still out there. And Anson had just humiliated him by buying her out from under him.
“Dust. Mold.” Dallas scrolled through the blurry photos on his phone from the estate’s security feed, his lip curling. “This is where you grew up? It’s a ruin p>
“It was beautiful once,” Eliza said, wiping her eyes and leaving a smudge of dirt across her cheek.
“The car is a mile down the coast,” Dallas said, pocketing the phone. “Zane is waiting p>
Eliza planted her feet on the floor mat. “No. I can’t leave p>
Dallas turned in the seat and looked at her as though she had just spoken in a foreign language. “Excuse me? Your uncle just tried to sell you to a gangster. We are leaving p>
“I need the art, Dallas,” Eliza said, pointing to the photos of covered canvases still on his screen. “And I need to stop them from signing over the land. If I leave tonight, Buck signs the papers tomorrow p>