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"I’ling, and aze dipped down to her lips A lock of her hair had fallen loose and hipping against her cheek Slowly I raisedaway froed us onward I had no doubt that the people following us would catch up unless we put more space between ourselves and the city

When we happened upon a quiet row of houses with cars parked along the curb, I turned and walked until I found an older Land Rover I stopped and bent over to tiethe sidewalk and nearby hoht notice us Once I was sure ere in the clear, I stood up, pulling the lock picks out of my pocket

I made quick work of the door and slid into the driver seat before leaning over and opening the door passenger side for Ava She climbed into her seat Ava clier sideI found it a that she had slipped into the role of lookout so quickly I pulled away from the curb and headed out of town

We’d stick to as many back roads as possible and keep a low profile I had a safe house in Oxford that would give us a place to regroup We needed to change clothes and I needed to talk to soated the busy roads Her eyes didn’t have the happy glow that had been in them the day before A couple of hours with me was all it had taken I didn’t blaure out what’s going on"

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked Her voice was steady, but there was no hed "I don’t nor to kill so to kill you If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been trying to keep you alive"

We sat in silence and I focused on staying under the radar Avoiding suspicious behavior was i a stolen car My ether an exact ti? And the door had people been planning on killing Ava?

"Why not kill ht and I looked at her confused

"What?"

"It would be easier If there really is a bounty on my head you could just collect the money yourself" She crossed her arms over her chest I reached out and turned up the heater It was nearing the end of summer and there was a chill in the air today

"You’re not ed "And I only take contracts for people who deserve it" I was not going to go intowhat I did okay I was awas such a horrible ainst the seat "I mean, he was unfriendly, but I never would have looked at hiht he was involved in so’s death wouldn’t bother her if she trafficked in the darker parts of huht, too innocent--it wasn’t so at es, I felt nervous I reached up and pulled atloosely and focused on the road I’d faced down soht eyes et laid How long had it been? I couldn’t reain and I debated our next move Information was a must There were tooblind What were the odds that two people living in the sa, on the same floor, would have hits out for them at the same time? Whoever was after Ava , which meant I was involved whether I wanted to be or not And I certainly didn’t want to be involved

"Look, I can drop you anywhere you want, but you can’t go back to London It’s not safe there right now For either of us"

"I don’t have anywhere else to go," she said lance as ove our way through traffic She was looking out the , chewing on her thu her eyelashes andfunny A lot of wo to not let erous," Ava pointed out

"That’s why you need me"

She wiped at her eyes, and I could sense she avering--but when she finally nodded, I felt relief wash over me Because at that moment, I understood I had a new job: to protect her

Shit

I was definitely involved

I WOULD NOT becoirl I would remain calm so I could retain some kind of control of the situation

Or I would stare out theand glare at the world that passed by while pretending like I wasn’t crying I hated to cry I really fucking hated to cry, especially while trapped in a car with an insanely hot self-confessed ain, wasn’t I aacross the concrete filled ht now It was too much to think about And I had to concentrate on as happening to ure out what I needed to do next