Mine to Keep (Mine #2)(22)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Her body trembled.

“There isn’t anything to fear. You’re safe.”

Skye nodded. She had to stop jumping at shadows. Straightening her spine, she met his stare directly. “We’re both safe.”

He nodded.

They walked slowly from the ballroom. She kept her shoulders squared all the way. Kept her chin up. When they exited the hotel and the cameras flashed once again, she didn’t flinch.

Skye just smiled.

Then she was in the back of the limo. They were cruising away from the hotel. Trace’s arms were around her.

The fear leaked away.

***

Noah York watched the limo pull away.

Trace Weston…the man was in deep.

And they were all in danger.

He pulled out his phone. Dialed a number that he should have forgotten years ago. Even at the late hour, his call was answered on the second ring.

“We have a problem,” Noah said. A deadly one. “And we need to act.”

***

Trace brushed back Skye’s hair. Her head was on his shoulder, and his arm was around her, holding her. Holding her was the most natural thing in the world for him.

She fit against his body. In bed. Out.

When he wasn’t with her, he felt empty. Hell, he’d been lost all of those years that they’d been apart.

He wasn’t planning to ever be lost again.

“The two of you were together during your time in the military.”

Trace didn’t let his body stiffen when he heard her soft words. “Is that what Noah told you?” He’d asked the man to stay quiet.

Trace hadn’t worried when Skye had gone out on the balcony. He’d had a guard watching her. Actually, he had a guard always watching her…just as a precaution.

But when he’d seen Noah head toward her, he hadn’t been able to get back to her soon enough.

Then he’d heard Noah ask Skye if she loved him.

“The two of you…you sort of remind me of each other,” Skye said.

That response surprised him. “What do you mean?”

“I feel like you’ve both spent too much time staring into the darkness.” Her left hand entwined with his.

The limo slowed. Trace figured they must be at a red light because they hadn’t traveled far enough to be close to his penthouse, not yet. “I’m not looking at the dark any longer,” he told her.

Her head turned. A soft light came from the back of the limo, giving him a perfect view of her face.

She started to smile.

The limo accelerated.

Trace bent his head toward hers.

The impact caught him off-guard. Metal screamed, glass shattered, and Trace felt his body flying forward. He grabbed for Skye, holding her as tightly as he could as the limo shuddered—and seemed to rip apart.

They hit the floor, and he did his best to shield her, but Trace still heard Skye cry out. Glass cut into him as the right side of the vehicle surged toward him.

Not Skye. Not Skye…

The scream of metal seemed to go on and on and—

Silence.

“Trace?” Soft hands feathered over his face. “Trace, are you okay?”

He heaved his body up. Glass rained off his back. Something wet dripped into his eye. Blood.

Rage built within him, but he kept a chain on the beast. He knew better than to let his fury out, especially with Skye so close. His hands slid over her, checking for injuries, making absolutely sure that she was safe and whole.

“Trace!” Her voice held definite bite now as she grabbed his hands. “Stop it and tell me—are you okay?”

Nothing that a few stitches wouldn’t cure. “Yes, baby, I am.” And so was she. He had to remember that.

“Mr. Weston!” The frantic shout reached him. “Mr. Weston! I’m coming to get you out!”

Trace lifted his head. He glanced over and saw that the right side of the vehicle was a tangled mess. The door was twisted. The windows shattered.

But a groan of sound heralded the opening of the door on the left-hand side of the vehicle.

The driver—a young guy named Matt Norris—peered in and, with a shaking voice, he asked, “Please, sir, please, tell me you’re okay—”

“We’re okay.” It was Skye who responded.

Trace helped her to slide out, and he followed right behind her. As soon as they were clear of the wreckage, he grabbed Matt. His fingers fisted on the man’s jacket. “What the f**k just happened?”

“Please, it’s not my fault! I-I waited for the light to change, but the other car came out of n-nowhere!”

Trace’s head turned to study the scene. They were in the middle of an intersection. It was close to midnight, and the dark road was eerily silent. Glass littered the ground. Chunks of metal from the crash were scattered across the street.

A blue BMW had smashed right into the side of the limo. The driver’s side door hung open, swaying slightly.

“Where’s the driver?” Skye asked.

“H-he ran off,” Matt said. “I called out for him to stop, but he kept going.”

A siren echoed in the distance. Trace shoved Matt away from him.

“He must’ve been drunk,” Matt told them. “He ran cause…cause he knew the cops would realize it, right? They’d be able to tell that he’d been drinking.”

Fury tightened Trace’s body.

Another car braked near the scene. A man poked his head out. “Dear God, is everyone all right?”

Trace stared at the wreckage. A hit and run. A drunk driver?

“Trace…” Skye’s hand wrapped around his shoulder. “You lied to me.”

He flinched. “Skye, I—”

She wiped the blood from his face. “You are hurt. You need stitches.”

“It could’ve been worse,” he told her, and the words were true. So terrifyingly true. Because what if she’d been hurt?

The siren was coming closer. Someone, somewhere had called for help. Maybe one of the folks in the apartments down the road. Lights gleamed from those buildings.

Or maybe the call had even come from the SOB who’d hit them and fled.

His gaze tracked around the scene. Lifted. He stared at the red lights.

And at the cameras mounted near them.

A grim smile curved Trace’s lips.

I’ll find you, ass**le.

Because no one hurt him and just walked away.

***

“What the hell happened to you?” Noah demanded as he stepped into Trace’s office. Then his lips twisted. “Wait, let me guess, a fight with the little ballerina?”