The Syndicate’s Bride

28

At Ryan’s urgent tone, I climbed down from the table just as he grabbed my hand and we sprinted out of the garage.

“What’s going on?” I asked in a panic as soon as we entered the parking lot.

“That was Owen’s alert. Logan’s men are closing in on us. They’d be here any–”

The distant roar of engines cut him off, making me stop and turn around in alarm. Black cars peeled around the corner, disappearing from sight for a second and then reappearing. I shuddered.

A second later, Ryan let go of my hand and held my waist, hoisting me up and forcing my attention away from the looming danger. “Now’s not the time, Vanessa.”

I blinked away my shock as he ran, absentmindedly mumbling an apology under my breath, unable to process the sudden danger spurn on us.

I just couldn’t understand it. What was father’s goal exactly? What did he want so badly that he wouldn’t stop until all of us were dead?

I knew he was a monster, a heartless man with only his selfish interests at heart – he’d always been like that. But even monsters had their limits sometimes. They knew when to draw the line.

When did Mr. Logan draw the line?

Ryan gently but quickly eased me into the front seat before circling the vehicle and slipping in beside me.

I heaved a sigh, finally letting the understanding of the situation outweigh my fright. If I was going to be by Ryan’s side with this coming danger, I couldn’t just sit back and relax, I had to help.

“Give me a gun.” I said, looking ahead.

He hesitated. “Are you sure you can handle it?”

I snapped my head to him, meeting his eyes. “Do you underestimate me?”

He bit his lips, a ghost of a smile in his eyes. “No.”

“Good,” I simply said, “now give me a gun.”

Pride flickered across his face before he reached into the back seat and handed me an unloaded rifle.

“I have only one favour to ask of you,” he said carefully. “We might not make it to our destination without them gaining in on us so I’d need you to slow them down. Can you do that?”

With a smirk, I pulled the charging handle all the way back, inserted a loaded magazine until it clicked, released the bolt, and engaged the safety. Muscle memory at its peak.

“You talk too much.”

He stared at me, impressed, then turned away, inserting and turning the key in the keyhole. The engine roared to life.

“Whenever you’re ready, baby.”

He drove out of the arena, sprinting along the free road. I looked in my side mirror, noticing one of the cars slowly coming into view. Ryan noticed it too and swerved the car to the left, restricting the other car’s movements to my right for a clean shot.

With a deep exhale, I hoisted my upper body out the window, making sure to lean against the car door for support, and raised the rifle into my hands, holding it tight and firm like I did in my training. I aimed for the front tyre to my left.

The driver immediately noticed and swerved, hiding behind our car, stealing my chance at a good shot.

Cursing under my breath, I pulled back, resting my back against the car seat, and glanced at Ryan.

“No shot.”

Nodding as he looked in the rear mirror, he pressed a button. “Roof.”

The roof slowly peeled open, revealing the hot afternoon sun looming above us. I hoisted my body up and out of the opening, relaxing my elbows on the roof of the car and aiming at the black car that was now almost out our tail.

“If you see a shot, take it,” Ryan yelled.

I breathed out, aiming for the car’s right front tyre, and pulled the trigger.

The car jerked to the left, collided with the next vehicle behind it and crashed into the bushes. I chuckled in disbelief. I knew I was going to make the shot but talk about killing two birds with one stone.

“That’s it!” Ryan yelled.

The third car came at us, fast and deadly like they had purposely saved the best for last. A man in the familiar uniform worn by my father’s men emerged from the roof, mirroring my position with his own rifle. Another one sat in the passenger’s seat, aiming his gun on our rear tyre.

They charged in closer, matching Ryan’s speed as their car slid up directly beside ours. The change in position blocked my aim, rendering my eyes temporarily blind to the tyres. I clicked my tongue, irritated at the interference, and lowered my gun slightly to search for another opening.

My opponents, on the other hand, adjusted quickly.

Unable to physically slow us down anymore, they immediately found their next target. From the corner of my eyes, the man standing through the roof’s opening slowly raised his gum, aiming it directly at his new target.

Me.

I froze. My heart beat rapidly against my chest as I stared at the mouth of the gun, knowing fully well that a single bullet from it could kill me by the next second.

I had never killed a person before. In fact, the mere thought of wilfully taking a person’s life was enough to make me recoil, not just in respect to my morals but also because I had witnessed enough unjustified killings to last me a lifetime. Father made sure of that.

I hated murder. I hated it more than anything. And even in my current situation, that didn’t change.

I couldn’t bring myself to aim the gun at the man even as he fingered the trigger, and waited for the right chance to take the shot. I trembled as my eyes swiftly swept over the car, searching for any possible place I could shoot at to cause a distraction.

I knew I was running out of time so I finally settled on their passenger’s window, swiftly raising my gun and aiming it at my new target. Just as I pulled the trigger, a shot followed simultaneously, immediately causing their car to jerk to the side. I exhaled loudly, watching the car loose control as I held my hand against my chest to stop my rapidly beating heart

Ryan slammed the accelerator and at the very last second, yelled at me to hold on to something before swiftly turning the car around to face the attacking vehicle. Understanding his intention, I quickly raised my gun, aiming it at their front tyres. Just as I was about to pull the trigger, I caught sight of the man at the passenger seat whose body now leaned out the window, dancing to the car’s movements in lifeless rhythms.

Time slowed. I instantly paled. Did I do that?

“Now, Vanessa!”

Ryan’s booming voice violently jerked me out of my thoughts that were soon the spiral. I shook my head, trying to get the image of the body out if my mind as I steadied my rifle and fired two clean shots to take out both front tyres. The tyres burst, making the car to come to a screeching halt.

I looked at the damage as Ryan drove away, exhaling deeply as my hands began to tremble and my forehead began to break a sweat. The limp body of the man in the passenger’s seat flashed through my mind again. I let out a panicked gasp, struggling to breathe. Did I kill him? I thought, were there others too?

“Vanessa!” Ryan yelled, snapping me back. I blinked rapidly, slowly becoming aware of my surroundings and looked down, meeting Ryan’s worried eyes.

Hurriedly I lowered myself back to the passenger’s seat as he closed the roof. He looked between me and the road, bringing his hand to my lap and squeezing it to get my attention.

Slowly, I peeked my eyes from the road to him, releasing a trembling breath as I whispered. “Did I kill him?”

He frowned, confused. “Kill who?”

“The man in the passenger’s seat.”

He paused, looking at the road in thought, then his eyes went wide. “No, that was me –” he stopped short, noticing my paleness, “ – did I startle you?” He asked, softly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

I relaxed a bit but another wave of emotions hit me. “I thought the plan was to only slow them down. Why kill?”

Focusing on the road, removed his hand from my lap and ran it through his hair. “I saw Logan’s other man trying to kill you. I shot him for distraction.”

“For distraction?” I said in disbelief. “you just took a man’s life for distraction, Ryan.”

He glanced at me, eyes flashing with disbelief. “You’re not fighting me on this right now, are you? I saved your life, amor.”

“With another’s!”

“And I’ll do it again,” he snapped. “if it’s your father, his men, even the f*****g president, I’ll do it again.”

I gaped at him. “Ryan.”

“Where your life is a threat, it will always be my priority,” he said in calm anger. “I don’t give a f**k who’s on the receiving end, Vanessa. You’re the only one I care about. You will not die on me.”

My breath hitched at the rawness of his words and I immediately turned away, too flushed to keep up with the argument. Beside me, I heard him clear his throat and suspected the weight of his words finally dawned on him.

You’re the only one I care about. His voice echoed in my head, repeating those words again and again. Since when had I become the only thing he cared about? It was one thing for him to care for me but it was a totally different case to be the only one he cared about. My cheeks heated. Or was I just reading into it? I leaned into my seat with a silent groan.

I hoped not

“It’s okay,” I cleared my throat, “I was just startled that’s all.” I disarmed the gun and returned it to its previous spot. “Owen,” I started, looking for a change of topic. “Where’s Owen?”

“He’s by Logan’s side for now,” he said, “he’s gathering as much Intel as he can before Logan finds him out. By then it’ll be too dangerous for him to return so he’ll have to leave the estate.”

I slowly nodded. If it was too dangerous for him to return to the estate then whatever he had done to go against my father must be unforgivable. Yet, he hadn’t hesitated to put his life on the line for me. I really had to apologise to him the next time I saw him.

“Where are we headed?” I asked, finally noticing the unfamiliar road.

“To one of the safest places you can be right now,” he glanced at me and I raised a brow at him in question.

“My pack’s territory.”