Forbidden (Blood Ties #7)

But she didn’t run, leaving me to yank open the driver’s door and slide behind the wheel. The automatic doors to the apartment building opened as I stabbed the button to start the engine. Helene stared straight ahead as I threw the car into reverse and pulled out of the parking space.

Shit.

SHIT!

What the fuck was I thinking?

Beep.

My cell chimed in my pocket. I ignored it, turned the wheel, and flew out of the garage. There were dead bodies everywhere, in the hall and in my apartment. Thewrongdead bodies. How the fuck was I going to explain that to Hale? I jerked my gaze to her as Helene grasped the seatbelt and yanked it down, clasping it in place.

My mind raced as I braked at the boom gate, watching the rear-view mirror. They never followed as the gate rose. I yanked the wheel, flying out of the garage and into the street.

I pushed the car hard, turning the wheel to head toward the quiet, residential streets. I needed a place to think…to figure out what the fuck had happened and how to get us back on board. Because we needed to be.

We were so damn close.

Close to finding the information we’d waited ten fucking years for.

The information that had brought us to Hale.

I clenched my fists around the steering wheel and stared straight ahead.

Until she moved, pulling my shirt in front of her and worked the buttons. She drew my focus. I glanced her way, watching her shift against the door in an effort to get as far away from me as she could.

I’m sorry.

The words were stuck in my head. Because there was no way they’d ever reach my lips. The Principal wasneversorry.

Towering apartment blocks faded into the endless dark. I turned the wheel and accelerated, heading toward a safe house I owned in Brentville…until my damn cell vibrated.

With a snarl, I adjusted, reached into my pocket, and pulled out my phone.

Unknown.

The screen was alight with the ID. I glanced at the road, then back again, my thumb moving to answer the call, but it ended.It ended.The repercussions of that were unfathomable. Just like the situation I was now in.

Three missed calls.

Two from my brother, Kane, and one from Hale.

My cell vibrated in my hand again, making me jump. I turned the wheel and stabbed the button, answering the call. “I’m here.”

“What the fuck is going on?”Kane barked, then grunted into the phone.

“I can’t explain. Not yet. Not until I—”

She came at me in a rush, slamming my head into the window. The wheel jerked, tearing from my hands. The car skidded sideways. I dropped my phone, scrambling to correct the spin. But she came again, screaming and punching, driving her knuckles into my cheek.

Agony roared.

Blinding me with tears.

Thud.

The car mounted the curb before I flew forward with agrunt,slamming against the wheel as we came to a stop. The world slowed. A door cracked open.

“No,” I slurred, shaking my head to stop the world from spinning.