Branding & Saving Lily Box Set: Books 1 & 2 (Jacob and Lily's Duet)

by Gracin Sawyer

  Lupe handed me a second handgun, practically identical to mine. “Use it. Use it to save Jacob.”

  I took the gun and shoved it into the chest holster he gave me. “I intend to.”

  The truck was silent with only the sound of the engine and tires to lull me into an eerie calm. I felt my head bob as I tried to remain awake but it was a battle I couldn’t fight.

  Even as my eyes closed, I thought of Jacob. I could hear his husky whisper telling me he loved me on repeat in my mind. The back of his knuckles grazed over my cheek as he looked deeply into my eyes. His crooked smile slightly lifted the corners of his mouth before he claimed mine.

  His lips felt so real I couldn’t decipher between reality and dream anymore. I reached up and wound my arms around his neck and held him close to me. I would never let go again. If I let go, he would disappear.

  It wasn’t hard to reimagine the last night we spent together. My mind quickly went back to the hotel and the shower, then the bed. Every inch of Jacob filled my mind. Tears welled behind my closed eyes as my heart ached thinking that I may never see Jacob again.

  “Lily.” I heard my name, but it was distant, and it wasn’t Jacob. If it wasn’t him, I didn’t want to answer. Couldn’t they just let me hide away in my mind where Jacob was alive and well?

  “Lily,” they tried again.

  The vision of Jacob faded as my eyes fluttered open and I was instantly mad that someone had taken that from me.

  Carter touched my arm. “Lily.”

  I glared at him but sat up straighter when I noticed the truck was stopped. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re here.” He took his hand from my arm. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  It was sweet that he wanted to protect me for Jacob, but hell itself couldn’t keep me from Jacob. “I’m going.”

  Diesel leaned forward from the back. “Jax, Bear, and Fox are waiting for us in the house across the street.” He gestured to a house that looked too ruined to be inhabited, but after the place where Red had taken me, I wasn’t so sure no one lived there. “We’ll go there first.” He pulled out a single handgun and pulled back the slide. “Remember what I said, Lily?”

  I nodded and looked at the gun. “I know.” I reached back and touched his shoulder. “Just don’t miss.”

  Diesel clenched his jaw, but the look in his eyes held me in a sad stare down. “I never miss.”

  “What the hell are you two talking about?” Carter drilled.

  I pulled myself back and made sure my own gun was ready. “Nothing.”

  Carter wouldn’t let it go. “Like hell it’s nothing. Diesel, what are you talking about? What did you say to her?”

  Diesel shrugged. “It’s between Lily and me. Don’t fucking worry about it.”

  Carter fumed from the driver’s seat. “This isn’t how we work, Diesel, and you know it. Tell me what the hell is going on. We need to be on the same page. We can’t have secrets. Secrets get people killed.”

  I glanced at Diesel out of the corner of my eye. “Some more than others.”

  Carter watched the silent communication between me and Diesel and I could see the gears turning in his mind as he began to put two and two together. Quicker than I thought humanly possible, Carter had his gun out, spun in his seat, and had the barrel pointed at Diesel. “You and I are friends, family even, but if you even think of fucking killing Lily, you will die.”

  I gasped and pushed myself back against the door watching the two men. “Carter,” I breathed.

  He looked at me, his eyes wide and livid. “You aren’t dying. I promised Jacob.”

  “So did I.” It didn’t faze Diesel that Carter had a gun pulled on him. He sat in the back watching me calmly.

  I nodded at him with my lips pressed together. “Carter,” I tried again, taking my eyes off Diesel.

  Carter shook his head. “Lily, don’t.”

  “Listen to him, Carter. Please.” I didn’t think he’d actually shoot Diesel, but I was worried that if something did happen to me, he would hold through on his threat to kill Diesel.

  “Flapjack, you know me. I ain’t about to kill no fucking woman, let alone Jacob’s. It would kill me to hurt her. But there is no way in hell that I’m gonna let them get their filthy fucking hands on her. Jacob would rather her die than to be put through what they’d do to her and you know it. So this is me keeping my promise to him.” He looked at me solemnly. “And to her.”

  Carter lowered the gun and turned to slump back in his seat. I couldn’t mistake his defeated scowl as he refused to look at me. “I don’t like it. And I hold to my promise. If you kill her,” he couldn’t finish.

  Diesel placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I know. But I’m the only one who could do it. I wouldn’t put that on anyone else and if you don’t kill me, I might just do it myself.” He said the last part so quiet, I almost didn’t hear it. It wasn’t meant for me. Hell, I don’t think it was even meant for Carter.

  “Diesel, no,” I said, but it was too late, he was out of the truck. I jumped out and ran around to him. “I don’t care what happens. You can’t die.” I grabbed his arms. “Promise me. Please. You have to help Jacob.”

  He clenched his jaw. “I’ll help him. But…”

  There was no words that could be said. I knew he wouldn’t promise anything right then. Damn it. Why did it feel like I was now trying to save two men?

  Chapter 17

  Jacob

  It was hard to think it was only yesterday that I’d been shot and watched Lily escape. Boulder’s attempts to keep my wound from infection seemed to be paying off as I could now raise my arm slightly without wanting to pass out. It still hurt pretty damn bad, but at least I wasn’t going to die from it. Being tied to a chair didn’t help me keep my muscles moving much though, and they clenched in pain from the restriction.

  Boulder came in to check the wound. Under his scruffy beard I could see the frown. “I wish I could do more. I’m sorry.”

  “Nah,” I said, mentally waving him off. “It’s not like you shot me.” I winced as he pressed the warm rag to my skin.

  “I shouldn’t be here. Damn it, I just, I don’t know.” He continued to wash the wound.

  My shoulder begged for him to stop, but I couldn’t afford an infection so I ignored the searing pain. “You did what you needed to do for family. I get it. I’d do anything for my family, too.” Every word was through clenched teeth, but I had no malice for the man caring for me. He was a good man.

  He nodded and finished his work on my shoulder. “I know. That’s why you’re here. Lily, she must be something special for you to follow her to the equator.”

  I caught his stare and held it. “I’d follow her anywhere. There isn’t a place on earth I wouldn’t go to find her. If it was in my ability, I’d move heaven and hell for that woman.”

  Boulder gave a sad grin. “I believe it.”

  I gestured to the door. “Who is this Leman guy? I haven’t seen him around before. Does he work for Angel?”

  “I don’t know who Angel is, but Leman was working with a guy named Knox.”

  Just the sound of that man’s name had my rage boiling. “Knox, huh. Is he here?”

  Boulder chuckled. “No, that’s the funny part. When he found out we had you and not Lily he took off. Now Leman doesn’t know what to do.”

  So, Knox was running scared. Interesting. But, he also knew Lily was out there without my protection. Shit. I had to get out of here. “Boulder, I already told you I’d help you with your niece, but I need out of here to do that.”

  He grinned. “Don’t worry about that. I am way ahead of you. I just talked with one of your men across the street. We have a plan to get you out tonight.”

  One of my men? “Who did you talk to?” Instantly, my mind was taken to Lily. Was she there? Of course not. It wasn’t safe to be this close to me.

  “His name was Jax. He said he was waiting on others before they come get you.”


  Others? Hell, that better not mean they were bringing Lily. “Boulder, I can offer you a job, it’s yours if you want it. But I need you to untie me. Now.” Just thinking they had Lily this close had my adrenaline rushing to an all time high.

  “Sure thing, boss.” He quickly began loosening the ropes until my legs were free.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Leman walked in with his small entourage of only two men trailing close behind him.

  “He needs to get up and walk,” Boulder quickly lied. “You’re the one who told me to keep him alive.”

  Leman eyed him, his warning gaze telling us both we were dead should he find out otherwise. “I suppose I did say that.”

  Boulder jerked on the rope. It was painful, but I knew he could have done it much worse. “Get up. You need to move.” His voice was rough and demanding. It was a ruse, but Leman seemed to have bought it.

  I played along, hoping to buy us enough time for Jax to make it before this crazy drug dealer shot me again. Standing felt good and I longed to stretch my full height, but refrained.

  A commotion downstairs alerted me that my rescue party was here.

  “What the fuck is going on down there?” Leman waved at one of his men. “Go check it out!”

  Boulder grabbed a bowie knife hidden in a sheath at his side and slid the blade up through the rope, cutting me free. He yanked me to the side just as Leman fired a shot. We both fell to the floor.

  I rolled off him and got up to my feet as quickly as I could before Leman raised his gun again. A ping ricocheted off his gun and he dropped it, cursing as he held his hand.

  Jax came in the room, his gun trained on Leman while he searched the room for me. I nodded at him but not before the other two men began shooting. Bullets zinged around the room. I ducked, having no weapon of my own to use.

  But my heart nearly leaped out of my chest when Lily bound in, Diesel and the others close behind her. She raised her gun and aimed on the men firing at us. Her shots rang true and both men dropped to the ground. They weren’t dead yet, but they would be soon enough.

  Fuck. Watching her, I couldn’t believe that woman belonged to me. Her eyes sought mine in a wild fury and panic. As if we were two halves of a magnet, she ran to me and I wrapped my good arm around her.

  Lily. She was here. I was torn between being pissed that she was here and proud of her. Damn. It didn’t matter. She was here.

  “Jacob,” she repeated.

  “Shh, honey, it’s okay.” I held her tight, afraid to let her go. She had better get used to it, because I wasn’t going to stop touching her anytime soon. I needed her more than life itself.

  Jax held Leman at gunpoint. “You need to learn how to reinforce a house. This was entirely too easy.”

  Leman’s face paled. “What are you gonna do to me.” The man who once had complete confidence strutting around in his purple suit now quivered and dropped to his knees.

  Boulder grabbed my ankle. I had almost forgotten about him. “Jacob,” he moaned.

  Shit. I hadn’t realized he took a bullet for me when he pulled me down. Lily and I both began assessing him. Blood poured from his stomach, spilling out onto the floor. Fox came over with Diesel.

  Boulder gripped my hand. “My niece,” he started.

  “I know. She’ll be taken care. I promise.” Damn it. He was going to die because he helped me, saved me. I owed him so much more than paying a damn medical bill.

  He sputtered her name and where to find her. Lily nodded at me, letting me know she was mentally taking notes. Blood stopped pooling and I knew he was gone. I closed his eyes. “Thank you,” I whispered.

  Lily touched my hand still covering his eyes. “Jacob.”

  I looked into her eyes. “He saved me. That bullet was meant for me.”

  She gazed down at Boulder. “Thank you for saving him.”

  “Hey, boss. You okay?” It was Diesel who asked, his close proximity to Lily bothered me. He was like her shadow ever since they entered the room. Not that I thought Diesel would betray me with Lily, but there was something between them that I would have to figure out later.

  I smiled for Lily. “Just a small bullet. I think it missed the important things.”

  “What do you want me to do with this piece of shit?” Jax asked, still holding Leman at gunpoint.

  Leman was now visibly shaking. I almost laughed at him. He wasn’t so haughty now that the tables had turned.

  Lily huddled next to me like we couldn’t get close enough after being apart. Keeping my arm around her, we made our way over to Jax. Leman looked up, his gaze darted between me and Jax. “I didn’t kill you. I could have, but I didn’t. You owe me.” His voice shook in desperation.

  “Owe you?” Lily challenged. “What do we fucking owe you? You almost killed him!”

  Leman’s skin dripped with sweat as he stared at her. “But he’s not dead. That’s got to count for something. Right?” He nodded over to Boulder. “I killed him instead.”

  “He was one of my men.” I spoke up before anyone else could ruin the surprise.

  Leman jerked and leaned back farther on his knees. “What are you talking about?”

  “Yeah, I have men everywhere. Didn’t you know that? I thought a man of your stature would have known that. Makes you wonder who to trust anymore doesn’t it.” I liked playing with him. Make him think I had the upper hand the whole time when in fact if my men hadn’t shown up when they did, I might not have made it through this.

  “Listen, I was hired to find her, not you. Fonsie messed that up and he paid the price. You were here. You saw that.”

  Yeah, I saw, but it didn’t change the fact that Leman was working with Knox. “Tell me. Where’s your partner?”

  He looked surprised that I knew about Knox. “He left. I don’t know where he is.”

  I grimaced. “Not good enough. If you want to stay alive, you have to pay with more than some bullshit story that you don’t know where Knox is.” I could feel Lily stiffen beside me and I wanted to reassure her she was safe, and that I wouldn’t let Knox have her again, but right now I needed answers. “Jax is probably getting tired of holding that gun. His fingers could slip at any moment.”

  Jax grinned and let his steady hand fall just slightly before squeezing the trigger, shooting Leman in the knee. “Oops.”

  “Fuck!” Leman screamed.

  Diesel chuckled. “You’re lucky it was him shooting and not me. Damn cocksucker.”

  Leman fell to his side and grabbed at his knee, holding it tight. “Shit, okay. He was going to report back to Ramirez or somebody. I don’t know, okay. Shit. This hurts. I can’t believe you shot me!”

  Ramirez? I was expecting him to say Angel. “Leman, was he going to find a man named Garcia?”

  Lily pressed her lips together as she waited for him to answer. It was hopefully a coincidence. There were a ton of other people named Ramirez, especially in Mexico.

  “Hell, I don’t know. I just heard Ramirez.” Leman groaned again.

  “Lily,” I turned to her.

  “Jacob, it’s fine. Let’s just find Knox and get this done.”

  I kissed the top of her head. “Alright.” I’d worry about it for both of us. So help me, father or not, if Garcia set her up to be killed, he would die. “Let’s go.”

  Leman yelled. “You can’t just leave me here!”

  I crouched down and grabbed the collar of his shirt. Everything about him now seemed so ridiculous. I pulled him close so he would get the menace I laced in each word. “You had the intension of hurting my girl. You’re lucky I’m leaving you here.”

  Bear led the way downstairs, holding his point position. After seeing the destruction and bodies lining the walls, most who were already dead, I was impressed. I had only five men upstairs, but there was at least double that down here.

  I pulled Lily closer and wondered how much of this she did, if any. Remembering her coming in and shooting Leman’s guards, I chuckled to myself and made a
mental note to tell her how proud I was of her later.

  We made our way out to the trucks. Flapjack took the driver’s seat and Lily hopped in the middle with me beside her in the front seat. The others took their seats in the back. Diesel gave Lily a curt nod as he closed the door and let out a visible breath.

  Whatever they had between them shook him hard. I’d never seen him so upset after a hunt.

  Lily was careful not to touch my arm, but kept her hand on my thigh. I wound her fingers with my other hand and squeezed them. That was the longest forty-eight hours of my life.

  Chapter 18

  Lily

  It was still surreal having Jacob next to me. Everything had happened so fast, I was still processing. I couldn’t stop touching him, afraid he would disappear and this would all be a dream.

  For the most part things went according to plan, and some almost more so than others. It was hard not to picture Diesel raise his gun to shoot me when a guy snuck up behind me, but Carter took a shot, killing the man holding me before Diesel could hold up his end of the promise.

  “I told you, she doesn’t die,” Carter had said pushing past Diesel toward the stairs.

  Downstairs was secure, it was just me and Diesel left. His body shook. “I’m sorry,” was all he could say.

  In my mind, there was nothing to be sorry about. We had an agreement. End of story. I was prepared. Maybe not as prepared as I thought I was, but Carter saved us both in a way.

  I closed my eyes and let my soul sink into Jacob’s. I was so close to losing him. I couldn’t do that again. He was going to have to get used to the fact that I wasn’t going anywhere without him. He gently squeezed my hand as if knowing what I was thinking and silently agreeing.

  His thumb rubbed small circles over my palm and I cried. I hated being so overwhelmed that I looked weak. He let go of my hand to wipe the tear off my cheek. “Don’t cry, honey. Everything’s gonna be okay. You’re safe.”