Her Prince (Twisted Royals #2)

by Sidney Bristol

  Kade was the only person who was going to put the beat-down on his older brother today.

  Sasha launched himself at the two closest guys, taking them down by sheer, brute force.

  Gunfire ricocheted off the metal and concrete.

  This was it. They were fighting for their lives.

  It was a mode Kade was familiar with.

  He had to pick who lived and who died.

  Kade wasn’t ready to give up living yet.

  He blew out a breath, shifted his grip on the gun and fired. He ducked in front of Anton and pistol whipped another guy moving in too fast, gun at the ready.

  They were out-manned, under-equipped and ill-prepared for this.

  “Go,” Kade barked over his shoulder at his brothers. He could handle himself—they were small time con artists unaccustomed to killing.

  A big, black SUV roared in.

  Feet hit the pavement.

  “FBI—everyone freeze!”

  About god damn time.

  Shelby landed a punch to the guy’s side. He merely grunted and tightened his hold.

  She couldn’t breathe.

  She clawed at the arm wrapped around her neck.

  No!

  Gunfire behind them pinged off metal.

  People shouted, but it sounded distant.

  She was going to lose consciousness—and that would be it. She’d be dead.

  Jaxon lay on the ground, groaning and holding his head. He was coming back around.

  She just had to hold it together… A little while longer…

  Shelby twisted, caught the guy behind the ankle with her foot and threw her weight into him. He staggered, losing his hold on her.

  Air flooded her lungs.

  Sweet oxygen.

  She groped at her waist for her other gun.

  The guy wheeled around, dug his hand into her hair, and hauled her up on her toes.

  “I’m losing my patience,” he growled. “Mr. Ogden wants to see you.”

  Oh… Shit…

  Shelby yanked her gun out of her waistband, but he knocked it aside.

  She’d assumed that he was one of Jeffery’s people. It was worse than that. He was one of Ogden’s men. And that meant this whole damn thing was a trap.

  Shelby thrashed, but her captor had a hold on her now. He hefted her up off her feet and carried her the handful of paces to an SUV.

  “No! No—Jax! Jaxon, help!” Shelby wiggled, kicked, flailed, but his hold was too good.

  Jaxon pushed up to his knees.

  Her captor opened the back door of the SUV and tossed her in. She rolled into the floor. The door shut, jamming her foot against it.

  No, she couldn’t give up.

  Shelby shoved up—and stared at the metal grate separating herself from the man now behind the wheel.

  “What’s going on? What are you doing?” Shelby starred in horror at her mobile prison. “What does Ogden want with me?”

  She hooked her fingers through the metal and shook, but it didn’t budge. Only she did.

  Dark SUVs zoomed down the gravel path toward them, but the getaway vehicle was mostly covered by piled-up wooden pallets.

  Shelby dove for the door, yanking the handle, but it was locked.

  She tried the other side.

  No luck.

  “Will you shut up,” the driver roared at her.

  Shelby turned, but another metal grate blocked her access to the rear of the vehicle. She was in a cage. One that could go anywhere freely.

  “Sit down.” The driver pounded his fist against the metal links.

  “I want to know what’s going on. What do you want with me?” She slid into the middle of the seat, the better to see where they were going, and held onto the edge of it.

  Shelby had broken the tracking devices. Rusty and Kade had no way of finding her. She was at Ogden’s mercy now, and she didn’t expect that to get her far. Not when she’d conned the master criminal.

  The driver jabbed at a button on the center console.

  The GPS screen mounted in the middle of the dashboard changed, switching off a map and to the image of a man.

  A familiar man.

  “Brent—everything went according to plan?” Ogden asked.

  “Yes, sir,” Brent replied. There was a sneer in his voice.

  “What do you want with me? Answer me.” Shelby beat her fist on the grate.

  “Shelby, my dear, it’s been far too long.” Ogden leaned forward, his gaze focused on her. “Bring her to me, Brent. I’ll meet you at the drop site.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Call me when you reach the airport.”

  The screen went dark.

  Ogden wanted her.

  Why?

  For what?

  She couldn’t get on that plane. If she did, no one would ever see her again—alive or dead. She was willing to bet on it.

  “Shelby?” Kade swung his head this way and that. He’d never been in handcuffs before, and he didn’t much like it. “Shelby?”

  The last he’d seen of her, she’d been pushing Jaxon ahead of her around the train.

  “What the fuck are you carrying on about?” A nearby FBI tactical officer scowled at him.

  “Rusty Rogers—I need to talk to him.” Kade pulled at the handcuffs, as if he’d suddenly hulk out and bust out of them.

  “What the hell, Kade?” Anton was still scowling at him.

  “Shut up,” the officer said, gum smacking.

  “Kade? Kade!” Jaxon jogged toward where Kade sat on the concrete, Rusty at his heels.

  “Jax? Rusty? Where’s Shelby?” Kade struggled to his feet.

  The officer took two long steps and placed his hand on Kade’s shoulders.

  “Wow—stop.” Rusty whipped out his badge. “Cuffs. Off. Now.”

  “Where’s Shelby?” Kade zeroed in on Jaxon and the goose egg bulging up from his brow.

  The tactical officer grumbled but let Kade out of the cuffs.

  “What the hell?” Anton yelled.

  “He—this guy—he came out of nowhere.” Jaxon’s pupils were too wide, the color nearly gone.

  “Jax—you okay, man? Where’d they go?”

  “I’m fine.” Jaxon batted Kade’s hands away.

  “Our guys saw a vehicle headed east, parallel to the train tracks.” Rusty thumbed over his shoulder. “Her tracker’s dead. If we don’t move now, they’re going to disappear.”

  “Let’s go.” Kade didn’t need to know more to realize the importance of time.

  The three of them bolted, sprinting for the open end of the depot.

  There were a million reasons why someone could want Shelby. Retaliation. Revenge. Leverage. None of them left Kade with good feelings about the longevity of Shelby’s life. In the greater picture, she could be a commodity.

  Ogden had offered money for her.

  Would he opt to simply take what he wanted?

  Over Kade’s dead body.

  Rusty dove into the driver’s seat of a familiar four door sedan. Kade took the passenger seat and Jaxon leapt into the back.

  “Jax—no. Stay here.” Kade twisted in his seat.

  “I’m going with you,” Jaxon nearly snarled.

  Rusty hit the gas. The back of the car fishtailed before they shot forward over the loose gravel.

  “Where was the vehicle headed?” Kade strapped in and leaned forward, one hand braced on the dash.

  “Along the tracks.”

  24.

  Shelby’s brain had stopped working.

  She was in a cage. A small, moving cage, and there was no way out. She’d tried the doors, and the metal grate was too secure. She was trapped.

  She lifted a hand and slapped her cheek.

  It stung, but not terribly bad.

  She did it again.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Brent slammed on the breaks.

  The SUV slid several feet before rocking to a stop.

  Shelby smacked her cheek ag
ain.

  There.

  Sparks fired off. The shock of it all was wearing off. It had to. She needed to figure a way out of this.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Brent demanded again. He stared at her like he might a crazy thing.

  For good measure she smacked her other cheek.

  Yup.

  Fully functioning again.

  “God damn it. You are not going to get me in trouble.” Brent shifted into park.

  Trouble? For what? Bruised merchandise?

  Just where the hell was he taking her? And what did they want with her?

  Brent slid out.

  He was going to open the door.

  This might be her only chance.

  Shelby twisted, nearly lying down on her back.

  The door opened.

  She kicked with both feet the moment Brent was in sight. She hit him solidly in the chest, sending him reeling back.

  Shelby slid and rolled out of the vehicle, staggering to the side. She pushed up. Gravel slid out from beneath her feet but she didn’t trip up. Unfortunately, Brent hadn’t been caught too off guard. He lunged for her, catching her by the back of the shirt.

  She twisted, but his hold was too tight.

  They’d already played this game once, and she’d lost in a bad way. She couldn’t let him get a hold on her.

  A car zoomed into view, wobbling this way and that a bit.

  Rusty.

  She knew that car.

  She’d been in it earlier today.

  Shelby didn’t have to get away. She just had to keep from getting tossed in the car gain.

  She turned, kicking out, catching Brent in the knee. He cried out and stumbled, but didn’t go down.

  “You’re too much damn trouble,” he growled.

  The cold, business end of a gun pressed against her skull.

  Few things in this world had the kind of response a gun to crucial anatomy did, this was one of them.

  Shelby sucked in a deep breath and froze, even as the sedan came to a stop, kicking up rocks every which way.

  “Get in the truck, now,” Brent growled.

  “You think they’re going to let you just take me?” She didn’t move

  “It’s either get in the car, or I put a bullet in you. Do you know which one I’d rather do?” Brent yanked on her.

  He was lying.

  He hadn’t wanted her to so much as bruise her cheek, he wouldn’t put a bullet in her.

  At least, she hoped not.

  “There!” Kade pointed at the SUV stopped ahead, the nose pointed slightly away from the tracks.

  Shelby struggled with a bigger man wearing a suit, of all things. He wasn’t the least bit familiar to Kade, but that didn’t matter. The guy was threatening his Shelby.

  “Gun in the glove box,” Rusty said.

  Kade didn’t think twice. He reached in, pulled out a sturdy Glock, and loaded one into the chamber.

  No one was going to take Shelby from him.

  Before Rusty even had the car stopped, Kade leaped out, the loose stones crunching under his feet.

  “Let go of her,” he said.

  “Come any closer, she dies.” The guy shifted, using Shelby as a human shield, the black gun pressed to her skull.

  “He won’t pull the trigger,” Shelby said.

  “I will,” the man said.

  “He won’t—Ogden wants me alive and unharmed,” Shelby said in a rush.

  “Brent Lyons, put the gun down,” Rusty said from the other side of the car, his gun also up. “He’s Ogden’s assistant.”

  “He won’t hurt me.” Shelby’s voice went up in pitch. Did she really believe that?

  Brent shifted faster than Kade was ready for and fired once, at the ground.

  Shelby yelped and Rusty cursed.

  “I’m not fucking around,” Brent said.

  A bit of movement out of the corner of Kade’s eye caught his attention, but he didn’t dare glance away from Brent.

  “You’re not getting out of here, Brent.” Kade took a step forward.

  Brent retreated a foot closer to the SUV, dragging Shelby with him.

  This was their best shot.

  Kade nodded and took another step.

  Jaxon rushed forward.

  Brent’s focus was on Kade, his line of sight blocked by Shelby’s head.

  Jaxon hit the both of them low, driving his fist into Brent’s thigh in an ugly, full-force take-down. Brent cried out. Shelby fell, twisting to cover her head. Kade got to them first, pushing the gun out of reach and scooping an arm around Shelby. Jaxon delivered two hard punches to the downed man, all the while keeping him in a brutal submission hold.

  “Fuck me,” Rusty muttered closing in. “Who the hell are you again?”

  “Shelby? Are you okay? Babe, look at me?” Kade cradled Shelby to him, desperate for some sign of life. She was alive, but so pale. Her eyes blinked and her mouth worked, but it was as if she were in shock.

  “It wasn’t about the heist,” she said.

  “What? We can worry about it later. You’re okay.”

  “Kade, no.” Shelby pushed away, both keeping him at arm’s length and holding tight. “This—the heist—it wasn’t about getting art. This was about kidnapping me.”

  “What?” Rusty straightened, hauling Brent to his feet.

  “He—he had to have known all along.” Shelby glanced from Kade to Rusty. “No!”

  Brent bit something on the cuff of his jacket.

  Rusty threw the man to the ground, palming his mouth.

  White foam leaked from between Brent’s lips.

  Kade lurched forward—but it was too late.

  Brent Lyons’ eyes rolled back into his head.

  “Fuck.” Rusty sat back on his heels, and picked up Brent’s sleeve, his blue latex gloves a drastic contrast to the black suit. “I always wondered how the last assistant died. We had him in custody, too.”

  “Shelby, are you okay?” Kade turned his attention to the living. He cupped Shelby’s face in his hands, forcing her to look at him.

  “I’m scared, Kade,” she whispered.

  “Nothing bad is going to happen to you.”

  It was a tall promise, but Ogden would get to Shelby over his cold, dead body.

  Shelby kept the throw blanket wrapped tightly around herself. The FBI safe house was bustling with activity, people everywhere. These were the FBI Rusty worked with. His team. Many of them she hadn’t ever met before, but every last one seemed to know the intimate details of her life.

  Had Ogden been watching her?

  “No—leave her alone.” Kade planted himself between her and a middle-aged man armed with a couple files.

  “I’m just—”

  “She’s exhausted. Take a ticket. Wait your turn.” Kade glared the man away.

  God, she didn’t know what she’d do if Kade weren’t here.

  The questions. They were never ending. And she had no answers, at least no new ones.

  Kade relaxed by small degrees, his shoulders, his fists.

  People glanced away from his gaze. He was probably glaring again. In the close confines of the house’s living room, kitchen and dining room combination space, people couldn’t escape his hostile examination.

  She couldn’t imagine doing this without him. For her whole life, she’d been alone and got on just fine, but this? This was the last freaking straw and she was grateful for Kade’s shoulder to lean on.

  There wasn’t a way to count the number of times she’d dreamt about confronting Ogden, finding out the truth. She hadn’t dipped her toe in the shallow end of that conversation yet and already her world was upside down.

  Ogden had been stalking her all along.

  Kade turned and perched on the arm rest of the chair she’d posted up in. She wasn’t usually the type to retreat to a corner and block herself in, but she couldn’t leave, and anywhere else left her vulnerable to multiple fronts of questioning.

  “How�
�re you doing?” He stroked his hand over her hair, tucking it behind her ear.

  Scared.

  Terrified.

  Anxious.

  She’d never been stalked before. Hunted, might be more like it. If this whole thing was a trap, it was a very elaborate plan, and that more than anything alarmed her. A man of Ogden’s resources shouldn’t have that much trouble getting to one woman. And yet… Gil hadn’t wanted to hire her. Ogden had. That should have been her red flag. She should have known then.

  “Hey?” Kade tugged on her ponytail.

  Shelby steeled herself against the wince. Her scalp was tender from where Brent had yanked, but Kade’s touch brought her peace.

  She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt these emotions all mixed up this way.

  “Don’t shoot me, I’m just the messenger.” Rusty approached, hands up, files under his arm.

  “What now?” Kade asked.

  Even Rusty was getting the rough side of Kade. Then again, Rusty would probably like it. Shelby closed her hand around Kade’s. She wasn’t sharing him. Rusty would have to find someone else, because Kade was hers. She needed him.

  “We need to start at the beginning.” Rusty sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face. “Why don’t we go upstairs—the three of us—and find a quiet spot to talk through things? Kade could be a good, outside perspective on this.”

  Rehashing every move she’d made for the last couple of years did not sound like a fun way to spend the evening, but what choice did she have?

  As soon as Ogden’s team was put in general population in prison, word would get out. Her career—and usefulness—was over. Soon enough, she’d have a target on her back. There were people who’d connect the dots back to her and figure out just where and how their heists went wrong. Her number was officially up, it was just a matter of time until someone killed her.

  It was a sobering reality.

  Kade helped her up, and hand in hand they climbed the stairs.

  She glanced up at Kade and her heart fluttered a bit.

  Her instinct was to plaster herself to this man, be with him. But she couldn’t. The closer he was to her, the more likely it was he’d become collateral damage. She couldn’t do that to him.

  Which meant she’d have to do the most painful thing of all.

  She’d need to leave. And soon if they couldn’t figure out the Ogden connection.