twins.”
“Yes.” Clean-shaven answered the rhetorical question. “Justin, make sure we’re not followed.”
“Where are you taking me?” Neither brother answered, their attention on the traffic streaming by.
She declined to object further since throbbing pain began to seep through her adrenaline rush. The first few minutes passed in a tense silence. Both J. and Justin concentrated on the cars surrounding them but Justin never let go of her hand. The warm reassurance his touch instilled bolstered her courage as she recovered from the surprise of the attack. She began to relax into the plush upholstery.
“Jay, we’re clear, pick up the pace.” Justin sat tense beside her, his foot in constant motion, tapping against the floorboard.
“I know it kills you to let me drive,” J. said. Truth be told, J. irked her, too. He drove like a ninety-year-old woman, exactly at the speed limit, a precise four-second gap between his suave-but-safe vehicle and the car in front of them, never violating a single rule. The steady calm J. harnessed clearly escaped his brother. “But anyone watching has to believe there’s nothing out of the ordinary if they’re looking for Alexa.”
“Alexa, nice.” Justin tested out her name, causing a shiver to run down her spine at the way he savored the word. Still, she couldn’t afford to be distracted.
“We’re not going to the police?” They headed in the opposite direction of the station on the freeway.
“No. It’s too dangerous. They’ll expect us to, and I’m afraid the stakes are too high now.” J. met her eyes with a brief stare in the rearview mirror. “I’m sorry for getting you mixed up in this.”
The dark-tinted windows sheltered them from unwanted attention, cocooning them in privacy. Convinced they’d reached safety, Justin turned his attention to her. His eyes darkened as he took her in.
She opened her mouth to continue questioning them when he interrupted.
“You’re bleeding.”
“Shit, I’m sorry. Did I get any on the seat?” Alexa glanced down at the gash in her leg she hadn’t noticed while checking for suspicious vehicles. She tugged on the ripped www.samhainpublishing.com
material of her suit skirt, tearing off a dangling section to compress against the cut. A red stain grew across the patch in a few seconds.
“Like I care about that.” J. muttered from the front. “Does she need a doctor?”
Justin reached over to add light pressure with one hand while he probed her side. “I saw that bastard slam you against your car. You’re going to be bruised, but I don’t think anything’s broken. Nothing we can’t handle ourselves, Jay.” Fury turned his words to acid. He lifted his head, meeting her gaze full on for the first time since he rescued her. The combination of his fingers on her thigh and his palm so near her breast had her gasping for air.
“Does that hurt?” Worry crossed his face, drawing his mouth into a thin line. She shook her head and scooted away from him. It was impossible to think when he touched her. “I want to know what’s going on. Right now.”
“You got me.” He shrugged. “But I’d sure as hell like to know, too.”
Chapter Four
J.’s audible exhalation reached Alexa. “I knew this was going to turn into a cluster fuck.”
“What are you into, Jay?” Justin asked the question she burned to know the answer to.
“First things first.” J. couldn’t ignore the social niceties. “I’m Jason Winston. Justin, I believe you’ve met Alexa Daniels before.”
She caught the knowing look the twins exchanged but her attention shifted when Justin made a sound somewhere between a moan and a sigh. “Yeah.” He turned to her with an honesty she couldn’t deny. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I had no idea you knew my brother.”
“I don’t.” Some of her indignation returned. “Are you saying all of this is coincidence?”
“Considering I don’t even know what ‘all of