Read Online Escape: A Stepbrother Romance Novella by Stephanie Brother - Free Book Online

look over my shoulder, checking there is no-one
behind me.  The hood of the car is around ten yards behind me and I make a snap
decision in that moment that it’s going to be Tom that gets left behind.  I let
go of his throat and push him forward, grabbing for my gun with reflex speed. 
I stick to the wall, scrambling backwards as fast as I can, seeing the men
lifting guns of their own.  Tom has turned now and is heading towards me, but I
have my piece pointing right at him. “What the fuck are you doing, Bran?” he asks
and I want to gouge his piggy eyes out for using Sammie’s nickname for me. 
    “Stay
away from me,” I shout at him.  I’ve got less than five yards when the first
shot splits the quiet night in two.  There are two more before one hits Tom in
the back of the arm and ricochets off the bone.  He cries out and grabs at his
wound, trying to stem the blood.  More shots ring out and I fire my own gun,
making the men scatter to try and take cover against the wall and in the tree
line again.
    “I
didn’t do nothing,” Tom shouts.
    I
turn and make a sprint for the car, keeping my head down in a way that feels
pathetic.  Three inches aren’t going to save me if one of them takes a good
aim.  I hear two more shots before I get to the car door and yank it open.  The
money goes in first, and I shoot one more time at nothing in particular, hoping
it will be enough to keep the men distracted.  It’s then I notice Tom is now
kneeling on the ground, hand still clutched to his punctured arm.  He has a
frozen look on his face that I realize is a death mask.  I don’t stay to watch
him fall or to see the damage the bullets have made to his back. The keys are
in the ignition and I fire up the car and screech away, the car door still half
open, my gun still in my hand.  A wall of dust and grit rises behind me like
the trail of a stampede and my heart sounds like a drum between my ears. The
radio is playing something loud and upbeat that is totally at odds with the
situation.
    I
curse loudly as I hit the road, stashing the gun on my knees and slamming my
hands against the steering wheel as the adrenaline hits a peak.  I almost
fucking died. I can’t believe Tom double-crossed us.  It had to be Tom, I
think. Could Adam have known?  My head feels like a spinning top.  Adam
couldn’t be in on this.  What would he gain from having me taken out? I’m his
son and I’ve never done anything to make him doubt my loyalty.  That has to
count for something, doesn’t it?
    I
can’t go back to Jackson’s now with so much uncertainty.  I don’t want anyone
there seeing the shaking mess that I am.  I can’t risk going home either, and I
don’t have any other place to go.  There’s a hotel about a mile from where I
am.  It’s a dive that I’ve only ever used as a place to fuck but it’ll do for a
few hours until I can pull myself together.
    I
pay in cash, something I find myself with a lot of, and head straight to the
room, locking and chaining the door.  My shirt is soaked through with sweat and
clings to me like a cold rag in the air-conditioning.  I unbutton it and throw
it over a chair and pace the room, unable to think clearly.  My hands throb
with my racing blood. 
    My
phone starts buzzing in my pocket.  It’s Adam and I don’t know what to do.  Do
I answer and tell him what’s happened?  Do I ignore it?  What would be my
excuse for that later down the line?
    “Hello,”
I say deciding to face things now, and my voice sounds hoarse from all the
shouting.
    “Where
are you?” Adam asks.
    “It
was a set up,” I say. 
    “What
the fuck are you talking about?”
    “Leon
wasn’t there. It was Tom.  He turned.”
    Adam
is quiet and I can hear the seething anger he’s feeling in the roughness of his
breathing. 
    “Where’s
Tom?” he barks.
    “He’s
gone.”
    “For
good?”
    “Yeah.”
    “And
you?”
    “I’m
laying low for a bit.”
    “You’ve
got the money?”  I