Read Online Ricochet by Cherry Adair - Free Book Online Page B

weird, scary turn.
    Being surrounded by Gray’s men was like walking inside the high walls of a black cave. Hannah was relieved when they entered the hangar through a side door. Blinking in the brilliant overhead lights flooding the vast empty space, she wasn’t sorry when the men peeled off. Grayson, however, stayed glued to her side.
    She shot him a glance. Focused and fierce, he strode into the center of the large space, keeping her within reach of his hand even though he didn’t touch her. She always forgot how tall he was until he was standing right next to her. Six three, of disreputable male, with his darkly stubbled jaw, dark, dangerous glower, and the skintight black outfit that displayed his tall, virile physique to perfection. He looked tough, mean and dangerous as hell. “I wouldn’t want to bump into you in a dark alley,” she told him sotto voce, as she sped up to match his long strides.
    It was disconcerting to realize that she didn’t know this Grayson at all.
    “Trust me,” he said, scanning the open space and milling people as if looking for ninjas to jump out from every corner. Which, God only knew, wouldn’t surprise Hannah in the least. “You’d want me with you in that dark alley.”
    She rubbed the faint, annoying headache at her temples with two fingers. “Fortunately, I don’t frequent that many dark alleys.”
    He slanted her a look, gray eyes softening. “I know you’re freaked out by all this, but hang tough, Tink. Stay with me until we can establish who’s who, okay?”
    Now that the danger was past, Hannah realized she wasn’t feeling so hot. Nerves, stress, a bouncing boat. Low blood sugar. Shit. She shrugged. “I have nothing better to do.”
    The hangar was old, and probably not in use. Rusted, corrugated walls, oil-stained cement floor, and a bunch of broken packing crates piled haphazardly in the far corner. Half the overhead lights were burned out or hanging by electrical wires.
    Thirsty, she tuned out the susurrus of multiple conversations, looking around for something to drink.
    A soda would help with her blood sugar until she could get some real food. There didn’t appear to be a vending machine around. But considering the look of the hangar, if there were, anything in it would be petrified by now.
    Other than swarming people, and mounds of windswept leaves and debris in the corners, the space was empty. Just a few large grease spots where planes once sat. Grayson’s men, dressed in identical sleek black get-ups, cowls shoved back, were starting to separate the swarms of people from the ship.
    The process was loud, and she learned a few new swear words, as everyone voiced their opinions more loudly than the guy next to him. It was a big crowd of crazy.
    “The plane will be here soon,” Grayson told her, giving her a small portion of his attention.
    She stepped back. “I’ll stay out of your way.”
    He locked his hand around her wrist. “No, stick to me like white on rice. I don’t want you out of my sight.”
    Tempted to remind him that he wasn’t the boss of her in any way, shape or form, Hannah bit her tongue and tugged herself out of his hold. The reality was, he was the only man here that she trusted; she just didn’t trust him to touch her.
    Seeing a familiar gleaming, sandy blond head among the crowd, she indicated his brother with a jerk of her chin. “Colton’s over there. God. He looks terrified.”
    “Good,” Gray said unsympathetically. “I don’t want you near him until he’s been processed.”
    “Come on, Grayson. You know he wasn’t aware of who he was dealing with.”
    “No one with half a fucking brain goes into business without knowing everything there is to know about his partners. But let me rephrase that. Would he steal multimillions of dollars from his mother? No. He’s too fucking good for that.”
    Hannah had never heard the suppressed brutality in his voice before, as he said what she’d been thinking. “Would he take you