Hot Alphas by Lora Leigh Page A

voice barely above a whisper.
    â€œThe truck’s fouled. Someone must have known it was mine.” Catching her hand he was pulling her quickly around the side of the apartment building. “Come on, let’s see if Jake still keeps a spare key beneath that damned sports car of his.”
    Still holding on to her hand he pulled her quickly across the other side of the parking lot. Moving between two pickups to keep the vehicles between them and the apartment building, he led the way along the grassy border to Jake’s glistening black Corvette.
    Pausing at the front of the car he pulled her down next to him, reached beneath the car, and a second later pulled free a small, magnetic box. Sliding open the panel on the front, he froze.
    â€œTurk?” she whispered.
    â€œI anticipated that.” Erin froze, alongside Turk, at the hard voice behind them.
    Turk rose slowly as Erin followed. He pulled her behind him, forcing her between him and the front of the Corvette as he faced the dark silhouette that moved from the bushes alongside the grass border.
    Three other shadows moved into place behind the first, eyes gleaming in the darkness as their features slowly became recognizable.
    They were regulars at the bar.
    Tyler Stanley, the talent scout that often drank with Gyron and his three friends. All four of which were linked to a suspected criminal figure that operated out of Corpus Christi. Though Tyler hadn’t been linked to the organization.
    Until now.
    â€œBad move, Stanley.” Turk sighed as though they were actually on the winning side here. “Did you think we weren’t waiting for this?”
    Waiting for them and being without backup were two different things. Right now, Erin hoped desperately, Turk had a little more up his sleeve than a bluff.
    Tyler Stanley chuckled at that. “Your friends are all at the bar,” he informed Turk. “Your security was incredibly easy to break. All emergency contact was blocked before it could go out. You’re all alone, Rogan. Just you and Ms. Masters, and the four of us. You’re a little outnumbered, don’t you think?”
    â€œWhat do you want, Stanley?” Turk growled as Erin slowly tucked her weapon into the band of his jeans at the small of his back.
    She wasn’t good enough to take down all four of those assholes before one of them shot, but maybe Turk was.
    â€œAll we want is the girl,” Tyler assured him. “You’re just in the way. You should have stayed out of the way, Turk. Killing you wasn’t how I wanted this to go.”
    Turk grunted at that. “What makes her so damned important?”
    â€œThe same thing that made John Delanore and his son, John Delanore, Jr., race out here when we nearly had her last week. She’s important to him.”
    â€œShe’s his stepdaughter.” The tension building in Turk’s large body had Erin nearly holding her breath. “Of course he came running. That doesn’t tell me what it has to do with you or your friends.”
    â€œAnd he has something we want. We need her. We don’t need witnesses. Tonight, you get to die. She’ll die later.” Tyler spoke as though killing someone were an everyday occurrence.
    â€œWhat does your stepdaddy have that these assholes want, Erin?” Turk asked her then, the irritation in his tone not in the least feigned.
    â€œHell if I know,” she whispered.
    â€œIf I’m going to die for it, I’d at least like a fucking answer,” he snapped.
    He was getting ready to move.
    Erin could feel the energy gathering in his body.
    Tyler watched Turk carefully, though the three men with him kept their gazes more on her.
    â€œWhat do you think you can threaten my stepfather out of, Tyler?” Erin stepped around Turk just enough to watch the other man more closely. “He’s an asshole. And trust me, he won’t pay a ransom.”
    â€œHe’ll pay.” Tyler