All Chapters of COLLATERAL DESIRE : Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

"Take your hands off her," Ethan commanded. His voice vibrated against my shoulder, a low rumble that carried the cold promises of a man who had already decided how many people were going to die in his hallway tonight.He pulled the heavy silk robe over my bare shoulders, his movements sharp and protective, before his arm locked around my waist like an iron band. He dragged me back against his chest until there wasn't a breath of air between us.The front doors were still splintered off their hinges. Rain sprayed across the polished marble, mixed with the smell of wet wool and gun oil. Four syndicate enforcers stood ten feet inside the foyer, their tactical vests dark against charcoal suits, suppressed pistols held at low-ready.They didn't look like men who expected a fight. They looked like men who thought a piece of paper and a title made them untouchable."You're in my house," Ethan said. He didn't look at their guns. He didn't look at the tactical team spreading out toward the ar

Ethan’s iron grip locked around my waist, and before I could even draw a breath, he yanked me off my seat and hauled me directly onto his lap.A collective, sharp gasp rippled outward across the green felt. The entire high-stakes room fell dead silent. High-society spectators in glittering gowns and tuxedos pressed against the outer velvet ropes, straining for a better view. Along the perimeter, dozens of armed syndicate guards shifted nervously, their dark coats pulling tight over hidden holsters as the nervous dealer continued to lay out the baccarat cards.Ethan didn't care about the guns. He didn't care about the crowd. His left arm wrapped like a steel band across my stomach, pinning my back flush against his chest. He was using his physical claim over me in front of the entire underworld as a brutal psychological weapon. By laying down my blood-signed ownership contract as his buy-in, he was showing every man in this room that I belonged to him, and that he had zero fear of losi

"Hold on!" I screamed, grabbing Ethan's collar as the glass elevator slammed into the metal wall with a sickening metallic crunch.He didn't answer. He didn't even blink. Before the first enforcer could pull his gun, Ethan lunged forward. His massive frame blocked my view for a second, then he grabbed the guard's right wrist. A brutal twist. Bone snapped like a dry twig. The man let out a sharp howl, but Ethan drove his fist straight into his jaw, shutting him up instantly. He grabbed the front of the enforcer's tactical vest and slammed the back of his head into the reinforced glass wall.The pane cracked, webbed with red blood. The guard dropped to the floor, completely unconscious."Ethan!" I gasped, backing up against the wall.The second guard sprang into action. A combat knife flashed in his hand, slicing through the air toward Ethan's throat.There was no space to dodge in this small box. Ethan didn't retreat. He thrust his leather-wrapped forearm straight into the blade's path

Ethan had the council boss pinned face-down on the wet concrete before the last echoes of the exploding helicopter died down. His heavy knee was driven deep into the man’s spine, his left hand pinning the boss’s skull to the slick roof while his right hauled the heavy, blackened master hard drive out of the smoking flight console. Water and aviation fuel mixed on the stone beneath them, reflecting the bright fire that consumed the tail section ten feet away."Get back!" Ethan shouted over the roar of the blaze, his arm instantly sweeping around my waist to haul me back against his hip. Heat lashed across my face in blinding waves, turning the ocean rain to steam the moment it hit our skin.The council boss, coughing blood onto the marble molding, suddenly twitched. His fingers snapped back toward his cuff, whipping a fine garrote wire straight toward Ethan’s exposed throat.Before the wire could pull tight, I slammed my heavy heel down directly onto the boss’s wrist with everything I

"Get down!" Ethan yelled, his voice cutting through the earsplitting roar of gunfire as bullets tore through the metal roof of our overturned van.Sparks and scalding metal rained over us in the dark, cramped space. Choking gray smoke rolled off the twisted interior walls, burning my throat with every breath. I scrambled back, but the heavy iron chain linking my left wrist to Ethan’s right snapped taut, jerking me hard against the floorboards."I said down!" Ethan growled.He yanked the short metal chain between us, using the momentum to drag me flush against his side. With a harsh grunt of effort, he reached up and tore a heavy Kevlar riot shield off the wall bracket where a dead guard lay slumped. Ethan slammed the thick slab of plastic upward just as another heavy burst stitched across the ceiling above our heads.Clang-clang-clang!Ricochets hissed like furious hornets through the haze, slamming into the shield's outer face with a bone-rattling force that shuddered straight throug