Page 93

“No. Yes.”
He raises an eyebrow, causing me to smile for the first time in days.
“No, I’m not hurt, and yes, I can walk, but slowly because I feel extremely weak.” Probably from the lack of food.
His face scrunches up as he thinks. “I’m going to pick you up. Wrap your legs around my waist.”
“What?” Is he serious? He does know I’m pregnant, right?
He repositions himself so he is facing the doorway, keeping his gun at the ready in case someone sneaks up on us. “I can’t carry you with both of my arms and protect us at the same time.”
He does make sense, but I still say, “Isn’t that a bit inappropriate, given my situation?”
He glances at me with a raised eyebrow and cocks his head slightly. “What situation? You being pregnant? Or you being Joseph’s woman?”
My heart flutters at hearing him declare I’m Joseph’s woman. I’ve wanted to be his for so long. “Uh, both.”
Gage glances at his watch and sighs. “I need an arm free in order to hold my gun and protect us, and this is the best way I can think of getting you out of here as fast as I can. Do you have a better idea?”
“Um, let me walk?”
“The building is crumbling all around us. It’s not safe. We need to run and you can’t. I promise I will be a gentleman the entire time.”
I hesitate. What if Joseph sees and gets the wrong idea? It’s not like it would be the first time he jumped to conclusions.
Gage huffs. “Or I can give you a piggyback ride. Your choice.”
I’m grateful he came to save me, and I know I’m just wasting time. If Joseph wants to get upset about this, then that’s his problem.
“Fine, but you better not get hard.”
His eyes widen at my statement. “Come on, let’s go.”
I walk over to him and let him pick me up. My legs wrap around his waist, squeezing tightly.
“I need you to press your body against mine and rest your head on my shoulder. I need to be able to see as much as I can and move my arm as needed.”
I do as he says, and he immediately heads back into the hallway, turning away from the foyer.
“Wait.” I say, stopping him in his tracks. “We need to go to the room next to mine. There’s something I need in there. A lot I need, actually.”
He starts to protest, but turns around and heads to the interrogation room. As soon as he clears the room, I unlatch my legs and walk over to where the duffle bags of money are. My bag of stuff is still on top, so I throw it in one of the money bags and carry them over to where Gage is still waiting.
“What is that?”
“My money and personal belongings.”
He lifts both bags and drapes one over each shoulder before turning toward me. “Alright back on.”
“Are you sure you can carry all of that and me?”
“That’s kind of insulting, you know.”
I stutter. “I-I-I didn’t mean it like that, Gage. I just meant the bags are a lot of weight and then, if you add my weight on top, it’s a lot for you to carry.”
“Come on.” He gestures for me to get closer. “Trust me. I’ve got your back.”
I reluctantly let him lift me back up. He stumbles for a second before regaining his balance. With a quick adjustment to the bags of money, he heads back into the hallway.