Page 27

So much for catching her off guard.

“Stop. Playing. Games,” she hisses.

“But life really is too short and it’s a shame,” I say.

“Last chance.”

I purse my lips. “I feel like you’re serious.”

“Dead.”

“I could have it.” I lift a shoulder like I don’t care. “If I do, it’s because I was hired to retrieve it.”

Fox laughs, hysterically. It injures my pride a bit. “You really expect me to believe someone hiredyouto retrieve the Framework?”

I shrug again, but the effort is more forced this time. “You can ask him yourself if you’d like. He’s right behind you.”

Fox and her henchmen all look toward the door, and I sweep her leg.

Fox loses her balance, but is caught by one of her men.

"You were supposed to go high!" I yell at Caleb as men rush us from all sides.

"You never told me that." Caleb pushes me behind him, his fists up, ready for a fight.

"I was talking to you with my eyes!"

"I thought we were saying I love you!"

I guess I can forgive him for that one. Two men swing at Caleb but he dodges both, causing them to hit each other. Then he pops up, punching them both.

Something lands in the middle of the chaotic room with a ‘tink' but no one notices. Until smoke encapsulates the lobby.

A gun goes off and Caleb shoves me to the ground, dropping his body over mine. More gunfire and a scream. The sound of footsteps and thuds.

For ten seconds I wait for my vision to clear, for things to make sense again. But the only thing I can successfully think of is the man on top of me, protecting me with his life.

“How dare you sacrifice yourself to protect me." My words come out strained with emotion.

“Always,” he whispers, brushing stray hairs out of my face. There are tears in his eyes, and in mine too.

“In case I never get to say it again, I love you.”

He grins. “Good thing it’s over then, because I plan on hearing that forever.” He hops up, pulling me with him. Somehow, in under fifteen seconds, Serena and the other FBI agents with her gained control of the situation.

Serena has Fox by the hair, which is surprisingly not a wig, and a knee in her back. The other agents have surrounded the bodyguards. Out of the elevator emerge more agents, along with the bad guys from upstairs and a spitting Katerina.

“You just can't stay out of trouble, can you?” Serena says to me.

“I think the words you are looking for are,thank you.”

She shakes her head, but despite how I annoy her, I can see the humor in her eyes. “For what, exactly?"

“I took her off guard. I pretty much set the scene perfectly for you to barge in like that. Though if you'd given me a few more minutes I'm sure I could have done that as well." I bite back a smile.

“You're truly one of a kind." She chuckles and turns her attention back to getting Fox off the floor.

She's warming to me.