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Could I likely defend us if I needed to?Yeah.
Would my back hold up for the duration of a conflict? Only god knew the answer to that. I hadn’t tested it. Jax was prepared to be a backup, but we were seriously outnumbered, and the entire grand hall was full of witnesses. This wasnothow things were done. Suspicions or not. We didn’t just barge in blind. This is why civilians belonged far, far away from this life.Jax’slife. She grunted like she was putting in a tremendous deal of effort before her panicked little sigh had my ribs constricting.
“The windows are sealed shut,” she breathed. “Dammit.”
Confident I was finally well and truly alone, I hissed, “Baby, I’m in the back hallway. Where the hell are you? And what do you mean the windows are sealed shut?”
“Third door on the right.”
Reaching it, I turned the handle to no avail. No deadbolt, so we just needed to pick it. Kneeling, I pulled my government-issued set from my back pocket. Could never be too prepared, though Alice locking herself in our host’s office certainly hadn’t come to mind.
“Please tell me that’s you.”
“I’m here. I’ve got you,” I assured, glancing around to ensure I wasn’t on a security camera. “Dammit, baby,what were you thinking?”
“That some asshole thought my husband was clueless and I didn’t care for that.”
“While I appreciate your need to defend my intelligence, doing it at your own expense was never in my plan.”
“I know.”
“And yet here we are,” I grumbled, selecting my tools and watching the end of the hallway. Oh, this was twelve kinds of not good. “I love you—r brain.”Oh, holy fuck, now was not the time for declarations. We had many, many conversations to come before that one.
But the reality was…while I had no idea what the hell we were doing, I’d never had someone in my life who would come tomydefense. Never had someone who’d witnessed all of my ugliness and chosen me, anyway. Maybe what we had wasn’t love, but it was about as close as I’d gotten.
Clearing my throat, I growled. “You know I loveyour brain. But this was so damn boneheaded.”
“Don’t convince yourself I didn’t think this through or assess the risks.”
“You gotlockedin anoffice,” I pointed out.
“Okay. Well.Yeah. I didn’t expect the damn door to seal when it closed.”
“Yeah, well,” I mimicked, “think real hard on that one, because we’ll be discussing this when we get home.”
“Punish me later, suit daddy, but for now, just get me the hell out of here.”
Suit daddy?Suddenly, I was glad she couldn’t see the smirk on my face, because only Alice could put us in a pinch like this and still shoot for innuendos. “Don’t you know bad girls get punished?”
“Don’t you know theylikeit?”
I huffed a laugh as I worked the pins. “I’ll test your theory later and you can tell me how much you like my bright red handprint on your ass, but for now, shut up and let yoursuit daddylisten.”
Her breathless laugh preceded an alarmingly disciplined silence, save for the subtle shift and click of pins. Distantly, my mind registered applause from the auction, but I kept my head down, straining for those telltale metallic teeth. And just like I’d practiced a million times, it finally gave way. Quickly, I used my sleeve to wipe the door handle as thoroughly as I could without the proper supplies. Rushing through the door, I scanned the space before swallowing her body in my arms. Relief crashed through me like the surf.
She was okay.I had her, and she was okay.
“Christ, baby, what the fuck?” I huffed as I caught my breath. Hadn’t realized I’d held it captive as I worked the lock open.
“Look, I got what he needed, okay? The signal had to be closer to the hard drive or something. When Max says jump, I just say how high, I don’t ask other questions. But, we have to get back.”
Nodding, I pulled away, surveying the space. “Did you touch anything?”
“Just the door handle,” she said, panic in her eyes.
“Easy enough, I already got it,” I promised, grabbing her hand as I stepped for the hallway. Alice rammed into me when I came up short, catching movement at the fork in the corridor. The sound of footsteps reverberating off the walls had me cursing under my breath as I shoved her back inside.
“Hey!” a distinctly male voice barked as footsteps sped up.