Page 18 of Being Bold (Tactical Operations & Protection (TOP) Security #1)

Selene

“What are you doing?” demanded the enraged whisper in her ear.

Bo! Selene silently screamed, nearly collapsing with relief. She tried to explain, but he hadn’t uncovered her mouth.

“Four men are coming. We have to go. Now!” she mumbled through his fingers.

The statement came out more as sounds than words, but he understood because he released her lips, spinning her around. He gripped her upper arms, and she tilted her head, struggling to see his face in the faint light filtering through her bedroom window.

“Explain.”

Words rushed out of her as she told him about the black SUV and the men in suits.

His jaw worked, clenching and tightening before he growled in a low voice, “You should’ve stayed in the outfit.”

He was probably right, but still . . . she was only trying to help. And they so didn’t have time to debate this. “Where’s Yumi?”

He huffed out a breath and dropped her arms. Though the look in his eyes promised he planned to revisit the topic of her disobeying his order. “I don’t know. We both hid when we heard the front door.”

“Do you have the tech?”

“Yes.” Yumi stepped out of the shadows, making Selene jump.

Sweet baby Jesus!

She could do without any more scares today. Lowering the hand she’d lifted to cover her heart, she told them, “We can use the service elevator. I don’t think they know about it.”

Yumi glanced at Bo, a silent question passing between them, before he said, “I’ll take her. Meet us back at the cabin.”

Selene would’ve protested them not all sticking together, but she was too busy trying not to wince at the bite underlying his words. She didn’t know if he was pissed at having to be the one to babysit her, separating from Yumi, and therefore the information on that microchip, or both.

Yumi opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of the front door opening froze her into silence. The stillness lasted all of a second before Bo pulled Selene into her bedroom, and Yumi disappeared down the hall.

Oh God, oh God, oh God.

Leaving the bedroom door cracked open, he tucked Selene behind it.

Then, he stepped in front of her. Placing a finger to her lips, he signaled to stay silent.

She nodded, but he frowned down at her rapidly rising chest. She was in total freak-out mode.

Her breathing was way too loud, sounding like thunder in her ears.

Bo laid a palm over her heart and mimed taking a deep breath. His touch soothed her a fraction as she obediently filled her lungs. When she released her breath, the fear clawing at her melted into something else.

With his hand on her, his body was close enough that she could smell his citrus and salt scent, and warmth built low in her belly. No matter how inappropriate, she couldn’t help it. With Bo hovering over her, blocking her from harm, she felt safe. And she desperately needed that right now.

She couldn’t be sure in the dark, but it felt like he leaned closer. Tilting her head, she searched for his eyes among the blackness, then sighed. The door blocked the moonbeams, leaving her dissatisfied. She’d have to wait and hope her eyes adjusted enough to see him better.

Kiss me.

She didn’t dare speak but wished he could hear her. She wanted him to kiss her and make her forget the danger waiting for them. Because if she thought about that, she’d panic.

Please let us make it out of here alive.

Her heart tripped, then jumped into overdrive with the thought.

He must’ve felt it under his palm, because his forehead met hers.

His even breathing fanned across her lips, infusing her with reassuring calmness.

Unable to resist touching him, she gripped his waist, comforted by the solid feel of his obliques beneath her hands.

Just breathe, Selene.

She felt like Bo spoke the words inside her head.

Focusing on the steady rise and fall of his chest, she fought to keep the fear at bay.

She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, forehead to forehead, breathing each other in.

Until something thudded in the living room, dissipating the calm she’d gained.

Please let Yumi be okay!

Bo pressed a finger to her lips again in a sign to be quiet, then pulled away.

One minute he surrounded her, and the next he’d disappeared.

His absence spiked her fear, sending her heart pumping overtime.

Her whole body trembled, then her legs tensed, desperate to flee.

She tried to take another calming breath, knowing bolting anywhere right now would be a mistake.

As she waited, she strained to hear anything over the pounding of her heart.

She stifled a scream when a dark shape appeared in front of her. Bo grabbed her hand, tugging her from behind the door.

“We need to move before the others come looking for him,” he spoke, but not to her.

Glancing beyond his shoulder, she let out a breath in relief. Yumi stood in the hallway. Surging forward, she hugged her friend.

“Be safe,” Yumi whispered in her ear before Bo tugged her toward the front door.

She swallowed around the lump in her throat.

They weren’t out of danger yet. Bo cracked open her apartment door, then reached again for her hand.

With his rough palm encasing hers, a sense of calm settled over her nerves like a weighted blanket.

No matter what waited for them outside, she wasn’t alone.

Leading with the gun in his right hand, he cleared the door, and they stepped onto the landing.

The shorter man who seemed to be the leader was nowhere in sight, which meant he was probably searching the apartment next door. Hoping he stayed in there long enough for them to escape, Selene urged Bo toward the freight elevator.

They were almost to the passageway with the lift when the leader of the men in suits stepped out of it. He seemed startled at first until he noted Bo’s weapon and reached for one of his own from inside his jacket.

The next few moments happened so quickly that Selene felt like she was slugging through mud.

Bo fired at the man who dove for cover behind the hallway wall. The sound of the gunshot bounced off the cement of the open breezeway. She flinched, covering her ears, but Bo pushed her toward the stairs.

“Selene, run!”

She blinked at him, and then everything seemed to move forward fast. Dropping her arms, she ran, nearly tumbling down the open stairwell as she took them two at a time.

The sound of more gunshots kept her moving.

When she heard feet pounding on the stairs behind her, she prayed it was Bo, but she didn’t stop to check because if it wasn’t . . . a dry sob caught in her throat.

Please let him be okay!

When her feet hit the bottom floor, she raced through the breezeway into the frigid night air.

Her breath rasped white clouds in front of her as she pushed her legs.

Fear clouded her brain so that she thought only of escape.

Her body responded on instinct, keeping her moving without any heed to direction.

Away. She had to get away.

The trees surrounding the apartment cast menacing shadows, warning her not to enter the woods. Her mind replayed the screech of the mountain lion, and a shudder skittered down her back. The last thing she needed was to get lost or run into one of those animals.

She veered north where the land sloped into a retaining pond with a fountain. It graced the entrance to the community, but with the water feature broken, the pond had frozen over in this weather.

Minutes later, she whimpered at the stitch in her side sharp enough to double her over if she let it.

Her lungs felt like they’d burst, forcing her to slow.

Pain filtered through the fear, making her pay attention.

She’d stopped at the edge of the pond, but she’d run far enough that she’d nearly reached the road.

Where’s Bo?

She turned around and started to shake. One of the suits had caught up to her. She hadn’t even heard his pursuit.

“About time you stopped running.” He stood ten feet away, his breathing coming out in harsh pants.

“Who are you?” Selene started backing away with the question. She didn’t know where Bo was, but surely, he’d show up if she stalled.

Please God!

“I’m nobody but you . . . you’re not supposed to be here.”

Did they work for Mr. Dao? If not, what could he possibly mean by that? Instead of asking, she kept retreating as she said, “I live here. You’re the one who’s not supposed to be here.”

He grinned at that, his teeth flashing white in the moonlight as he pulled a gun from inside his jacket. “That’s far enough, Miss Coleman.”

The man knew her name, which meant he likely worked for Mr. Dao. She ignored his order, but her stomach knotted at the news. If he was going to kill her, she’d at least die fighting. “What do you want?”

Another flash of teeth. “You know that already. So why don’t you tell me where it is?”

He had to be talking about the microchip Yumi hid in her apartment. Mr. Dao had found out the one she’d given him was a fake and sent his men to find the real one. But she wasn’t going to make this easy.

Scanning behind the suit for any sign of Bo, she told him, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I said stop moving!” the man growled out the warning and lifted his gun toward her head.

She’d made him angry. Gulping against the sight of the weapon, she stopped backing up, or she would have if her heel hadn’t caught in a hole and thrown her off balance.

She screeched, and a bullet whizzed over her head as she tumbled backward down the hill toward the retaining pond.

The sides were too steep. She couldn’t stop her fall.

She felt like a bowling ball, picking up momentum as she somersaulted toward the frozen water.

After one final flip, she squeezed her eyes shut.

A breath later, her body smacked the ice.