Page 37 of Being Bold (Tactical Operations & Protection (TOP) Security #1)

Selene

Is it physically possible for the heart to explode?

Selene’s beat so quickly that she feared it would. On top of that, her hands shook uncontrollably. She balled them into fists and tucked them in her coat pockets to hide the nerves and fear turning her into a hyper-sensitive mess.

The worst part? They hadn’t even entered the building yet.

How was she supposed to face Mr. Dao when she couldn’t stop trembling enough to step out of the van Duke had “borrowed” from a local florist shop? It was the cover TOP would use to access 1 Square Phillips and stick close to her.

If my heart doesn’t burst before I make it inside.

The residential building was the tallest in Montreal, with over sixty floors and seven hundred feet of height. They’d done some digging and found that Mr. Dao owned a penthouse on the sixty-first floor. Not that she had any intention of seeing it. Their meeting was happening in the lobby.

A tremor of fear shook her body, and she gulped in a breath. Maybe she could blame her shaking on the cold. The temperature was barely warmer here than it had been in Montana. Light snow dusted pavement, building tops, and cars everywhere she looked.

“Are you ready, Selene?” Victor’s question jarred her focus as someone placed a communications device in her ear.

She was afraid of what would come out of her mouth, so she only nodded. She blinked when Herc’s beefy arm filled her vision. He pinned a camera onto the fold of her wool beanie and advised her not to take it off or they’d lose visual.

“O-o-kay,” she stuttered, internally cursing herself.

Bo stepped in front of her and leaned in close. Lowering his voice, he asked, “You sure?”

The concern shimmering in his eyes and the strain on his face only made her feel worse. How was she supposed to keep it together when he looked at her like that? After rejecting her, she needed him to be cold, angry, something that would make the inevitable separation easier.

If only she didn’t love him so much.

Breaking his gaze, she swallowed hard, then managed not to stutter on her answer. “Yes.”

Grateful when he didn’t say anything else, she blew out a breath and reminded herself this would be worth it.

Soon, Mr. Dao wouldn’t be an issue anymore.

She’d no longer have a threat to her life hanging over her head.

She’d be safe and so would her parents. As much as she didn’t want to live in Santa Barbara, she was desperate to fly out there, see her mom and dad, and spend some time wallowing.

Until she got over Bo or figured out what to do with the rest of her life.

“It’s go time, people.”

Her breathing hitched at Victor’s declaration. She blinked rapidly as her vision blurred, but she caught movement as the van’s back doors swung open. Bright sunlight streamed in. Bo, Romeo, and Victor disappeared to take up their positions inside the building. Duke would be on aerial surveillance.

When her vision cleared, Herc waited on her. Dressed as a delivery driver and carrying an elaborate bouquet of multi-colored blooms, he would stick closest to her.

Her heart ached as she remembered how Bo argued over that, but Mr. Dao knew his face.

Like it or not, he’d been forced to take a backseat.

She preferred having Herc by her side because of the way things had fallen apart between her and Bo.

She didn’t need the messy mix of emotions attached to him, making her any less focused on what she had to do.

When she stepped out of the van, she took it back.

The wind chill made Montreal feel even worse than Montana.

As if it used the city like its own personal raceway, the wind whipped around corners, cut between towering structures, and whistled like a rocket through narrow alleyways.

She gritted her teeth and slammed her eyes shut against the force of its assault.

“He loves you, you know.”

“What?” Her eyes flew open wide to stare at Herc.

“Bo’s in love with you.” He shrugged. “Thought you should know, in case, uh, you know.”

Oh, God.

Her eyes watered from the cold or his words, she wasn’t sure. Blinking tears back, she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. He still doesn’t want a future with me.” And depending on how this went, one or both of them could die.

That thought made the shaking worse, and her stomach decided to join the party, roiling and twisting as violently as the rest of her.

Am I going to be sick?

“He thinks he doesn’t deserve a future,” Herc’s soft statement was filled with sympathy, but he hadn’t told her anything she wasn’t already aware of.

“I know.” It dragged a sigh from her lips. Was Herc stalling? How long before the rest of the team wondered where they were?

“So make him believe otherwise.” He smiled, encouraging her.

Easier said than done. Hadn’t she been trying?

Selene shook her head. “Let’s get this over with before I throw up or pass out.”

He gave her a nod. “You head in first. I’ll follow close behind.” Reaching up to his ear, he tapped the communication device, making her realize he’d turned it off for their conversation.

But hers hadn’t been. She blew out a breath. If she lived through this, then she’d worry about that. Tugging the lapels of her puffer jacket closer together, she tucked her head down and practically ran across the street. The faster she made it out of the wind, the better.

Her feet hurried over the pavement, past two large landscape beds with snow-covered maple trees and half-dead ground cover. The main building towered far above the trees. Its glass construction made it seem like an icicle, reaching for the frosty clouds.

The wind stopped buffeting her as she passed beneath the overhang. Two sets of double glass doors marked the entrance. Pulling open the one on the right, she stepped into the lobby.

Her impression of the space was sleek and modern before two large men flanked her, cutting off her perusal. They wore dark suits as Felix had. The shorter one spoke without making eye contact. “Come with us, Miss Coleman.”

“Where’s Mr. Dao?” She crossed her arms with the demand, pointedly trying to see beyond the muscle for the man in question. She had no intention of following these dudes anywhere.

“He’s waiting on you in the penthouse.” The taller one spoke this time.

Shit. That wasn’t part of the plan. She took a step backward in a deliberate move to drive home her point. “Well, you can tell him I’ll be waiting on him right here.”

In the silence that followed her demand, the noise of the busy lobby filled her ears. People hustled by them on their way in and out while others spoke loudly on their phones or lounged with computers in the communal spaces marked by unusually shaped chairs and indoor plants.

She recognized Romeo and quickly looked away. He had his laptop open in the lounge, watching the video feed from the camera on her hat. Down here was public—safe. If she went to Dao’s private apartment, she’d likely be signing her death warrant.

She knew she was in trouble when the suits glanced at each other. Shorty opened his mouth with a sneer. “That’s not how this works.”

Sweat broke out on the back of her neck. Trying for nonchalance, she said, “If he wants the tech, he can come down here and get it himself.”

This time, they communicated without even a glance. In tandem, they closed in on either side of her, each gripping an arm. The tall one growled, “Make a scene, and Mr. Dao’s demonstration happens ahead of schedule.”

Her stomach bottomed out, and she gulped. There was no way she’d risk the lives of thousands of people. TOP wasn’t going to like this, but she saw no other choice. “No, please. I’ll go with you.”

With a terse, “Good,” they started dragging her toward the bank of elevators.

Her heart went back to trying to hammer its way out of her chest. She gulped in air and prayed the guys had a backup plan.

They’d melted into the background. Other than Romeo, she didn’t see them, but she knew they were there, watching.

One of them would be on Mr. Dao’s floor before she made it up there, but still .

. . she couldn’t ignore the strong sense of foreboding that weighed down her legs.

When the suits shoved her into the elevator, she stumbled toward the back wall. Pushing off the mirrored surface, her eyes widened as the bright bouquet Herc carried filled her vision. She spun around as he squeezed inside.

“Man, glad I caught this. My delivery’s already late.” He stepped in next to her, his bodybuilder frame making it impossible for the suits to box her in. “Mind hitting 52 for me, ma’am?”

Before she could make her mouth work to respond, Shorty stabbed a finger into the floor Herc had asked for.

As if he had no clue what was going on, Herc kept talking, slowly edging closer until he was between her and the men.

“This place is brand new, isn’t it? It’s my first delivery here.

I hear there are penthouses starting on the fifty-fourth floor.

” Ostensibly, his vision slid to the wall of numbers, but she could tell he watched the suits carefully.

“Sixty-one! Is that where you’re going? Man, I’d love to see those. What’s it like up there?”

When he got no answer, Herc’s hand shifted, adjusting the flowers, then a couple of muffled thumps sounded in her ears. The next thing she knew, the two suits had crumpled to the floor.

“What just happened?”

She didn’t realize she’d asked the question aloud until Herc said, “Suppresser.”

She peeked around his side and swallowed. Each man had a bullet hole in his forehead. Dark red blood dripped from the wounds.

Her stomach roiled again, and she instinctively covered her face, backing away until she hit the wall of the lift. Her legs gave out, and she slumped to the floor.

A large hand squeezed her shoulder. “Deep breaths, Selene.”