Page 128 of Romancing His Heart

It takes less than five minutes to find out there are six men standing guard. Four are in the room with my guys, and two are roaming the house. Sylvie draws me a map, and her team is en route. They told us not to go anywhere near the house, but I saw the video. Her team is too far away, that leaves us.

“Sloane, I’m scared. Those are professional criminals. They captured three highly trained special agents. Loki will never forgive me if you get hurt.”

“Sylvie, I know what I’m up against. I know I’m not trained for this. I’ve never fired a gun before I met Loki, but they will kill them if I don’t go. All of them. I just have to be enough of a distraction to keep them alive until help arrives.”

She embraces my upper arms and stares into my eyes. “You’re a special young lady, do you know that? I know I praise your sister for all she has done, but never think that I haven’t noticed your talents, your love, and your spirit as well. If you’re going in, then so am I. Come with me.”

Oh shit. Great, now I’m going to end up in hell when I die for dragging June Cleaver into the wreckage.

We stop in a mudroom. Bending down, Sylvie hands me a pair of tennis shoes. Holding them up, I see the distinct pattern of Louis Vuitton.Jesus, I’m going to hell in a pair of Louis?I slide my feet into them just as she hands me a heavy vest.

“What’s this?”

“Kevlar.” When she notices my shocked expression, she explains, “Sloane, I had five boys and three others that practically lived here. Clint would take them all shooting sometimes. If you think I’m letting eight boys and a man-child go into the woods with guns unprotected, you don’t know me very well. These are child-sized, but they’ll fit us just fine.”

Slipping into my vest, I turn to her. “Sylvie, I can’t let you go into that house. Too many people need you. Emory, she needs you.”

“We need you, too, dear. Come on, let’s go.”

As she leads me to the side of the house, I formulate a plan. “Listen, I’ll go in through the service entrance. You need to go to the front and cause some sort of distraction. Something loud enough that we can hear it from inside the house. That’s how I’ll know they’re distracted for at least a second, and I’ll make my move.”

We stare at each other, knowing what we’re about to do is incredibly stupid but necessary.

“Okay, honey. This is the path to Loki’s house. It’s a little overgrown, but it’s paved under all the brush. Just follow it. At the clearing, turn right and go down the slope. You’ll see the service entrance in the back, built into the hillside.”

“Got it.” My voice wobbles. Before I can say anything else, Sylvie’s phone rings.

“Okay, give me five minutes. Then make as much noise as you can.” I squeeze her hand for support, then turn and start running.

“What team? What are you talking about? Sloane?” I hear Sylvie yell my name, but I’m already in motion. If I turn back now, I’m afraid I’ll lose my nerve. “Sloane?” she yells again, but I’m too far gone.

Please, God. I’ll never ask for another thing, just please don’t take Loki. Please.

Chapter 42

Loki

Six hours ago

Ashton is sitting behind my desk while I stand in the corner, going over everything I’ll need to get my guys back.

“We have to move, Ash. Are you—”

The front door bursts open, and I draw my gun, but I’m too slow. Armed men swarm the foyer, dragging Seth behind them with a gun pointed at his unconscious skull.

“Drop your weapon, Mr. Kane,” a heavily accented man demands as he steps over Seth’s lifeless body.

Glancing over my shoulder, I see Ashton has pulled his gun, too. In a split second, I weigh my options.

“Don’t even think about it, Mr. Westbrook. If you look out your window, you’ll see my man has a weapon aimed straight for your brain.”

I give Ash an imperceptible nod, and he lowers his gun.

How did I fuck this up?

“Your friend here was nice enough to share his handprint with us. You really should look into a retinal scan next time. That would have made it more difficult for us to gain access. I expected more from you, Mr. Kane.”

“Fuck you,” I spit.