Page 97 of Ruthless Desires: Vol. Two

“Line of…” Wren doesn’t finish the sentence. “No, but you guys—”

“This is our job, princess. We’ll be just fine.” He doesn’t stop moving, grabbing Aubrey’s wrist and pulling them into Rhett’s bedroom.

Rhett grabs his laptop and follows. “They just got into the elevator,” he calls. “We have thirty seconds, max.”

After pulling my gun out, I crouch behind one of the couches. I’m out of view of the door, so if they come in with guns blazing, they at least won’t be able to aim directly at me.

“We can’t kill them,” I say. “Ludo will want to question them.” I glance to where Rhett is hiding just inside the doorway to his room. He’s attaching his suppressor to the end of his gun.

Fuck.Mine is still in my room. “Rhett, I don’t have—”

“I’ve got it,” he says calmly. “Just stay down until I move. Oliver, the girls?”

“Locked in the bathroom,” he replies as he skirts around Rhett and dashes into my room. “I’ll knock over a nightstand.”

When the two men walk into the penthouse, they’ll pass Oliver’s hiding spot pretty quickly while facing the general direction of me and Rhett. It should work well for what we’ve set up for—as long as we time everything perfectly.

Oliver is barely able to slip into the bedroom before we hear thebeepof the key card reader. The door unlocks, and it swings open.

“Where are they?” one of them whispers as two sets of footsteps sound against the hard flooring. “Andrew said he just saw them come up here.”

“Showering? Taking a group nap? I don’t see them out on the deck.”

“We just need to find her and get out of here.”

The door shuts quietly, and their footsteps come closer. My pulse picks up as I keep my eyes on Rhett. Gun in hand, jaw set, and barely moving, he waits.

Seconds tick by. The footsteps get even closer.

And then we hear it—a loudthudfrom the room behind them.

The perfect distraction.

Rhett doesn’t hesitate. He leaves the safety of the doorway and shoots twice. I’m up and moving before he fires the second shot.

Both men are on the ground. One has dropped his gun, but the other is simultaneously clutching his bleeding thigh while trying to aim at Rhett.

“Drop the weapon,” I snap, aiming my own gun at him. Shooting it isn’t the best idea since it’ll be much louder, but I step forward with confidence.“Now.”

“Shit,” the man hisses before setting his gun down.

“Slide it over,” Rhett demands as he steps closer. “You, too.” He nods to the other guy, who’s been inching toward the gun he dropped.

After they both slide them over, Rhett kicks them farther away. “Oliver?”

“Got it.” Oliver steps out of the bedroom and starts searching the men. He pulls out a smaller gun and a knife and adds them to the pile.

Once we have them tied up, Rhett grabs his laptop and starts going through the security footage, no doubt making sure these two men are working alone. Oliver grabs two belts, tightening them above their gunshot wounds. Rhett hit them both in the thighs, and the last thing we want is for them to bleed out on us.

As Oliver works, I pull out my phone and call Ludo. It rings and rings, and I’m afraid it’s about to go to voicemail when he finally picks up.

“Holloway.”

I don’t bother hiding my irritation. “Was this another one of your goddamn tests?”

“What are you talking about?”

Well, that’s a relief.