Page 15

FIFTEEN

HARKIN

Bonnie & Clyde - Rosenfeld

T he silent night creeps in around us. The only light comes in from the crack of the barely open bedroom door. My eyes adjusted as the hours passed, letting me watch Keira as she slept soundly on my chest. I relish every minuscule detail, memorizing them for my own personal catalog: her hair a wild mess of long locks, the freckles dotted along her cheekbones, and her thick eyelashes resting close as she snoozes peacefully.

The mechanical latch of a door somewhere off in the house pulls me from my obsessive observations. Based on the two sets of quiet feet and the excited thudding of paws heading in my direction, James and Stacey have finally arrived. Sliding free from under Keira’s warmth, I kiss her forehead just in time for the excited pup to come charging into the room.

She pauses, dropping on her haunches when she sees me sitting up in bed. “Okay, fine. Take my spot, you spoiled brat,” I whisper and get up, making space for her to cuddle in next to her favorite person.

Throwing on a pair of sweats from my carry-on, I latch the bedroom door behind me quietly before heading in search of James. I find him getting set up in the small dining room off the kitchen. The coffee pot is already crackling to life, filling the space with its fragrant aroma.

“You guys could have waited until morning,” I say, grabbing a couple of mugs.

“It is morning,” he deadpans.

I look over at the time on the oven. Three forty-five displays in bright green. “The type of morning normal people adhere to.”

“Semantics.”

Ain’t that the fucking truth.

“Plus, suburbia with blondie was too domestic.”

“Right. You keep telling yourself that,” I tease, smacking him on the back and handing over the mug of black coffee.

“What went down once you intersected, Keira?”

“A mess of fucking massive proportions. It turns out she was visiting a friend of the ex-variety. One with skills to rival mine, apparently. She seems to have access to government databases I don’t mess with.”

“Interesting. I didn’t find anyone with those connections when I looked into Keira.”

“Well, if she’s as good as Keira thinks she is, that would make sense. But anyway, she told her about the situation. A little more than I would have liked, but Nikita said she’d do some digging and get back to us. I gave her my card.”

“We can’t bank on her knowing anything we don’t already know. I say we just get back to planning a trip to the coordinates you sent over,” James suggests.

“Were you able to get a copy of the blueprints for the building?” I ask.

“Yeah, my contact was able to pull them from the city. The problem is that the latest version is eighty years old, and there’s no mention of any remodeling done at the site. Based on the video you sent, compared to the prints, I can’t locate a possible area that would make sense. That room was subterranean. The prints only show maintenance tunnels below the body of the building.”

“That’s something. The building was originally a school, and then that portion closed, but they’ve kept the church up and running. If they’ve been bought off, I’m not surprised expansions or renos never made it into the city’s database,” I add.

“I can have someone go take a look and report back,” he offers.

“Yeah, based on the message with the video, they’re waiting for me. It’ll be a trap either way, but we might as well go in prepared.”

“We’ll have something by noon,” James confirms. “Oh, and I’ve sent over everything I found about the missing money from your dad’s company. It doesn’t look good.”

I expected as much. From what little I could get into between getting my mom situated and heading back on a cross-country flight, the news reports seemed more likely than I’d wanted to admit. The click of his laptop closing pulls my eyes from my screen.

“This place has a gym, right?”

“Downstairs somewhere. We haven’t taken a tour yet.”

His eyes narrow, scrutinizing, before adding, “Stacey went up to sleep. She’ll be out for a while. I’ll see you later.”

The only sound keeping me company when the silence creeps back in is the rhythmic tapping against my keys as I scour through the information James sent over. I’m looking for the smallest detail that could lead to a rabbit hole of information. So far, no luck. Though there’s this feeling deep in my gut that I’m missing something so blatantly obvious, it’s driving me mad.

Dawn breaks through the skyline, lighting the open area with a golden glow. I’m finishing off my third cup of coffee and pushing the laptop away to take a break when the creak of a door sounds down the hall. Soft footfalls signal her approach before a sleep-weary Keira pokes around the corner, the dark sheet wrapped around her body. I’d gotten caught up in the search and forgot to drop her bag in the room.

Her body folds onto my lap, curling into me. “Mm, I wondered where you’d gone. Sneaking away from my bed to be with your true love, huh?”

I laugh at her quip, pulling her in tighter against my chest. A satisfied purr rumbles from her chest. “Someone was snoring and woke me up early.”

She quickly untangles her hand from the sheet, slapping me across the chest. Leaving me access to her naked body as the sheet falls open to her waist. I stare greedily, marking the bruises and bite marks from last night.

“I do not snore,” she says adamantly, pulling my attention away from her hard nipples.

“If you insist, sweetness. But now that you’re awake, we need to settle what got pushed to the side last night.”

“What do you mean?” Her face scrunches up in what seems to be genuine confusion. The look is a change from her standard resting bitch face that I’m used to being thrown my way.

“Your trip to the city. Out with it. Why did you really go on your own instead of waiting for me to get back.”

Her entire body deflates in my arms, a huge sigh leaving on a loud exhale. “It’s not fair, you know?”

“What’s not?”

“The way you read me. I hate it.”

My fingers latch onto her chin, redirecting her gaze from the kitchen cabinets to my face. “That’s my responsibility, sweetness. You decided to put your trust in me as your Dom. Yes, we may not live a twenty-four-seven lifestyle like some, but that care and notice doesn’t automatically switch off for me when we exit a scene. What do you expect to happen when you take off without a word, turn off your phone, and try to avoid me? You know I won’t let you go. I do think you wanted to help, and your idea was smart. But there was no reason you needed to do it how you did. So, I’ll ask you one last time, and I expect the truth, Keira.”

She’s eerily still in my lap, holding her breath as she weighs what I’ve just told her. Every last word is the truth. And then I watch the defiance wash out of her mind and body.

“You discovered something in California. I don’t know what it is because you refused to tell me, but you told James.” She pauses, but there’s still more on the tip of her tongue, so I wait. “You’re mine, Harkin. It’s been you and me for months, and then the moment we get back to New York, you cut me out. It pissed me off. So, I figured if you wanted to play things that way, I’d figure some shit out on my own. Maybe then you’d realize I’m more than just a piece that needs keeping safe.”

Her words sink in. My body wants to react with a laugh, but that’ll fuck up the openness between us. “Baby, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me! I didn’t want to tell you over video chat. I had every intention of telling you when I returned from my trip. The only reason I told James was so he could reach out to a contact of his and get blueprints for the coordinates I needed information on by the time I was wheels down.” My hands grip the sides of her face, holding it inches from mine. “You headstrong woman. I’ve never thought of you as only a liability to keep safe. I know you can do that on your own. I feel sorry for anyone that gets in your way. But I won’t apologize for doing everything under the fucking sun to keep you safe. Because I love you, Keira. You’re my world. My reason for breathing. We could leave this place behind. Say fuck everyone else involved and let them deal with all the shit they’ve caused. Just say the word.”

Her eyes are glossed over and a tear threatens to fall from the corner. She looks more vulnerable than I’ve ever seen her, and that’s saying something.

Her lips finally tip up in a shy smile. “You know we can’t do that.”

“We could. You’re the most important thing to me. Let my dad lie in the bed he made. Domenico can have him.”

“Domenico has your dad?”

“It seems that way. Though I suppose it’s possible, with him being wrapped up with Domenico, he could have business with other men who cut off fingers to send a message.”

“Jesus. But no, we’re not running from this. I’m not going to spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders, wondering if the person across the street was sent to take us out or kidnap me again. I need to know what Domenico wants from me. You need to get your dad out of this. And I need to go to the clinic for the procedure.”

“You’re too good for them, you know that,” I tell her.

“That’s what sets us apart.” She winks, leaning forward to brush those soft lips against mine. “Now, please tell me there’s more coffee?”

“Our bags are in the living room. Why don’t you go hop in the shower, and I’ll make a fresh pot.”

“My hero.”

The entire house is finally awake and surrounding the coffee table in the small living room. James heard from his contact, who scouted the location, reporting that a whole section of the church was blocked off, with a little too much security. It’s where we’ll start.

“You’re not coming,” Keira tells Stacey.

“Why not? I’m the only one they won’t be expecting.”

“Don’t be na?ve. My father’s been watching me for much longer than I want to think about. He’ll know exactly who you are. Plus, you don’t mean shit to him. If you get in the way, I wouldn’t put it past his men to put a bullet between your eyes.”

“But—”

“No.” James’s rough tone cuts through her persistence. “You’ll stay here.”

How they stare at each other, having a silent conversation all their own, is beyond telling. But she relents and sits back against the couch, crossing her arms over her chest in a sullen pout.

“This video they sent to his inbox had nothing else to say? Just the coordinates in the email? Were you able to trace who sent it or from where?”

“Look at my little protégée. Knowing all the right questions to ask.” I lean into her, kissing her temple as she preens under my compliment.

“The IP address pinged to a computer at the church. They didn’t even try to mask it since they weren’t trying to hide the location.”

“Do you really think they’re keeping him hidden at the church?” Keira asks.

“I think they want it to look that way. But if it were me, he’d have been taken elsewhere before the email was sent. They want us to rush in, and it’s the perfect time for Domenico to get his hands on you, and if not you, then me. He knows that’s just as good.”

“Aren’t you guys just playing into his hand?” Stacey throws out, more observant than I’d expect from her.

“I’ve got that part covered. The bodies on the door aren’t an issue. We get in, check the space and get out. Suppose your father’s there, great. If not, I wouldn’t be surprised if we pick up a tail on the way home. Which is why I think you should stay here with Stacey, Keira,” James adds.

Oh, shit.

Her eyes swing to me, but if she has a problem with this idea, she needs to say something. I’d be happy to leave her here, where I know shit isn’t going to go sideways. But there’s no way in hell my girl isn’t going to park her ass right in the middle of all the action.

“Listen here, you can boss my bestie around all you want, and I won’t even comment on it. But try to tell me where I can and can’t be, and we’ll have a serious problem, James. Trust me, you want me on your six more than this guy. I did teach him everything he knows.”

I cover my proud smile behind my hand as James stares Keira down. He’s worked with me for years, but my specialty has always been blades. Keira’s not lying. Her knowledge and skills with a firearm far outweighed mine before our trip to Colorado. I’d call us even now, but I don’t plan on telling her I think so.

“Fine. But when we get there, you will listen to me. Do you understand?”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Keira mocks back, saluting him with a lazy finger. “So, when do we go?”

“Tonight.”