by Hart, Gemma
“The key?” I asked again. “Is it ready?”
“It’s at 99%,” Zeke replied. “By the time you get here, it’ll be ready.”
“Good,” I said, feeling my heart begin to race again. I was close now. I was very close.
Halle, wait just a little longer, baby.
“I’ll make the call to Lestrade then to arrange the exchange,” I said, lowering my voice as I exited the stairwell.
There was a big puff of air from the other side of the line.
“Wow,” Zeke said in admiration. “American luck is amazing.”
Yeah. But American nerve is better.
And I had shit tons of that.
Chapter Seventeen
Tobias
“You’re kidding,” I said.
“Do I sound like I’m fucking kidding,” Desmond replied on the other end. I gripped the phone. “Name the time.”
I bit my lip. How the fuck did he accomplish the impossible? And so fast? “10:30,” I finally said. “I can be at Thatherton by 10:30.”
“Fine,” he said curtly. “And Halle comes in one, unbruised piece.”
“Have a little more respect for me,” I said dryly, as if I would bruise Halle.
“No,” Desmond simply replied before hanging up.
That rough edged American. He had actually done it. He had not only killed one of the world’s most well-known millionaires, a feat unto itself, but he had also stolen the key to protecting several nations from imminent war.
I lowered the phone.
So Copper was dead. Good. That man was a sorry excuse of a human being. He had stepped on and beaten so many people along the way, it was right that he got his due justice.
But now that meant time was up. Desmond had done his job and now we were to make the exchange—the key for Halle.
Except, I wasn’t ready.
I gripped my phone tighter, feeling the edges of the device. I hadn’t known this was where I would be when I had taken Halle from her house all those days ago. I hadn’t known that this was how my heart would feel.
She had been a calculated move. That was it.
I needed Desmond for a job. Admittedly, I thought he would only be able to accomplish one part of the job—the hit. I didn’t think he’d actually be able to get the key as well. He was certainly one clever and capable fuck.
And to get Desmond to do that impossible job, I knew he needed an incentive. And that had been the only reason Halle Margot had entered into the hands of the Black Saints.
But from the first moment I had seen her, I had sensed a danger. Not a physical danger but a danger of the soul. She had of course been arresting to look at. With her long honey blonde hair and wide oceanic eyes, she looked as delicate and fragile as an ocean nymph. But her curvy body and creamy breasts spoke of a womanly knowledge that made my body tighten in a hunger I hadn’t felt in years.
Yes, she was gorgeous. But that wouldn’t have been enough to rattle me. I had seen scores of gorgeous women in my lifetime.
It was Halle herself. She was a mass of contradictions and surprises. I had expected a fainting and wailing woman but instead I had found a cursing and sassy blonde who also had an infinite capacity for tenderness and sympathy. I had seen the heartbreak in her eyes when she had learned about Elizabeth.
That had been the moment.
That had been when I had seen how strong she really was. She loved bravely. She loved openly. And she loved fiercely.
She had been kidnapped and taken away from her home and everyone she knew. She could’ve very well been facing a death sentence the moment she walked into the Black Saints headquarters. But she had shed no tears and had shown only incredible strength and love throughout her time under my watch.
“Fuck,” I muttered.
I could still feel her softness under my hands. Her lips had been so sweet, just as I had imagined. Pressing her against the wall, I had felt her soft breasts crushed against my chest. My cock had immediately hardened in response. How can someone be so soft and yet have such an iron core?
Knowing all of this now made everything I had said to Halle that much truer. She had to get away from Desmond. She was too good for him. Someone like her, someone so incredible, couldn’t be kept in the shadowy side of a man like Desmond.
Sure she was brave but bravery didn’t stop bullets. It didn’t stop knives. And it certainly didn’t stop cinderblocks from sinking, I thought as my lips turned cold remembering Elizabeth’s blue body as they pulled her from the waters.
No matter what Desmond said, it was selfish to keep Halle. He should know better. He did know better. He was just choosing not to act better.
I looked at my bedroom door as if I could see through it, pass the sitting room, pass Halle’s door and onto Halle’s face.
No, I thought. I wouldn’t let her get trapped and caught like Elizabeth. I would do right this time.
I knew I was no angel. In terms of the bloodiness of our histories, mine was only a smidge bit cleaner than Desmond’s. I had my demons. I had my sins. But I was different than Desmond.
He was on his own with no protection, no resources. All he had were his two fists. Grudgingly, an inner voice pointed out to me that he had gotten pretty far for just his own fists.
But I shook my head. It didn’t matter. In the end, I was better suited to protecting Halle.
The Black Saints was a shift in lifestyle certainly but it was no crime Family. It wasn’t the Desmond Mafia. We were inherently protected because our members were the reigning leaders of the Western world. Although it was off the books and very discreetly, I worked for prime ministers and kings and queens and billionaires. I was as close to ultimate power as a commoner could get.
There would be nowhere else in the world safer than by my side.
And I wanted that side to be filled by no one else but Halle.
“I can protect you,” I said aloud to no one. And I will.
Fuck a gentleman’s agreement. When the life of an angel was at stake, what worth is mere man anyway?
Chapter Eighteen
Marco
I sat back on top of a shipping container, trying to ease the tension in my shoulders. I was in the home stretch.
The key was in the inner pocket of my leather jacket. Copper’s sudden and violent death was international news. It was done.
And now, it was time to make Lestrade pay up.
But of course, it couldn’t be that easy. It never was. Look at what had happened to the dream of our new life in London. We had hoped all it would take was a few fake names and a quiet house. But now Halle was in the clutches of the Black Saints and I was holding a key more valuable than any gem right now.
I looked up at the sky. It was a cloudy night and the moon was hard to make out. There was only a faint glow behind a cloud.
The salty ocean smell was thick in the air.
The docks were closed and the only people who should be present were myself, Lestrade and whatever henchmen he decided to bring, and a security guard who was too sleepy to even bribe.
After a few minutes of listening to the ocean lap against the docks, I heard footsteps approach.
Finally.
I had arrived early and had hidden myself up on top of a container. I was not letting myself be taken by surprise again. This was supposed to be a simple exchange but so far, nothing in my life has ever been classified as simple.
Except loving Halle. That was as simple as simple came.
I did not want to be caught again like at the house with no advantage or time to calculate an attack.
I turned around slowly on the container so I could watch Lestrade approach from above. But more importantly, I wanted to see that glimpse of blonde, that flash of fair skin to reassure me that Halle had been brought to me.
But instead of Lestrade’s gleaming head of black hair, I saw a man with a buzz cut leading a small group of men clearly from the Black Saints.
The buzz cut stopped at our agreed up
on location and turned around, scoping out the area. He nodded at the other men, directing them to their hiding spots.
I felt a bubbling of annoyance rise within me. Really? They wanted to pounce on me like that again?
I watched as they got into position, carefully hiding themselves amongst the shadows of the containers, waiting for their prey to come into their trap. Those fuckers.
The buzz cut stood his ground in the open, waiting. I watched, expecting Lestrade to soon follow. Had he sent his men ahead to get into position?
But as I waited and the clock ticked on, it was becoming clear that this was it. These were the men that had come to meet me. Lestrade was not coming and more importantly, neither was Halle.
Rage roiled through me, making every muscle, every tendon taut with anger.
What the fuck did this man think he was doing? Did he really think I would just roll over and take this kind of obstacle as a good excuse to quit? I had just broken into a high security server vault and killed a man. There was nothing I wouldn’t do now.
I watched for another few minutes to make absolutely sure that I wasn’t mistaken. I didn’t want to miss Halle if she was indeed brought.
But when I saw buzz cut check his watch, I knew that this was it. Lestrade, that fucking traitor, had doublecrossed me.
Picking my way carefully across the container and then climbing down with silent shadowy movements, I walked quickly towards the opposite direction the Black Saints men had come.
I pulled out the black phone that Lestrade had given me.
I punched dial and listened in mounting anger as the phone rang and rang.
No answer.
I swallowed a roar of rage. I dialed again.
I had no idea where the Black Saints headquarters were. That was a closely guarded secret. No matter how badly I wanted to rampage through the streets of London till I found Halle, that would only waste time and energy and cause a lot of unnecessary attention to be pointed my way.
I wanted to attack, to fight, but I had no target. Without knowing their location, there was nothing I could do.
Hanging up, I let a growl of anger escape. I should’ve known with how fucking screwy Lestrade had been talking last time we had met that he would do something like this. He had fallen for her.
And clearly, he wasn’t ready to give her up yet.
Well, too fucking bad, asshole. You’re time to play god over our lives was over.
For now, I knew I had to head back to the house. I needed to regroup before I headed out again. And time was of the essence since I wanted to find them before Lestrade made any drastic moves.
I broke out into a run towards the exit when I stopped abruptly, my heels scraping against the ground.
My body was literally shaking in anger. I could barely uncurl my fists. I stopped and took in a deep breath before looking back in the direction I had come from. I could still see the shipping container I had been sitting on.
Maybe I’d be leaving here empty handed, I thought slowly as I began to run back, but I sure as hell wouldn’t be leaving without sore and bloody but oh so fucking satisfied fists.
Chapter Nineteen
Halle
“Let go of me,” I said in an even measured tone as I stared up at Tobias, searchingly. I was pretty sure the man had lost his mind.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” Tobias continued, as if he hadn’t heard me. “Don’t worry about packing. I’ll buy whatever you might need for the interim. We just need to get to the airfield in time.”
I shook my head.
We stood in the sitting room. I had been sitting in the room, reading a book. Or at least trying to. My mind had kept wandering off the page and onto Marco. I had been so lost in thought, I hadn’t heard Tobias come up behind me.
I had stood up in surprise, making a small cry of shock at his sudden arrival.
He had immediately gripped me by my upper arms, looking quite harried. His gleaming black hair was not as smooth and swept back. A stray lock fell across his dark and chiseled face in a rakish manner. It was funny. If they weren’t mortal enemies, you’d think Tobias and Marco were related.
His eyes were boring into mine, looking at me with a gravity that he had never shown before.
“Believe it or not,” he had started, “I want you safe.” He held my arms tightly in his grip. “I don’t want you to get hurt. By anyone.”
I had stared at him in complete confusion. Where was this sudden speech coming from? I knew his attitude towards me had changed in the last few days. Mine towards him had certainly changed after hearing about Elizabeth. But this was different. He was looking at me with a tenderness and a sincerity that made my heart skip a beat.
He couldn’t possibly…There was no way he was…
…in love with me?
“What are—”
“I have a plane waiting,” he said, interrupting me. He looked around the room urgently as if expecting a plane to magically appear. With the sudden urgency he was exuding, I was half expecting one to actually appear.
“A plane?” I echoed. “What the hell are you talking about?”
He leaned over me, his hair falling around him, his green eyes piercing with a longing that I was beginning to slowly recognize.
“You might not believe me but what I said was true,” he said, his voice low. I was pressed so close against him, I could feel the vibration of his voice against my body. “Stay with Desmond and you’re guaranteeing yourself a death sentence.” He pressed his lips firmly together, determination glinting in his eyes. “And I will protect you from anyone who can hurt you. Even if that means protecting you from yourself. I will keep you safe.”
“Do you know how crazy you’re sounding?” I asked.
He shook his head. “It’s easy to mistake danger and romance,” he said. “They both give you that same adrenaline, that same high. But the end game is very different. One leaves you dead and the other leaves you alive.” His green eyes poured into mine. “Let me show you what life without danger is like.”
I stared up at him in utter shock. “Tobias,” I said slowly. “You work for the Black Saints. You are the Enforcer for a secret and most definitely illegal organization that manipulates not just petty thugs but whole countries. How am I safer with you?”
Tobias gave me a faint smile and a gentle shake. “Exactly for those reasons,” he countered. “What can Desmond do for you besides lay his body down in protection? And what good is that if he dies in the process? A dead body against danger? You’d still be in danger! But I can keep you safe. I can keep you protected. I have resources, men, money.” He took in a deep breath, lowering his gaze. I could feel the tension rise between us.
“I could love you like you deserve to be loved,” he said slowly, his eyes rising to meet mine.
My mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. “Tobias, you don’t mean that,” I said breathlessly. “You don’t love me.” He had just mistaken his previous feelings for Elizabeth with me. We were both women who had fallen in love with dangerous men. He clearly was just trying to rectify an old wound.
Tobias raised a hand and gently brushed it against my cheek. I couldn’t help my instinctive flinch.
“I know I might sound a fool to you but I’m not,” he said. “I see you, Halle. I’m not seeing the past. I’m seeing the future. I’m seeing the kind of life you deserve to lead. I can love you.” He shook his head. “I do love you.”
Oh god, what was I going to do? How was I even supposed to respond to that?
“So we need to go now,” he said suddenly, straightening up.
“Go where?” I asked, desperately trying to buy time.
“Singapore,” he said promptly.
“Singapore!” I cried. That was definitely not a place I was expecting to hear.
“Singapore,” Tobias confirmed. “I have a home there. You can stay there for a few weeks until we take care of Desmond. There’s no way he can easily make it over that far. Eventu
ally he’ll have to give up. Once he’s been taken care of, you can come back and lead a life outside of the shadows.”
I shook my head, wanting him to hear just how insane he sounded. Did he really think Marco would give up that easily?
“Let me go,” I said.
But Tobias barely heard me. He was already mentally planning the trip. No doubt he had already filed a flight plan!
Oh god, if he really took me out of the country, that might actually separate Marco and me. We were technically living as fugitives with falsified documents and passports. I don’t know how well those documents would hold up in travel. And even if Marco did make it to Singapore, Tobias wouldn’t let that stand. He would probably keeping moving me around. False names, false papers—it’d be impossible to get a hold of me. And there was no way Marco could keep risking himself by flying under his own falsified papers.