Verity tried to keep her breathing steady. That seemed like one hell of an if.
“One…two…” Jake started to count.
She felt Silas start to tremble behind her. His arm tensed. Verity sucked in a sharp breath as she realized he was getting ready to shoot.
There was no way she was going to last until ten.
Verity shifted her hand over the side of Silas’ leg. He didn’t notice as her fingers found his other holster. He was too distracted by other concerns.
“Three…four…”
Verity didn’t bother yanking the weapon out of its cradle. She just pulled the trigger.
Silas let out a high-pitched wail as the bullet tore into his foot. For a brief moment, he lost his composure and his arms flew away. Verity immediately dropped to the ground.
It didn’t take him long to recover though. He raised his weapon and managed to get off one shot before three others ripped into the center of his chest.
A fraction of a second later, his body crumbled to the floor.
But so did someone else.
Verity’s heart clenched painfully in her chest as she looked up to see who it was.
“Roman!” she screamed as she scrambled to her feet. She rushed over to her brother’s side.
A bright red stain was blossoming across his shirt as she reached him. She immediately put her hands over it, trying desperately to stop the flow of blood.
“No,” she said, under her breath. “No.”
Jake was at her side in an instant. He pulled off his shirt and twisted it into a makeshift bandage.
“It’s okay,” her brother whispered, placing his hand over hers.
“Like hell it is,” she said, tears stinging her eyes. “I can’t lose you after that.”
“You’re not going to.” His voice was shaky but firm. “Silas was never the best shot, especially under pressure. The bullet went through my shoulder.”
“Let me help,” Jake said at her side. He had to physically peel her hands away to wrap his shirt around Roman’s wound. “That’ll hold for a while.”
Bowie turned toward the door. “I’ll go and lead help back here.”
It wouldn’t be long now. The sirens were close.
Jake took her hands and helped her stand. Her legs were shaky, but he pulled her into his arms and held her tight. That was all it took for the dam inside her to break. She began to shake in relief as big, fat tears rolled down her cheeks.
“It’s okay,” he said, his hands smoothing over her hair. “It’s over.”
Verity forced her chin up. “Thank you for coming after me. You saved my life.”
“I told you I’d keep you safe, and I always will.” His lips lifted in a half-smile as he pushed a stray curl away from her forehead. “Just promise me that you’ll never leave me again.”
Verity’s gaze shifted down to the floor. “I’m sorry. I’m sure you’re pissed, but I had to jump out of the car. I couldn’t let—”
“I know,” Jake said, cutting her off. He crooked a finger under her chin as he lifted her face up to meet his gaze. “That wasn’t what I meant.”
Verity’s brows pulled together. “What do you mean?”
“Just what I said.” His voice was low and earnest, barely a whisper brushing against her ear. “Never leave me again.”
“Never?” she asked as he dipped his head down, his lips teasing hers.
His smile deepened as his arms tightened around her. “Ever.”
Chapter Fourteen
Four weeks later
So you’re really going through with it? You’re moving in with him.
Verity chuckled to herself as she read Cheryl’s text. A couple of faces turned her way in the elevator, but she didn’t mind.
Yep, she wrote back. Looks like I’m staying out here for good.
It only took a few seconds for the reply to come back.
You know this means I’ll have to come out and see you then. I can’t let you start living with your caveman without meeting him myself.
Verity waited until she made it to her floor and stepped out into the hallway before answering.
Sounds like a plan…though maybe don’t call him a caveman to his face.
She made it all the way down to the front of Macmillan Security before her text alert chimed.
No promises.
Verity laughed again. She pulled open the door and had barely made it three steps inside before Charlie came tearing down the hall to meet her at the reception desk. She had no idea how the woman always knew when she was heading in to the office, and Verity wasn’t sure that she wanted to ask.
Though she did make a mental note to never make out with Jake in the hallways…or the elevator. Just to be on the safe side.
“So, how did the interview go?” Charlie said, skidding to a stop right in front of her.
Verity couldn’t help but smile. Between her job hunt and Roman’s legal proceedings and the general mess that came with moving from one side of the country to the other, the past month might have been the most chaotic of her life. But the undeniable bright side had been the friendships she’d made with the people that worked in this building.
It seemed even Bowie was finally warming up to her. Just the other day, he’d given her a nod of acknowledgement when she was walking down the hallway to Jake’s office.
Sure, it wasn’t much. But it was a start.
“It was fine,” Verity said.
Charlie scrunched up her ruby red lips as her eyes narrowed. “Only fine?”
“I don’t know,” Verity said, cracking a nervous smile. “I think it went really well, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. I want this job with the San Francisco Museum of Fine Art so badly. I’ll be crushed if I don’t land it.”
“Oh, you’ll get it,” Charlie said with a wide smile. “They’d be fools not to hire the woman who saved the Lost Treasures of Kabul.”
Verity arched her brows. “The what now?”
Charlie shrugged. “Don’t blame me. That’s what I heard them call it on the news this morning.”
Well, at least the press was talking about it. That meant the art was less likely to get tangled in red tape. Chances were everything that Silas had stolen would be headed home soon.
“Yeah, but don’t forget, I’m also the sister of the guy who helped steal it.”
“How is your brother?” Charlie asked.
“All right,” Verity said with a sigh.
“He’s doing better than that,” a familiar deep voice said from the edge of the hallway. Verity lifted her gaze to see Jake walking toward her. “He’s cooperating with the authorities, and there’s talk of a deal. So, while he’s definitely going to prison for a while, there’s a chance now it won’t be forever.”
“Jake came down to the jail with me yesterday to see him,” Verity said, wrapping her arm around his middle. “He even gave a statement saying how Roman helped bring down John Silas.”
“All I did was tell the truth.”
A warm smile spread across Jake’s face as he looked down into her eyes. Verity couldn’t help the one that pulled at her lips in return. The strange truth was, even though this had to be one of the hardest periods in her life, it was also the happiest.
The reason was simple. She had Jake, and, as long as he was by her side, anything was bearable.
“It’s official. You two are freaking adorable,” Charlie said with a long sigh. “And of course, you have me to thank for it.”
Jake turned his head and cocked a brow. “Is that right?”
“Sure is,” she said. “Verity would have never found you if it wasn’t for my help.”
“Your spying, you mean.”
“Semantics.” She gave a dismissive wave of her hand.
“So, what do you want, a medal?” he asked jokingly.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Charlie said. “Just name your first kid after me.”
“Wait.” Verity’s eyes went wide. “Who said a
nything about kids?”
“Are you kidding me? With the way Jake looks at you? That’s a prime baby-making look,” Charlie said with a smile.
Verity felt her cheeks start to burn. She dipped her head down to hide her blush. “Oh my God.”
“I’m just saying, Charlie’s a great name no matter if you have a son or a daughter.”
She was saved from having to say anything else when the door opened behind her and a tall, professionally dressed woman stepped through.
“Agent Wallace.” A polite smile spread across Verity’s face even as she straightened up. “I-I’m sorry. I must have forgotten that we had a meeting today.”
A wave of embarrassment washed over Verity. She’d been interviewed by Bowie’s contact in the DEA a couple of times now. She was a nice enough lady, pretty too, though there was no denying that she was built of nothing but muscle. She reminded Verity of Bowie that way. The pair would make quite the team.
The point was Agent Diane Wallace wasn’t the kind of person you wanted to forget an appointment with.
“Don’t worry, Miss Green,” she said, walking up and resting her bag on the reception desk. “I’m not here for you.”
Verity did her best to hide her relief, but she couldn’t seem to stop her shoulders from falling as she let out a breath.
“Then you must be here for Bowie,” Charlie said, her eyes brightening. “I can go get him if you want.”
“No need,” Bowie’s booming voice said from the other side of the reception desk. Charlie’s smile only widened when, a second later, he stepped into view and stopped at Diane’s side. “I’m here.”
“Well, at least now I don’t feel so bad,” Charlie said. “It might be five o’clock on a Friday, and Jake and Verity might be off to get into all sorts of trouble, but at least now I know I’ll have company while I’m toiling the night away in my office.”
“Oh, I’m not here to work with Bowie on a case,” Diane said, her voice light. “He asked me out to dinner.”
Verity’s mouth fell open. Jake’s grip around her tightened. No one said a word.
Not a single one.
Eventually, Verity recovered enough to look over at Charlie.
Her poor friend’s face had gone white. For the first time, her big green eyes were flat. There wasn’t even a hint of a sparkle.
“Oh,” Charlie said. She gave a smile but it looked forced. “Oh, well…that’s cool. I mean, it’s a surprise…but I’m sure you two will have a great time. After all, you have so much in common.”
“When did this happen?” Jake asked, his tone harsher than it needed to be. Verity gave him an extra squeeze to remind him of his manners.
“Earlier this week,” Diane said, her gaze starting to shift back and forth between everyone. She was too smart of a woman not to know that something was going on.
“Decided there was no harm in asking,” Bowie said. “After all, a friend recently reminded me that life’s too short not to take your shot at happiness.”
“Well, we’d better get going,” Diane said, picking her bag up off the counter.
“Yeah, and I’d better get back to work,” Charlie said, turning on her heel and hurrying down the hall.
Damn it.
Verity waited until both groups were gone before she turned around to face Jake.
“A shot at happiness?” she said.
“I didn’t mean with Agent Wallace,” he said in a rush.
“Well, I hope you didn’t make dinner reservations, because you know what we have to do.”
“No,” Jake admitted. “I have no idea.”
“Go back to your phone and order a boatload of Chinese takeout,” she said. “It looks like tonight we’ll be eating on the floor of Charlie’s office.”
Jake’s brows pulled together. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Hell, yeah,” she said. “And besides, maybe if we console her hard enough we might get out of having to live with little Charlie Thorne for the rest of our lives.”
A sly smile spread across Jake’s face. “So you do want kids.”
“Maybe,” she admitted. “But I wouldn’t start decorating the nursery just yet.”
“And why not?”
“Because we need it as a guest room first,” she said. “Cheryl’s coming out for a visit.”
“She isn’t going to try to get us to name a kid after her too, is she?” he asked.
Verity gave a little chuckle as she lifted herself up on tiptoes and pressed a kiss against the corner of his mouth.
“No promises.”
<<<<>>>>
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Excerpt from CARTER by Adrienne Bell
Book 1 in The Sinner Saints Series
Chapter One
“Thank you again for taking this assignment on such short notice.”
“Of course,” Carter Macmillan said as he shook the hand of the grey-templed man before him. “I was honored to get your call this afternoon, Congressman.”
“Well,” four-term Congressman Buck Fuller said, “my Communications Director, Lucas, tells me that Macmillan Security is the best executive protection team in Sacramento.”
Carter inclined his head. He wasn’t one to brag, but he wasn’t about to limit that distinction to their small metropolitan area. The skill and training of his team was nothing short of world-class. And he should know.
Carter had been their commanding officer for years before entering the private sector.
“I’m only sorry that we’re here under such tragic circumstances. Please know that you have the deepest condolences of everyone at Macmillan Security.”
Carter had been watching the reports over the internet about the congressman’s Chief of Staff being killed by a car bomb when the call from the congressman’s office had come in. He understood the man’s fear. There was no way that Carter was about to allow Fuller, his staff, or any of his donors to be put at risk just because the request had come in with short notice.
“That is appreciated,” Congressman Fuller said, giving Carter a practiced smile. “To tell you the truth, I wasn’t certain that we should proceed with tonight’s fundraiser after the events of the day. But Lucas was adamant that to change the schedule would allow the people who killed poor Harvey to win.”
“I understand, sir,” Carter said with a nod. “And I assure you that my team will do everything in our power to make sure that the event runs smoothly.”
“Though you do understand that your team’s position here tonight is purely supplemental?” Lucas Addams asked. “Congressman Fuller’s private security team will be taking the lead. You’re only here tonight as an extra set of eyes.”
Carter turned to face Fuller’s aide. There was something about the sharp-nosed man he didn’t trust. Something that went beyond the usual duplicitous nature Carter expected from a man who’d made his career in politics.
“I understand that you hired us to keep the people at this fundraiser safe tonight,” Carter said, meeting Lucas’ direct gaze. “And, I assure you, it’s a job my team and I take very seriously.”
Lucas’ eyes narrowed slightly. It was obvious that he didn’t like Carter’s answer.
Too damned bad. He’d been hired to do a job and he intended to do it. Besides, Carter knew none of his men w
ould ever tolerate being second string.
Congressman Fuller clapped him on the shoulder and gave him another wide, camera-worthy smile, seemingly oblivious to the tension between Carter and his aide. “Then for all our sakes, let’s hope that it turns out to be an uneventful night.”
“Of course, sir,” Carter said with a nod as the congressman started to walk away.
It was a nice enough sentiment but, in Carter’s experience, people rarely hired his security firm because they truly believed that life would run smoothly.
Carter watched Lucas Addams follow a step behind his boss as the congressman started to make his way through the room. He tried not to read too much into the cold feeling of wariness for the man that had taken root in his gut.
As soon as they disappeared into the fashionable crowd Carter eased his stance, attempting to blend into his surroundings. He leaned his hip against the wall at his side, casually blocking the door behind him. Between Rhys and Jake at the front door, and him at the door that led to the back stairwell, they had all the major entrances and exits covered.
No one was getting in or out of this building without Carter knowing about it.
He was just starting to relax when he felt a tickle of awareness along the back of his neck. His gaze snapped to the center of the crowd and, sure enough, he found someone staring at him.
A very interesting someone.
Carter tilted his head to the side, studying the lovely stranger standing a good thirty feet in front of him. Her black dress was elegant and understated, the shimmery material cascading all the way down to the floor. Her reddish-brown hair was swept up and back from her face, showing off her full red lips and the cute little dimple in her chin. At first glance, anyone could be forgiven for mistaking her for any of the other high society donors.
But Carter Macmillan wasn’t just anyone.
After another second of assessing him, she started walking straight toward him. And with every step she took, Carter became more certain that she wasn’t on the guest list.
Jake: The Sinner Saints #3 Page 17