Sighing, I stormed off to the bathroom to get myself under control. “I’ll be right back.”
“No longer than ten seconds,” Craig shouted.
I flipped him off and slammed the bathroom door. I turned on the cold water and did my best to calm down my raging hard-on. After a good minute, I was finally ready to go out and get the job done.
“It’s about time,” Craig snapped.
“Relax, it’ll be the last time it happens.”
“Right,” Craig snorted. “Until the next time we’re on a job and you decide to maul Florrie.”
Florrie and I exchanged a look and I decided to tell Craig what we’d talked about. “There’s not going to be a next time. I’ve decided to talk to Cap about switching teams.”
“What?” he asked, completely shocked. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Look, I didn’t realize how bad this was for you until yesterday. But I get it now, and I see that things can’t go on the way they are. Florrie and I need to be on separate teams or this is always going to be a problem.”
“No,” he shook his head. “You can’t just break up the team like this. We talk about this as a group. Florrie and I get a say in this too-”
“I already talked about it with Florrie,” I cut in. “Look, it has to happen. You said so yourself that the job was gonna get fucked up if we couldn’t work together. We all knew this day was coming. It’s better if it happens now before something goes wrong.”
“But…” He glanced at Florrie and then back at me. He was pissed, but mostly because I hadn’t talked about it with him before dropping that bomb.
“I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about it first. But when you lost it on me yesterday, it became pretty damn clear that I needed to find a solution fast. I’ll leave and ask Cap about rearranging the teams with Coop. If he can do it, it’ll just be an adjustment that we have to go through. I mean, look at Derek’s team. When Lola left, they adjusted fine. It took some time, but that team is strong. Maybe it’ll even be a better fit.”
“The team was fucking fine before,” he snapped.
“It was, but that was before Florrie and I started up, and I don’t regret that. I’m sorry the team had to come to an end, but this is the way it has to be. So, let’s go out there and finish this one job, and then we’ll take it from there.”
“Is there anything else you’re not telling me before we go out there?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Hell, I don’t know. You went and made all these decisions without me. You didn’t even bother to discuss it with me. It kind of feels like you don’t trust me. So, I guess I’m wondering if there’s anything else that you conveniently left out.”
“Craig-” I walked over to him and gripped his shoulder hard. “There is no one in the world that I trust more than you and Florrie. You are my team and always will be, but I had to make this decision because I’m the team leader and I’m supposed to be the one that has his shit together. And I haven’t been doing that very well over the past few years. This is something that needed to happen for all of us. This has nothing to do with trust, and everything to do with pulling my head out of my ass and finally admitting that I can’t handle this the way I thought I could. So, I made a decision and I’m going to stand by that.”
His jaw ticked and I could tell that he wanted to bitch me out some more, but he also knew that I was right. So, he nodded and gripped onto my shoulder, squeezing it once before letting go.
“Fine, but if I end up in group therapy with Dr. Sunshine because of you two, I’ll be sure to tell Cap about what happened in San Antonio last year.”
“Wait-” I started, but Craig shook his head.
“Don’t fuck up this job and you won’t have anything to worry about,” he said with a grin.
Sometimes it really sucked to have a teammate that knew everything about you.
CHAPTER NINE
Florrie
I stepped out of the limo and placed my hand in Alec’s. I hated being in the spotlight like this. Normally, I would be the security detail and wouldn’t have to worry about people taking my picture. Nobody ever cared who I was. But this time, I was arriving with Jamie and my team. I was being seen as someone important, and that wasn’t the way I liked to live.
“I don’t know how you stand to come to these things,” I muttered to Jamie as I felt him step up behind me.
“It’s part of the life,” he said, smiling and waving. “You’ll get used to it.”
“Not likely. Besides, I won’t be around long enough to find out.”
Alec started leading me up the red carpet toward the museum where the gala was being held. Craig was behind Jamie, and we were acting as his sort of security, even though his security team was surrounding us. I didn’t care. I didn’t trust them and I would never leave it up to someone else to protect him if we were around.
We stood and got our pictures taken. I plastered a smile on my face and pretended like I wanted to be here. When we finally moved forward, Jamie jabbed me in the side.
“Not so bad, right?”
“That was terrible. I’ll kill you myself if you ever make me do something like that again.”
“Now we’re talking,” Alec muttered beside me.
We walked up to the doors and stepped through as the doorman opened them for us.
“Anyone else getting the feeling of déjà vu right now?” Craig asked.
“Because of the party?” Jamie asked. “Well, my ex-wife isn’t trying to kill me anymore, so not really.”
I snorted and slipped my arm through Alec’s as we moved into the main area. “Someone’s still trying to kill you. Now we just have to figure out who.”
“That’s being awfully presumptuous. We don’t know that anyone wants me dead.”
“Right, you keep being all naive like that,” Craig grinned, putting on a good face as we watched others walk around us.
“It’s not being naive to give my girlfriend the benefit of the doubt. Besides, I’m not worried about her trying to kill me. I’m worried about her marrying me for what I can give her father.”
“And if she can’t get what she wants?” Alec asked. “What do you think they’ll do then? Do you really think they made sure that you got a security team that they could manipulate, but didn’t intend to use them if things didn’t go their way?”
Jamie looked like someone struck him. Obviously, he hadn’t thought things through to that extent. I placed my hand on his and smiled up at him. “Stop looking like you’re going to puke. Remember, we have to put on a good face and figure this out. That won’t work if you look like you’re already in on the plan.”
Jamie put a smile on his face and pretended like one of us said something funny. People filtered into the large space, some talking with Jamie, others more interested in seeing who else was in the room. An hour passed before Tessa showed up on the arm of her father.
“Why is she arriving with her father if she’s making a break with him?” I leaned in and asked Jamie.
“I suggested it. I told her that I thought it would be foolish for her to break from her father. I reminded her that she only had one and that she didn’t have to lose him just because she didn’t want his life.”
“Smart. Now you’ve become the future son-in-law that’s giving a father back his daughter.”
“Well, keep your enemies close and all that.”
I watched in well-disguised disgust as Jamie walked over and kissed Tessa, then shook her father’s hand. The whole thing was wrong to me. They seemed like too much of a team, and not a father and daughter that were estranged. And I guess that was what Jamie wanted to see.
“Showtime,” Alec murmured in my ear, right as he slipped his arm around my waist and kissed my cheek. “I’m going to start moving around the room, see what I can find out about Tessa and her father. Try not to kill her while I’m gone.”
“I make no promises.”
“I’m
going to check out our exits,” Craig said. “Something about this all feels off.”
“Let us know what you find,” Alec said before moving away from me.
I glanced around the room and saw Jamie with his arm resting on Tessa’s waist. They looked natural together, even perfect. But it was all too perfect, too practiced. I didn’t like how she slipped so easily back into Jamie’s lifestyle. If she really didn’t want to be part of her father’s lifestyle, she wouldn’t want to be part of Jamie’s either. Yet, here she was, dressed to the nines and chatting up everyone like she was an old pro at it.
“You don’t approve, do you?”
I startled, pissed at myself that I had been so lost in thought that I hadn’t heard someone approach. I turned to see the one and only Richard Blakely standing beside me with an amused look on his face.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“I said, you don’t approve, do you?” he repeated, nodding toward Jamie and Tessa.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to. Body language says everything, dear. In all my years of business, I’ve found that a person’s body language can tell you everything you need to know about a person’s true intentions.”
“And mine are saying what exactly?”
“That you care about Jamie and you don’t think my daughter is good enough for him.”
I raised an eyebrow, wondering how he read all that just from my body language.
“You must be Florrie,” he said, holding out his hand to me. “She told me all about you after she met you.”
I slipped my hand in his and gave a smile. “I thought the two of you weren’t speaking.”
“Well, she likes to be dramatic.”
“I’m sure.”
“So, what exactly is it that you don’t like about my daughter?”
“You really want to know?”
“Of course.”
I glanced back at Jamie and Tessa. It was so fake. Everyone had to see it. But I wasn’t going to swindle the information I needed out of Richard. It was best I stop beating around the bush and get right to the point. At least then, I should know what his true intentions are.
“I think she’s using him. I think that she wants him for what he can give her. All that bullshit about breaking from you is a lie. She says she doesn’t want your life, but then she shows up here, and she’s perfectly comfortable mingling in with all the people that live in your world.”
“Appearances are everything and nothing,” he stated with a shrug.
“And when she showed up at Jamie’s house looking like the perfect Wall Street wife? Was she putting on an act then too? Because most people that reject this lifestyle do it because they don’t like the aires they have to put on. Yet she was dressed in expensive clothes and had her hair done like she had just come from a salon. She didn’t try to fit in with a more relaxed lifestyle. I think she likes this life, and I think she would do whatever you asked her to do so that she could maintain it.”
HIs face grew stormy and his jaw clenched. He gave a tight smile, “So, you think you have it all figured out.”
“I’ll tell you what I have figured out. Tessa is using Jamie, just like his ex-wife did. I was there for him then, and I’ll be there for him now. There’s no question about whether or not he trusts me because I’ve always been there for him, and I’ll always have his back. I don’t lie to him or manipulate him. I just tell him how it is.”
“And have you told him that you love him?”
I smiled at him, because he had it all wrong. “What you’re mistaking as love is really a devotion to a person I care about. I’m already engaged, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t kick your ass if you attempt in any way to hurt Jamie. You may think you’ve won, but there is no way in this life that I will let Jamie fall for your conniving daughter. He’ll drop her like the dead weight she is, and your opportunity will be lost.”
He smiled cruelly at me and leaned in, whispering in my ear. “My dear, there are other ways, more…permanent ways to get what I want.”
A sliver of anticipation raced down my spine as I took in the meaning of his statement. He backed away ever so slightly and turned to his security that was standing just a few feet from him. He gave a slight nod and the security guard turned on his heel and took off for the exit.
“I always win,” he said as he turned back to me. As soon as he left, I was making my way through the crowd toward Jamie.
“We need an exit now,” I said into my coms. “Richard’s going to take him out.”
“How do you know?” Alec asked.
“Let’s just say I cut to the chase and blew his plan to hell.”
“Does that mean we get to leave?” Craig asked excitedly. “Because I gotta tell ya, if I get cornered by one more rich guy, I might just pull out my gun and shoot so the event will come to an end.”
“Yeah, I’d say the faster we leave, the better it’ll be.”
“How bad are we talking?” Alec asked.
“Um…well, he nodded to his security.”
“Shit,” Alec swore. “You just had to poke the hornet’s nest.”
“Well, what’s the fun in playing it safe?” I tapped Jamie on the shoulder and smiled. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Sure.” He turned back to Tessa and leaned in to whisper in her ear. Tessa turned to me with a wary look, but nodded. “What’s going on?” he asked as we made our way through the crowd.
“It’s time to go.”
“Okay, let me get Tessa.”
I grabbed his arm, preventing him from leaving. “No, Richard has plans for you. We need to get out of here now. Craig, what exit am I taking?”
“Head down the south corridor and take the exit at the end of the hall. I’ll be waiting outside with the limo.”
“I’m coming at you from the west,” Alec informed me.
“See you there.” I grabbed Jamie’s hand and started hurrying down the south corridor toward the exit.
“What’s going on?” Jamie asked.
“You know how I said that I thought Richard wanted to kill you?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I kind of kicked that plan into high gear.”
“You did what?”
“Relax, I totally got this. Nothing’s going to happen to you.”
“Easy for you to say. It’s not you he’s trying to kill.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that. I think I pissed him off enough that he may consider me collateral damage. Actually, I’m pretty sure everyone is considered collateral damage.”
“What about Tessa? Is she in on this?”
“He didn’t confirm that, but my guess would be yes.”
We were just feet from the door when Alec came out of the corridor to the right. “What the fuck did you do?” Alec hissed, ducking as a shot was fired behind him. I turned and pulled my gun, while shoving Jamie behind me. There were two men at the end of the hall, rushing toward us with their guns drawn. I fired off several shots as Alec pulled Jamie to the exit. When they were clear, I pushed through the door, running to the car door. Alec and Jamie were just getting to the other side. I was just about to open the door when I heard the shout behind me.
“No!” Craig was running full out toward us, his hand held in the air like he was trying to stop us from going into the vehicle. I barely caught sight of Alec pulling Jamie away from the car when the whole back end of the limo exploded, sending flames sky high as we were tossed back from the blast.
I hit the ground hard, my head slamming against the concrete as the brunt of the blast hit me. Everything spun around me, but I knew I didn’t have time to lay there and collect myself. I struggled to my knees, ignoring the drips of red that slid down my face. Alec was struggling to sit up from where he laid over Jamie’s body. Craig raced up to me and pulled me to my feet, shoving me over toward the burning car.
“Get the manhole cover off!”
He ran back over
to Jamie and Alec to help them, so I got to work, struggling to pull the cover off. It was heavy as hell, and with my head pounding and my vision swimming, I could barely see enough to get the damn thing up. Craig was there just seconds later, helping me to lift the cover, and then we were lowering Jamie down into the tunnel below. I followed him down, careful on the rungs of the ladder since my balance was shit. Alec was next, and Craig brought up the rear after replacing the cover. I pulled my phone from my purse and flicked on the light to see which way to go.
“Follow me,” Craig said, taking charge of the situation. I stumbled behind him, grasping onto the wall when I almost fell to the ground. Everything was so fuzzy around me that I worried I wasn’t going to be of any use to them.
“Can you walk?” Alec asked, grabbing onto my arm.
“I’m fine,” I gritted out, refusing to be the one that held us up. “How’s Jamie?”
“I’m fine. Not a scratch. Your fiancé saved my life,” he said with a grin.
“Come on,” Craig said impatiently. “We don’t have long before they figure out we weren’t in that car.”
“How did you know?” Alec asked.
“I called the limo driver and asked for the car to be brought around, but it was already there waiting. It just seemed wrong. He didn’t have any instructions to wait in the alley, so he had to be working with Blakely’s security, right?”
We started walking down the tunnel, headed for a safe location to go back up top. But with every step we took, I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to make it to the end. Everything was getting darker and I could barely hear anything at this point. I knew I was just seconds away from passing out.
“Alec-” I murmured right before everything went dark.
CHAPTER TEN
Alec
I watched Florrie as we walked down the tunnel. I knew that she would never let me go over and carry her. She had too much damn pride, but I could tell that she wasn’t going to last. She was stumbling all over the place and her eyes were all glazed over. She was just moments from passing out. I moved to her quickly, just barely hearing her whisper my name as her body slumped into mine. I hoisted her up into my arms, trying my best to cradle her head against my shoulder. It would be easier to carry her over my shoulder, but I was worried about her head banging around against my back when she had a head injury.
Nightingale: A Reed Security Romance Page 8