“It’ll be okay,” Mack reassured her. He kind of wanted to lean over and kiss her head, but that was probably pushing it.
Less than a minute passed before Geoff reported in. “They’re being seated.”
Then a few minutes more. “He’s coming out to greet them.”
“That’s our cue,” Mack said.
Mack turned to his left, where Liv sat biting a fingernail. “It’ll be okay.”
She nodded. “Be careful.”
Fuck it. He dipped his head and kissed her hard and fast.
He, Noah, and the Russian jumped out of the van and jogged down the stairs. They were all winded by the time they reached the ground floor. They rounded the corner into the alley behind the restaurant. Ahead, a back door to the restaurant swung open. Silently, all three ducked inside.
Geoff guided the door closed with a silent click. He handed Mack a key card.
“Whose is this?” Mack asked.
Sweat dripped from Geoff’s chin. He was nervous as shit. “No one’s. It’s the generic card that we use for deliveries.”
“So they can’t track it. Perfect.”
They’d entered the delivery bay of the restaurant, which was probably bustling during the day but was thankfully deserted now. The place smelled like dirty concrete and motor oil. A door at the far end was illuminated only by a red EXIT sign.
Geoff pointed to it. “That’s the staircase. Do you remember what I told you about how to get there?”
“Turn left at the top of the stairs,” Mack said.
Geoff nodded and wiped his hand down his face.
“You’re sure the office is unlocked?” Noah asked.
“I just unlocked it myself. You have ten minutes.”
“Let’s go.”
“Talk to me,” Hop ordered through the earpiece.
“We’re in,” Mack answered. “Headed up the stairs now.”
Mack remembered Geoff’s instructions from earlier. There were two main staircases to the upper floors. The one from the back, which they were taking, was used mainly for daytime staff, so it would be empty this time of night.
The screens of computer monitors bathed the entire administrative floor in a soft blue glow when they snuck out of the staircase. The office they wanted was at the end of the hallway and to the left, Geoff had said.
“Hurry,” Mack hissed.
The three of them crept across the carpet until they spotted the office Geoff had described. Mack held his breath as Noah gripped the door handle with his gloved hands. They were really doing this. Jesus Christ.
With a quiet turn of the handle, they were in.
Mack let out a breath and followed Noah inside, the Russian on his heels.
Mack motioned to the door, and the Russian nodded. He took up a guarded position by the door to keep watch while Noah and Mack crossed the small space to the desk. The computer was on but needed a log-in.
Mack swore under his breath. “You’re sure you can do this?”
Noah sat down in Royce’s chair and immediately started pounding the keys. It was like watching Mozart compose a symphony the way Noah manipulated the computer. Seconds later he was in.
“Jesus, you did that fast.”
“People don’t give enough thought to passwords,” Noah said. He dug a thumb drive from his pocket and shoved it into the port on the side of the computer.
Mack turned away to study the office. He glowered at the picture of Royce with his wife.
“Ten minutes,” Hop said into their ears.
Sweat rolled down Mack’s face. The Russian was at the door, ready to take out anyone who happened to come upon them.
Noah’s fingers flew across the keyboard.
“How do you even know what you’re looking for?” Mack asked.
“Don’t talk to me,” Noah snapped.
“Liv is driving me crazy for an update,” came Hop’s voice.
Mack smiled. “Tell her we’re fine.”
Except they weren’t. Noah was swearing and banging on the keys.
“What’s wrong?”
“I said don’t talk to me!”
A car horn on the street outside nearly sent Mack jumping clear to the ceiling. “Hurry the fuck up,” he griped.
“I’m in,” Noah breathed.
Mack raced over to watch as Noah called up list of files. “What are we looking at?”
“I’m just going to download it all.”
“How long will that take?”
Noah ignored him. Mack clasped his gloved hands into fists and banged them against his forehead.
“Almost done,” Noah said. “Five more seconds.”
Mack counted down in his head.
“I’m out,” Noah said.
Mack let out a relieved breath. “Let’s go.”
Noah pulled out the thumb drive, clicked out of whatever file he’d been in, and then backed away from the computer. The Russian held up his hand before they could leave, looking back and forth down the hallway before giving them a nod.
They made it halfway down the hall before they heard footsteps.
Shit. Shitshitshit. Mack met Noah’s equally alarmed gaze. The Russian spun around.
Whoever they were, they were coming right for them. Mack grabbed Noah and threw him under a desk. The Russian wrapped his fingers around Mack’s wrist and yanked him behind a half wall separating one cubicle from the next.
Two male voices were coming. The night security guards Geoff had warned about. Oh fuck. Oh shit.
And then suddenly the Russian let out a soft moan.
“Oh no.” Mack peered closer at his face. “Oh shit, no.”
“What?” Hop hissed through the earpiece.
“I think there’s something wrong with him,” Noah answered into the microphone.
“Wrong with who?”
“The Russian dude. He’s got a weird look on his face.”
Mack grabbed the Russian’s lapels and dragged him close. “Breathe. Breathe through it.”
The Russian started to pant like he was in labor.
“What the fuck is going on?” Hop barked.
“I don’t know!” Noah hissed.
“What did you eat?” Mack whispered.
“No cheese. Just vegan cheese.”
“You can’t eat vegan cheese!”
“It’s nondairy. Nondairy.”
“It’s still fucking cheese!”
The Russian groaned again, and even in the low light of the computers, Mack could see as the color drained from his face.
Sweat ran down Mack’s back. “You gotta squeeze your cheeks, man. Squeeze and breathe, because if you let that go right now, we’re done for.”
“Are you kidding me?” Noah hissed. “Is this about a fart?”
“You don’t understand,” Mack said, looking sideways. “He doesn’t just fart. It’s like ripping open a sewer line and—”
A soft Russian chant cut him off.
Panic set in. “This is bad. This is so fucking bad.”
“Can’t he just let it out silently?” Noah asked.
“It’s not the sound we’re worried about. It’s the goddamned smell.”
“This is a joke, right?” Hop said through the earpiece.
“I can’t hold it,” the Russian groaned.
“You have to.”
“Not healthy to hold it in,” the Russian grunted.
Mack shook him. “It’s not going to be healthy for you if you let it out either.”
The Russian groaned and wrapped his arms around his abdomen. His face twisted in pain. Outside their hiding spot, footsteps drew closer. Mack smacked his hand over the Russian’s mouth. Sweat poured like a river down his face.
He couldn’t believe it. He was goin
g to get busted for breaking and entering and a hundred other offenses because of a goddamned fart.
And not even one of his own!
But as it so often happened in the manuals, a sudden epiphany broke through the haze of panic. Jail would be worth it because he was doing this for Liv. No one else. He had officially fallen for her. Enemies-to-lovers was no longer just a fictional trope for him—it was his fucking life.
“What the hell is happening in there?” Hop barked into their ears.
The light from the security guards’ flashlights bobbed back and forth across the floor, closer and closer.
The Russian sucked in a breath and held it.
The guards passed by.
The Russian exhaled.
And the smell of death filled the air.
Noah fell onto all fours and crawled, gagging. Around the corner, someone shouted. “Goddamn, dude. Did you just fart?”
“That wasn’t me,” the other guard replied.
There was a moment of silence when the two men realized what that meant.
Mack grabbed Noah buy the arm and hauled him up. “Run,” he hissed.
The last thing they heard as they hit the stairs was a disgusted cry. “Oh my God. What is that smell?”
* * *
* * *
“I think I shit myself.” The Russian could barely walk much less run downstairs.
“Then you’re walking home,” Mack hissed. “You nearly got us caught!”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Noah gagged, gasping for air. “What the fuck? What the fuck is wrong with him?”
“He has digestive issues.”
“Oh my God, it’s like he slaughtered a cow in his colon.”
They burst through the back door of the delivery bay and ran down the alley. A squeal of tires greeted them as the van pulled up. Liv threw open the door. “Get in!”
Mack jumped in first, followed by Noah, and lastly the Russian.
“What the hell happened in there?” Liv yelled.
Noah pointed at the Russian. “He farted.”
“Forget all that,” Hop growled from the driver’s seat. “Did we get it?”
Mack slumped against the wall of the van. “We got it.”
Noah hauled his laptop onto his legs, briefly let his head fall back against the wall so he could catch his breath, and then powered it up. He shoved the thumb drive in.
Mack looked at Liv. He wanted to put his arms around her but held off. She looked skittish again, worried. Probably it was because of what had just happened and had nothing to do with them, but he wasn’t going to take any chances.
“This is going to take me a while,” Noah said. “I need to go through all this shit and see what’s here.”
“Fine,” Mack panted. “The Russian needs a shower anyway.”
“False alarm,” the Russian said. “It was just a fart.”
The drive back to Mack’s house was quiet and tense. Noah carried his laptop into the house and set it up at the island in the kitchen. Mack handed out cold beers.
“How long?” he asked Noah.
“I don’t know,” Noah said, ignoring the beer. “Maybe an hour. Maybe twenty minutes. Leave me alone.”
Mack caught Liv’s gaze. “I’m going to go change my clothes,” he said, hoping she got his hint. The hint being, I’m going to take my clothes off, and it would be cool if you did too.
She didn’t or was just back to being standoffish. “I’ll wait down here,” she said.
But when he came back down ten minutes later, she was gone. He found Noah, the Russian, and Hop wearing matching expressions of oh shit in front of the computer.
“What?” Mack growled. “Where’d she go?”
“You need to see this,” Noah said.
Mack stomped over and looked down at the screen. “I don’t understand. Is this a list of former employees?”
Noah gulped. “It’s a list of women who’ve been paid off.”
And there at the top was a name he knew.
Alexis Carlisle.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
It was just before closing time at ToeBeans when Liv walked in.
Alexis stood at the counter in her cherry apron, waiting on a woman who was super excited to get the day’s last cookies at half price. At the sound of the door, Alexis looked up and then waved with a smile. It died quickly on her lips.
Liv marched around the counter. “I need to talk to you.”
Alexis glanced apologetically at the customer, who was signing her credit card slip. “Um, can it wait?”
“No.”
Alexis asked the young man working the espresso machine to finish the transaction. Then she turned with an annoyed look to walk into the kitchen. The cook was cleaning the kitchen, so Alexis led Liv to her office. It was no bigger than a bathroom, with barely enough room for a desk, chairs, and filing cabinet. Liv had to wedge herself against the wall to shut the door.
Alexis crossed her arms. “Okay, that was seriously rude out there. What is going on?”
“I have the list.”
Alexis swallowed hard. “What list?”
“The list of people who’ve been paid off by Royce.”
Alexis paled and she shook her head. “We’ve been over this a hundred times. I am not going to tell you anything.”
“Your name is on the list!” Her friend jumped at the sound of Liv’s shout. Liv didn’t have the time or patience to feel bad. “Why is he paying you? Why are you protecting him?”
A spark of fire lit up Alexis’s eyes. “I’m not protecting him!”
“You have a chance to help me expose him. Right now. And you’re not willing to do it. So I’m sorry, but that makes you no better than any of men who’ve covered up for him.”
Alexis slammed her hands on the desk. “How dare you! How goddamn dare you walk in here and say that to me? You have no idea what you’re talking about or what I’ve been through.”
Liv took it all in at once. The shimmer of rage tears in Alexis’s eyes. The tremble in her lip. The color in her cheeks.
“Oh my God,” Liv breathed, knees weakening, the adrenaline crash making her nauseous. “Oh my God, Alexis. How could you not tell me?”
She instantly regretted the question, but confusion and betrayal had taken hold of her tongue. “You let me work there and never even warned me. After you left, you didn’t even warn me what he was like.”
Alexis shook with indignation. “That. That right there is why I never told you. Because it’s all about you. Do you have any idea what it was like for me? Do you even care?”
“You have a responsibility to other women!”
“Do you hear yourself? You walk in here so full of judgment—”
Bile stung Liv’s throat. “I’m not judging you.”
“Are you serious? All you’ve talked about since the minute you got fired is how you’d never stay in situation like that and you can’t understand a woman who’d let this happen to her.”
“That’s not true.” Except it was. Even Mack had called her out on it.
Alexis’s expression turned mournful and furious at once. “Do you honestly think I didn’t want to tell you? To unburden myself just once of the secret I was hiding? But I knew that I couldn’t. Because you use weakness as a weapon. You’re so ashamed of your own mistakes in life, so afraid of your own fragility, that you accuse everyone else around you of being soft just for the crime of basic human frailty.”
Her words were like shards of glass. They stabbed, shredded, and left Liv bloody. Somehow Liv’s voice found its way through the wreckage to stammer out another weak denial. “That’s not true.”
“I’m not helping you, Liv. I’ve endured enough because of Royce Preston. I got out, and it’s over for me. And you have no right to expose those women and subject
them to something you can’t possibly understand. If you want to be the big hero and take on Royce, be my guest. But don’t drag us into it just because you have something to prove.” Alexis’s hand trembled as she pointed to the door. “Now get the hell out of my life and don’t come back.”
* * *
* * *
Two hours later, Mack was officially worried because Liv wasn’t responding to any of his text messages. Noah, Hop, and the Russian left just after eleven.
Just before midnight, Mack texted again. I’m worried. Just let me know you’re OK.
His doorbell rang.
He barely had time to open the door before Liv barged in. He stumbled back in relief and also a little bit of anger. “Christ, Liv, where have you been—”
Her arms went around his neck, and she silenced him with her lips. Even as he went weak-kneed, the logical part of his brain recognized that this wasn’t right. Her actions were almost desperate. Something was wrong.
He snaked one arm around her middle and pulled her inside, kicking the door shut with his foot. “What happened?” he mumbled against her lips.
She claimed his mouth again, this time using the distraction to back him into the living room. He went willingly because he was powerless against the way she made him feel, against the havoc she wreaked on his senses with a single touch.
They stopped in the middle of the room, and he broke the kiss with a guttural groan. “Talk to me. What happened with Alexis?”
She burrowed her face into his chest, tangling her fingers in his shirt.
“Liv.”
She backed away, letting her arms fall against her side. “She’s been lying to me all along. For years.”
Mack swallowed against the stinging taste of something sour and sinister in his throat.
“She didn’t trust me,” Liv said, voice flat. “She said I’m judgmental. That I use weakness as a weapon.”
The instinctive need to protect her brought his hand to her face. “Then she doesn’t know you.”
Liv looked up at him with an expression that reminded him of the day when she’d come to his office and demanded that he hire Jessica. Just like that day, her eyes betrayed a battle inside—the need to believe his words, to trust him, but no idea how. But this time Mack was struck with the sickening realization that she had no reason to trust him, to believe him.
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