A dichotomy of feelings hit me at once. Pride. Fear. And arousal. I reached for the gun, taking it off the wall. In the drawers beneath the computer, I found the bullets. “Load it.”
Silver loaded it as if she were at the Olympics.
“This is not the time to be turning me on, woman,” I murmured thickly.
She rolled her eyes. “Men.”
I looked back at the monitors. Every time they tripped one of the cameras, it flared to life on the screen. My fear for Silver was pushing to the surface, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t force her to hide. It wasn’t who she was. Even if that scared the shit out of me. “They know where the house is. They’re coming.”
Despite her bravery, her voice shook as she asked, “What’s the plan?”
I would kill Ian for putting Silver through this.
“We’re both still naked, so clothes first. I’ll give you something dark to wear.”
Akiva jumped off the bed to watch us dress. Feeling our tension, she gave a wee yip. “Ssh, sweetheart. Be quiet.”
“What will we do with her?”
“She’ll try to protect us, so I’m locking her in here.”
Silver nodded in agreement, her cheeks pale, eyes dark with worry.
I marched back into the room with the monitors and cursed as I saw what they were doing. They had the house surrounded on three sides. They had to know I knew they were here after Ian saw the cameras, and yet they’d left the back of the house uncovered.
Because they didn’t think I’d run.
As I armed myself, I laid out the plan to Silver.
“I’m not leaving you,” she hissed.
“I know.” Fuck, did I wish it weren’t true. “But I need you at a distance.” I took the rifle out of her hand and clipped the infrared scope to it. “If you get a clear shot of any of them, you take it.”
Exhaling shakily, she nodded.
“Ian’s on the east side of the property. I’m going to take out the guy on the west and north. By then, Ian will reveal himself. If you see him, you take the shot.”
“Okay. Who … who are the other guys?”
“No idea. Mercenaries more than likely.”
“Oh my God.”
I cupped her face, pulling her toward me. “You can still hide in this room. I’d prefer it.”
“I can’t. I’m sorry. I can’t leave you.”
Squeezing my eyes closed, I nodded, then pressed a hard kiss to her mouth. Then I pulled out my phone and connected it to the Wi-Fi for calling out.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
“I have the internet, remember.”
“So, I could have been calling people this whole time?” she grumbled under her breath.
I flashed her a weak smile as the call connected.
“I’m afraid to even ask why you’re calling at this hour,” James said in greeting.
