Chapter 7
“Hey, you okay?” Jayna asked as she gently elbowed him in the ribs.
Becker started. Damn, he’d just about fallen asleep on her shoulder in the back of the big Cadillac Escalade. In the front seat, the two Albanians were quietly talking in their own language while the two omegas occupying the middle row were laughing about something.
He sat up straighter, blinking the sleep—and the early-morning sun—out of his eyes and popping a kink out of his neck. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry about it. I know you haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately. Speaking of which, you didn’t have to come out with me on this one, you know. I could have handled it on my own.”
He stretched as much as he could in the tight confines of the rear bench seat of the SUV, careful not to whack Jayna in the head with his elbow. “I know, but I feel better coming with you.”
She smiled, her blue eyes teasing. “Okay, but if you fall asleep while we’re in there, I’m not going to drag your big butt back to the vehicle. You’re too heavy.”
He grinned back. “Deal.”
Becker wouldn’t have cared if he’d had to mainline caffeine to stay awake¸ there was no way in hell he’d ever have let Jayna go on this job by herself.
Two days ago, he’d been so sure his simple plan was foolproof. All he had to do was stick close to Jayna and her pack mates and keep them safe, then text Cooper when it looked like the Albanians or the omegas were heading out to do something suitably nefarious.
The only problem was that the Albanians and omegas were up to something nefarious twenty-four hours a day. Worse, almost any time they went out, they took at least one of Jayna’s pack mates with them. It was like Kos and Frasheri didn’t trust the omegas—or hell, even their own men—to get anything right without one of the pack werewolves being with them. Either that or Kos and Frasheri thought they were some kind of frigging good-luck charms. Then again, maybe the Albanians wanted to ensure that their pack didn’t take off. And since Becker was determined to keep them safe, he went out of his way to go on every job they did, even if that meant going without sleep. And for the last two days, that was exactly what he’d done. Liam didn’t like it, of course, but Becker ignored the pack alpha and jumped in whichever SUV headed out. So far, all he’d gone on were recon missions, so he hadn’t broken the law, and he didn’t plan to.
That might be difficult today though, since this morning, they were hitting a small family-owned jewelry store that had recently bought a collection of rough diamonds from a dealer in New York. According to Kos, the store didn’t employ a lot of guards, so the big mobster was of the opinion that it should be an easy job. Becker wasn’t too sure about that. If they’d just bought a big load of diamonds, they’d likely have extra security on hand. Thank God he’d been able to text Cooper before they’d left. He had a feeling this job was going to go bad.
The two omegas were talking about what they could do with diamonds like the ones they were on their way to steal. Becker ignored them until one of them pulled something shiny out of the pocket of his tactical vest and rolled it back and forth between his fingers.
Well, he’d be damned.The fuckers had skimmed some of the platinum medallions from the warehouse job. He vaguely remembered the officer standing guard the day he and Cooper had gone there saying something about some pieces being stolen, but the other day, he’d heard Kos bemoaning the fact that none of it had made it back to the loft. Clearly, omegas weren’t big on the whole loyalty thing. Made him wonder why the Albanians were even willing to trust them.
Becker glanced at Jayna. She was gazing out the window, unaware that he was watching her. The sun highlighted her naturally blond hair, making it look even silkier, and he had to resist the urge to run his fingers through it. Usually he hated being stuffed into tight places, but right then, being squeezed into the seat beside her was pretty close to heaven. Even though he’d been on the go nonstop since he’d infiltrated the pack and hadn’t gotten to spend nearly as much time with her as he would have liked, he was still having a good time. For now, being under the same roof was good enough for him.
Yesterday, they’d been able to compare notes in the privacy of his apartment on the information they’d been able to get to Cooper, but unfortunately, there hadn’t been a repeat of that magical moment from his first night at the loft, when the sparks had zipped between them. Everything about that moment, from their private conversation to the feel of her warm, soft hands on his skin, made all the risks he was taking seem worthwhile. Controlling himself had been tough though. Being that close to her without kissing her had been pure misery, especially because he’d been able to tell she’d been experiencing the same sensations he was. The delectable change in her scent had been a dead giveaway.
But he’d also sensed something else coming off Jayna—hesitancy verging on downright panic. Something was holding her back when it came to her giving in to the same feelings and emotions that were rushing through his body every time he was around her. Until he figured out what that something was, there was always going to be a wall there. It was frustrating, but he wasn’t going to push.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t daydream though, and sitting with her in the cramped backseat was definitely in the daydreaming category. She smelled so good, it was all he could do not to lean over and lick her like a puppy. He was just wondering if anyone would notice if he scooted closer and buried his face in her long hair when the Escalade turned into an alley, pulled up behind a small building, and stopped.
“The store will not open for another thirty minutes,” the Albanian driving the SUV said in thickly accented English. “The old guard will be in the break room, still drinking his coffee.”
Becker felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as the Albanian repeated the instructions Kos had given them earlier. He and Jayna would be responsible for dealing with the guard and herding any other employees into the break room with him. The Albanians would disable the internal video cameras, then stand guard in front of the small jewelry store. The two omegas would be responsible for getting the female manager—the shop owner’s daughter—to open the safe and turn over the diamonds. That was the part of the plan that made Becker uneasy. He’d seen the glint in the omegas’ eyes when Kos said they could do anything they wanted to the woman as long as she opened the safe. Man, he hoped SWAT got there before the whole thing went down and he had to blow his cover.
“No messing around in there,” the Albanian added as he pulled a black ski mask over his face. “Get the diamonds; then get out.”
Becker grabbed Jayna’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze, then lowered his ski mask and pulled on his gloves. He listened intently as he got out of the SUV and headed for the back door with the others, hoping to hear sirens approaching. If he had heard sirens, he could have convinced the Albanians to give up on the diamonds and get out of there. But no such luck. That didn’t mean anything though. If Cooper had gotten the text in time, his SWAT teammates could have been out there, waiting to take them down the second they went in the building. That would be great for the innocent people in the shop—not so great for him and his goal of helping Jayna and her pack.
He wondered for the hundredth time if the plan he and Cooper had cooked up had any chance of working.
But as one of the omegas kicked in the back door and went in with a howl that bordered on maniacal, Becker decided to put all the what-ifs aside. He had enough problems to deal with right now.
Once inside, the Albanians immediately ran down the hallway to the front of the store, while the omegas made a beeline for the manager’s office. Becker hesitated, torn between following the two werewolves to make sure they didn’t hurt the woman, and sticking to the plan. Jayna gave him a questioning look, clearly worried too. He nodded and jerked his head in the direction of the break room.
He and Jayna rounded up the two female employees and the nice, old security guard in fifteen seconds. The Albanians disabled the security systems and video camera just as fast. Now he had to hope the store manager cooperated.
A woman’s scream echoed from the back of the building, followed by the distinctive sound of material being torn.
Shit.
The two women that Jayna had herded into the break room tightened their grips on each other’s hands, their faces white. The security guard started to get to his feet, but then took one look at the guns Becker and Jayna were carrying and thought better of it.
One of the Albanians shouted something from the front of the store in his own language, following it up with an order to the omegas to stop wasting time and get the damn safe open.
