She fits herself to my side. I’ll be lucky if I don’t come in my pants before we get in the elevator. Her fingers slide into my back pocket and tighten on my ass. Damn.
The lobby doors unlock after Emi enters her code, but the security desk in front of the elevators is empty. “Where’s Benny?”
She glances around the atrium. “He usually takes a break around nine. He’s probably getting something to eat. Or talking to his daughter. She’s a lawyer out in California. I’m sure he’ll be back in a few minutes.”
I don’t give a fuck if Benny is smoking a joint behind the dumpster or fucking his girlfriend in the supply closet. Something in the air doesn’t feel right, but I can’t put my finger on it.
Emi digs her hand deeper into my pocket. Those warm brown eyes meet mine for a brief moment before she punches in her code for the elevator and the doors whisper open. “Come upstairs, Jasper.”
I push her against the wall of the car. With my hands wrapped around her waist, I claim her mouth. A single flick of my tongue against her lips and she opens for me.
Last night, she tried to keep as much space between us as possible. Tonight, she can’t get close enough and wraps one leg around my thigh.
The doors open with a ding. We move as one into the hall. Emi fumbles around in her bag, and her keys escape, crashing to the floor.
I keep a hand tight around her hip as I ease myself down to one knee, scoop up the ring, and pass it to her. “We gotta get inside. Right fucking now.”
“Then let me open the door, handsome.” She winks, then slides the key into the lock.
At the last second, my brain wrestles control away from my dick. Covering her hand with mine, I shake my head. “Get behind me. Gotta clear the place first.” Confusion clouds her gaze, and I add, “I need to make sure no one’s been here since this morning.”
“You think…?” The arousal in her eyes fades in an instant. “Benny wouldn’t have let anyone on the elevator. And if my security system had gone off, he’d have called me.”
“Unless it happened in the past ten minutes.” I tug the leg of my jeans up a couple of inches and slide the small Glock from my ankle holster. “Breathe, sweetheart. I’m sure it’s safe. But I’d be a damn fool not to check.”
“Jasper, the door was locked. You’re overreacting. Let’s just go inside.”
She’s gone from flirty to exasperated in seconds. Before I can stop her, she pushes the door open. “Emi, wait?—”
Two steps into her apartment, everything goes sideways and ass backwards.
A black-gloved hand grabs Emi’s wrist and jerks her forward. I throw my entire body against the door, hoping to unbalance whomever’s lying in wait on the other side.
The wood hits something solid. I spin around, landing a right hook to a skinny fucker’s jaw. His eyes roll back in his head, and he collapses as another man comes into view. His voice sends ice sinking like a glacier in my gut.
“Move, and she dies.”
Emi
The sickening mix of sweat and cologne burns my nose. My head spins. Something hard slams against my temple, and I see stars. Off balance, I stumble—no, I’m pulled—backwards. One of my shoes is gone. Where…?
Something…an arm?…bands around my neck. It’s hard to swallow. Hard to breathe.
“Emi!” Jasper shouts. The apartment door bangs shut.
“Drop the gun,” a man grits out, his voice only inches from my ear.
Panic swims in Jasper’s dark blue eyes for a beat. But then he swallows hard, holds his hands away from his sides, and slowly lowers the small pistol to the floor.
“Now kick it away.”
This isn’t happening. It’s not real. It can’t be real.
The gun skids across the floor. I watch it spin, my gaze pinned to the black metal. My throw pillows are in shreds. Half my kitchen cabinets are open. The whole place looks like a tornado tore through it.
“Not the sharpest tools in the shed, are you?” Jasper asks, his voice a hell of a lot calmer than it should be.
I want to scream, but I can’t. All I can do is try to loosen the arm cutting off my air. The guy holding me slams the barrel of the gun against the swollen knot on my forehead. The world goes soft, and I fight to keep my knees from buckling.
