The doorman scanned the IDs into the system, barely sparing them a glance as she offered Kiera a gentle, knowing smile. And watching the way she shrank under his gaze, it took all of my self control not to pull her out of here and run for the hills.
Later.I promised myself, jaw tightening.
But the show had worked. He didn’t even bother asking for Kiera’s ID before pointing us down to the elevator bank. “Good luck.”
At that, even Dom’s fist clenched. But the best thing we could do was to keep Kiera moving, to get into that apartment and get the fuck out of it as fast as we could.
She wouldn’t have any fucking peace or a chance at a normal life with these fuckers hunting her. And once we sunk their ship, I would be damn sure to hunt down every last rat who’d hitched a ride on it.
As we glided up to the top of the building, I allowed myself a brief squeeze of Kiera’s hand. “You okay, Princess?”
I could see in her eyes that she was shaken, but she just shuddered and held her head higher to compensate. “This is so fucked up.”
“No kidding,” Spencer scoffed.
The next thing I knew, the elevator doors were dinging open to reveal the pent house hallway. On one side, there was thedoor for Gabe’s neighbor in Penthouse 1: a skeevy lawyer for one of the country’s leading prediction markets. And on the other, there was the flashy number two that marked our target.
“All clear?” I asked, dropping Kiera’s hand as I paced toward the door.
“All clear.” Spencer confirmed, peeking down the fire exit stairs for any stray apartment dwellers while Dom scrawled over the peephole for the neighboring penthouse.
With the go ahead given, I squared myself to the door before driving my heel forward just below the doorknob.
“Holy shit!” Kiera gasped, covering her mouth as she scurried farther down the hallway.
Another kick, and the frame started to crack.
“One more,” I muttered, before driving my heel into the ground and funneling the force straight into the door.
The door collapsed with a ringing crash that shook the hallway. Spencer and Dom wasted no time, charging past me and into the apartment. I looked back at Kiera, still frozen in the hallway, and tried to wave her in. “Come on.”
The clock had started ticking the moment the door fell. We had to find whatever The Oracle was looking for, and fast.
63
KIERA
I was frozen therein his doorway. Not one I’d ever crossed, but the smell of him poured over me like a tsunami — its only purpose destruction.
Leo, Spencer, and Dom were already moving through the place, pulling open drawers and moving furniture. But I was stuck, looking at a scrambled jigsaw puzzle of what my life used to look like.
It was the same ultra modern furniture just scattered to new locations. They must have moved him after Leo and Spencer broke in to get my shit.
Without me, Gabriel had leaned into his hyper-masculine decor. Any of my houseplants had been tossed to the curb, warm blankets moved to storage. All that was left was the white, gray, and black.
It was familiar, all of it. Like the memory of Dom’s mansion. But this sent a bone-chilling shiver down my spine, one that I wouldn’t forget as long as I lived.
Shaking my head, I tried to snap out of it. I couldn’t stand here all day, we were on a mission. Forcing myself inside, I rolledmy shoulders back and scanned the place for hiding spots I knew he’d use.
My skin crawled as I realized just how much he’d hid from me.
Spencer’s feet were quiet on the marble-tile floors as she peeked out the floor-to-ceiling windows. “We’ll only have a few minutes, Bunny. I put the security cameras on a loop to buy us some time. But they’re on high alert so they’ll notice faster.”
Nodding, I moved past the kitchen to the living room where Dom was ripping up couch cushions. Her steps were hushed, the heavy boots quieted by intentional movement.
I watched them for a moment,taking in their spy-like stealth. I was starting to understand what they got up to before I showed up. My three saviors weren’t just killers, they were trained assassins.
Shaking it off, I remembered Spencer’s warning about the time. I had to move too.
