“What?”Is he talking tome?
“What is that gangster dude’s address? I’m going to set off the fire alarm in his building and wake themup.”
Whoa, he can do that?That was kind of brilliant. I rattled off the address of “the gangster dude.” They lived within walking distance to our loft. Damien mashed at the keyboard for a bit and looked up at me. “Done.”
My mouth just popped open. That was like less than a minute. How he had access to the building’s security system, I didn’t want toknow.
I dialed one more time and Santiago picked up on the second ring, a fire alarm blaring in thebackground.
“Is Emilia…?” I didn’t even want to sayit.
“She’s fine,” he breathed, his voice groggy. “We sticky-bombed the sentry to buy a little time but… damn, Kit. You saved usall.”
I sighed in relief and surveyed the room. Everyone looked sweaty and tired, but they were alive and I couldn’t see any major injuries aside from the occasionalscratch.
“All right, man, try to get some coffee. And thanks for your helptonight.”
He thanked me as well and we signedoff.
“Did I make it in time?” Tatum’s sweet voice asked nervously. It was then that I realized I was soaking wet. She’d splashed me with water to wake me up,andsmacked me. The person who controlled the group through the dream band was the one you needed to wake first. Unless they died, ofcourse.
“You did good,kid.”
My eyes flicked to Damien. “Can I talk with you privately?” I gritted out. This guy was going to get a piece of my mind. Now that the threat of Emilia and all of our lives was no longer looming I needed to get real withhim.
Damien just nodded. He was soaking wet as well, since he’d been sleeping right next to me.Good, serves himright.
“I’ll make some coffee,” Mr. Hansen offered and left theroom.
Jeremy was just sitting there, staring at the wall.Frozen.
“He okay?” I asked Josephine, who was unlocking her handcuffs and massaging herwrist.
She nodded and smiled. “It takes him a while to shake it off. He’ll be tearing away at the data on the computer in notime.”
The data. Which reminded me of the bitchfest I needed to have with myclient.
“Let’s go into my office,” Damien said, walking out of the room and shedding his shirt, tossing it into a hamper on his wayout.
I inwardly groaned. I was supposed to have a serious conversation with him shirtless? The corded muscles moved under his skin as he walked, and I tried to focus mythoughts.
He led me into a large office and then spun around, leaning on the edge of his desk. He crossed his arms, his biceps bulging as he met my steely gaze. “I’m sorry for not telling you about thesentries.”
Okay… I hadn’t expected an apology right off the bat. I opened my mouth to fire back and he spokeagain.
“I was tired, I needed the protection, and I was afraid for my family.” He ran a hand through his wet hair, and I found myself staring at hisabs.
Why did I come inhere?
Oh yeah.“You nearly got us killed. You should’ve told me so I would’ve been better prepared!” I snapped, gathering my wits. Four sentries was not something I wanted to encounter on a nightlybasis.
He left his perch on the desk and strode closer to me. “You would’ve left, and I was deliriously tired and… Ineedyou.”
At those three words, a pulse of heat shot to my groin. I knew he meant it in a strictly business sense but still, those words had an involuntary effect on my body. Maybe Maxine was right. She was always telling me I needed to get out and date more or I’d explode. Damien Striker was going to be my detonation if I wasn’t careful. But dating could lead to love, and I wasn’t sure I had any room in my heart for that. Everything I loved died. This world no longer sustained love, only war and bloodshed…loss.
I cleared my throat, taking a step back. “While I admit that your brother’s arm cuff has promise, I can’t put my team in danger like that night after night without having a meeting with them first. We vote on everything, and it has to be unanimous, so….” Ishrugged.
He nodded. “Fair enough. But don’t vote until the end of the day. I’ll get the data from Jeremy and prove to you that protecting my family is worth it. We’re so close to being able to make a product that can protecteveryone.”
