I snuggle close to Hawk on the couch as he runs his hand over my arm. I’m a sticky, well-used mess, and all I want to do is get home so I can force the two of them to snuggle in the nest with me.
Once Magnum gets home, they can sleep in their own rooms, but I’m feeling like I require lots of extra cuddles.
Moretti stands by his desk, tucking in his button-down before righting his tie. I didn’t even know he removed them before fucking me, but I felt a lot of skin, so I probably should have figured it out.
He plucks his phone off the desk, answering it with his brow furrowed. “This is Moretti.”
Anxiety pulses in my chest, and I have no idea why. Maybe because he doesn’t look pleased with whoever is calling.
There’s no way to make out what’s being said, but it’s a male voice.
Moretti sucks in sharply, holding the phone between his head and his shoulder as he waves the other hand at me and Hawk. “Get up, you two. We need to go.”
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
Moretti holds up a finger. “Call Gonzalez. We’re leaving Luxe now. We’ll meet you at the house.” Hanging up, he shoves his phone into his pocket. “Get her up now. We have to go.”
Hawk follows the order without question while I repeat myself for a second time.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your boyfriend got himself shot leaving Grigoryan’s office. That was not part of my orders, just to be clear. In fact, I told himnotto needlessly put himself at risk.” Moretti shakes his head, pointing at Hawk. “Toss her over your shoulder. It’ll be faster.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Magnum
Thirty Minutes Ago
Earpieces annoy me to no end, but there’s no getting around them these days. Not if someone is breaking into a building that has a system, and all high-value targets have them now.
Moretti told me his guys are capable of getting around a security system, but I’m not the kind of thief that cuts wires and prays I can be in and out before the cops show. Especially not when Grigoryan has a security team in the building night and day.
Luckily, I have an old friend who’s god-like when it comes to getting me into places that I shouldn’t have access to. The downside is, he heavy-breathes in my ear the entire time I need him to walk me through a building.
Tapping him in on such short notice means I’ve probably burned the last favor he owed me, but I’d do awful things to get back to Vanessa, and I’d rather not be concerned about the system going off while I’m inside the building.
Grigoryan’s office is a location that can only be hit once. The risk is too great that he’ll sense something is off and double or triple his security.
That means I have to make tonight count.
Ringo—yeah, it’s a weird name, but again, he’s really good at his job—suggested I bring the external flash drive he gifted me when he wasn’t quite so salty about owing me.
I’ve kept it with me at all times for going on a year, and apparently that was a good call since I had it when I needed it. It’s set up to copy anything of note when plugged into a system. The frustrating part was coordinating with Ringo to determine which computer was the one to plug it into.
He can access anything stored on a network with Wi-Fi, but criminals aren’t stupid. They know the only way to guarantee something is inaccessible is to keep it on a closed system. That was the one I had to find.
Once I did, all I had to do was wait.
I’ve been in the building for close to an hour and a half, which is dumb as fuck, but I also took pictures of everything I could find in the filing cabinet. It seemed like a solid idea since I didn’t have anything better to do.
The program the flash drive runs took forever, and now I’m pushing it a little too close to when Grigoryan’s team is scheduled for their next security sweep.
“All right, we’re going to take it slow,” Ringo says in my ear.
“Nah, I need to get the fuck out now,” I whisper, my back hitting the wall next to the door that leads out of Grigoryan’s office.
“See, that’s the problem. We didn’t watch this place for long enough. You know I always recommend three full days, at a minimum?—”
