Page 15 of Meet Cute the Virgin

“He said it will be done within the hour. Let him know which airport.” Once that is sorted, Teddy and Killian fill me in on their plan. I mean, it sounds great in theory, but I’m up for doing whatever I need to.

I tell her she can go ahead and text me when they are moving. Tristan should be across town by then, so if he sees my phone activity, he won’t be able to do anything about it. By then I should be in the air.

I hurry to make sure I have what I need, not much but a few things. When I’m ready, I sit down on my bed and watch the minutes crawl by.

The penthouse is quiet. I keep waiting for Tristan’s footsteps, his voice calling my name, or some last-minute change of plans that will stop my plans right in their tracks.

Then I hear it. The front door and the ding of the elevator.

He’s gone.

My fingers fly across my phone screen.

Me:He’s gone.

Teddy:You sure?

Me:Yeah, I’ll wait ten and then message him about the doctor’s appointment.

I count. Six hundred seconds of pure agony, my knee bouncing the whole time, waiting for any sound to come. But it doesn’t. No footsteps, no elevator, no Tristan bursting back in to catch me mid-escape.

Me:Ten minutes. Clear.

Teddy:Go time. Remember the back stairs, not the lobby.

That had been the change of plan they told me about. I thought I’d be going out the lobby, but Killian had other ideas. I go with it. Teddy trusts him.

Then I do my part.

Me:Forgot I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon.

The reply comes faster than I expect.

Tristan:I’ll send Nathan. Be ready in 20.

I stare at the screen. That was easy. Too easy? He must be distracted with his meeting. What if it wasn’t a meeting, but he went to meet Sasha?

The thought sends a strange pang through my chest and helps light a fire under my ass for the small amount of guilt I was having over doing this.

Me:Thanks.

I shove the phone in my pocket and head for the back stairs. I push through the door and come up short. Killian is standing there. He’s even bigger in person.

“This is not going according to plan,” I say, hating the change of plans.

“Keep moving.” He orders me down the stairs. If I thought Tristan could be cold, Killian could give him a run for his money.

“I’m not a hostage, you know?”

He grunts a response. My heart sinks when we pass men lying on the ground. I don’t see blood.

“Are they dead?” I ask, stepping over one.Please don’t say they are dead. I would not have done this if we were killing people!What is Killian, a freaking hitman? That thought doesn’t land in my mind as absurdly as it should.

“No,” he says flatly.

“Would you tell me if they were?”

He grunts another response.