Page 30 of Antonio Miles

Knight shrugged. “Every new face is flagged. Only staff get access. They frisk everyone, even the regulars. If you’re not on the interior list, you’re not getting inside.”

Finch looked at me. “We could go heavy, but we’d lose the element of surprise. And Kass is right. One wrong step and we get boxed in.”

I knew Finch and Kass were right. Denton had built that place to have every security advantage. He had everything covered.

Knight’s eyes narrowed. “We need someone who’s seen that fuckin’ place from the inside.”

I refused to take the clue Knight handed me. If he’d done it on purpose than I’d failed miserably because no fucking way was I asking Tessa about this. Why? Because I couldn’t stand the thought of her having to relive even one Goddamned second of her time in that hell hole if I could prevent it.

I pushed back from the table. “Keep working the money trail. If Denton’s got a secret, I want it. See if you can get me the guest lists for every party. Focus on the ones where the buyer came in person.”

“On it,” Knight nodded at me from the monitor.

I stood and braced my hands on the edge of the table, letting the frustration dig into my palms. “Every good plan needs a spine. Right now, we don’t have it. Not until we solve the inside.”

Knight nodded, the flicker of a smile at the edge of his mouth. “I’ll keep working on that, too.”

The meeting broke, and I left the room, not wanting to stop and talk with my father. Seth could likely see right through me. He knew my interest in Tessa would cloud my judgment -- which was accurate -- and would demand to know everything. I didn’t care if Seth knew I planned on making Tessa my wife. Seth might be a bastard, but he wanted his family happy. Me included. I just didn’t want to share her with anyone yet.

I took the main hall all the way to the main kitchen, smelling fresh coffee, drawing me like a beacon. I needed a hit of both. For a minute, all I could think about was the last time I’d held Tessa, the way her body molded to mine, her pulse skipping fast under my hand. The smell of her, the grit and fire and the way she didn’t compromise with what she wanted.

The door opened and Tessa entered the kitchen, bare feet slapping the hardwood floor as she padded into the kitchen. She glanced at me, then averted her gaze. I wanted to grab her and pull her against my chest but didn’t know how she’d take the move.

She poured a mug and faced me across the kitchen island. “That was a lot of angry men in one room.”

I snorted. “You could feel it from upstairs?”

“Kinda hard to miss.” She glanced at the window, then back at me, eyes hard but clear. “You hit a wall?”

I wanted to lie. Wanted to with every fiber of my being, but I knew that, if she found out, I’d lose her trust forever. “The inside. There’s no accurate architectural designs, and we can’t see inside.”

She sipped coffee, absorbing. Then she set the mug down, carefully, nodding like she’d known this was coming. “I can do it. They held me inside. For three days. I was moved twice, but I remember every room, every corridor, every fucking sound.” She stared at the wall behind me, not blinking. “If you give me paper, I’ll draw it. You’ll have your map. I’m sure you’ll need more, but something’s better than nothing. Yes?” She met my gaze boldly and with determination.

The hit landed hard. Not enough to stagger me physically, but the taste of it cut deep and metallic on my tongue. I didn’t want her anywhere near that place. Not again. Not even in her memory. And when she kept talking, I stopped her. Just not for the reasons I imagined.

“Wait. Stop.” When she gave me an exasperated huff, I shook my head. “I mean, just hang on. You’re going to need to tell all this to Knight so you only have to do it once.” I sighed and stared at her for a long time. “You’ve got some pretty detailed descriptions there, Tessa. Zig-zagging corridors, heavy steel doors. How do you know about the one-way glass?”

“Because I knew my life could hinge on being able to find my way out of that place and being able to stay hidden along the way.” She tapped at her temple. “I already had a really good eye for detail. I taught myself to get better. That way, even when they drugged me, I could remember details.”

“How do you know you’re not misremembering? You were drugged and beaten pretty badly.”

“There were times I wasn’t drugged. And even beaten, I still had my wits. The only memories I don’t trust are when I was drugged. I learned quickly to comply as much as I could, so I didn’t get drugged. For that very reason. I needed to know where I was and what the dangers were.”

I put my hand flat on the kitchen counter. “You can brief the team, but you don’t go inside. You will stay here where I know you’re safe.”

She cocked her head. “Why?”

“I know what it takes to survive a place like that.” My hand curled, white-knuckled. “You don’t need to bleed for us twice.”

She let out a slow breath. “That’s not your decision, Tonio.”

Before I could answer, another voice cut in -- softly but carrying. Carrie entered from the side door, hair pulled back, sleeves shoved to her elbows. She didn’t look at me. She spoke to Tessa, but the words were for me.

“They always say it’s for our own good,” Carrie said. “That we’re too valuable to risk. Too fragile. Too broken. But what it really means is, they can’t handle watching you get hurt and not being able to stop it.” She smiled. “They know how strong we are. They don’t really believe all the bullshit they tell themselves. It’s just their justification for pissing us off.” Carrie set her hands on the table, leaning in. “You want her out because you care, Antonio.” Her voice dropped, growing colder as she went on. “She survived Éclipse. You can’t take this away from her if she wants to help. Doesn’t matter if it wrecks you to watch her do it again. It’s not your call.”

I wanted to argue. The words died on my tongue. It wasn’t shame or any kind of guilt, though I still felt murderous thinking how she’d been hurt under my fucking nose. This wound was deeper and older than any woman in this room. Her memory cut deep and had been left to rot. Now it burned like a fresh wound.

Fuck.