18. Mina

EIGHTEEN

mina

I wait until I can’t see Brian anymore through the glass, then I punch in the code, and go in after him. He’s fucking crazy if he thinks I’m going to risk him dying and me being left behind. If he goes, I go. I pull the 9mm from my waistband and take the stairs.

I’ve never been more grateful for Brian’s grueling workouts and my laps in the pool. Otherwise I would never be able to run up thirteen flights of stairs without stopping. Even so, I’m still winded when I reach the top.

I take a few long deep breaths before continuing on.

The thirteenth floor is the only floor of office suites not being rented right now. It’s an abandoned floor that’s in the process of a renovation for future tenants. Everything is exposed beams and concrete floor and columns. Bare fluorescent track lighting hangs down from the ceiling like convicted criminals swinging from nooses.

At least they work, well... one of them on the far end of the room works. And it flickers. It’s just enough light for Brian to see what he’s doing.

This floor is such a contrast from what I know the top floor must be. As the top floor C-suites, fourteen is lush. Chic décor, wide expansive views, soft music playing just beneath the sound level of your notice.

Brian sits hovering over the bomb, wire cutters out, ready to make the cut, when a sound causes us both to look up. A guard has wandered down to this level to check things out. No doubt he noticed activity on the elevator’s movement, the light moving down and back up. Or maybe he saw activity on the live security feed.

He’s seen Brian, but he hasn’t yet noticed me. He draws his gun, and I fire. The man drops after four shots, two of which went into the column behind him. But one was a head shot so… probably beginner’s luck, but yay.

Brian was not wrong when he said adrenaline will fuck up your aim.

As the shots go off, fireworks erupt in the background, illuminating the room further in bursts of reflective red and gold lights. Brian shoots me a glare but goes back to the bomb. I hold my breath as he makes the cut and a beep sounds. We both let out a sigh together.

“I thought I told you to stay outside.” His voice is even and calm, and yet I have never felt this level of anger from him aimed in my direction. It sends a chill down my spine.

“How much time was left?”

He looks down at the disarmed bomb. “Twenty-one seconds.”

“If I’d stayed outside, you’d be dead right now. How on earth have you survived this long without me? What is that? Two times I’ve saved your life now? So we’re even.”

But the joke doesn’t land. Maybe it’s the delivery. It’s hard to be a comedy genius when I still have ringing in my ears from the gunfire.

He’s a professional, and I’m an amateur still in training. But I’m right. I don’t think the guard realized what Brian was doing and that shooting him would end us all. And if Brian had gotten up to fight him, the outcome would have been the same. For the barest flash of a second, I’d considered waiting for him like he’d asked, but we both know if I’d stayed outside that boy and Brian would both be dead right now. I try not to think too hard about this.

He gets up off the floor and stalks over to me, pushing me against the wall and spinning me so that I’m facing it, my cheek pressed against the drywall. If he were the good guy he’d be arresting me and reciting my rights.

Instead his hand skims down my back, stroking over my ass. He leans in close to my ear, his voice dark and deadly. “So what now, Mina? Tell me what we do now.”

I shrug. I hadn’t thought that far.

“The only reason I came back was because you never would have forgiven me.”

“If I hadn’t been here, you would have let the kid die.” This realization disgusts me.

“Yes.” His breath is harsh against my ear. “And you’d better learn collateral damage is part of this job if you want to be in this life. So… what now? After all that careful planning, what now?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“Exactly. You don’t know. You don’t know why I would let that boy die. You think it’s because I’m just some irredeemable monster, that only you have a soul, and only you know what’s best. You’re dark, but not quite like me, sweetheart. Not yet. Tell me, Alice, can you go down the rabbit hole and stand in a world where everything around you is upside down? Or do you want to stay safe in the shiny clean world where the good people live? Because I’m not that guy, and you’ve always known it.”

“Tell me why, then? If it’s not because you’re a monster… why?”

But he doesn’t answer. He pulls his gun in one swift movement, turns, and fires. I only realize two more guards have moved in on our space as the bodies hit the floor.

Brian turns back to me. “Mina,” my name comes out on a sigh. “Some things I guess you’re going to have to learn the hard way.”

“How many more are there?”

“We’re about to find out.”

But no one else comes. At least not for now. Brian checks his weapons. He’s more strapped than I thought he was. Three guns and seven extra magazines in the linings on his vest. A knife at his belt and one beside each boot. He’s also got throwing stars.

I have a couple of guns on thigh holsters besides the one in my hand. And eight extra magazines—all the same caliber so I don’t panic and forget what I have stashed where. I’ve also got throwing stars which I’ve gotten a lot better at using, and a knife in one boot, but with power and size differences I’m better off with the stars than a knife. I’m too outmatched in hand-to-hand combat to rely on weapons so intimate.

“We could just leave,” I say, hopefully.

Brian raises a brow but says nothing.

“We could pick another target.”

“No. They’re moving in on our business. I don’t like their style. They’re drawing too much heat. I want them out of our territory. And you know two are paid contracts. I never go back on a contract.”

Technically these guys are running a human trafficking ring, so it’s not exactly as if we’re running comparable businesses. And I do want to kill these slime balls.

The women at our house want to be there, and we don’t just sell them to any random person with the money to buy. We’re playing kinky matchmaker with safeguards in place. Think sugar babies and trophy wives but with whips and chains. Still maybe not the most reputable or moral business and certainly not legal, but it’s not quite the same as kidnapping terrified women from lives already in progress.

“We’ve got plenty of firepower,” I say, reassuring myself, because I’m starting to waver even though I just asked to leave. Being reminded of who these shit stains are has renewed my resolve.

“Yeah. So do they. And this isn’t a controlled situation like last time.”

He’s referencing when I rescued him at Easter.

“You think last time was controlled?” I ask.

He smirks. “I thought you handled yourself.”

“Thanks.” I try to go for flip—heroes laughing in the face of their doom—but his compliment hits me deep and sends a flush of pleasure through me.

“Come with me, we need to scope it out.”

I follow behind him, my gun out and ready. My heart is pounding so fast, worrying someone could jump out at us at any moment. It’s like being in a haunted house, and I’m not great with the jump scare.

We move stealthily down the emergency stairwell to the first floor lobby and stop outside the security office.

“Get my back, but don’t be a hero,” he says.

“I mean, after saving your ass twice, is it really a thrill anymore?”

He chuckles. “You like my ass.”

He’s not wrong, especially in these pants. I give him a good slow once over. There are benefits to being with a psychopath gym rat.

He kicks in the door. So dramatic. But no one’s in there.

“You knew there was nobody in here. You shot them.”

“You noticed their uniforms,” he says, pleased.

“I mean, after they were already on the ground, but yeah.”

He’s just showing off now.

“So the first guy must have been from upstairs and saw the elevator light moving,” I say.

“That was my thought.”

We sit in the guard chairs. I swivel around in mine while Brian toggles the screens checking the building.

“Fuck me,” he says.

“What is it?”

“No cameras on the top floor. Exactly what we need to see, and we can’t even get a full layout of the space.”

“I thought you’ve been up there.”

“Just to deliver packages. They didn’t offer me a guided tour.”

He checks through the other screens. There’s no one on any of the other floors. Just the bodies of the guards we already took out. He checks the stairwell feed. Nothing there.

He switches to the main elevator feed. Three guards are coming down.

I wonder if they’ve already seen the bomb and guards on thirteen.

He pushes a few buttons, erases the footage, and turns off the recording.

“Brian?” I say. I really want to run right now. We didn’t plan for this, and I know I’m not trained well enough, as he’s reminded me a thousand times. And I’d really kind of like to not die right now.

Brian seems torn. I know he’s thinking about all the evidence, all we stand to lose if we cut and run now.