Risky Temptation (15 page)

              Returning his steely black gaze to Tobias, he said lowly, “Lestrade. We need to talk.”

              Then he walked towards us.

Chapter
Twenty
Halle

              Tobias looked just as floored as I was as Marco approached us.

              “How in the hell did you find this place?” Tobias demanded.

              Marco wiped the back of a hand against his lip, wiping away some stray blood.

              His black eyes zeroed in Tobias’s hands still gripping my arms. “How about you let go of my woman first?”

              Tobias jerked a little as if he had forgotten he was still holding me. Slowly, he uncurled his fingers from me and turned towards Marco.

              And what a sight he was. God, he made my heart ache just standing there! I wanted to run into his arms, screaming and crying with joy. But at the same time, I wanted to drag him to a bed and check him for damage. He was breathing hard after having fought god knows how many men. How
had
he found us?

              But more than that, how had he gotten all the way up the sixth floor by himself? He couldn’t have actually fought and shot his way up here…could he? Looking at the blood drying on his gun, I realized that was exactly what he had done.

              I knew Marco would never give up on finding me. I knew that.              

              But I never thought he would enter a building with dozens of men ready to kill him, armed with just his own two fists and guts.

              Fresh tears welled up again.

              “You tried to fuck me over,” Marco said slowly, eyes pinned on Tobias. “You fucking coward. You were trying to sneak off, weren’t you?”

              I stared between the two men. What was Marco saying? How could he know that Tobias had wanted to sneak me away?

              Tobias’s throat tightened and I saw a gleam of anger shine over his eyes. “Coward? Who’s the coward here?” he countered. “I was doing the right thing by trying to protect her life. You’re the one too scared and weak to do the right thing by her, leaving me no choice.”

              My head jerked up at Tobias. “I’m not going on that plane,” I said in a clear and even tone. I was a grown woman who knew her own mind. We all came with baggage in the game of love and if I really loved Marco, I could accept him, danger and all.

              That was my decisions. No one else’s. Least of all, Tobias’s.

              Tobias looked down at me wordlessly. I saw a range of emotions fly past those green eyes. Anger, desire, denial, frustration, irritation, and underneath it all, a thin layer of heartbreak.

              I never meant to break anyone’s heart but I would not take part in Tobias’s delusions.

              Taking a deep breath, I threw myself at Marco, running quickly lest Tobias caught me and pulled me back.

              Marco grabbed me about the waist with one arm, securely tucking me in against him. I breathed him in, relieved beyond measure to feel his solid body pressed against mine. I felt whole and complete for the first time in weeks.

              Tobias stood frozen like a statue as he stared at us both.

              “You’re making a mistake,” he said softly, staring at me. “If you’d just give me a chance, you’d see you’re making a mistake.”

              There was a sincerity to his voice. He really did believe I would die if I stayed with Marco. It wasn’t just physical passion and lust that was driving him. It was also a true and genuine worry about my well-being. He saw me walking towards a guaranteed death sentence.

              I sighed, oddly touched but still adamant about my decision. “If you’d give
me
a chance and listen, you’d see that this is where I want to be,” I said, standing close to Marco, safely tucked under his arm.

              Tobias shook his head sadly. He lowered his gaze. Together, Marco and I stood our ground. I could feel his heart beat steadily against his chest. It calmed me to hear it. We were in a tremendous amount of danger. I knew we could very well die in this building, never making it out alive.

              But having Marco’s arms around me, I knew this is where I wanted to be—by the side of the man who would knock down walls and take on armies to find me.

              Tobias was right—I
was
in danger with Marco. People were petty and evil and there was no telling how many people would want to set a vendetta against the heir of the Desmond Mafia. But my heart was in danger without him. And a body was just a shell without its heart.

              “What happened to the men at Thatherton?” Tobias asked, raising his gaze back at us. That look of cool calculation was back. His mask was back.

              Marco gave a humorless smile. “Oh they’re still there,” he said calmly. “It’ll be a hell of a clean up job for the men at the dock come morning.”

              Tobias raised a brow, clearly impressed and a little taken aback. I didn’t know how many men they were talking about but it was beginning to become clear that Marco had started his rough night long before arriving at the Black Saints headquarters. His bruised and bloody knuckles were a testament to that.

              “Where’s the key?” Tobias asked.

              “Why the fuck should I tell you?” Marco countered, his eyes narrowed.

              Now it was Tobias’s turn to give us the same cold smile. “Because you can’t possibly believe that the men you fought downstairs were the only men of the Black Saints. I predict in less than five minutes—”

              There was a soft
swoosh
sound as the elevator suddenly was called down behind us.

              Tobias made a shrugging gesture. “Oops, I guess I was wrong,” he said. “I predict in less than thirty seconds, several dozen men will be arriving on this floor, this time with guns drawn. You can either hand me the key now or I can take it from your dead body in about a minute.”

              Almost immediately after he finished speaking, the elevator opened back up. A swarm of men poured out. I turned around to watch as dozens of men dressed in all black positioned themselves around us, taking up the entire sixth floor. They all had their guns cocked and aimed directly at us.

              The elevator was continually going back down and coming back up, bringing back more and more men till eventually we were surrounded by more than three dozen men.

              “Need a little more motivation, is it?” Tobias asked, watching Marco stand silently against the armed men. “What about firing a round into your woman? Watch her die or hand over the key? Does that sound like enough incentive?”

              I stared at Tobias, his face cold and unmoving.

              Marco raised a brow. “Who was it that was just professing his need to protect her?”

              Tobias shrugged. “She picked a future where death was possible at any opportunity. Well here is the opportunity and death is waiting. I tried my best to save her. Now all of this lies with you.”

              My brain raced. It was clear Marco was debating what to do. Since he probably had no idea what he would find at the Black Saints headquarters, he hadn’t had much room to plan. How can you plan for everything and nothing? He had come in with just the one mission—to find me.

              I thought about my secret weapon then. I knew if there was ever a moment to use it, this was the time but I had yet to have the pieces fall in to place for me.

              Then it hit me.

              Key. Turn Tech. Copper. Black Saints.

              I tugged urgently on Marco’s jacket. “Do you have a cellphone?” I asked.

              Marco looked startled by the question but reached inside his jacket and pulled out his phone, handing it to me.

              If Turn Tech was involved, Marco would’ve needed help. I opened the recent calls page and saw Zeke’s number. He had recruited the German hacker, just like I had guessed! My heart raced and my palms began to sweat. Could I possibly make this work?

              I pulled out the number, my thumb hovering over the dial button.

              I looked up to make sure I had Tobias’s attention. He was watching me curiously, unsure what I was about to do but clearly unimpressed by whatever it was.

              Sure that I had Tobias’s attention, I hit dial.

              I held the phone to my ear, my hands gripping it tightly. The line rang only twice before it was immediately picked up.

              “Did you find the place?” Zeke asked without preamble.

              “Grab a pen or paper,” I said, also without preamble, “or type it somewhere.”

              “Hey! Marco’s woman! Why are—”

              “Ready?” I asked, interrupting. I watched as Tobias narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what I was getting at. “Michel Dourat, Augustus Hines, Felipe Alvaraz, Dominique St. Vincent, Peter Wells.”

              With each successive name, I watched as Tobias’s green eyes grew wider and wider. I could see the muscles of his throat clenching repeatedly as I spoke. His large fists opened and curled, causing Marco to step out in front of me, partially blocking me a little from view.

              I looked up and saw Marco watching me with a confused expression, unsure what I was doing but trusting me by not stopping me.

              “And Faruq Hamilton,” I said in conclusion. “You have those name?”

              “Yes but—”

              “Good,” I said, cutting him off again. “Keep them handy. Publish them publically if you don’t see me within 24 hours.”

              I hung up the phone.

              A silence fell across the floor. I felt a trickle of cold sweat run down my back. I could almost
feel
every single gun pressing against my back. I brushed the thought out of my head but couldn’t shake the feeling of knowing several dozen guns were pointed exactly where I was imagining.

              “Where. Did. You. Get. Those. Names?” Tobias asked slowly, his voice a hiss of a whisper.

              Marco kept his position firmly in front of me, his back taut and ready for action.

              “I only recognized one of those names,” I said, not answering his question directly. “Felipe Alvarez. I remember him from an old FBI file. He’s part of the Spanish royal family, nephew to the King, I think.”

              Tobias lips pressed tighter together, his eyes flashing.

              “That gave me an idea of who the other people might be,” I said. “Or at least, the level that they’re at.”

              When I had found that computer on the third floor, I had found a minimized screen. When I had pulled it up, it had turned out to be a document containing a short list of names.

              And above the list was a short title: “TTKey Buyers.”

              I had no idea what that had meant or who those people were, save Felipe Alvarez. But I could tell it was something important. One or two of the names had checks next to them with remarks like, “highest bid,” or, “needs assurance of exclusivity.”

              It reeked of something covert and off the books.

              I’m sure whoever had been making the list had thought that with all the security features on a Black Saints computer, nobody would be able to find his list before he deleted it.

              It was something Marco always said—
human error.
That was always the downfall in the end.