Hawke knew their friendship was over. He would do what he could to protect Julia. But when Romano was behind bars and she was safe, Julia would become a faint memory to all of them.
She blinked, more tears falling down her cheeks, before she turned to Nico. “Can I go home and get clothes?”
“No,” he said, coolly. “You can borrow something from me for the time being.”
With that, he ushered her out of the room, and Hawke released a sigh of relief. Having one less person to worry about was one thing off his mind, and he had no doubt Julia was in grave danger.
Rhys said, “I need to call Zoey, and update her on all this, so she and Elise can go over to Hunt and Lottie’s where they’ll be safe.”
Hawke nodded. “We’ll meet you downstairs.” He waited for Penny to leave the office before following her out into the hallway.
As Penny went to walk away, Hawke grabbed her hand, holding tight. “How’s the pain?”
She moved her shoulder a little. “Sore.”
“Come on.” He gestured toward the bar in the cigar club. “Pain pills first, then we strategize.”
Penny scoffed. “I told you, I don’t need a babysitter.”
He met her gaze and grinned mischievously. “And I told you what I’d do if you called me that.”
Despite the tension about Romano, there was still an undeniable heat. She smirked and leaned in close to his face. “Babysitter.” Then she sauntered past him, and he resisted the urge to press her up against the wall and playfully show her why she shouldn’t taunt him.
“You’ll pay for that,” he called, noticing the huskiness in his voice.
“I’m counting on it,” she replied, looking back at him over her shoulder with a grin.
Damn, this woman.
* * *
The airin the security meeting room was thick with a blend of tension and focus, like the calm before a storm. Hawke’s senses were heightened, his gut coiled tight. He stayed focused on the extensive blueprints unfurled across the mahogany table before him that Penny had hacked from Romano’s home builder’s server. She sat at the end of the table, working on her laptop, away from the blueprints and the men huddled around the desk, currently having spent the last two hours hacking into Romano’s security system.
Archer informed Rhys, “I’ve dispatched a few men to Hunt’s and Lottie’s.”
“Excellent,” Rhys replied. Addressing Hunt, he added, “They’ll remain with you until this situation is resolved, along with Zoey and Elise.”
Hunt chuckled, “I pity anyone who enters our house uninvited with Lottie there, but I’ll never turn down an extra set of eyes.”
Rhys acknowledged that with a nod.
“All right,” Penny said, her voice cutting through the low hum of male baritones, warm yet laced with an unspoken urgency. “I’ve confirmed that blueprint is the most recent layout of Victor’s mansion.”
“Good,” Hawke said, and began pointing at the blueprint. “From what we’ve learned from Julia,” which was all information that Nico had obtained and relayed, “Victor’s office is here, past the second-floor living room. His private security detail is always stationed inside and outside.”
“Cameras?” Archer asked, his voice a low rumble.
“Every corner, every conceivable angle covered,” Penny said. “But those can be dealt with easily enough.” Her fingers flew over the keyboard until every surveillance feed was showing on the television monitors attached to the wall. “That’s every camera on the property.”
Hawke was in awe as he looked at Penny. She never failed to impress him, but it was especially rare for someone without a military background to command the attention of a room filled with highly trained soldiers. Penny didn’t just hold her own; she owned the entire room.
“Is that all the guards?” Archer queried, glancing from screen to screen.
“From what I can tell, there are rotating shifts,” she answered, tapping another key, which pulled up the logs of all the employees. “Give me another hour and I’ll put together files on every guard that will be working tomorrow.”
“That’s more than we could ask for,” Hawke acknowledged.
She gave a soft smile in response.
