“She’s fucking wrong.” My jaw tightens, and I have to forcibly open my lips and breathe through my mouth to keep from grinding my teeth and cracking a tooth. “I won’t let them hurt you or our baby.”
“They—” Her voice goes quiet, barely above a whisper. She shuts her eyes, her bottom lip tugging between her teeth.
“You’re safe now,” I whisper, pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead. “No one will touch you again.”
“You know—about the doctor?” Harper asks, slowly, carefully, glancing up at me.
Sighing, I nod.
Her brow is tight, filled with confusion, and then she glances up at the covered camera in the room. “How?”
“We’ll talk about it later,” I assure her. I press one more kiss to her forehead and squeeze her hand before stepping away. The room is cold and empty without her in my reach.
I need to find us a way out of this room before one of the guards or Livia returns. I survey the room, checking every possible detail, latch, anything that might be useful to us.
“What are you looking for?” Harper asks, and I nod toward the cameras. While I’ve blinded the video, I don’t know what can be heard. “Margaret told me that it’s video surveillance only.”
“Just in case, we should be cautious of what’s being said.”
Harper shrugs and forces herself to her feet. She expels a sigh and tilts her head, staring up at me. “Can you lift me up? I can try to disable it.”
Making sure she’s steady, I help Harper up onto my shoulders, and she removes the sock, dropping it onto my head while she yanks the wires forcibly out of the camera.
“It’s disconnected,” she says, her tone matter of fact.
“Can you rip it off the wall?” I ask. I don’t want one of the guards trying to reassemble the device.
She wraps her fist around the camera, uses two hands and pulls with a steady force that sends me reeling as I grip my arms around her hips.
The camera pops off the wall, along with a good bit of plaster.
“Like this?” she asks, showing me the device, letting it dangle from her fingertips before dropping it to the floor with a loud smash.
I breathe with a sense of relief, knowing we’re at least alone, minus the camera that I’m wearing.
I opt to keep it a secret, just in case there are any other hidden cameras in this place.
“Nice job,” I tell her, helping Harper back down to the floor.
“Thanks. So, what’s your plan, Einstein?” She glances me over, “because you getting caught and the two of us locked up in here doesn’t seem like it was well thought out.” Harper folds her arms across her chest.
The sassiness in her attitude is back, and I feel a sense of relief.
We’ll get through this together.
“That obvious?” I ask, nose crinkling as I lean in and kiss her. “All I could think about was getting to you.”
“Next time, rescue me. Don’t join me in being held hostage. Okay?”
I’m glad she’s still got her sense of humor. I steal another kiss; my fingers graze her cheek before they inadvertently touch the contraption around her neck.
“We need to work to get this off of you, or disarm it.”
She laughs under her breath. “That would be great. It doesn’t exactly go with my wardrobe.”
There’s sarcasm in her tone, and I brush a stray hair behind her ear, finding myself unable to stop touching her.
She’s alive.
