Page 172 of Override

That's the question, isn't it? I had planned the extraction. The route. The vehicle. The safe location. Backup locations if Bullet's property was compromised. What I hadn't planned was this.

Maeve standing barefoot beside a bed covered in pieces of the life someone had tried to take from her. Maeve touching my face and somehow making the entire world go quiet. Maeve asking me what happens next as if I have any idea.

Before I can answer, headlights sweep across the bedroom wall. My phone vibrates again. Then again. Maeve's eyes jump toward the window. I stand and move between her and the door without thinking.

Her gaze catches the movement. "Your team?"

"Probably."

"Probably?"

I look toward the hallway as a car door slams outside. Then another. And another. I calculate the number. At least three. Maybe four.

Shit.

Maeve steps closer to me. Not away from me. Closer.

"Keaton?"

There goes my name again. I'm going to have to do something about the way that affects me. Later. Assuming Matt doesn't kill me first. I look down at her.

"My team knows we're here."

Her eyes widen as voices carry faintly from outside. "And they're coming in?"

"Yes."

"Are they angry?"

I consider lying. I hear Wheels shout something unintelligible from the front porch, followed immediately by Matt telling him to shut the fuck up.

"No," I say. Maeve stares at me.

I let out a long sigh before I tell her the truth. "Very."

Chapter 35

Maeve

I walk down the hallway beside the man I now know as Keaton.

Keaton.

I glance up at him again. I can't help it. The name is going to take some getting used to.

For weeks, he existed only as Taibhse. A name on my phone. A tiny vibration in my pocket that somehow became the best part of my day. He was coffee waiting for me in the mornings and music filling empty rooms. A camera moving when I smiled at it and ridiculous answers that made me laugh when I thought I'd forgotten how.

Now he's walking beside me. Real. Tall. Broad enough that his shoulder nearly brushes mine every few steps. And apparently named Keaton.

I smile before I can stop myself.

His eyes immediately drop to me. "What?"

"Nothing."

His eyebrows pull together. "You looked at me and smiled."

"I did."