Page 47 of Mile High Heist

“Yeah, good luck.”

After she was gone, I counted to ten.

When I could speak without blurting out something I’d regret, I stormed out and turned to the row closest to the galley.

“Can you believe he just did that?” I hissed.

Jax looked just as surprised, but nowhere near as murderous. He shrugged. “Madoc knows what he’s doing.”

“Does he?” I sneered.

Jax glanced up at me, then snorted. “Jealousy looks good on you, princess.”

I glared at him. “Don’t you dare.”

“I dare.” He stood and leaned over me, looking suggestive without touching me. “Now,” he said, his voice deliberately loud, so Marcus could hear him where he was still playing Operation with the laptops. “I’m a bit lost, and it’s a big plane. Could you show me back to my seat?”

I gritted my teeth at his deviant expression. He loved that I had no choice but to play along. “Absolutely, sir,” I said with a biting smile. “Right this way.”

At the end of the aisle, I checked on Ryle, only to find his seat empty.

“He’s finding something for me,” Jax said, super casually. That could mean anything. None of it good.

“You mean he’s stealing something?”

Jax just smirked.

With him hovering over me like a bodyguard, I felt infinitely better walking through the plane. You will not leave my sight, he’d warned me in the bathroom. Deep down, I knew it was partly because he still didn’t trust me. A desperate, hopeless part of me hoped it was because he cared.

Jax had made it perfectly clear on numerous occasions that we had no future together. He was a lawless thief. I was a college girl with a paper due on the future of renewable energy. When all was said and done, we were bound together by convenience and nothing more.

Coming up the stairs to the upper deck, I glanced over at the business cabin and shuddered.

The leader of the Vipers had made it clear he was untouchable. He had the advantage of a plane full of unsuspecting targets. The fact that Jax couldn’t just kill him was causing him no end of stress.

Plus, we had no idea who else was working for him.

Our only leverage was the prototype. They couldn’t leave without it. Neither could we. In a weird way, we were at a stalemate.

As we headed toward first class, I asked Jax: “How long until they reach the boat?”

“Just over two hours.”

I cringed.

At least no one else had died.

Yet.

14

MADOC

“This guy? You’re kidding me.”

Behind me, the older woman sighed. “Apparently, he is an expert.”

“At what? Grand theft?” The captain gave me another incredulous look. I grew bored of his assessment and completed one of my own.