Page 89 of Mile High Heist

I was wrong.

Preacher was confusing and terrifying and scheming. And maybe Jax was right. Preacher didn’t care about me at all. I was expendable.

My heart skipped again, but not in a good way. In a shot-of-pure-anger kind of way.

There were more players in the game than I ever realized. Dr. Z was just one of them—arguably, the bigger one. But there were others, including the Duchess, a new player. Preacher had never mentioned her. But if what the Viper said in the cargo hold was true…

No.

It wasn’t.

It…couldn’t be.

He’d just been toying with me. That was what these twisted crime lords did—they used people like pawns, selling, killing, collecting. I was a pawn. A puppet.

I want to be the one pulling the strings.

I reached out and touched Jax again, unable to help myself. Skin hot under my fingertips. Twitchy muscles. Perfect in his imperfection.

If I had to put my faith in someone, it was definitely him. We might not fully trust each other yet, but I was hoping with time (and hopefully many, many orgasms) we’d reach a point where it became easy.

Just him. And me. And…

There was a knock on the door. I flinched, withdrawing my hand. Jax’s frown deepened, but he didn’t wake up.

Ryle’s voice bled through: “Hey, uh, love birds? There’s an angry blonde woman out here threatening to break down the door…”

I sighed, but it was a happy sound. Reality didn’t seem so dismal anymore. Not with a path forward. A way out. I just had to make sure we landed the plane and made it to Zurich without any more hiccups.

No biggie.

I stood and hissed as pain flared across the bottom of my feet. That was going to suck. I kept hissing as I limped around the bed. I ached for a pair of hotel slippers. And a deep-tissue massage.

Wincing, I cracked open the door. Ryle was waiting on the other side. He gave me a bright grin, like he wasn’t sporting the biggest, puffiest black eye I’d ever seen. I had no idea what happened to the air marshal. I thought it was probably best I didn’t know.

I realized I was also grinning like an idiot and tried to suppress it.

Ryle cocked his brow knowingly. “That good, huh?”

I scoffed. “No. I mean, yes. No. We…didn’t do anything.”

He levelled me with a look. “Girl.”

I laughed, embarrassed. Then Ryle suddenly bashed through the door and pulled me into a violent hug. Even though we were roughly the same height, he was all wiry muscles and sharp edges. He squeezed me until I felt my bones creak.

“Next time someone threatens my life, you fucking let them,” he huffed in my ear.

I went limp in relief. “I’m sorry.”

“Nope. Not accepting that, either.” He slotted his pointy chin onto my shoulder. “Never do that again.”

I said nothing to that, knowing it would be a lie. The truth was, I would do it again. Ryle wasn’t like anyone I’d ever met. He was bottled sunshine. Even when the storm clouds loomed, he found a way to shine through.

“But thanks,” he added softly.

Then he pulled back and pointed to the cabin behind him. “You want me to handle her?”

Lucille’s shrill voice was unmistakable. Part of me wanted to throw in the neck scarf and the uniform and be done with it. But I still had to maintain my cover. I still had a job to do, even when every cell in my body screamed with exhaustion.