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Levi and Ash were inside, as antsy as I’d ever seen them. “I didn’t get any leads last night,” Ash said immediately. “I didn’t have time. So we’re going into this cold, which is fine, but it isn’t what I wanted.”
“It’s okay,” I told him. “I appreciate that you tried. Li Na just texted me again.” I gave him my phone.
Levi and Ash read the text from earlier and the most recent one, then glanced at each other. “It’s Sunday, so the office park we’re meeting at is closed today. Today might be a better day.”
The look they exchanged told me it could also be a worse one, but I didn’t say anything.
Levi put his hands on my shoulders, gently. “Your job today is to get Hannah into your car and get out of there. I’m going to have a dozen armed men watching—we’ll have your back.”
I nodded, pretending I wasn’t scared shitless. “Okay. Got it.”
Levi turned to Ash. “Call Agent Marks and let him know what’s going on. Ask him to meet us there soon—I don’t want to wait too long, in case there’s some sort of surprise.” He turned back to me and Gabe. “We’re going to get packed up and head to the site. I want to go over the directives with you before I leave. Do you want to come with us, Gabe? I can’t have you at the actual site, but you can stay nearby.”
Gabe didn’t blink. “I’m going with Lauren.”
“You can’t,” Levi said. “You read the texts. We can’t compromise Hannah’s safety.”
I reached out and covered Gabe’s hand with mine. “Go with your brothers—which is more dangerous than I can even stand. If I had my way, I’d have you go into the office today.”
“You’re talking to me about danger?” Gabe pulled away. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting you go by yourself!”
“We need to get going.” Levi, clearly uncomfortable, stood to go. “Lauren, I’ll call you from the site and we’ll go through every detail. Gabe—you sure you don’t want to come?”
Gabe didn’t look at him. “I’ll call you in a little bit.”
I waited until Levi had escaped to start yelling. “Gabe, you can’t do this.”
“I can’t let you get kidnapped is what I can’t do!”
“That’s not going to happen—I won’t be by myself, and you know it. Levi and Ash will be there with a whole team. And the FBI.” My stomach rolled when I thought about how far we were straying from Li Na’s directives. “We’re already compromising Hannah’s safety. Please let this go.”
“You think I can just let you go? And hope you live long enough to get dropped off at home afterward?” He leaned back against the counter and glowered at me. “You’re not doing this to me again.”
“You’re right—I’m not!”
“We got lucky in Menlo Park—lucky that Timmy was strong enough to break that guard’s neck!”
“Stop. Just…stop.” Exasperation bubbled inside me, and I fought to calm down. I didn’t have the strength to fight him at every turn. “I’m not doing anything, except exactly what your security team’s telling me to do! I know you just want to protect me, and I love you for it. But love me enough to trust me. Please.”
“I’ve gotten burned by that before. Several times, babe.” His voice had a dangerous edge.
He wasn’t budging an inch, and it felt as though I were slamming my head into a brick wall by continuing to argue with him. “I understand your position,” I finally said. That was as close as I could come to a compromise.
“Then accept it. I’m not staying here while you go meet with Li Na’s armed guards. Not. Going. To. Happen.”
I considered slamming into the Brick Wall of Gabe one last time, but I needed to conserve my energy for Hannah’s sake. “Fine. You can follow me to Oakland—but only if that’s okay with Levi, and only if you pull off way before we get to that office park. Wait for me there. And you have to bring guards.” The last thing I wanted was Li Na’s henchmen getting their hands on Gabe.
He scrubbed his hands against his stubble. “That’s not good enough.”
“It’s going to have to be good enough! Your brothers and a whole SWAT team are going to be there, watching, waiting for something to go wrong. I’m already compromising Hannah’s safety. You can’t keep pushing me.” I buried my face in my hands, shaking with anger. At Gabe. At myself. At Li Na. Fucking Li Na.
Maybe I would be able to live with myself if I ordered a hit on her.
Gabe came closer, pulling me to him. We were both angry, but we still clung to each other.
“I’ll call Levi and talk to him about it. But you have to promise me, Lauren.”
I buried my face in his chest. “Promise you what?”
