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One that buzzed with anticipation and excitement and amusement.
Asshole.
“Need you here with me,” Maverick said unapologetically as he followed directly behind me.
I didn’t respond because I knew what he meant, just as I knew I hadn’t been. I just left the room and quickly continued down the hall toward where Dare stood. Perfectly positioned in this large house so he could see if anyone came in from the front or back doors.
It also put him directly in front of the stairs.
But I didn’t look up them. I just rolled my neck as adrenaline started mixing with everything else and kept my steady gait, listening to Dare’s hushed updates as we passed him.
“Conor’s protecting the kids. Kieran and Jess haven’t been seen since her brother showed. Einstein said the window’s still clear.”
“Pancakes,” I said when he was done, nodding as I did. “Pancakes when I show Mav up.”
Dare just released an irritated sigh, but there was no mistaking the relief behind it.
Hurrying past the large main room of the house, we moved to one of the front-facing rooms and slipped inside. Keeping the lights off, we started toward the windows we would climb out of.
“Déjà vu,” I murmured with a hushed laugh.
“Yeah, except this time, we don’t have to worry about the rockstars.”
I straightened from where I’d been gripping the bottom of the window and turned on my brother. “Yeah, and you cheated that night. You said ‘no guns,’ and what’d you use?”
Maverick’s head dropped back with an irritated sigh. “His gun. His. The asshole had a suppressor,” he claimed, reverting to his favorite argument.
I pointed at him and echoed, “Cheated.”
“If I say I cheated, can we finally do our jobs?” Maverick asked as he pushed in closer to the window. When I just shrugged, he leaned close, voice dropping to a grave rumble. “You alive, man?”
“I’m fucking alive.”
Maverick’s head bobbed a few times before he pled, “Keep it that way.”
The small beginnings of a smile started tugging at the corner of my mouth as I reached for the bottom of the window again, stopping when Maverick grabbed my shoulder.
“That girl your heart’s so twisted up over? The one you’re so worried about?” he began, waiting just long enough for thoughts of Willow to slam into me. Clashing with all that adrenaline and anticipation, creating the worst kind of chaos. “These assholes are here for her. So stop them from getting in.”
Stop them from getting in.
Stop them from getting to Willow.
Funny how my every thought today had been centered on that girl, dizzying me up and distracting me. Pulling me away from where my focus needed to be. But with the perfect storm of emotions clashing in my veins and a few perfectly timed words, it all fell into place with an eerie sort of calm.
Dare said I would be able to focus on my job because Willow would be safe—I would’ve made sure of it. This...this was how I made sure of it.
Stop them from getting in.
And that’s exactly what I planned on doing.
I’d never asked Maverick what it was like for him when we went into any kind of mission. Even though he’d been a sniper in the military and had been the Borello’s sole assassin for nine of the fourteen years we’d been in this life, he’d always been quiet about this part of it.
Then again, when it was all said and done, I was too.
We’d joke to alleviate the darkness of our world but never went into detail about what it was like during. Because there was something about taking a person’s life that did things to your soul.
Dark, damaging, irreversible things.
