AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I gave a slow nod. “And I’m going to need money to do it. Lots of it. Now, about that advance.”
EIGHT
Vivienne
I tried not to look at the clock, but it was hard. Especially when the entire room went deathly quiet, then one by one turned their heads to the ticking time bomb in the room before glancing at the empty doorway. I grabbed the lightweight Kevlar vest Guild had found for me and pulled it on, securing it at my sides.
Carven walked over and checked the fit, his fingers grazing the side of my breast in the process. That ravenous stare found mine before he licked his lips. “You trust me, right?”
I flinched. “Of course.”
He gave a slow nod.
“Hey.”
He lifted his gaze.
“There is no one else I’d go in there with. I need you savage, Carven. I need you so fucking savage that there is no way we can’t come out of that hell without him.”
“And you…” he added.
And you…I swallowed and turned away. But I couldn’t escape. He stepped in my way, gripping my chin and forced my gaze to his. “And you,” he demanded.
“And me,” I whispered, knowing deep down that if it came to me escaping or Colt, that it’d always be him.
Strength filled me. No, not just filled me, it consumed me. I knew I’d survive. I’d done it once. I could do it again. Still, I couldn’t let Carven know that. I needed him to fight, because that was the only thing that’d save us.
“We go in quiet, find him, and bring him out, okay?”
I searched his eyes. “Okay.”
He nodded. “Okay.” Then he glanced at the clock on the wall, the one which said it was well after four in the afternoon. “We can’t wait around.” He stepped toward the heavy duffel bag filled with weapons. “We need to leave and get ready.”
“You heard what he said, Carven.” The unknown leader shook his head.
“Harper, if I waited around for London every time he asked me to, I’d constantly have my dick in my hand.”
“Is that so?” London muttered as he walked into the study, his arms full of large boxes. “Then I guess you won’t have room in your hands for these.”
Carven spun, eyeing what he was carrying. “Jesus. Is that?”
“Fuck me, London.” Harper moved forward, grabbing the boxes from his arms and turning them over. “These must’ve cost you a fortune.”
“One hundred thousand for all four actually,” he muttered, glancing my way.
A look crossed his face. One filled with desperation and disappointment. The others were oblivious, their focus on the night vision goggles he’d handed out like they were candy. But I saw him. I saw the man under the mask. The one he hid from everyone else. The real him.
“These are nice.” Carven yanked a set on and pressed a button.
Harper and Guild were both consumed by their brand new toys, so much they didn’t even see London as he turned and strode from the room. But I couldn’t look away. I followed him to the kitchen. But he wasn’t interested in anything to eat or drink.
No, he stood at the sink and stared out the window.
“I’d hoped to save you from this,” he said.
I moved behind him, sliding my hand down his powerful forearm as he gripped the edge of the sink. “You can’t,” I answered, and that knowing feeling unfurled inside me. “No one could. This was inevitable.”
He turned, looking down at me. “It didn’t have to be.”
