Xavier (Men of Forbidden Temptation Book 5)

Chapter 20

Fuck. I’m a dead man.Deader than dead, if that were possible. The clock on the end table reads 11:43 in its glaring red color that’s like a giant neon sign saying you fucked up.

I missed my daily morning check in with John this morning.

My phone continues to vibrate on my end table like it’s a vibrator turned on high. Grabbing my phone, I glance at the screen and let out a long groan.

Six missed calls and twenty unread text messages.

I stare at my phone as more text messages come through.

Is everything alright?

Do I need to send someone to check on you?

Is Brianna safe?

What’s going on?

Why aren’t you answering my calls or messages?

Elizabeth is worried sick.

I’m calling for backup if you don’t call me back in five minutes.

Make that two minutes.

I slowly get out of bed to not wake up Brianna and head out to the balcony to call John.

He answers on the first ring. “What the hell is going on down there?”

His tone is sharp and aggressive, like he’s been imagining the worst possible situations happening.

“Hey, John, I’m sorry for not checking in this morning. I couldn’t sleep last night, so I worked out for several hours, and didn’t go to bed until after four this morning. I guess it depleted my body because I just woke up.”

“I’m glad everything is alright down there because you had us worried.”

I run my hand through my hair and sigh. “I promise it won’t happen again, but you have to realize we aren’t on a normal work life cycle down here. Sometimes, we stay up late and sleep in because there is nothing for us to do while we wait.”

“Well, that’s part of the reason I was calling so much. I’m worried about Brianna’s safety. It’s not because I don’t think you are capable. I know you are, but because the two men got on a plane this morning headed for Jacksonville.”

Fuck. That’s not good and not a coincidence at all. I had to use my card for the hotel room both times.

Now they know we are here.

“I can leave Brianna at the house and meet the men at the airport to make them think I put her on a plane.”

John doesn’t hesitate. “No. Absolutely not. I don’t want you leaving her alone. She needs more protection now than ever before. Besides, they boarded hours ago. They are probably already in Jacksonville by now.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I shouldn’t have been so reckless and stupid. Now her life is in danger and I have no one to blame but myself.

“Keep me posted. I’ll have my phone on me at all times.”

“Same for you. Remember to shoot first and ask questions later.”

I give him a noncommittal grunt in response and get off the phone. I’m on edge and feeling a bit hungover.

Brianna and I drank way too much last night to have to wake up and deal with this shit.

Last night, though, it was all fun and games with the plan to sleep in and use the late check out I requested upon checking in.

We can still use the late check out, but as far as relaxing and taking our time getting home, that plan has gone out the window.

I head back into the bedroom, grabbing our discarded clothes on the way. Brianna is still asleep. I don’t even think she’s moved or turned over since I’ve been gone.

She looks so peaceful with her hair splayed across the pillow. I hate to wake her, but I know it’s for the best.

Grabbing my change of clothes from the duffle bag, I quickly dress and lay her clothes out on the edge of the bed before packing our clothes from yesterday.

Sitting on the bed next to her, I run my hand down her bare back.

She stirs slightly, so I trail my fingers up her spine before moving them down toward her bare ass.

Moaning, she rolls over, letting the sheet slip below her exposed breasts.

Fuck me. If I wasn’t in a hurry, I’d give her an orgasm or two before we had to leave.

Unable to resist any longer, I dip my head down and capture one of her nipples in my mouth.

She arches her back and reaches up to tangle her fingers in the back of my head.

Her voice is full of sleep and she mumbles, “God, Xavier, you are insatiable.”

Sitting back up, I glance at her. “I needed to wake you up, but I wanted to do it gently and easily. You tempted me with your beauty.”

“You weren’t gentle and easy a few hours ago.” She accuses with a grin on her face.

“You loved it, didn’t you?” I know I did. A lot. And I know she loved it too, or else she’s really good at faking it.

She sits up and glances at the clock. “I guess we need to check out soon. Do you want to join me for a steamy shower?”

I want to say yes.

I want to forget the real reason I had to wake her up.

But I can’t.

I shake my head and a frown forms on her face.

“No?” Her voice raises at the end in a surprise, like she can’t believe I would reject her.

I try to stay calm, but my heart is racing, and the blood is flowing straight to my dick. “Believe me, I want to join you in the shower. I want nothing more than to stay here and make you come over and over again.”

She reaches out to grab my hand. “But?”

There’s no good way to give her the news. I just need to spit it out and tell her. “We need to head back to the safe house as quickly as possible. There’s been a new development this morning.”

She practically shoots out of bed and throws her clothes on. “What happened? Based on your stern expression, I’m assuming it’s not good.”

“Well, it’s really my fuck up.” I pick up the duffle bag and head out to the living room.

“How?” Brianna asks before grabbing a croissant from the room service tray we ordered at three this morning.

“I had to use my card to pay for the hotel both times. They figured out who I was and that you are with me.”

She gasps and yells. “They hacked into your account and saw the charges for the hotel?”

“It’s really not that hard to do. We had a guy on our team that could get in and out of high security accounts without anyone knowing.”

She looks at me in disbelief.

“Believe me. Every country has great hackers, but that’s not the point.”

“Then what is?” she asks, while taking a bite of the fluffy pasty.

I don’t want to tell her I messed up beyond just using my card to pay for the hotel. That I worried her mom and dad.

But I have to.

“I missed the morning check in with your dad. I had a ton of missed calls and texts. He said the two guys boarded a plane this morning headed for Jacksonville. They may already be waiting outside. I don’t know. What I do know is that we need to go. Now.”

Brianna’s face pales as my words sink in, but her spitfire attitude comes barreling back front and center. “Now could be the time to end this. We can call the cops and tell them what happened.”

I shake my head as I head for the door. “No. No cops. We will handle this when and if we can safely.”

She whispers as we get into the elevator. “How? From where I’m standing, we are at a huge disadvantage. They know the hotel we are at and what we look like. We don’t even know what type of car they are driving.”

She’s got a point there. Not to mention that they probably got to St. Augustine hours ago and are staking out the hotel, but I’m not going to tell her that.

There’s no need to worry her.

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.” I don’t say anything else because there’s nothing more I can assure her of.

That much is true, but I can’t promise this will be over soon.

I can’t promise these guys will be arrested. I don’t even have handcuffs.

The only thing I can promise is to keep her safe.

We try to act normal as we exit the elevator and glance around at the empty lobby.

Brianna loops her arm through mine and whispers, “At least they aren’t in here.”

I keep my face neutral as we head to the reception desk.

“We’re checking out.” I say as I hand the woman the keycard to the hotel room.

“Did you enjoy your stay?”

Brianna answers for the both of us. “Yes. It was relaxing. Everything was great.”

Movement outside catches my eye, and I turn toward the automatic doors.

A delivery driver pulls up to the door and gets out of his van.

Brianna tugs on my arm and asks in a super sweet voice, “Ready, honey?”

I glance back to the receptionist before turning my attention to Brianna. “Absolutely. Let’s go.”

I steer clear of the delivery guy as we walk past and Brianna chuckles and whispers, “He’s not one of them.”

“You never know.”

Once we are outside, it takes our eyes a few moments to adjust. I shouldn’t have left my sunglasses in the car.

It only takes a moment to catch someone off guard and get the upper hand.

A moment like this would be ideal for them, but luckily, no one is out here waiting for us.

When we get to my car, I do a thorough inspection to make sure everything is safe.

“What could they have done? There are cameras everywhere around here, both inside and outside.”

“Every camera always has a blind spot. It would be too costly to cover every square inch of their property, so I’m checking for cut brake lines, potential problems with the tires, bombs-”

“BOMBS?!” she yells.

“Shh. You can’t just yell that word at will.”

She looks around the parking lot. Her face blushes with embarrassment. “Oh my God, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Come on. Everything seems to be fine. The sooner we get back to the house, the sooner we can relax.”

It seems too easy, though. If the guys know we are here, why aren’t they here waiting for us? Why aren’t they making themselves known?

Did they fly to Jacksonville to catch another flight?

Maybe they just wanted to get out of Scarlett Island.

Brianna’s voice brings me out of my thoughts. “Can we go to the farmer’s market on the way home? I think we deserve dessert after the morning we just had.”

“We still have your birthday cupcakes at the house.”

I glance at her, and she pouts. “Yeah, I know we still have my cupcakes, but they aren’t chocolate, and having to deal with this type of situation this early calls for chocolate.”

Relenting, I say, “Sure, but we have to make it quick because we don’t want them catching us off guard.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard because we know where the good dessert table is, and we can head straight there.”

“In and out, and then we will head home.”

A grin forms on her face as she leans her head back against the headrest and closes her eyes.

Home.

I love the way that sounds. Not that I think of the safe house as home, but the idea of going grocery shopping with Brianna and then heading to our house sounds nice.

Almost too nice. I can already picture life with her and that’s going to be an issue when this is over and she gets back to her life.

I put the car in drive and leave the hotel parking lot, turning right onto the main road to head toward the farmer’s market.

A white pickup truck also leaves the hotel parking lot, making my nerves stand on edge. It could be a coincidence, but given our situation, I’m not counting this out.

“I think we are being followed.” I say before turning right onto a side street.

Brianna sits up and turns around to look out the rear window. “Which car? The white truck that just turned?”

Looking in the rear-view mirror, I sigh. “That’s the one.”

Brianna slumps back in her seat, sounding defeated once again. “They found us.”