Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“Gotdammit!” I screamed, slamming my phone down in the security room.
“Whoa there, girl,” Jeremiah said, his hands stretched out toward me.
I rolled my eyes. We were all about to leave the building for the day, but I still couldn’t get in touch with Steven. I was starting to worry. He’d sent my call straight to voicemail each time I’d tried to reach him.
“He’s still not answering,” I told the guys, and they started out the door. “I’m sure Bryan has already contacted him about what happened, though.”
I tried to convince myself, but a heaviness settled in the pit of my stomach. Something was wrong. All the shit Steven was involved in. And with someone trying to kill him, made my mind work overtime.
I rushed down to the elevator, willing my limbs not to break out in a run. If the guys sensed my urgency, they would know something was up and want to help.
“Let’s go home, boys.” I pasted a smile on my face. “Looks like we might have a free night. The boss is MIA.” The fakeness of my celebration was hollow even to my own ears. I refused to meet anyone’s gaze as we piled into the elevator.
“The local police will take care of the intruder,” Dennis said. “Don’t worry about it.” His eyes were always on me, worrying about my connection with Steven.
“Since he’s in their custody, it’s out of our hands anyway,” Aaden chimed in.
“Thank God for that,” Alex said. “I’m so tired of chasing these idiots.”
He’d been quiet for most of the ride down. And I’d been worried that one of those idiots had finally gotten to Steven. When the elevator opened, I was on the verge of sprinting to my car and heading over to Steven’s house, but instead, I strolled calmly to my Soul, waving bye to the guys.
Unlocking my door, I slumped behind the wheel, pretending to be preoccupied with one of the apps on my phone so no one would know I was having a breakdown.
I rested my head on my seat when I was sure everyone was in their cars and pulling out of the place.
I blew out a breath to release my frustration and worry.
“Fuck, Josh,” I gasped. “Why the fuck hadn’t I thought of him before?” Quickly scrolling through my contacts, I pushed the call button.
“Hello?” A groggy, familiar voice came through my earpiece.
“Josh, it’s Tisha. Is everything alright?”
He yawned. “Yeah, everything’s good. Why? What happened?” he asked.
I made my way out of the garage. “I’ve been trying to call him. It keeps going to voicemail.”
“He’s fine. I dropped him off about two hours ago. What happened?”
Navigating through traffic, I thought about what to tell him. There was nothing he could do.
“We caught an intruder today and turned him over to the police. He’s not talking, but I got the feeling he was casing the joint.”
“Tell me.” His gruff voice was clearer.
“We were checking out the new security cameras and decided to do a run-through to hash out the blind spots.” I explained everything before and after the chase, then about me wanting to give Steven a heads-up about it before he was contacted by police and how I couldn’t reach him.
“That’s when I decided to call you,” I concluded as I pulled into the parking lot of my building.
“Don’t worry about it,” he grunted. “I’ll ride up there to the house and let him know.”
“I’d appreciate it. I’m going to see if I can get him one more time,” I said, getting out of my car and heading to my apartment. “Thanks, Josh.”
“Yeah.” He hung up.
Exhaustion hit me like a wave when I opened my door and stepped inside. I hadn’t realized how worried I was about Steven. More proof I was in over my head when it came to him.
I undressed and headed straight for the bathroom, dialing Steven’s number along the way. It rang four times before the voicemail picked up, and I decided to hang up and get into my hot shower.
My phone roused me from my sleep. “Tisha, pack a bag and get to the private airport.”
He hung up before I could ask him any questions. Three in the morning glared at me from the green fluorescent light on my digital alarm clock.
“Fuck,” I whispered. This was another one of Steven’s late-night-slash-early-morning getaways “to keep his enemies on their toes.”
Throwing the covers back, I begrudgingly climbed out of bed.
We hadn’t done one of these overnight undercover things in forever.
Quickly stuffing clothes in my overnight bag, I dragged a pair of slacks and a blouse from the closet.
The heels would have to wait. I stuffed those in the bag and slipped my feet into my flats.
“Earwig, ammo, Glock.” I ticked off the things I needed. “Toiletries.” With everything in its place, I grabbed up my bags and headed out to my car.
NEW YORK
“I don’t like this.” I scanned the area as we walked into the high-rise hotel located on Broadway. “There are too many access points. Too many places to hide.”
“You worry too much, Tisha,” Steven grunted.
We made our way through the lobby and to the front desk to check in. I would have preferred to use the back way, but for all his secrecy, Steven liked to make an entrance. I rolled my eyes as I shuffled to the end of the front desk to check in with the guys.
“Jeremiah.” I touched the earwig to make sure it was nestled in my ear tightly. “Alex. Check in.”
“On the top floor of the parking deck now. We’ll work our way back down and check again, but it’s virtually empty at this time of morning,” Jeremiah reported.
“Aaden. Dennis. Check in,” I whispered into the mouthpiece, waiting for one of their voices to sound through my earpiece.
“Got the roof covered. Nothing out of the ordinary,” Dennis stated. “But if I was trying to take someone out, this is where I’d place my sniper’s nest. A lot of unobstructed angles.”
“Shit, guys, I don’t like this,” I stated to my team. “What about the buildings across from this one?”
“Those are good. They’re too low to shoot down on a target. The shooter would easily be seen.”
“Good, you guys do one more sweep and call it,” I ordered.
Steven checked in, pocketed one of the keycards, and gave me the remaining cards for the team when he approached.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, but didn’t show any concern.
“No. I told you, I don’t like this place.
And what happened at Transient yesterday…
” I let my statement trail and eyed him, daring him to say I was overreacting.
By now, he’d heard what happened from Josh and Bryan.
I had a sneaking suspicion this last-minute trip had a lot to do with that security breach.
We still hadn’t had a chance to really talk about the incident or our relationship or whatever the fuck it was.
When we traveled like this, he always booked rooms for us on the same floor as him.
It didn’t matter if they were occupied by other people or not.
He walked in, booked the rooms, and two hours later, because he was Steven Smith, people were relocated or outright left the hotel disgruntled.
None of it mattered to him. He was a surly son of a bitch, uncaring and unloving, so it would seem at times.
But then there were the times we spent together; I saw a softer side to him every night.
The way he ghosted me yesterday had me feeling like we were back at square one.
I wondered why he’d show me his secret room and explain to me the family heirlooms.
Pushing all the doubts to the back of my mind for later, I gave one last order to the team. “Meet me in room 1824 when you finish your second sweep,” I said. “McLean out.”
I disconnected from the guys and followed Mr. Smith to the bank of elevators where three other people waited. When the first set of elevator doors opened, I followed Steven in, putting my hand up to stop the others from riding up with us.
“I’m sorry.” I gazed at each person. “Wait for the next one.”
A younger man dressed in casual clothing moved like he would push by me but thought better when I revealed my Glock strapped to my side. I hated when motherfuckers thought because I was a woman, I was a pushover. He threw his hands up and stepped back so that the doors could close.
A firm hand gripped my shoulder as soon as we were alone. I didn’t resist and faced him, loving the feel of his arms wrapped around me.
“Come to my room later, after you do your rounds.” His bulge was against my thigh as he towered over me, those stormy eyes hooded.
The affection was short-lived. I was positive he didn’t feel the way I did.
It was apparent to me now, but I couldn’t help who my heart loved.
The decision to leave weighed heavy on me and had for a while.
Not because he’d done anything wrong, but because I didn’t know where we stood.
Even though I loved him, I wished I had never met him.
It would have saved me a whole lot of heartache.
He trusted me to protect his body, but not his heart.
This trip was about protecting his life.
He briefly mentioned on the plane that he was meeting with Tony St. Clair and Martin Wright, titans in the tech business.
Steven talked about going legit, which I took as a joke.
There was no way he’d be able to do that.
The cruelty was ingrained in him, and there was no real reason why he would.
He had everything he could ever want. But if Steven was serious, he would need those two and their advice to get it right.
Part of me wanted this new endeavor to work out for him because I saw how the life he led had taken a toll.
It was getting harder for him to keep his current reputation.
The other part of me shattered because it meant once he was legit, he wouldn’t need my team or me anymore—a sobering, conflicting thought.
“I will. Later,” I promised when we arrived on our floor.
I drew my gun when the elevator doors opened. Steven knew the drill, even if he didn’t care for it. He waited as I stepped out to make sure the hall was clear. Moving down the hall one way and then walking up the other, I checked every nook and cranny. I counted the number of doors on the floor.
Four of the rooms belong to us, the others would be searched once Steven was in his room and the rest of the team was on the floor.
“Clear,” I yelled over my shoulder and waited for him to step out of the elevator.
We quickly walked to his room. I turned my back to him while he unlocked the door, continuing to scan the area. I couldn’t shake the heavy feeling in my gut.
Before he went into the room, I pushed past him to investigate, and once I determined it was safe, I waved him inside, holstering my weapon.
“Stay away from the windows if you can.” I closed all the drapes. “Don’t go out onto the balcony and don’t leave this room unless you are with one of us,” I demanded.
“Where are you going?” he asked when I marched to the door with the intent of going to my room.
His voice had always done crazy things to me.
I was instantly wet and hated the effect.
I didn’t turn around because I knew if I locked eyes with his, my reserve would melt, and I’d be putty for him to mold anyway he wanted.
“I’m going to make my rounds. I said I’d be back later,” I threw over my shoulder, turning the handle of the door and escaping before he could say another word.
Tonight would be the night I finally tell him no. Tonight was the night I’d finally tell him he could no longer have my body. This trip to New York would be my final destination as head of security for Mr. Steven Smith, assuming we could keep him alive.