Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
The warehouse is much more ominous on the inside than it looked from the car. The dark space snaps closed around us the moment we step inside.
There’s a hum of electrical energy. It’s a familiar feeling from working labs, but this is not a sterile environment with gleaming surfaces.
This is controlled chaos in dark shades with a beehive of activity, all focused on packing equipment.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” I whisper to Justice, my eyes wide with amazement.
These people are serious.
Boxes are being sealed with military precision. Equipment is cataloged and loaded onto rolling carts. Low voices are coordinating the action, using some kind of tactical shorthand I don’t understand.
But every head turns whiplash-fast when we enter, and my feet trip over each other.
Well. That’s not embarrassing…
On all counts. Way to show up to the party. My face flames hot enough to power a small city.
Can they tell I just had the best orgasm of my life while bouncing atop the world’s hottest pogo stick in the backseat of a company car?
Lord. What has happened to my brain? Before Justice, I couldn’t have even had a thought like that.
He tugs my hand, urging me forward, and my movement feels completely uncoordinated. “Easy, it’s okay,” he murmurs.
Carefully moving with him into the hustle and bustle, I pray I don’t look too obvious.
My legs aren’t bowed. I hope. My eyes don’t feel like whirligigs, but who knows at this point.
Beast probably said something to the team, and then there’s Truck. He’s definitely looking at us funny, a slant to his mouth. He did give Justice the condoms before the mission, so I’m told, so he’s onto us for sure.
I should thank him, but I’m too embarrassed.
“Hey, what’s up?” Justice asks in his usual deep baritone. The timbre of it has the standard effect, a tremor deep inside cells that have previously been dormant.
A familiar face appears, the woman, Camile, Beast’s significant other. I met her at the hospital, and she’s a friendly face here, offering a small, knowing smile.
Relief settles in my stomach when I realize there’s no judgment. Just understanding between women who’ve fallen for dangerous men in unusual circumstances.
Some of my flaming, self-imposed agony abates.
“Welcome to the circus,” Camile says, walking over with a digital tablet in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. She offers me the water. “We’re relocating to safe house number two. Marshall’s orders, after getting some new intel. And by the way…”
She leans in so only I can hear her. “Your dress is on inside out.”
OH. My. Freaking. God.
Edging behind Justice, I smack my forehead. “Um, I got dressed in a hurry,” I whisper back.
“Here, I’ll show you the restroom room while they pack the rest of our stuff up.”
Justice squeezes my hip and kisses my knuckles before letting me go.
There’s an instant pool of warm sunshine around my heart.
Blushing hotly, I stammer, “I’ll be... be back.”
Heavens. What he can do to me with a touch. I’m already thinking about the next time we’re alone.
“Wow,” Camile says with a teasing grin as we round the corner to a narrow hallway. “That boy is smitten and you, my dear, look very satisfied.”
I clear my throat, mortification sticking there like a cotton swab. “He’s something,” I reply vaguely.
Something big and hard and totally unpredictable.
With a low laugh, she pushes open the restroom door, clears the room like some badass tactical operator, and tells me it’s all mine.
“I’ll wait if you want me to,” she offers, wearing a kind, sisterly expression that makes me feel warm for a different reason.
Huh. All kinds of things are happening to me now. Maybe people were like this before. Maybe I just missed their warmth because I was so in my own world, or maybe I’m in a whole new world with Justice and his team.
“I’ll be fine, promise. I need a minute anyway, if you get my drift.”
Her laughter trails behind her. “God, do I know. I’ve been there, babe.”
Before she disappears around the corner, she stops, her hand resting on her hip. “I feel like I should tell you something.”
Just her stance makes my heart drop.
“He’s already fallen for you, and I’m talking about the big L, not the little one. But he’s going to be like Beast and fight the internal battle, so get ready. Saddle up. It could be rough for a bit, but men like him love hard and it’s so worth the fight.”
I’m too struck by her words to reply. She finishes with a smile and spins on her heel, the fall of her red hair whipping behind her.
That drop my heart took was a doozy of a tumble that leaves an achy, nervous feeling in my stomach.
Love.
Love.
Wow. Okay. I’m flying blind with my limited knowledge of relationships, but I already know Justice is worth it.
I fall against the door when I close it, the cold metal pressing through the cheap dress. Truthfully, I’m still a little dazed, my pulse a little too fast from everything.
Each movement is a reminder of what happened in the car.
There’s a new kind of tenderness inside of me that I’ve never felt before. It’s delicious. I never want it to go away.
What would having Justice in my bed every night be like?
“Get a grip, girl,” I chide myself for even thinking what Camile just said is true. It’s too fast, right?
But I’m familiar with the chemical bonds in nature.
There’s something about him… the hard with the gentle. The protector with the locked-down heart.
I need to pinch myself, and definitely need to clean up. Although I hate to wash any of Justice’s scent off of me.
Okay. This is serious. I sound like a crazy person.
Bypassing the mirror, I head straight for the stall. But my thoughts refuse to stray from Justice.
Never before have I wanted to get below someone’s armor, to seek out any broken pieces and share the weight of their baggage, but with him, I’m in.
All in.
He hasn’t said anything about why he’s got scars on his heart, but his armored shield is visible even when he doesn’t want it to show.
I hurry and do my business, flip my dress right-side-out, wash my hands, and open the door. A rush of cool air makes me shiver as I walk down the dim hallway toward the others.
No one turns my way this time, so I hear the unfiltered conversation.
“I’m straight,” Justice rumbles, instantly catching my attention. “You deal with the package. The job is mine to finish.”
“So who’s taking the package?” Truck asks.
For a beat, there’s a tense discussion; finally, a man I don’t recognize says, “Put the package in truck one. I’ll drive it.”
After a few nods, the team disperses, and that’s when Justice notices me. “Hey, I didn’t know you were there. Are you okay?”
There’s a hardness to his expression that wasn’t there earlier. His tone strikes me as weird, too.
“Uh, yes. I can’t believe I somehow managed to get my dress on inside out, but thankfully, Camile told me.”
He’s busy doing something with his gun, an air of icy proficiency around him. “Guess my brain was scrambled; sorry, I should have caught that. Trust me, that’s not something the men here would notice. They’re in mission mode.”
When he finally meets my gaze, I see it… anger?
Tone clipped, he says, “I’m leaving in a few minutes. Evan is moving you.”
His chilling demeanor makes my body feel cold all over. The heat from earlier extinguished like I’ve been plunged in a dark, Irish lake.
I try to think of something to say, but fail miserably.
“Sorry to interrupt.” Camile approaches, but she must realize something’s up because she keeps a safe distance. “Rosalie, I’ll show you to the truck in a couple of minutes.”
Nodding, I try to look normal and appreciative that she’s graced me with that time.
“What’s going on?” I ask, my fingers kneading the fabric of the dress against my thigh. The very spot his hand was clutching me earlier.
Are his fingerprints still there?
With brutal proficiency, Justice finishes strapping on some kind of thing around his thigh. It looks serious. Like it could hold a weapon and some other things.
“We’re splitting up.”
Were we even together?
“I got that.” There’s an edge to my own tone that surprises me. “I just didn’t expect this to happen so quickly.”
“This is how it works. When the time is right, we strike. They’ll keep you safe.”
“Okay,” I take a step back unintentionally, a subconscious self-protective move. “But it’s you I’m worried about.”
His eyes flash, dark and intense, as they lock onto my face. “There’s no reason for you to worry about me.”
“Can I ask where you’re going?”
“Best not to.” He tightens a strap on a tactical vest he put on while I was in the bathroom. “You won’t like it if I tell you.”
“Why is that?”
He studies me for a second before taking a slow step toward me. When he stops, he’s towering over me, the hardness in his expression so different from anything I’ve seen before.
For a beat, we just look at each other, not blinking, barely breathing.
Is this the battle Camile warned me about? Because suddenly I feel like I’m in the midst of war.
I’m vibrating with a potent mix of emotions. Fear of what has triggered the team to take swift action. On top of that, there’s disappointment that Justice is leaving.
Where do we stand?
But he’s locked down so tight a thief wouldn’t be able to pick his lock.
When he steps in closer, not touching, he whispers darkly, “I can’t touch you right now. Go with the team. Keep your head down, do everything they say to do. I’ll meet you on the other side.”
The other side?
My stomach drops all the way. What does that mean?
A sharp whistle pierces the air.
“Move out!” It’s the guy who says he’s handling the package.”
“Am I the package, Justice?”
He hits some buttons on his watch, the dismissiveness of the motion shocking to me.
I’m breathing erratically when I speak: “I don’t know what happened while I was in that bathroom, but if it has to do with me, I deserve to know.”
“Your safety is the most important thing in this world. I’m going to ensure you stay safe with what I’m about to do.”
He steps back, lowering a baseball cap onto his head with a sharp motion, casting his eyes in complete shadow.
All the air leaves me when he turns and walks away, striding out the door, letting it slam in his wake.