Pierce
All that nonsense Thea spouted about not being able to sleep beside her is one hundred percent accurate.
At least it is tonight. On the ship, we had no other choice, and I rationalized it was my only chance to get my eight hours and thirty-seven minutes, so I put my brain in agent mode and prioritized that above my proximity to her.
Now she’s in my head. She’s got me thinking… feeling. The tightness in my chest, the painful thumping of my heart, and worst of all, the three inches separating my hand from hers beneath the covers…
It’s agonizing.
I’m aware of every move she makes. The pace of her breath, the sweet smell of her skin.
At some point she’ll end up cuddling me like she does every night, but it hasn’t happened yet, and I’m…
going to explode waiting for it. She snuck into my life and ruined all my routines, and now I can’t sleep without her. She’s broken me.
I throw my feet off the bed and stand up, putting as much space between us as possible.
Good thing I caved and took her to a nicer hotel, because it looks like I’m sleeping on the floor tonight.
I grab an extra pillow and blanket from the closet and drop them on the carpet.
It’s going to kill my back, but it will be worth it.
I’ll focus on that pain instead of the ache in my heart.
At least I can take a full breath down here.
Thea makes a small whine in her sleep, and I go still, listening.
Is she scared? Does she need me?
What kind of thought is that? I’m going to get her home, and she’s going to be fine. This mission will be over soon, and I need to get over her.
I close my eyes, force my breathing to slow, relaxing my shoulders as I do. Sleep doesn’t come easy. Eventually, like an answer to a prayer, it comes.
A sound startles me awake. I sit up, confused for a moment why I’m on the floor.
I hear the sound again. Someone’s trying the door handle.
Someone found us. I shoot to my feet, careful not to make a sound.
Tiptoeing to my bag, I retrieve the gun Noah left in the car for me. I sneak to the door and look through the peephole at someone covered head to toe in black. They play with a few hotel keys, attempting to find the right one.
I rush to the bed and shake Thea awake. “Get in the bathroom.”
“Pierce?” She blinks. “Wha—?”
“Someone is here. Go to the bathroom and lie down in the tub. Now.”
She nearly falls out of bed and staggers on shaky legs to the bathroom.
The door beeps, and I move into position behind it.
It’s quiet for a long moment as the intruder holds the handle down, waiting.
The door opens slowly, light from the hallway seeping in with him, outlining his shadow on the floor.
He looks toward the bed, but can’t see it unless he rounds the small partition.
He takes a step inside, and I make my move.
I grab his head, slamming it on my leg as the door falls shut.
He drops to his knees, catches my hand, and yanks, flipping me onto my back. The air evaporates from my lungs, and I don’t have time to catch my breath before he jumps on top of me, his fist crashing into my cheekbone.
My gun slips from my hand, and I bring my arm up to protect my face.
He punches my ribs instead. Pain shatters my side as stars blur my vision. I get my knee into his hip and try to shove him off, but he stays put.
His hands clamp around my neck, and fury fills my veins. I punch his stomach hard enough to make him loosen his hold, and I drag in a ragged breath. I don’t have time for another before his hands are back around my neck.
I stretch for the gun, but it’s too far, and my head is heavy. I’m losing.
No.
I can’t let Thea down. I can’t let anyone else hurt her.
I jab my fingers into his eyes at the same time something crashes on his head. My fingers go in farther than I planned, and the man releases my neck with a scream. It’s enough for me to put him on the ground. I dig my knee into his back and look up at the perplexing woman.
“What are you doing out here?” My eyes rake over Thea, ensuring she’s unharmed in the dim light filtering out from the bathroom.
“Helping.” She holds up a hairdryer. “No offense, but it sounded like you were getting your butt kicked.”
“So you came out with a hairdryer?” She is unbelievable. I snatch the dryer and use the cord to tie up the man’s hands.
“Well, I was hoping for a frying pan, but my options were limited,” Thea retorts, flicking on a light.
“The back of the toilet, Thea. Next time, go for that.” I curse under my breath. “You could have gotten yourself killed.”
“His eye… it’s…” Her legs shake, and she backs up, falling onto the bed.
I look at the man’s eye. It’s bulging and bleeding, and I think it’s turned wrong. The sight of it is unsettling, and I almost feel bad.
“Who are you?” I ask the man.
He sneers at me, then spits.
“Who sent you?”
He spits again.
My hands curl into fists. “That’s fine. I can figure out who you are.”
I reach for my phone, taking a picture of his face. Hopefully, Noah can run it through facial recognition in this state.
I grab the man’s throat. “Who are you working for?”
He blinks, and blood spills down his cheek, dripping into his mouth. I suppress a gag.
“I work for no one,” he says.
A freelancer. “I don’t have the drive. If you could tell all your buddies that would be super helpful.”
He spits again, this time in my face. I pull back slowly, wiping at my cheek.
“How did you find me?”
At this, the man smiles. He’s a professional. Nothing I say will get him to confess.
“Thea, grab your bag; we need to move.”
Thea sits up slowly, and the man’s eyes narrow in on her. Well, one narrows—the other one bulges. His lips curve in a sneer. “I wouldn’t trust her. She’s dangerous.”
“What?” Thea clenches the comforter until her knuckles turn white. “I’m n-not—”
“You—”
I shove a towel in his mouth until he gags.
I’m not going to let him scare her anymore.
I ransack his pockets, only finding a burner.
I stick it in my pocket and drag his body to the closet.
It’s a fight, and I’m sweating by the time I get the door shut on his muffled yell.
I wedge a hanger through the knob to keep it locked.
I return to Thea, who still hasn’t moved. Her face is pale, and she's breathing fast. She's on the verge of hyperventilating. “What did he mean?”
“He’s just trying to mess with me.” That’s all it is. One spy to another, recognizing the other’s weakness. I turn on the TV, not too loud to wake everyone up and alert the front desk, but loud enough to muffle the yelling for at least a little while.
I quickly gather our stuff, then put a do not disturb sign on the door as I motion her out of the room.
“What if he’s not?” Her voice catches as she follows me into the stairwell.
We don’t have time to stop, but I do. I know that out of everything that’s happened, what scares her the most is the concern that she’s ‘bad’.
Maybe it was her boyfriend breaking up with her, or her expectation to take care of her father by herself, but she holds herself to a standard of perfection she never allows herself to reach.
I turn around, boxing her against the wall, forcing her to confront this. “Are you dangerous?”
She shakes her head, blinking back tears. “I-I don’t think so.” A tear slips down her cheek, and I brush it off with my thumb.
“That’s good enough for me.”
She bites her bottom lip. “But—”
“Trust me, the only thing dangerous about you is the way you make me feel.”
Her desperate eyes lock on mine, and I see a thousand emotions pass through those baby-blues. As much as she wants to fix me, I want this for her. For her to trust herself. Finally, her head bobs, and she whispers. “Okay.”
I grab her hand and haul her out of the hotel to the car. She may be dangerous for me, but I’m keeping her.