33. Chapter 32
Chapter 32
Liam
Well, this is a pleasant turn of events. I watch the feeds as Serena enters the room, Agent Harris guiding her. They might be fooling other people in the vicinity, but the two of them have the chemistry of goldfish. I’m not jealous. But I am highly entertained.
They stop right next to the Spartan box in the display.
What in the blazes?
Serena speaks to a woman, and then the woman leaves… only to return a few minutes later. The security guard clears the room and the three of them convene at the case.
This won’t do. I sigh. I knew it couldn’t be that easy. But the real question is why do they want the very thing I need?
The clock hits 1:03, and I stand. Time to go.
I count in my head as I make my way to the room. I only have four minutes, but I’ve got three more people in there than planned. I slip in through the back entrance to the room just as the lights go off. It takes point-two seconds for my night vision glasses to solve my problem and I tiptoe toward the center of the room .
“Liam?” Serena asks. I hate how worried she sounds, but soon she will have no reason to fear.
“What’s going on?” Agent Harris asks. He’s got his gun out, aiming it pointlessly in every direction.
“I’m not sure,” the woman with them says. “Wait, I’ve got a light.”
Better hurry. The case is open, and I reach for the box, right as Serena’s hand comes down on mine. She gasps, and in her momentary hesitation, I snatch the box and run. I don’t look over my shoulder, I don’t slow. I rush from the room and tear through the brightly lit hallway, straight for the service entrance, ripping off my glasses as I go. I know from previous experience there is a secret tunnel under this museum. Halfway toward the service entrance, I pop out a grate in the wall that will lead me right to it. But before I can go through, someone yanks me backward.
“That’s mine,” Serena says.
“Sorry, sweetheart. I need it.” I should run fast, but instead, my eyes rake over her to make sure she’s okay. Did she get enough sleep? Is she still cold?
“So do I.”
“Finders keepers.”
“This is not a game, Liam,” she says through clenched teeth. “How do you always do this? How do you show up in the worst places every time?”
“It’s a gift.”
Her eyes flash with anger, and it’s the only indication I get before her fist flies at my face. I dodge it. Barely.
I stand straight and shoot her a frown. “I thought we were making progress.”
“I thought so, too.” Another fist at my shoulder. This time I let her hit me. Maybe. “And then you left to go be a hero without even talking to me.”
“You missed me. You should have just said that.”
“I didn’t miss you.” She throws another fist, backing me into the wall. I grimace when my bad arm hits the brick. Her eyes widen in concern.
“Did I hurt you?”
I prefer fighting to coddling. “Of course not,” I lie, snatching her wrist, pinning it around her body as I spin her into me. Her back lands against my chest and for a split second, I allow myself to savor the feel of her like this. Because she’s never going to let me hold her again. She’s never going to see me again.
“I missed you, too,” I whisper into her smooth neck.
She jerks her foot toward my groin, and I jerk away, losing part of my grip on her. She stomps on my foot, and there goes the rest of my grip. She spins, kicking her foot to my face. I catch her leg near my ear.
“I’m starting to take this personally.” I drag my hand down her calf and curve her leg behind my back; she fights me the whole way. “Admit it, you love me.”
She gapes. “I do not.”
“Prove it,” I challenge. “Kiss me and don’t feel a thing.”
“It didn’t work the first time; it won’t work now,” she breathes, trying to pull out of my arms.
“It won’t?” I whisper, brushing my lips over hers with the words.
“No.”
I pause at the corner of her lips. “Then I guess I’ll take one for the team.”
I kiss her. And not like a man who should be on the run. I kiss her like a man with nothing to fear but everything to prove. I kiss her like I’ve never kissed anyone before. I think she’ll pull away, but she wraps her other leg around my waist, and I hoist her up, pressing her body to mine. She groans, and I spin, resting her against the wall. I want to drink her in, savoring the contradiction of her soft lips with her strong kiss.
I never stopped loving her. That much is clear now.
What else is clear is how I need to take this box to Sebastian before he comes looking for her. She needs to leave the country and get safe. She can keep my heart; it’s always been hers anyway.
I lean back, gazing into her dazed eyes. “I’m sorry, Serena.”
Her dark eyes search mine. “Why?”
“I’m sorry I’m not the kind of man you deserve.”
“I never said I wanted you,” she snaps and reaches for my pack. “I just need that box.”
“You snooze, you lose. ”
There’s more than annoyance in her eyes—there’s something like desperation, a hopelessness that feels personal. “No, Liam, you don’t understand. That video I was talking about… The evidence is in that box.”
The evidence?
That’s why they want the box. And her. They need to get rid of the evidence and the witness.
I curse. That changes everything. I run through my options. Either she can take it, and my grandfather dies, or I can take it and her life remains in danger. Because they’ll never stop hunting for the only person who knows the truth… but maybe she can get it to the right people.
“Cruz?” a voice calls, and I face the harsh reality of my situation.
Her partner is here. I have to go before he sees me. Serena needs him, not me.
I’ve failed her many times. I can’t do it again. I blamed myself when she disappeared the first time. If I hadn’t tried to kiss her under that willow tree, her grandmother wouldn’t have sent her away. Things could have been different for her.
I swallow the sudden lump in my throat and pull out the box. I put it in her arms before I can think better of it.
And I run as fast and as far from the failure that I am.