Chapter Forty
CHAPTER FORTY
COLTON
I finish the last of my paperwork for the club along with a few things I needed to do for this next op, and lean back from my desk. Looking out the one-way glass at the club down below, I mindlessly watch as the staff sets up chairs for tonight’s show.
I still can’t believe Leena came here last night.
And even though she told me she enjoyed it, that was a huge fucking risk. Why did I do that?
Did I want to scare her? Maybe. That would be so much fucking easier. Having her and the guys kick me out would honestly solve all my problems. Because being around Leena, and not being allowed to touch her, is fucking tearing me to pieces.
But how broken would I be if I left?
Fuck, I’m ridiculous.
She’s just a girl. One who doesn’t belong to me. I can settle for us being friends.
I think she might be the best friend I’ve ever had.
And I just went and ruined fucking everything because I had the sudden urge to whip my dick out so I could determine once and for all if she finds me attractive.
So. Fucking. Stupid, Colt! Who cares if Leena thinks I’m hot if she never speaks to me again? But… she is attracted to me.
She absolutely is.
I may have been busy fucking Mia at the time, but I have security cameras all through this place. So, I couldn’t help but watch her face on the video feed after I sent the three of them home with my driver last night. I saw the way she squirmed in her chair. How she bit her lip when I… okay, enough of that.
I’m done with it.
Tomorrow, I’ll be getting on a plane to leave the country with Leena, my boss, and the entire team. I don’t need to spend a fifteen-hour flight thinking about her reaction to me.
I almost wish the first act would have scared her off, that way I would know for a fact that she’s not into this sort of thing. I could give up on the notion of kinky sex with Leena and wondering about all her fun facts . We could go back to being friends .
Yeah, fucking right.
“Fuck,” I groan into my palms. I’m shaking my head at my own stupidity when my phone vibrates on the desk in front of me.
“Fisher,” I say, not recognizing the number.
“Where are you?” Sebastian grinds out from the other side. The tone of his voice, and the fact that he’s using a burner phone, has me already heading for a weapon and the door.
“At The Club. What happened?” I bark out, stepping into the elevator. I switch him to speakerphone so I can pull up the app that remote starts the chopper.
It’s Luke who replies, “Chen called. Several vehicles with blacked-out plates are closing in on the penthouse. Chase and I just got all our gear dropped off for transport, we’re leaving the airport now. Twenty minutes out.”
“Fisher,” Sebastian speaks up, and I don’t like the tone in his fucking voice. “Leena’s there by herself.”
“Fuck!” My jaw clenches and I squeeze the phone so tight I’m surprised it didn’t break.
The second the doors open to the rooftop, I’m already fucking running.
—
I set the chopper down and see Leena’s bag sitting at the edge of the landing pad.
But where the fuck is Leena?!
Her ass should be out here, not her fucking bag.
I jump out, fuming as I run past it. I quickly unlock the gate that thank fuck I now have a key for, then run past the pool, throwing open the sliding doors as I make my way inside.
“Leena!” I fucking shout for her, my voice breaking.
“In here!” she calls out from their bedroom. I run down the hall, skidding to a stop and nearly running into her. “I had to get their bags… their passports!” She looks up at me, frantic as she tries to drag three duffles out the door.
The relief of finding her alive, and still here, is quickly replaced by the urgency to get her the fuck out. Our guests will be here soon.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Give me those!” I say, throwing two of the duffles over one shoulder, grabbing the other and hauling Leena against me as I practically drag her down the hall.
That’s when I hear the elevator doors open.
“How did they bypass our security system?” Leena hisses, frantic.
“I don’t know.” I urge her toward the door, then pull out my SIG, placing myself between her and where someone is about to round the corner. I raise my weapon, but it’s not one person.
It’s too many to count.
I start firing.
“Leena, run!” I shout over the echoing cracks of firepower.
“Colton!” she yells back.
“Go! Now!” I grind out.
By the time my magazine is empty, I’m already slamming the sliders shut behind me. I loop the shorter straps of one of the duffles, the bag I know they don’t actually need , over the door handles and hope to fuck this glass is as bulletproof as they paid for.
I run, shoving through the gate as the sound of heavy fire against the glass continues behind me. It seems to be holding for now.
But I know it won’t for long.
“Get in!” I shout toward Leena, who is standing just outside the chopper. Thank fuck, she listens for once.
I hear the glass shatter.
Bullets begin to spray around me.
I keep the bags at my back, because they feel safe. But I know they won’t stop a bullet. Helpless, I run across the open rooftop toward the landing pad.
Toward Leena.
The fray continues, and my heartbeat grows heavy in my chest. The sound of the blades thrums in slow motion.
It’s at this moment I understand: I’m not going to make it.
My eyes drift down, watching my own footfalls as if I can will them to move faster. But they don’t. The bullets tear up the stone at my feet, and I feel completely empty.
Luke and Sebastian trusted me to save her.
I didn’t save her.
I failed.
“Agh!” I shout, stumbling forward. A sudden pressure at my hip throws me to my hands and knees. I don’t feel pain, not yet, but the burning heat causes a shudder to run through my entire body.
Between the numbing shock, the adrenaline coursing through my veins and the urgency to get Leena the fuck out of here, I somehow get to my feet. I keep moving forward, waiting for the next bullet to hit.
That’s when I hear a weapon go off closer. So much fucking closer.
I panic, but when I look up Leena has taken a knee just outside the chopper with an AK-47 against her shoulder as she fires on the men behind me.
The onslaught of bullets instantly stops while they take cover.
I watch the kickback of the weapon punch Leena’s shoulder, but she doesn’t let up, not even as I move past her and quickly toss the bags inside.
“Leena!” I shout, reaching my hand out to her.
Our eyes lock for a moment; hers determined, mine pleading. She takes my hand, and I practically throw her inside before pulling myself up with a pained grunt.
I slam the door shut and stumble to my seat, hoping that the bullets hitting outside don’t damage anything important.
“Fuck! Colton, are you hit?” Leena shouts over the noise of the engine.
“Headset on and strap in!” I tell her, pointing to the seat next to me.
“Colt!”
“Now!” I growl.
The second her belt clicks, I lift off faster than I ever have before, nearly throwing us over the edge of the building as bullets ricochet off the blades.
Once we’re a few buildings away, and the only noises I can hear are the muffled sounds of the chopper and our heavy breathing through the intercom, I reach out to switch the channel.
“I got her. We’re in the air,” I say.
“Thank fuck. She okay?” Sebastian asks.
“I’m okay, Seb. But–” Leena cuts off, her worried eyes studying me.
“But what?” he grinds out.
I give her a pointed glance, then answer, “But you’re going to have to tell your pool guy there might be some glass in there this week.”
“Fuck!” both men shout in my ear. I wince.
“I couldn’t agree more, but we’ll save story time for later. Now where are we heading, boss? You need a lift?” I ask quickly.
“No. Head straight for the cabin. We’ll gather the rest of the team and supplies and meet you there as soon as we can,” Luke says. “And Colton?”
“Yeah?” I say, making a tight turn to get us pointed in the right direction.
“Thank you,” he says.
I pause, hearing more relief in those two words than I’ve ever heard from him. But he shouldn’t thank me.
Not yet.
I shut off the radio and focus on my breathing as I double-check the instruments in front of me. I put in the coordinates for the autopilot, relieved the second it takes over.
Because I’m pretty sure I’ve been shot.