Whoever was in the kitchen could be anyone, but my gut told me it was our man. I set Tony down and told him to stay put. Whether he did so was anyone’s guess. Using signals we’d developed long before, Dax and I made our way down the hall, carefully checking each room. When we reached the kitchen, we each took a position on opposite sides of the door.
Just like before, I did a countdown, and we both stepped into the room, weapons leveled directly at the man who stood at the counter.
He set down his glass and smiled. He had a weapon of his own, and it was trained on me.
“Think you can shoot before I take you down?”
“There are two of us, so you’re dead either way.”
“Would your precious brother really want to lose you, though? Would your dear cousin want that on his conscience?”
Dax snorted. “Maybe I’m ready to get rid of him and move up in the family.”
That was Dax’s way of telling me he was going to take the shot. He had damn fine aim, but I wished I knew what he was going for. Ideally, we wanted the guy alive. We needed to question him. Potential scenarios raced through my head in the second I had.
Dax pulled the trigger. I dove for the floor as I realized his shot had hit the man’s hand. The man’s gun fell to the floor. I grabbed it and took out one of his kneecaps. He collapsed to the floor, screaming.
I stood up and kicked him in the stomach. “Shut up, or it’s your balls next.”
“You’re a whiny little bitch to do the job you do,” Dax said, foot hovering over the man’s injured knee.
“Stop!” the man yelled as Dax started to put pressure on the wound.
I laughed. “You must really be used to people doing what you say.”
The man tried to kick me with his good leg, but I dodged him easily.
Dax shook his head. “That was weak. Obviously, you’re expendable.”
“We’d probably be doing his family a service by getting rid of him. Too bad it can’t be that easy.”
“Quit playing games with me.” The man had regained some of his composure. “You’re already dead just for touching me and so’s your little bitch at the library. How stupid is he anyway?”
This time I did kick him in the balls. He screamed, curling in on himself. I grabbed him, yanking him up onto his knees, knowing it would hurt like hell. I shook him, ready to slam him against the wall, but Dax pulled me off him.
“Let me take care of this. I’ve got two men on the way.”
I struggled against Dax’s hold for a moment before I let go, and the man slumped to the floor.
I took a step back and blew out a long breath. “I should be here too.”
“You know I’m good at this. I’ll be fine without you.” He was right. Interrogation was his specialty.
“You’re too involved.” He pulled me farther away from the man who was moaning, curled in a ball on the floor. “It’s lunchtime. Go check on Julian. That’ll make you feel a lot better than this.”
I wasn’t sure. Torturing this motherfucker would make me feel pretty damn good. I paused to picture Julian in my mind. I thought of kissing him, pulling him into the storage room, and sucking him as he whimpered and moaned. I would get to see the sweet look of ecstasy on his face when he came. Yeah, that sounded fucking perfect. I whistled for Tony, and he came running.
20
Julian
The meeting with the donor started off rocky. I was nervous as hell and shaken up from all that had happened in the prior twenty-four hours. But once I got started on the tour of the various archives, my words started to come more smoothly. I truly wanted this man to love the library the way I did, so I didn’t have to fake my enthusiasm.
When I finished the tour, I showed him some of the specific items in my archive, then the library director arrived, and I introduced them before they headed out to lunch. The moment the door closed behind them, I sagged against my desk. I was exhausted. I usually just ate lunch in the break room and came right back, but today I was contemplating taking a nap and letting Gwen cover for me.
When I looked up, I jumped. She was standing by my desk.
She studied me with narrowed eyes. “What’s up with you today?”
“What? Nothing I… um… I just didn’t sleep well.”
She peered at my face. “Are you wearing makeup?”
“What? No.” I’d been worried about the dark circles under my eyes from the long night, and Lance had insisted on making me look better. He’d sworn no one would notice.
“Yes, you are.”