“You don’t want to do this. Let him go now and we’ll let you leave with the Horn.”
Vince snorted. “You play the part of the devoted boyfriend so well, Percy, I almost believe you. But Quinn and I both know you’d never compromise your mission that easily. Which is why I’m going to take the Horn and Mr. Taffet as an insurance policy.”
“No fucking way—”
“You don’t get to say no to me! I’m the DEA!” Vince screeched. His jaw tightened, and he angled his weapon toward Quinn. “Now get me into the vault with the goddamn Horn.”
“The Horn’s not even in the vault anymore, you idiot,” I said disgustedly. “Weeks of work figuring out how to get into it, and Tommy moved it to a display case so he could show it off to his guests after the ceremony.” I hooked a thumb over my shoulder to the shelf where Tommy had put the decoy Horn. “If you’d just come here with a warrant—”
Vince’s eyes flashed to the shelf and showed a split second of relief before focusing back on me. “Do I look like I need a warrant? I’m far more powerful without one. Now hand the Horn to me. Slowly.”
Without taking my eyes or gun off him, I reached back and fumbled open the display box so I could grab the Horn. “Take it,” I said softly, holding it out to him. “My client’s reputation isn’t worth anyone’s life.”
Vince’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at my easy compliance, because the Percy Champion he’d known—the Champ who hadn’t known what it felt like to have given his entire heart to one small, sassy, lovable wedding planner with a fondness for stolen T-shirts—would’ve been far more conflicted about giving up a piece of leverage like that, even under these circumstances.
Quinn found his voice, and scared as he was, my gorgeous man did what he did best—he adapted and improvised on the fly to seal the deal. “No! Champ, don’t do that! I don’t believe a word he says. That information is important—”
Vince grabbed the Horn and jammed it in his jacket pocket. Then he moved his free hand up to clamp around Quinn’s throat, cutting off his words. “Shut up, you little fool. You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. You should have agreed to work with me from the beginning. What the hell do you think some Podunk private security firm in rural Tennessee can do with this information that a DEA agent can’t? Give me a fucking break.”
“Let him go,” I said again through clenched teeth. “You have what you came here for. If you leave on your own right now, I won’t even try to stop you, and I’ll tell my men to stand down too.” I lowered my voice an octave. “But I promise, I will hunt you to the ends of the Earth if you harm one hair on his head.”
Vince tightened his hand, and Quinn whimpered softly. “Aww. You know, I’m actually starting to believe you give half a shit about this guy, Percy. How sweet. You always did have a soft spot for little nothings, didn’t you?”
“You mean, like you?”
Vince’s nostrils flared, but he managed a smirk. “It was more than a soft spot with me. You loved me.”
I huffed out a humorless laugh. I didn’t want to antagonize Vince, but in case things went sideways, I needed Quinn to know the truth. “I didn’t know what love was when I was with you. I know what it is now. And I know I’ll do anything to keep it.”
My voice didn’t sound normal to my ears. There was a dull rushing noise from the blood thundering through my veins, and my vision was literally tinged red with the need to do violence. Shit was about to get real because I couldn’t stand to see Vince’s hands on Quinn for much longer.
“Anything, hmm? Then you’ll let us walk away,” Vince countered. “Mr. Taffet and I are going to go for a little ride, that’s all. I’ll let him go once I know I’m not being followed.”
“Take me instead,” I offered. “Let Quinn go. I’ll put down my gun, and you can—”
Vince laughed. He sounded truly deranged. The man I’d once known was nowhere to be found. “You want to spend some alone time with me? Then you should’ve taken me up on my dinner offer a few weeks ago. Now take a giant step back, Percy. Good, good. And lay that gun gently on the floor.”
There was no way I was going to let him move Quinn to another location, but I also couldn’t shoot Vince or even get close enough to tackle him without risking Quinn until we were upstairs.
I knew my team had to be thinking the same thing because when Vince pulled Quinn out the door and shuffled him down the narrow hall, none of them jumped out to disarm him. Vince dragged Quinn up the stairs, and I followed, trying to reassure Quinn wordlessly that we weren’t gonna let him be taken.