28
Dax
“Are you always this touchy-feely?” Beverly asked Eduardo, one of the two targets we’d identified as our links to Santino.
Laura’s conversation buzzed in my ear, stopping me in my tracks. She’d been offered a golden ticket to the penthouse, and my heart sank because I knew that telling her no would be useless.
D had briefed us that the penthouse was fitted with specialized shielding that blocked most signals. Not only was she going off-script by going up to that penthouse, she was putting her life in jeopardy, subjecting herself to a place that would render her earpiece useless.
I headed toward the balcony as Beverly’s tone indicated she needed me more than Laura at the moment. D urged me to stop Laura, but he knew as well as I did the request was useless.
“You bitches are all the same. Tease men to the point of getting our dicks hard and once you accomplish your goal, you leave us high and dry,” Eduardo’s voice sounded.
Without weapons, I’d have to subdue the man by hand if my vocal request didn’t work. They were standing in the tightest corner of the balcony where other guests wouldn’t spot them. Immediately, I could tell the man had cornered Beverly. With heels on, she was nearly his height, but he managed to loom over her in a dominating fashion.
“Hello,” I called, ensuring my tone remained calm. “Is everyone okay?” I questioned, maintaining a non-threatening posture.
The man turned around, keeping Beverly at his back.
“This is none of your business, buddy. You can turn around and head back now,” he demanded, his tone as harsh as the deadly gleam flashing in his gaze.
“It doesn’t seem like the lady wants your company,” I persisted as Beverly’s bright eyes peered across his shoulder at me. This man wasn’t going to make this easy. His coiled posture and scrunched face announced his intent.
He reached back, his hand at her stomach and shoved Beverly into the stone wall behind him. I charged ahead but was stopped cold by the pistol he’d drawn. No weapons allowed, my ass. Apparently, the no-weapons rule didn’t apply to the Dominquez family.
My hands were raised in surrender as he dragged Beverly to stand in front of him. His gun, equipped with a silencer was aimed at her side.
“Can you terminate the situation?” D’s voice sounded in my ear. “Yes,” I answered, calling attention to our volatile standoff.
The man tightened the grip he had around Beverly’s waist as he spoke into his wristwatch, revealing he also had someone listening. His action confirmed what we already knew. The team that protected Santino was well equipped and prepared for attacks.
“First-floor balcony, now!” he snarled. My gaze remained on Beverly’s, hoping she could read the words flowing through me, urging her to remain as calm as she already was.
“You stuck your nose in the wrong business this time, buddy,” the man confirmed as his glare met mine. His hand traveled up the side of Beverly’s dress. He didn’t stop his lewd movement until he groped her breast and caused her to cry out. I hated men who took what they didn’t deserve without permission.
“And you, you temptress bitch, you teased the wrong man tonight,” he growled into Beverly’s ear while glaring at me.
Within seconds, approaching footsteps sounded before I was gripped roughly from behind, spun, and frisked. Beverly and I were led back inside the building. The hard press of a silenced gun remained poked into my back. The group of four surrounding us all had in their possessions one of the main tools of my trade—guns.
They shoved, cursed, and threatened, but the entire time I studied them and their movements. They hadn’t discovered yet that Beverly and I were impostors or that they were our doorway to Santino. It was possible that this mishap could work in our favor if it got my eyes on our pint-sized, trouble-making teammate.
59374 were the numbers keyed into the elevator to start it moving. When one of the men inserted the card attached to him by a plastic cord and hit 34, I stifled a smile. It wasn’t smart to all be in the same space, but Beverly and I were about to join Laura in the penthouse.
Once I was shoved out of the elevator, my earpiece went silent. A short hallway led to the only thick wood door on the floor. Santino Dominquez’s protection detail confirmed that he resided in this building.
Two armed guards stood on either side of the elevator, and two stood outside the thick penthouse entrance door. D had been right; Santino wasn’t skimping on his guard detail. The door to the penthouse was opened in the same manner as the elevator: a code and a keycard.
Once the door popped open, I was shoved into the room, and the first thing to fill my view was Laura sitting on the large brown living room couch with Oliver, sipping champagne and laughing like she wasn’t in the most dangerous place in the building.
She glared at the sight of Beverly and me, being escorted into the room, and a touch of panic flared before she recaptured her fake smile. There was no sign of our main target, Santino. He could have been anywhere. The place was over five thousand square feet. We could be murdered in one area while our target escaped in another.
With the thick drapes drawn that would let the city view inside, Santino’s penthouse was plunged into silent darkness. Even with lights on, darkness pressed in, suffocating almost. The furnishings were all black and brown, and most of the tables and fixtures were glass. The place probably looked wonderful in the light of day, but at night, it revealed the characteristics of its owner.
Laura stood from the couch when she noticed guns aimed at Beverly and me, her gaze dancing back and forth between us before they landed on Beverly. “What are you doing to my girlfriend?” she shouted, staring at Eduardo who had his gun in Beverly’s side.
“Girlfriend?” Laura’s new boyfriend, Oliver queried, his tone hurt.
“She teased, so I intend to show her what I like to do to teases,” Eduardo insisted, answering Laura’s question before he pointed his gun at me. “Him, he wanted to be her hero, so we intend to show him what we do to heroes,” Eduardo confirmed his intentions, shaking his gun in my direction.