Hastily, I pat my pockets and curse.
A car comes out of nowhere, making a beeline for me, and I jump out of its path. It swerves to a stop, and my heart stops and starts back up again when Matthew’s face appears.
Oh, thank God!
My shoulders sag as I dive into the passenger seat and squeeze my eyes shut.
“Are you okay? Did they hurt you? What happened?”
“I’m fine.” I force both eyes open and blow out a breath. I pat myself down, checking my pockets and ensuring they haven’t left behind any listening devices before I exhale again. “I just…it’s been a while.”
“Did it work?”
I smile at him, suddenly shaking with excitement. “Our plan worked. They heard me out. Now all we have to do is wait.”
Matthew hands me a black leather jacket and squeezes my shoulder. I wrap it around me and exhale. He grips the steering wheel with both hands and keeps his eyes fixed on the road, driving as fast as he can in the opposite direction of my captors.
I look at him and fight the urge to wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. I’m so relieved he was the one who picked me up that it takes me a few moments to be able to speak. “Thanks for coming.”
“Of course,” he says, glancing at me quickly and smiling. “Didn’t expect me to?”
“Honestly?”
He chuckles. “Don’t answer that.”
I take him in, and he catches me staring. “What?” he asks.
“I guess you’re good at your job after all.”
“Thanks for leaving behind your heel.”
“Very Cinderella, I know,” I smile.
“Well, it worked. When I saw it backstage, I knew something was wrong. I knew they were going to plan something like this but not so soon.”
“I guess they didn’t want to waste any time.” I glance at the rearview mirror and back at his face. “The guy in the car, I didn’t recognize him, but based on the way he was behaving, I’d peg him as a capo.”
Matthew nods. “And?”
“I gave him enough information to make him curious.”
“What did he say?”
“He tried to intimidate me, but it’s nothing I haven’t encountered before.”
Matthew swerves and clears his throat. “I’d say you did a good job considering you’ve been out of the game for two years.”
“Let’s hope so.”
???
In silence, we pull up outside my apartment building. Matthew ushers me inside before leaving to park the car a few blocks away. He comes back, unruly dark hair plastered to his forehead and a strange glint in his brown eyes. In silence, we climb the stairs, each step feeling heavier than the last.
After a quick sweep of the apartment, he takes my trembling hands in his and leads me to the couch. “I’ll make you something hot to drink.”
“This is ridiculous,” I mutter, pausing to curl my free hand into a fist at my side. “It’s not like I haven’t been undercover before.”
“You’re in shock because they could’ve killed you. You were in a situation where you had zero control with no back up. Anyone would be rattled by that,” Matthew reminds me, gently. He holds my other hand in his, his thumb tracing idle circles on the inside of my wrist. “You’re okay now, Jen. I’ve got you.”