Page 79 of Iron Shield
Rome forced himself not to dart a glance at Stina to see if she picked up on those two words—your women.
Cannon went on, muttering under his breath. “Why do we even bother with hoods anymore?”
Stina shot a hand up. “For the record, I’m all for getting rid of the hoods.”
Rome automatically brushed his fingers over the healed claw marks on his arm.
He shook his head, exasperated and yet battling a softer emotion he wasn’t ready to face yet.
With a groan, Cannon flicked his head toward the door for them to leave.
Taking it for permission, Rome reached for Stina’s hand and led the woman who he hadn’t yet claimed as his out of the office.
* * * * *
Stina knew she had cabin fever, but as she followed Rome up a flight of stairs, she practically vibrated with excitement.
“I watch a lot of content with people exploring abandoned places. Malls, hospitals, theme parks. Some old mental asylums. Places frozen in time,” she told him as they moved through the dark, guided only by the dim light of his phone. He clasped her hand firmly in his own.
His eyes glittered as he glanced back at her. “Now you’re about to find out what that’s like.”
They climbed the last stretch of stairs toward a door. “I wish I had a camera. This would get so many views.”
Rome shot her another look. “This is classified, Stina.”
“I know, I know. I wouldn’t actually film it and put all of us in jeopardy. I’m just saying, in another life, this would be content gold.”
They mounted two more steps. The flight seemed to go on forever.
“You chased those skiers off the mountain. People must show up here sometimes.”
“They do.”
She gestured at the worn steps coated in dust. “Your team’s not worried about people finding your base?”
“We have ways to keep them out of the building.”
A little shiver ran through her. Everything Rome said and did came with an edge of danger that was undeniably hot.
And that made her brain flood with memories of his mouth on her. His fingers on her. His cock inside her.
When they reached the door, he punched a code into a high-tech keyboard that looked out of place on the old metal. When he pushed the door open and the resort opened up in front of her, every thought in her head vanished.
It was like stepping into 1968.
The lobby alone made her stop walking. From the retro furnishings to the wood paneling on every wall, she couldn’t take it in fast enough.
“Wow,” she breathed. “Imagine coming to stay here back in the day.”
“It was open until the eighties when it was seized by the government.”
She blinked up at Rome. “For what reason?”
“The owner’s son thought it was a perfect cover for a drug ring. The government thought differently.”
“So they made it a ghost ops base.” She drifted over to a fireplace big enough to stand in, flanked by chairs upholstered in a pattern that had probably been considered tasteful once.
Everything was coated in a fine layer of dust but otherwise untouched. Like the doors had simply been locked on a time capsule.
