Page 199 of Renegade
“I wanna slit their throats,” he ground out, “but that won’t help us find the bombs.”
Everyone stood but Caroline.
“I’ll call Providence and say goodnight to the kids,” Dakota said.
“I gotta give Evangeline a heads-up,” Sin said.
“I need a power nap,” Teddy said.
The three men left, with Teddy shutting the door behind him.
Alone with Caroline. His attention shifted to her and every piece of life’s puzzles fell into place. He clasped her hand, and she stared at their entwined fingers.
“We’re together ‘round the clock goin’ forward.”
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “I had a feeling you’d say that. I’d feel more comfortable at my place. I know you’re gonna say there’s no security?—”
“Condo works. Dakota’s right. Here is better, but I’m not hidin’.”
She stroked his skin with her thumb. Gentle caresses that were meant to calm, but had the opposite effect. The desire swirled around him, the need to kiss her, to pull her into his arms sent blood rushing through him. When his junk moved, he pulled his hand away.
“Sorry, PDA,” she murmured.
“I love your touch. So does my Johnson.”
She laughed, then the delight in her eyes faded. “We have to wear body armor every day.”
“Agreed.”
“We’ve gotta be vigilant.”
“Yup.”
“Are you scared?” she asked.
“No.” He peered into her eyes and caught a glimpse of anxiety flash across her pretty face. “You?”
“I feel like I dropped the ball,” she confessed. “As a handler, I was trained to be aware of my IOs’s surroundings as best as I could. I trusted no one when it came to intel andalwaysconfirmed and reconfirmed. Anything I handed over to my IOs had to be reliable. If I made a mistake or a miscalculation, someone could die. I should have known they’d find us.”
“Austin, we got this. We’ve got a strong team, we’ve got home turf advantage?—”
“This isn’t a sports game,” she bit out. “We could die.”
He regarded her for an extra beat. “You don’t have to go?—”
“Yes, I do,” she pushed back. “I need to see this through, just like you do. To the end, no matter how it goes.”
“Wecoulddie, but we won’t.”
“We better not,” she murmured. “That wouldreallypiss me off.”
He smiled. It took several seconds before he could coax one out of her. “We got this.”
“I’m still reviewing the surveillance of the hallway outside the out-of-order restroom.” She refocused her attention on her laptop.
Though she’d severed their connection, his gaze stayed cemented on her. Her beauty soothed him, her determination bolstered his.
“Shouldn’t you be doing something besides watching me work?” She shot him a smile.
