Page 156 of Double Bucked

I’ll do whatever it takes to get me closer to Claire.

And to get to Claire, I need that gun.

“I’m afraid you won’t get much of a show,” I tell him. “She’s not my type.”

He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. “Huh.”

I turn to him. I pick my words carefully. “I need something…harder.”

Finally, he meets my gaze. His lips part. A hopeful, wanting itch.

It’s the distraction I need.

I tilt in, as though for a kiss, and he lets me. But instead of meeting his mouth, I grab his gun. My hand wraps around the cold steel, my finger around the trigger.

Ah. We’re home.

In an instant, I have the gun underneath his chin. He chokes, his eyes wide with fear now.

Past-Everett wouldn’t have hesitated to blow his head clean off.

But now, Dragonfly’s voice is in my ear.

There’s always another way.

Fuck him for making me a better man.

I remove the gun and deal him a swift punch instead. His body slumps to the floor. He’s out cold.

Just as I’m about to make my escape, I hear it.

A scream. Two screams.

The first, a man’s.

The second makes my blood cold.

It’s Claire’s.

Claire is in trouble. And she’s right next door.

I can hear her. I rush up against the wall and slam my palm on it. “Claire!” I shout.

I will break down this wall.

I will break it apart.

I will tear this house down brick by brick to get to her.

She calls back, “Everett!”

My heart is going a thousand miles an hour in my chest.

“What the fuck is going on—?” Mary-Kate leaves the shower, towel around her body. Her mouth falls open when she sees the guard slumped to the floor.

I raise my gun and aim it at her. She freezes.

“Back inside,” I tell her.

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