Page 57 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

Christ, he wanted her.

He couldn’t be near her without wanting to pull her into his arms and hold her, touch her, and kiss her and it was fucking killing him. He was so goddamn close to ending this and the only thing that he wanted to do right now was to crawl into that bed and pull his angel into his arms and find out just how good it would feel to-

“You may regale me with tales from your very long existence now,” Jill said, gesturing for him to get on with it.

“Hoping that I’ll slip up and share that tale of woe with you?” Logan drawled.

“Something like that,” Jill said, shifting to get more comfortable.

“What would you like to know?” Logan asked as he considered her.

“Besides that tale of woe that you refuse to share with me?” Jill asked, blinking at him.

“Besides that,” Logan murmured.

“I ran out of new and interesting things to read, which means that it is now up to you as my captor to provide me with endless hours of entertainment,” Jill said, making his lips twitch.

“What about the video game collection that I spent a fortune on?” Logan asked, watching as she released a heartfelt sigh.

“Sadly, I beat them all,” she said with a sad shake of her head.

“That is sad,” Logan murmured in agreement, knowing that the only video game that she’d played wasTetrisand she only lasted five minutes before she gave up. “Whatever will you do to pass the time now?”

Nodding, Jill said, “That is the concern.”

“I thought it would be,” Logan murmured absently as a vibration had him pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“We could always start with that tale of woe,” Jill suggested as Logan sat there, debating how he wanted to handle this as he read the text message waiting for him.

They’re here.

“I’m afraid that tale of woe is going to have to wait, Angel,” Logan said with a heavy sigh as he reluctantly stood up.

“I’m sure I’ll find something to do to stay busy while you’re gone,” Jill said, making his lips twitch as he made his way to the door.

“I’m sure you will, Angel.”

CHAPTER 29

“Gently place the tape over the fingerprint,”the middle-aged man that she was counting on said before Jill reached over and paused the video so that she could focus on what she was doing.

Slowly exhaling, Jill adjusted the flashlight on the bathroom counter so that it was pointing directly at what she hoped was a fingerprint on the bathroom faucet. Once she was assured the flashlight was pointing exactly where she needed it, Jill grabbed the roll of scotch tape off the counter, moved to tear off two inches of tape only to rethink that decision and doubled it.

Carefully pinching the sides, Jill brought the tape closer, paused, frowned, and squinted as she adjusted her hold before placing the small piece of tape over the smudge that looked like a fingerprint. Once she covered the smudge with tape, she reached over and started the video again.

“Once you have the tape over the fingerprint, carefully smooth the tape over the fingerprint with your fingertip before you grab one end of the tape and carefully peel it off the surface. Then take the piece of tape and place it over the fingerprint scanner and gently press your fingertip against thetape and hold it there until the system bypasses the password and gives you access to the device.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Jill murmured to herself as she turned the iPad off and placed it under her arm before she reached for the tape, careful to grab it by the corners and peeled it off before she made her way back into the bedroom, pausing by the door to make sure the coast was clear.

When she didn’t spot Logan or any of his lackeys waiting for her, she quickly made her way to the hallway and into the dining room that Logan used as his office. After a quick glance at the camera above the door, Jill debated doing this another way, but…

Screw it.

It wasn’t like he didn’t already know that she was trying to escape. With that in mind, Jill quickly made her way around the large dining room table, awkwardly leaned over so that she could release her iPad from beneath her arm onto the table and focused on Logan’s laptop. Carefully releasing one side of the tape, Jill reached down and opened his laptop, grabbed the other end of the tape again and placed the tape over the fingerprint scanner, making sure to align the smudge over the small piece of glass.

Slowly exhaling, she pressed her fingertip against the tape and-

Nothing.

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