Page 50 of Escape You

“He didn’t track any hack to the hospital. He saw you taking Rossi’s files. He asked me to get them from you.”

I laughed. Clifton had a whole operation in place to get to Rossi. My crew and I came in and in less than a week got the information they’d been hunting down for years. “What does he want with it? I got the sense he was out for himself. Do you think he would help?”

Tyler did a double take, as if the question were ludicrous. “You trust me to give you a fair assessment of an FBI agent.”

“Apparently. You seem to know him. Would he help us get rid of Rossi?”

He regarded me with an odd serenity in his eyes, odd and comforting. “No, he won’t. He doesn’t want Rossi. He wants...” He swallowed a breath. Again, we were running into classified stuff.

But the math wasn’t that hard. Someone like Clifton would want to go for a bigger fish, which showed just how full of himself he was. Rossi was the biggest fish in New York, who had the backing of a secret society that at times acted as if they didn’t exist, as if they were just a legend.

“He wants the Big 5.” Tyler sat next to me on the bed.

On instinct, my body shifted and curled itself around his side. He braced his large hand next to my head, while he brushed my cheek with his free one. “It’s too dangerous for you to be here, mixed up in all this. If I’d known Rossi was planning this, I would’ve stopped him. You need to stay out of it. Let me do my job.”

I wrapped my fingers around his wrists. “You obviously don’t know me. What Rossi wants will cost me everything. My livelihood, my family, and now my child. I can’t wait around for you or the FBI to do their job.”

“Mia, I’m only asking you go along with him for a little while.”

“No. I will not put my crew in that position. I’m in charge here. Not you.”

“I wasn’t asking you to step down. If you would’ve agreed to that, I would’ve thought you were up to something.” He chuckled, sliding his fingers across my lips. “It’s why I love you.”

“Tyler, you can’t.”

“It’s too late. I’m not giving up on you. No matter what.”

“Do you see how far apart we are? If you win, I die.”

The words had slipped out of my mouth, but I knew they were true. How did I get here? How did I fall in love with my enemy? Worse, how did everything I worked so hard for ended up in his hands?

He pressed his lips to mine, and I melted into him, tunneling my trembling fingers into his hair. I thrusted my tongue past his lips to taste him, to be closer to him. His moan sparked the usual desire, making my clit ache for his touch. I pulled away first and waited until his breathing returned to normal.

“Jesus, Mia. I never wanted anyone as much as I want you.”

“Me too.” I pressed my forehead to his. “Vic says I’m impulsive and stubborn and that one day he’s going to have to catch a bullet because of me.”

“He’s not wrong.”

I cocked an eyebrow. Maybe he knew me better than I thought. “I can see that we’re in an impossible situation here. You’re already risking your job just by telling me all this, but I think that if we work together. You and me. I don’t know, maybe we can find a way out.”

He nodded. “I think so too. Can you trust me enough to get through this with me?”

“I do. It scares the shit out of me, but I do.”

“Scoot over.” He climbed into bed with me. I did as he asked and rested my head against his chest. “Since the moment I saw you, I knew you’d turn my life upside down. I didn’t know how. I just had that feeling.”

“I could say the same. I just got the worst news ever and despite of it, I feel happy because you’re here.”

He held me tight. “Exactly. What now?”

“I think Rossi is the key to this puzzle. We need to figure out how to take him out without the FBI knowing.”

“Agreed. Were your guys able to decipher the contents of Rossi’s computer?” He held his breath for a few beats.

He’d asked for my trust and he had it, but now I had to put money where my mouth was. I exhaled and lifted my head to face him. “Yes. Vic has the flash drive. He gave me a brief summary of its contents.”

“And?” He bit the inside of his lip.

---