Page 69 of Escape You

I crossed the threshold and was greeted by a large room with a view of the city that rivaled the one from Rossi’s penthouse. Tyler’s scent was everywhere here. The modern decor of the space with sleek leather sofas and plush area rugs were so him, but I hadn’t expected the African art. It gave the apartment a modern yet eclectic feel.

“Mia.”

“No.” I spun around to face him. “Let me go first.” I handed him the red folder. I wanted him to know I hadn’t betrayed him, not because I wanted us to be together but because I wanted him to know he could trust me. “Leo was the one who turned you in.”

He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it to peruse the many photos Vic had included in the package. Leo talking to Special Agent Clifton and then to Rossi. He’d also gotten a transcript of a conversation between Leo and Rossi where he’d agreed to basically be Rossi’s spy.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” he said.

I shook my head. “That’s not why I’m here. I didn’t betray you. I would never do that.”

“I’m an asshole.” He reached for my cheek.

For a beat, I imagined his fingers brushing my lips right before he kissed me. But before he got closer, I pushed his hand away. “I’m not here for us. I need, I mean, we need your help. I’m here for thegreater good.” I echoed Vic’s words, then realized Tyler had not been part of that conversation. Somehow that small fact made me want to cry.

“Mia, you and I are not over.”

“Rossi. I’m here because I need your help to stop him. Do you still want that?” I’d assumed Tyler was still on board with that whole get Rossi mission, but a lot had happened since the last time we conspired against the FBI and went after Rossi ourselves.

“Of course, that’s still what I want. Nothing has changed for me.” He combed a strand of hair away from his face. If that wasn’t the hottest thing, I didn’t know what would be.

“We want in too.” One of the men who went looking for Tyler at the hospital came in from the room behind us. He had a sandwich in one hand and a beer in the other.

I suppressed a smile and slowly released a breath. Tyler’s brothers had been the main reason why I agreed to Vic’s idea to get Tyler involved. I had my crew, but we didn’t have the kind of training Tyler and his brothers had. I had to be stupid not to recognize that and ask for their help.

“Mia, this is my brother Wesley, and that’s Matt.” He pointed at the other man leaning on the doorframe to the study on the opposite side of the room. Had they gone into some sort of flanking strategy? In case I was here to shoot Tyler?

“Guys, this is Mia.” He walked out to the living area and grabbed the T-shirt lying on the back of the sofa. When he donned the tee, he winced in pain. It’d been almost a week. The wound had healed, but the soreness would take a little longer to fully go away.

It was obvious that I not only had to gain Tyler’s trust but his brothers’ too. “Nice to meet you.”

“Thank you for saving Tyler. You left in such a rush we didn’t get to talk.” Wesley offered me his hand, and I shook it.

“If you want in, then welcome. We need all the help we can get.” I fished my phone from my back pocket and texted Vic. We’d agreed he’d let me talk to Tyler first before he came in. “Did Tyler explain?”

“He did.” Matt walked over to shake my hand too. “Congratulations on the baby.”

My face turned red. This was the first time someone had said those words to me. “Thanks.” A knock on the door saved me from having to make banal comments about my pregnancy.

Tyler opened the door to a grumpy-looking Vic. He would have preferred we meet Tyler and his brothers in a more secure venue, but I insisted on coming here. I wanted to see his home, see where our daughter would spend her days. I shoved aside the made-up scenario. I didn’t even know for sure we were having a girl. It was just how I pictured our baby.

“Let’s make it quick.” Vic set the blueprints to my warehouse on the large dining table under the tall windows.

The city lights twinkled all around us. Had Tyler ever brought a girl here on a date? The whole setup had a romantic feel to it. I forced myself to snap out of it.

“Right. The plan.” I spread the papers and used a couple of candlesticks to prevent them from rolling back up. Vic and I had already scribbled on them. We had an exit route and notes in the margin. “Rossi isn’t expecting Tyler to come at him again. And since he doesn’t think much of me, he won’t see me coming either. So we have that going for us.”

Wesley and Tyler studied me from the other end of the table. How much had Tyler told them? It made me uneasy to not know what they knew about me. I had to get over that. I wasn’t here for Tyler. I put two fingers up.

“Two extraction teams. The alpha team”—I pointed at Vic and me—“will come in through here. We’re the diversion. Guns blazing, the works. Rossi thinks I’m crazy and out of control, so I’ll give him exactly what he wants.” I traced my finger down the path we’d marked on the blueprints to show them the way.

“The beta team. That’s you guys. You get to go in and save all those people.” I leaned on my hand. Maybe the marines looking at all this as if it were any other mission were okay with it, but I wasn’t. This was a fucked-up mission. “There’s a secret passage here that we keep for, you know, the contraband. It’s small, but you’ll be able to get everyone out in a matter of minutes.”

“And you know for sure that’s where they took everyone?”

I nodded. “Manny and Tom were able to hack our own security system. Rossi tried to shut it off, but it didn’t work. Anyway, we have eyes. The truck showed up two days ago. It’s bad. If some of those people came willingly, they’re regretting it now.”

Wesley gripped the back of the dining chair, meeting Tyler’s gaze. “What about the other job?”

---