Page 55 of Unleash You

“Good.” Teak shook my hand with a quick nod of approval. “I can see you don’t need a tour guide.”

I scratched the stubble on my cheek. “We don’t need a tour guide as much as a contingency plan. Anabelle figured out a way to get us in.”

He raised both eyebrows and smiled at Anabelle. “Resourceful. I like it. So you need me to come along in case your exit plan fails?”

“That’s right.” Anabelle stepped forward. “We’ve procured travel visas, but they’re only good for forty-eight hours. Which means once we get in, we only have a couple of days to find Charlie and get out of there. We need you, in case we miss our flight.”

Teak regarded Anabelle with kindness in his eyes, then turned to me. “Now that you’re here, I have to ask. Is she vital to this mission? Because if she’s not, I’d rather not bring her along. Civilians are always a liability.”

Of course, he was right. But now I was wondering how well he knew Anabelle. If we didn’t help, she’d do this on her own. As it were, she didn’t need me or Teak to get to Maracaibo. We were merely insurance. But if Teak had a way to get her to stay in Atlanta, I was all ears.

“Excuse me? I’m in charge here.”

“It’s not about that.”

“You’re fired.” Anabelle turned on her heel and walked out.

“I had to try.” Teak crossed his arms over his chest.

“I’ll talk to her.” I went after Anabelle.

She sat in her car, cheeks flushed. The minute I climbed in the car, she rounded on me. “Is that why you brought me here? To get him to talk me out of going? What part of I want my brother back don’t you get?”

“That’s not it at all. I wanted to feel him out in person. See if he was someone I could work with.”

“You think that’s better?”

Will opened the SUV door and slid into the driver seat. He glanced at Anabelle over his shoulder. When she nodded, he started the ignition and headed home.

“I don’t know what you mean.” How could I explain to her what the jungle was like? If she didn’t fully understand it by now after all the letters I wrote to her, she never would.

“It means that now I understand I can’t trust you. Teak said two words, and just like that, you took his side.”

“That’s not what I did.” Was it? Jesus Christ, Teak wasn’t wrong in any of this. And neither was I. Anabelle was being stubborn as all hell.

We rode the rest of the way home in silence. The body heat that radiated from her side told me she was beyond pissed. The second we arrived at Fox’s Bank, Anabelle practically jumped out of the car. I hated that she was mad at me. I chased after her, but she got to the front door first, which gave her enough time to go in and fling it shut in my face. Anger swirled at the pit of my stomach. Not at her, but at this goddamn situation. Where the hell was her sense of self-preservation?

I burst through the door. Anabelle paused at the top stair for a second but then kept on going. I darted toward her bedroom, where she once again slammed the fucking door. Bracing my hands on the threshold, I called for her.

“You’re being childish about this. I did nothing wrong.” Several seconds went by. When she didn’t answer, I turned the knob and went in.

She paused outside her bathroom door with a bunch of clothes in her arms. “I don’t have time for you. I need to get ready.”

I rubbed the side of my face. “Get ready? This isn’t a trip to Europe. Where the hell do you think you’ll wear any of that?”

She hurled her clothes on the sofa, her lips pressed into a line. “Then tell me what I need so we can get there already. I don’t need you to stand there and look down on me for being a lowly civilian.”

“You’re being unfair.” I gritted my teeth and closed the space between us.

“You’re being a jerk.” She rammed her fist into my chest.

I cradled the nape of her neck to make her look at me. Her pupils dilated, leaving a sliver of blue in her eyes.

“You want to stay alive? You have to do as I say.”

“You’re not the boss of me. I can get there on my own just fine.”

My mouth crushed into hers. I kissed her hard because, at this point, I didn’t know what else to say. She parted her lips and lightly sucked on my tongue. Her body relaxed against mine in the kind of surrender I wished I could get from her outside this room.

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