Page 52 of The Twilight Theft

“A mistake.” She folded her arms, lifting her chin.

“It didn’t feel like a mistake.” I wanted to shake her. Pull her close. Kiss her again.

“And now I’m fixing it.”

“Fixing it? By refusing to look at me?”

“By showing the professional work ethic I’m known for.” She opened her hands in front of herself, emphasizing her feigned innocence. “That’s why you hired us, isn’t it?”

“Back to standing still, are you?” I didn’t know what it meant, but it had meant something important to her last night.

Her lips quivered and she balled her hands into fists. “Fuck you.”

Shit. It had meanttoo muchto her. An unfamiliar shiver ran down my spine. Guilt? Regret? I reached for her arm and she pulled away.

“Walk-through time!” Scarlett clapped twice behind us. “If you don’t work for me or for Craig, I need you to clear the room for fifteen minutes. Liana, please stay.” She nodded at Jayce. “The floor’s yours.”

Chapter 21

Jayce

DrewfreakingDonovan.

I wasnotstanding still.

He wasnotdistracting me. I wasnot‘off’ like Emmett said. I didn’t need to get him out of my system. And I definitely wouldn’t be a little plaything he could throw away the second he was done with me.

I shouldered my way past him. I’d show him how professional I could be.

If only it hadn’t been pouring rain and I could have ducked into the coffee shop first. I needed food.

Rav and Malcolm entered the room while Liana waved her people out.

We were just missing one. “Where’s Zaria? She was supposed to be here for this.”

“She won’t be able to join us,” said Craig. “Go ahead and I’ll fill her in.”

See, Drew? I’m more professional than someone. At least I’m here.

“You’ve all seen this on paper, so nothing should be a surprise. Everything boils down to three concepts.” I held up my fingers, walking toward the patio. “Ingress, egress, and obtaining the chip.”

“That’s a lot fewer plans than a hundred,” chuckled Wyatt, who settled next to Drew. Not only was he a massive flirt, but he was the class clown, too.

I could work with that. “Gotta keep it simple for you, Wyatt.”

“Much appreciated.”

“For the banquet room itself, we’ve got five doors—ingress and egress. We’ll refer to these doors”—I pointed at the two doors in the glass wall, leading to the patio—“as river doors east and west. The door on the western wall, leading to the main dining room will be the main door, the other one on the western wall will be the bathroom door—”

“That leads to more than the facilities,” said Wyatt.

Drew’s scowl deepened—not that I was looking at him.

I wouldnotlook at him. “That’s the primary reason guests will use it, so that’s our term. The door on the northern wall, farthest from the action, will be referred to as the staff door, as they’re the only ones who should use it.”

Rav said, “We found five members of the security team with questionable backgrounds, and we’ve removed them from the detail. I’ve replaced two with friends of mine who’ll be responsible for the main door and general security.”

“Our second-tier concern,” I continued, moving counter-clockwise around the room as I spoke, “is the eastern and southern walls. They’re made of glass, which makes them relatively easy to get through, but that would alert everyone in the room. It would also be messy, but we can’t eliminate the idea of a truck being driven up the tiered patio and straight through that wall.”

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