Page 35 of Hacker Salvation

That morning, I would have scoffed at the demand. But I knew I needed to stay close. I hung up the phone and watched Gabriel as he worked to remove the snakes from my trailer. The director stood by the set entrance, waving me over to makeup. Gabriel was next to me as I walked toward makeup. He hadn’t said a word, but his jaw ticked. He didn’t leave my side as I sat through two hours of makeup.

I sent John a quick text letting him know I was still okay and heading to set. By the time I was done with makeup and wardrobe, it was close to ten o’clock. We were shooting a scene in which I was running through the streets of Manhattan. It was all done in front of a green screen. Everything went as planned, and we finished up the morning shoot by one o’clock. My stomach growled.

I sat down at a table in the dining area with a pasta salad and sandwich. Gabriel sat across from me. “Sorry,” I mumbled between bites of my turkey sandwich.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you know how worried I was when you went in there? I didn’t say ‘stay out’ for fun, Annabella. John put his trust in me to keep you safe, and I already failed.”

“You didn’t fail. I didn’t listen, and you got me out with no problem.” It had been stupid of me to go in there. I took a bite of my pasta salad and froze. I spit the salad out but knew it was too late. I could feel my tongue start to swell. “My purse,” I choked out.

Gabriel sprinted back toward the SUV. I hoped he would make it back in time.

Someone had put seafood in the salad. The set had been explicitly told no shellfish since I was allergic.

15

John

When Gabriel called and told me about Annabella’s allergic reaction to seafood, I booked a flight back. Someone was trying to kill her, and I wasn’t about to stay in Boston another minute. Annabella didn’t know I was coming back. Addie understood why I was leaving.

My mom gave me an awkward hug when I walked out the door. She had never left the house when we were growing up, yet she’d changed her name, moved to another state, and started another family. Addie’s source had found her, and our mom had come to talk before her new family found out about us.

I called Annabella when I was on my way to the airport. I didn’t tell her I was coming. She refused to go back to Daisy’s house. She was worried she would put them in danger. So Gabriel took her to a hotel near the studio. He added me to the room so I could grab a key and head up when I got there. Addie had booked a suite, and Gabriel was staying in one of the rooms.

It was two o’clock in the morning when I arrived. I grabbed the key from the front desk and went to the top floor of the hotel. The door opened with ease, and I set my bag on the floor. Gabriel was on the couch and nodded toward Annabella’s room.

I walked into her room and discarded my shirt and jeans. Annabella turned over on her back. Her tight white tank top stretched across her luscious breasts. The moonlight shed enough light for me to see her nipples through the thin material.

“John?” In two giant strides, I was next to the bed. Annabella sat up and threw herself at me. I caught her in midair. A sob broke from the back of her throat. “Someone’s trying to kill me.”

My throat tightened at how close they had come today when she’d eaten the seafood. If Gabriel hadn’t acted as fast as he had, she would be dead, and whoever was doing this would have won.

I pulled her in closer. Her tears dripped onto my shoulder. Annabella shook in my arms. I didn’t regret my decision to leave Boston and come back to check on her. Having her in my arms was all I needed to know that she needed me as much as I needed her. I had been in pure terror when I found out what had happened.

Leaning back so I could see her pretty green eyes, I wiped the tears from her face. “I will make sure nothing happens to you.”

“You can’t.” Sobs punctuated her words. “You have to go to work.”

I gently pushed her onto her back. “Brock understands. We have other people who can go on the missions. I’m not leaving your side until we find out what is going on.”

“But you’ll have to leave sometime.” Her lip trembled as she spoke.

I ran my hands down her arms and gently pushed her back so she was lying down. Annabella’s blond hair covered the pillow like a halo. Her breath hitched as I ran kisses down the side of her neck. I wanted to take her mind off of what had happened the day before.

“I need you, John,” she whispered.

I slowly ran my finger along her tight stomach, pushing her white tank top up as I went. Her nipples poked through the thin material, begging to be touched. Gently pulling her tank top over her breasts, I leaned down and took her nipple into my mouth.

Her breath hitched as I sucked. Her hand came up, and she ran her fingers through my hair. “More,” she moaned.

I gently bit down on her nipple, and her hips came off the bed. She moaned louder as I switched to the other nipple.

I let go of her nub. “I missed you so much.” I had been gone a day, but it felt like a week. I didn’t know what I would do when I had to go on week-long missions. But I couldn’t think about that now.

“I missed you too. Please, I need you inside me.”

I tweaked her nipple. “So demanding. I think I’m going to spend some time worshipping your body.”

The night before, Annabella had started to ask me questions about the BDSM lifestyle. I hadn’t been able to hold back the smile when she’d asked if I would spank her when she didn’t do what I wanted. Since leaving the navy, I hadn’t had sex outside of Club Sanctorum until Annabella. If she’d asked me to walk away from the lifestyle, I would have. But after our conversation, I knew she was curious, and I planned to slowly bring BDSM aspects into our lovemaking.

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