Page 87 of Soul Bound

A look between joy and terror crosses her face. “Are you okay with that?”

Fuck. Does she really think I would be upset over this? From this second forward, I’m going to do a better job at showing her how I feel about her. I never want her to doubt me or my feelings for her. “I’ve never been happier.”

The sound of someone clearing their throat breaks the spell we are under and we both turn to acknowledge the demon we forgot was standing there. “I hate to break this up because it’s all really touchy-feely and I’m truly ecstatic for you guys—I was just telling him that I hoped you guys were mates. But there is a time and place for things like this, and now just isn’t the time. We’ve got to get out of here.”

Winslow blinks a couple of times like she’s trying to clear her head. “Yeah, you’re right,” she agrees, her eyes lingering on me for a second longer. “Stairs or elevator?”

“The second they realize the baby is gone; they’re going to shut down the elevator,” I answer her.

“Stairs it is then,” Winslow says.

Jax opens the stairwell door for us. “I’m going to go find us a getaway car, I’ll meet you down there.” There’s a loud commotion from inside the penthouse, and we all look at each other, “I suggest you move fast.” With that, he disappears into a cloud of smoke, the slight smell of something burning fills the air.

“Hold her.” Winslow starts to pass me the baby. “I need to hold up the skirt of my dress, I took off my shoes and it’s too long now. I don’t want to trip while holding her.”

The baby makes a grumpy gurgling sound when I collect her into my arms. Brown eyes that look so much like Thalia’s look up at me, making my lips twitch.

“Her name is Ella,” Winslow tells me, touching one of her chubby cheeks with her finger.

“Ella,” I repeat.

A loud crash comes from the penthouse again. “Time to go.”

We fly down the never-ending flights of stairs. Winslow runs down them in front of me, she continues to peek over her shoulder at me like she’s double-checking that I’m still with her. Ella grows agitated by the constant jostling and starts making fussy noises. I coo and softly shush her as we descend the stairs, and that helps some.

Halfway down the stairs, the sound of one of the stairwell doors slamming open fills the space. The sound of heavy footsteps follows it. I can tell it’s only one person, but they’re moving at a fast speed, clearly trying to catch up with us.

“Faster, Arizona,” I command.

We both start jumping down multiple stairs at a time, trying to cover as much space as quickly as possible. She trips over the train of her dress only once, catching herself on the railing before she can fall. “I’m okay,” she reassures me quickly.

I hear both of our hearts beating erratically as we go, both from the physical exertion but also the adrenaline coursing through us. Winslow’s long hair flies around her face and shoulders from the speed we’re moving.

It feels like it takes forever but we finally reach the bottom floor, the stairwell door opens to a packed underground parking garage. I grip Winslow’s upper arm as we jog across the garage. She’s barefoot but doesn’t slow down, even though the asphalt has to be rough on her soles.

I keep an eye out for Jax. He said he was going to get a car, but I don’t see him in the garage. There are multiple floors of the underground parking, he could be on another level.

We round a corner into another part of the garage and come to a screeching halt. In front of us is a large man with a shaved head and goatee. He wears an expensive suit and his dark eyes are full of fury. I instantly recognize him as Vance, Adam’s colleague.

Next to him is a tall lanky young man with a mop of black hair, he looks at us like he’s just found his next meal, a malevolent grin on his angular face. His dark eyebrows are straight, giving him a malicious look. I can feel the hostility coming off of him in waves.

He’s dressed in all black. Tight black jeans tucked into black boots that remind me of Winslow’s. He wears a long black coat with a hood up over his head.

“Vance,” Winslow addresses the man in the suit.

If he’s surprised we know his name, he doesn’t show it. “You know who I am. Good, then you also know who I work for and what I’m capable of.”

“We’re familiar with your work,” she offers, her eyes narrowed at him.

Vance smirks. “I would ask you to elaborate further, but I’m on a time crunch.” He tilts his head at the infant in my arms. “You’ve got something that belongs to me. I need it back.”

“Not happening,” I growl.

Vance checks the watch on his wrist. “I don’t have time for this. I have buyers waiting.”

“You realize you’re talking about a baby, right?” Winslow snaps.

“I realize if we don’t make this sale tonight, we’re going to be out hundreds of thousands of dollars. And we’ll have a pissed off boss on our asses. So, just hand her over so we can kill you and then get back to our event.”

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