Page 127 of Hot for Hostage

“The sooner you leave, the better off we all are,” he bit out, rubbing his head. He jabbed a finger at the open doorway with a glare. “Reed is downstairs. Go all the way down this hallway, take a left, then a right, and then you’ll see the stairs.”

I hesitated. It sounded too good to be true. But I carefully slid past him and poked my head into a deserted hallway. Huh. He might be telling the truth.

The best I could do was offer him a sheepish smile. “Oh. Thank you, Nasir.”

He only rubbed at his temple and let his eyes fall shut. “Just get out of here.”

The man looked in desperate need of an aspirin, and I wished I had my travel first-aid kit on hand for him.

But there was no time to waste.

Following Nasir’s helpful instructions, I ran down the hallway like my heels were on fire. When I reached the end, I skidded left around the corner.

Halfway down the next hallway, a large man exited the doorway and blocked my path.

Not looking surprised to see me, he sneered and grabbed my shoulder. “Not so fast, Pinky.”

Screaming bloody murder, I swung the broom with everything I had.

“Don’t.” I thwacked the goon’s head, making him let go of me. “Touch.” Another swat to his face. “Me!” One more whack sent the scary man crumpling to the floor.

When he moved to get up, I threw in a few more bonks to his head for good measure.

The last one flattened him like a pancake, leaving him groaning facedown on the floor, and I hesitated with my broom raised instead of running away. It took a second to sink in that he wasn’t getting back up.

Guilt pooled in my stomach. Had I actually hurt him badly enough to incapacitate him?

I must’ve not known my own strength.

“I’m sorry for the extreme measures, but you have to understand how stressful this whole situation is for me,” I panted. When the goon still didn’t move, I lowered my broom to hip height. “…Are you okay?”

No answer from him. I prodded his back with the end of my broom to check, but he didn’t appear to be conscious anymore.

“Well. I hope you use this as a sign to rethink your life choices when you wake up,” I whispered, cautiously backing away from his prone body. The last thing I needed was for him to only be pretending to be down and then spring up in a surprise attack.

“Sadie.”

I jumped a foot into the air in fright as another attacker snuck up behind me from around the corner. But my instincts didn’t fail me, and I swung my broom around in a beautiful arc—only for a strong grip to stop it dead in its tracks.

“What did I tell you about using brooms as weapons?” the man murmured, amused, in a low voice my veins found more addictive than a sugar high.

My gaze shot up to meet his dark one, and my knees threatened to buckle in relief at who stood in front of me. “Dav?”

I didn’t even care my voice was wobbly, because he washere.

He was here, and he was okay, and he was looking at me like I was the best part of his day.

Davian released the broom and scooped me into his arms at the same time I jumped to throw mine around his shoulders. His embrace had an air of desperation I felt in my bones.

I was so happy to see him.

Burying my face in his neck, I clung on as tightly as I could and breathed him in.

Peppermint.

I really did love his shampoo.

“Clear those rooms. I’ll take this side,” Davian said to someone else. His voice was all business now, and the arms around my waist tightened. “Meet back at the stairs.”

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