Page 76 of Being Bold
“Flowers, Miss Coleman? You really shouldn’t have.” Mr. Dao stood right outside the elevator doors as if he’d been expecting her. He wore a light gray tunic suit with a Mandarin collar. He tugged at his left sleeve as two more beefy men in dark suits flanked him. One stuck his hand on the jamb, holding the doors open.
Mr. Dao’s gaze zeroed in on Herc, but the sociopath seemed unperturbed by the gun in his hand or the dead men on the floor. “First a janitor, now a delivery man.” He actually tsked at her. “I told you to come alone. Your inability to follow instructions is making me reconsider my job offer.”
Anger heated her skin and left her mouth in a surge of words. “Are you serious? Not five minutes after you offered me the jobandmy life, you sent Felix to kill me!”
Instead of answering her, Dao spoke to his men, “Take that from him.” He waved toward Herc’s weapon, and her stomach twisted and knotted. Where was the rest of TOP?
To ensure Herc cooperated, the suit holding the door aimed his weapon at her. She noticed Herc glance at the elevatorbuttons and tense. If he wondered whether he could get the door to close before they got a shot off, he didn’t take the chance. With the hardest look she’d yet seen him make, he handed over his weapon.
“Step out of the elevator, Miss Coleman.”
“And if I don’t?” Maybe if she stalled long enough, another member of TOP would show up to help them.
Mr. Dao actually smiled at that. The smile spoke of how unhinged he was. It said he was delighted by her obstinacy and imagined ways to make her obey.
She had to look away. Fear snaked around her spine, tightening every cell in her body. She gulped as bile rose up her throat.
Please, God, let TOP help us. Now!
A rough hand closed around her arm and dragged her out of the lift. As soon as she was out of the way, Herc lifted one of the bodies as a shield and slammed the close button. She let out a strangled wail as the two suits fired on him. Right before the doors closed, she heard a yelp of pain. Then, he was out of sight.
“One of you deal with that,” snarled Mr. Dao.
Please let Herc be okay!
As if in answer to her plea, she heard him in her ear. “I lost Selene. Dao has her on the sixty-first floor.”
A series of curses filled her ear as Dao’s man, who hadn’t gone after Herc, pushed her toward the penthouse.
Victor’s clear voice penetrated the profanity. “Injuries, Herc?”
“Graze to the leg. Burns like a mother and messy as hell, but I’ll live.”
A small wave of relief made her dizzy, and she stumbled only to be jerked forward by the suit’s rough hand. “Keep moving, lady.”
Where is everyone?Because she could really use some help right now.
She followed Mr. Dao down a carpeted hallway before he turned a corner and stopped outside the door to what she assumed was his penthouse. Feeling his henchman come up behind her, she braced herself for more rough handling.
Thankful when it didn’t come, she glanced at the man trailing her. A black bandana with white skulls printed on it covered his head while wraparound sunglasses covered his face. He kept it bent, almost like he didn’t want to look at the camera. Her breath hitched when she realized why. He shifted closer, and she caught his familiar mineral and citrus scent.
It’s Bo!
Somehow, he’d switched places with the other suit. Though relief flooded her veins to know he was alive and safe, they were hardly out of the woods yet. He gave a slight shake of his head, and she schooled her features to not give him away.
The door opened after Mr. Dao glanced up at the camera in the corner. Bo shoved her through the threshold, but not before giving her arm a solid, reassuring squeeze. The penthouse opened into a cavernous space. She stumbled to a stop, catching herself on a cushioned dining chair. No walls separated the rooms, making it feel larger than it was. Still, it had to be five times the size of Bo’s cabin.
To the right, a long metal table demarcated the dining room. On the left, a wall of sleek wood cabinets and a quartz waterfall island marked off the kitchen. Beyond both, a large sectional, matching chairs, and a tan area rug designated the living room. Floor-to-ceiling windows wrapped the entire home in an “L,” giving her a panoramic view of Montreal.
Before she was pushed again, she noted the hallway to her left. If she remembered the floor plans correctly, it led to the two bedrooms and bathrooms. By the time she reached the livingroom, Mr. Dao had sat in one of the chairs across from the half-wall that sported an electric fireplace. Narrow paneling wrapped around it while it flickered with color-changing lights, keeping to the modern vibe the place had going.
“Have a seat, Selene.”
She would’ve remained standing to spite Mr. Dao, but Bo shoved her into the other chair, keeping his back to her former boss. When she was seated, she glared at Mr. Dao.
He leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “Before we discuss what you owe me, let me clarify something for you.” He crossed an ankle over one knee. “I didn’t send Felix to hurt you. He acted on his own. Well,” he shook his head before amending, “not on my orders anyway. Felix was trying to retrieve information on Sentient Shadow for the Russians.” The disgust that flared in his eyes had her shrinking back in her seat. “I would gladly have given them the weapon if they won the bid. But to try and steal it? That’s bad business.” He sighed, managing to sound very put-upon. “Now I have to make an example out of them.”
Remembering the Afghan wife he’d used as a suicide bomber, Selene didn’t want to ask how he planned to do that.
