Page 33 of Captured Pawn
I didn’t bother fighting them back. Teardrops fell down my cheeks as I remembered hearing the crackle of the fire as Matt took his last breath.
“He died before you got him out of the car. I know. I was listening to him gasping for his last breath.”
Nick took a few steps before dropping to his knees in front of my seat. I wasn’t prepared for him to reach out and take my hand in his. It felt so out of character for him.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that. No one should have to hear a loved one die.”
“I’m not sorry,” I said truthfully. “I would have hated for him to die alone. And as cruel as it was, it does bring me comfort that he was thinking of me at the end.”
Nick smiled. “He thought of you all the time. I swear every day he’d have some story about ‘Sophie said this,’ or ‘Sophie did that.’ I’m like dude, enough with the Sophie shit.” A lopsided smile came to his handsome face.
I couldn’t help but chuckle through my tears. “So, what you’re saying is you were annoyed with me even before you kidnapped me.”
The smile fell from his face. “For the last time, I didn’t kidnap you. I…” he paused before adding, “I put you into protective custody.”
I couldn’t help but point out the obvious. “And your idea of protective custody is to have me help you illegally break into a home and steal items from a locked safe.”
That shut him up.
A few long seconds passed in silence. I was more aware than ever that he hadn’t released my hand yet. I finally decided what to say. “Matt would not be happy to know you’re thinking about letting me risk my life to help you.”
His face contorted with visible guilt. “I’m aware of that. If there was a better way, I’d take it, but right now, this is the best I can come up with. I know you want to bring down those responsible for his death as much as I do.”
While he was right, I wasn’t naive. I knew it wasn’t only about vindication for Matt. He wanted the stuff from the safe.
“So… if I do this… after it’s done—I’ll be free to go home. Go back to my own life?”
I had a hard time reading Nick’s expression as he hesitated before answering. “If we get the items from the safe, then yes, I’ll have the leverage I need back in my control to keep the Bishops in line.”
“Fine. Tell me what you need me to do.”
CHAPTER14
Nick
It wasn’t too late. I could still pull the plug on this insanity.
Those words had become my mantra over the last twenty-four hours as I’d worked to get Sophie up to speed on all she needed to know.
In the beginning, all I wanted her help with was to teach me what I needed to know. Matt would be pissed enough that I’d confided in her so many of the very things he’d worked so hard to keep hidden from his sister. I knew I couldn’t put her in direct danger by sending her inside the Bishop mansion.
But Sophie had blown that idea out of the water by making it abundantly clear that the high-tech security systems along with the state-of-the-art safe were going to be hard, if not impossible, for her to navigate. There would be zero chance of my going in alone and having her only helping remotely, especially on the tight timeline I knew we had to meet.
For what felt like the hundredth time, I looked over at Sophie, sleeping curled up on the loveseat in my office. Once she’d made up her mind to help me, she’d been a trooper, pushing me to stay up almost all night last night going over floorplans, security system specifications, and photos of every possible angle of every possible obstacle we might encounter.
All day today, she’d pored over her brother’s notes, scribbled in his chicken-scratch handwriting that she somehow had no trouble deciphering. She’d asked me intelligent follow-up questions. With each passing hour, I’d grown more impressed with her aptitude in the security system scene. If she’d been anyone other than Matt’s sister, I’d have already offered her a job because she had exactly the kind of skills a man like me was always in need of.
This afternoon, I’d finally forced her to lie down and get some rest. She needed to be rested before the mission tonight, but more important, I needed a break from her to try to get my head on straight. The hours of working closely together had my cock tight against the zipper of my jeans, as I remembered how sexy that bare ass of hers was when it had been red with my palm prints.
As much as I wanted to believe she was doing this mission to help me, I needed to keep reminding myself that the truth was she was only helping so she could go home and get away from me once and for all.
I glanced down at my watch. Thirty minutes until go time. Just enough time for a cold shower.
* * *
“Tell me again why we have to do this tonight?” she asked from the passenger seat of the unmarked cargo van.
I waited until after merging into traffic before answering. “Tonight is the opening night of the season’s Waterfall event. The Bishops are a major sponsor. They always attend the opening ceremony so they can show off their luxury boats in the parade. It’s one night we can count on the whole family being out of the house.”
