Page 106 of Wandering in Darkness
“You heard him. He thinks I’m useless and would cheerfully replace me. You think he won’t after I lost control of this situation to a couple of guys?”
I turn to Grayson since he came in here after me. “What’s the situation outside?”
“I downed a couple of guys to get in here. I don’t know beyond that.”
“Let’s gain control of the situation,” I say.
“I’ll switch sides. Let me help you,” Audrey offers.
“Ned, you have something to lock these two up with for now?” I ask.
For some unknown reason, Audrey looks offended. “I just said I’d help you!”
“I believed in you once, I’m not doing it again,” I say, positive I’m not making that mistake twice.
She grits her teeth but doesn’t fight when Ned, looking a bit battered and moving slowly, tapes her arms together. Then he starts working on the other guy.
“We have to work fast. We don’t know if Allen is sending reinforcements,” Grayson says.
“I know how to destroy him,” Audrey insists. “I know how to access all of the data detailing what he’s trading. You could destroy him with this.”
“Why would you help us?” Grayson asks.
“You heard him, didn’t you? The moment he realizes how much I fucked up, he’s going to replace me. If you guys really are going to tear him down, I’ll help you in exchange for letting me go.”
“We’ll think about what to do with her,” I say. “Let’s get the others under control. Ned, can you stay here and watch these two?”
He gives me a nod then stands guard while Grayson and I slip out of the room.
As we head toward the door leading out, Grayson keeps slowing down until we’re moving at a crawl. I’m not sure if he’s hoping everyone out there dies of old age by the time we reach them or what.
“Let me do it,” Grayson says, likely thinking we might have to shoot a few to gain control.
“I’m okay.”
Grayson catches my wrist. “I know you are, but I don’t want things to get worse for you if you have to shoot someone.”
“I’m okay, I promise… but we need to work on your delivery,” I toss out there.
His face scrunches up in confusion, but I refuse to look at it for any extended period of time. I really can’t. Every time I do, my heart starts beating wildly and my chest feels funny.
“My delivery?” Grayson asks, as if he possibly doesn’t know what I’m still thinking about.
I can feel my face heating up, far too embarrassed to get out what I’m wanting to say. “Yes.”
“Yes? Like… how I threaten bad guys? Help me out here.”
“No! Your… other delivery.”
Grayson looks extremely confused. “Um…”
“The text!” I say.
“OH! When I texted that I love you?”
How can he just say it so freely? Why does he act like it’s not a huge fucking deal? “Yes! That!”
“Well… I realized that we ended up in a very precarious situation, and just… I wanted to tell you in case something happened…”
