Page 113 of Romancing His Heart
“Yeah, my guess is he thinks you’ll turn on Luca to save Sloane.”
“Right, because as far as he knows, Luca and I are enemies. He obviously doesn’t know Luca is FBI. What do I do, Ash?”
“You just completed the hardest part of this mission.” He motions to Sloane’s door, and my gut rolls. Fairly sure I’m going to vomit, I rise to my knees as dry heaves wreck my body.
When I’m able to speak, I ask, “What’s the timeline? What do I need to do?”
“Now you have to decide if you trust Luca enough to work with him. I don’t see any other way for this to happen if you aren’t on the same page. As far as a timeline, we have to move fast. Getting evidence on Vic will be the easy part. Mikhailov and Solonik? Jesus, Loki. I don’t know. Look how many years it took us to nab Black.”
“That’s not happening this time, Ashton. We’re finishing this now.”
“Can you work with Luca?”
That’s the million-dollar question.Can I?
“I think so. I want to talk to Claire, though. She’s been with Nadja for months. She has a sixth sense about people. If there’s some bullshit happening, she’ll have already seen it.”
“We can do that from the car. We really have to get going now, though. You’re too exposed here.”
“Is Sloane’s security team here?” I won’t be able to leave until I know she’s guarded and safe.
“Yes. One on the stairwell. One at the elevator. One in the alley by the fire escape, and one in an apartment next door watching all the cameras. They will switch out with another team every twelve hours. We have her covered, I promise. I handpicked all her guards myself.”
“Call Emory.” I sigh. “I’m not leaving until I know someone’s with her.” I slide back down the wall until I’m a heap on the floor and wait.
“What the fuck did you do, Loki?” Preston’s angry voice carries from the end of the hall.
Emory rushes past me with barely a glance and enters the apartment in search of her sister.
Preston stops in front of me. When I lift my eyes to meet his angry gaze, his face falters. “Fuck, Loki. What the hell is going on?”
“I-I had to hurt her.” Preston’s face morphs to rage at my words, but I push on. “I had to lie to her. I had to.”
“What did you do?” His question is staccato as he holds onto his temper.
“He didn’t have a choice, Pres. Vic put a hit out on her. We got word an hour ago,” Ashton attempts to calm him. “He had to make Sloane hate him, so she’ll stay away until we fix this.”
“I love her, Pres. More than I ever thought possible, but I had to hurt her so she would stay away.” Unable to control my emotions any longer, a tear leaks from my eye, and I make no attempt to hide it. I’ve spent so long keeping feelings at bay, and now there’s no stopping the tsunami that hits.
“Christ, Loki,” Preston sighs as he slides down the wall beside me.
Sloane’s cries only intensified after Emory entered, and each one slices deeper into my soul.
“Come on, Loki. Let’s get you out of here. We’re pushing it as it is, and listening to this isn’t doing anything for your mental state right now,” Ashton pleads.
“I deserve the pain, Ash. I did that to her.”
“And you will fix it, just like you do everything else, but first, you must keep her safe.”
“What do you need from me?” Preston asks. “I’ll talk to Ryan about security. I won’t—”
“I have a full team guarding her, but she doesn’t know, and it’s probably better that way for now,” Ashton tells him. “It’s best if you don’t say anything to anyone. We can’t have someone slip. She has to hate Loki for now.”
“You want me to lie to my wife?” Preston growls.
“Look at it this way … a little white lie of omission to keep her sister alive, or tell her and risk something happening to Sloane? I’m pretty sure she’ll forgive you for this one,” Ash announces, his annoyance barely hidden.
“What a fucking mess,” Preston mutters under his breath.
