Page 7 of Girl Code
“I do apologize for the mess, Ms. Hill but these things do happen when you poke around in things that you were never meant to see.”
“I…” She shook her head at Dante, not knowing what to say, but luckily the voice wasn’t expecting her to respond because it continued.
“I’m going to give you one chance to tell me the truth, Ms. Hill. Did you make a copy of the information you obtained? My men assured me there was no way you’d hidden the information anywhere in that apartment or they would have found it but I’m a realistic man. I need to know if you managed to decrypt the files before we got to your computer.”
Mickey hesitated, her eyes flying to Dante and in the split second it took before his eyes widened, she knew that he’d read her mind. His jaw clenched and his gaze swung through the apartment again. His scowl was back in full force when he looked down at her again and she could clearly make out the one word he mouthed at her.
Lie.
“No.” She pushed all the frustration she was really feeling into her voice and huffed, “As I’m sure your men told you, the decryption was running on my computer when they got here. I didn’t get it open so I most certainly didn’t have the chance to transfer the information in those files to any other device.”
Technically, it wasn’t even really a lie. Maybe that was why it came out so easily. She could have sworn she heard the person on the other end of the phone breathe a sigh of relief at her confirmation that they’d destroyed whatever it was she had stolen.
“You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” The voice on the other end of the line clipped, “If that’s the truth, then we have no further business, Ms. Hill. You won’t be hearing from me again.”
The click on the other end of the line signaled the person had hung up and Mickey gaped at the phone in her hand. They’d hung up on her. She’d told them what they wanted to hear and they simply hung up on her?
Something about it felt… wrong. Off. She shook her head and quickly looked up to see that Dante’s brows were furrowed, as if he was thinking the same thing.
“Who the fuck was that?” She hissed.
“I don’t know.”
“And what about the…”
Dante grabbed her and pulled her against him so hard and so fast that the air in her lungs exploded out in a gasp. He held her against him, shoulder to knee, and he hugged her. Dante hugged her and she had no choice but to wrap her arms around him as well, even though this didn’t feel like any sort of hug he’d ever given her before.
As he held her, he nuzzled his face into the crook of her shoulder and she gasped again when she felt his warm breath on her skin. That spot, just beneath her ear, was super sensitive. Dante knew that. She bit her lip to contain an unwanted moan when his lips moved against the spot and in the fog of her sudden rush of desire she almost missed his whispered words.
“Shhh. Don’t talk. Don’t say anything else. They could have bugged the place. Just, play along ok?”
Her body stiffened despite her best intentions and she released her hold on Dante instantly. He hadn’t hugged her out of some need to comfort her or to remind himself that she was safe and whole. He’d done it as an act, to warn her, and she pulled away from him as much as he would allow as quickly as possible, refusing to meet his gaze or admit that the riotous emotions inside of her because of his simple touch upset her more than that phone call ever could.
“I’m just so glad you’re safe and that you didn’t do something stupid like copy that information.” Dante said a little too loudly and though she knew it was for the possible listening devices it still made her want to punch him.
“Yeah, me too. So glad I’m not as stupid as all you men seem to think I am.”
Dante smirked, barely containing a snort of laughter as he turned away from her in a useless attempt to try and hide it.
“Now what?” She put her hands on her hips and glanced around her destroyed apartment.
“Now…” Dante turned back to her, face serious again, “You pack a bag with whatever necessities you need and you come to my place for a while until we can sort out how to get this mess fixed.”
“And if I don’t want to come to your place?” She raised an eyebrow, completely serious even though she had a feeling what he really meant was that he was going to take her to some sort of safe house like the ones he had mentioned in the car on the ride over to her apartment.
“Then I throw you over my shoulder and carry you to my car, put you in the trunk and take you to my place anyway.” Dante’s eyes glittered with something that made her insides warm and uneasy. “Get your things, Mick. Now.”
She licked her lips, his rough demand sends sensations coursing through her that she couldn’t ignore, and the feeling over intensified when Dante’s dark eyes followed the movement. She turned and rushed away from him. Space, she needed some space. She needed to remember that Dante wasn’t here because he was the man she’d spent all of the last three years comparing every other to only to have them come up short. He was here because it was his job. Protect and serve, apparently even if he had to throw her in his trunk to do it.
After digging through her dismantled dresser and finding a few items of clothing that she was at least half certain some creepy man’s hands hadn’t touched, she threw them into a bag. She added her toothbrush, toothpaste and shower essentials as well. When she turned back to Dante he was standing by the door watching her with those bottomless eyes and she felt her skin heat under his watchful gaze.
“What?” She demanded.
“Nothing.” He shook it off and reached out a hand, taking hers and threading their fingers together as he pulled her after him into the hallway, “We should get going.”
