Page 86 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

He shrugged lightly, looking away from me. “Coulda, shoulda, woulda. So,” he said, turning back to me. “We’re cool?”

“Yeah, we’re cool.”

“Aww,” I heard from behind me and spun around. Eva had her hand over her heart and looked like she was near tears. “That was so sweet.”

“That was pussy shit,” Rae said as she shoved past Eva. “Can we leave now? Or was there someone else you needed to puss out for?”

“Just get in the fucking car,” I snapped at her.

Fox stopped her before she could take the front seat. “I don’t think so. I’ve been a sardine for way too long. You get the back seat.”

“Like hell you are,” Rae retorted.

“Woman,” Fox said angrily. “If I have to have my knees shoved up against my chest for one more goddamn minute, I’m going to pull out my gun and shoot someone, and it’s not going to be anyone in this car.”

I rolled my eyes at the absurdity of it all. “Rae, just get in the back. You’ve proven your point. Give the man some leg room.”

Muttering under her breath, she slid into the back seat with Eva and me, then turned to me with a glare. “And what was my point?”

“Does anyone ever know your point?”

27

EVA

We parkeddown the road from the rundown shack in the middle of nowhere. It was the dead of night, and this felt like the completely wrong time to go after this guy Noah was in contact with. But these men were the operatives, and I was just the girl on the run.

After killing the lights, everyone started to get out of the car, pulling out their guns. I stared at them all in shock as they prepared for battle. Jones walked around to the trunk and popped it open. I watched as the rest of them followed, whistling at whatever was inside.

I followed, my eyes growing wide at what I saw. Hidden under the mat of the trunk was an arsenal of weapons, along with various other things that I couldn’t even begin to name. “What…what is all that for?”

“We’re going in hot,” Jones said, pulling out this massive gun that looked like something from an action movie.

The rest of them started gathering weapons, fastening them to themselves and putting on vests. Cash took one out and started strapping it around my body before I could even protest.

“Wait, I thought we were going to talk to him,” I said, trying to get them to slow down and walk me through this.

“No time for taking this easy,” Fox grinned. “We need information and it’s not going to be a cakewalk to get it out of him.”

“What are you planning on doing?”

I looked at all of them, but I didn’t see the people I had been traveling with for days. Instead, I saw mercenaries who were here for one purpose: to kill. Cash shoved a magazine into his gun and slipped it into some kind of holster on his leg. He looked like Rambo right now, and while that was very sexy, it felt totally unnecessary.

“Shouldn’t we try talking to him first?”

“No time for that,” Rae said. “A guy like that will run as soon as he sees us coming. We need to be fast and grab him before he can turn on us, and someone has to stay with you.”

“Not it!” all but Fox said quickly.

“Aw, come on. That’s not fair. This is my jam.”

“Your jam is killing people, not interrogating,” Cash pointed out.

“Yeah, but…you want me to watch the chick?”

“Hey!” I snapped, angered that I was being put in the chick category. Given the opportunity, I probably had something to offer, even if it was very little.

“Again, I hate to be the voice of reason, but he might talk to us.”

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