Page 23 of Off Limits Billionaire

“Up.” He snarled at me with a gun pointed in my face. He ushered me over to the couch, but I didn’t get a chance to look for my phone. Another round of loud pops zipped through the air, which caused me and the other women to dive toward the ground, leaving the thug standing there with an assault rifle in his hands.

Three armed men ran back into the waiting area with fear in their eyes as they rushed up to the man with gun. “We need to go now! Her husband just broke Sergei’s arm—Interpol and airport security are all on the way.”

“Let’s take her with us then, a good hostage goes a long way.”

A shiver ripped through me, wondering how hard I’d have to fight for them not to take me or anyone else out of here. Relief washed over me when I heard Marcus. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”

The sound of a few guns being cocked drew my attention from the floor to the direction I heard him coming from. Marcus stood there with a handgun while Viper and his buddies pointed their weapons at the men standing in front of me.

“Back away from her now.” Marcus commanded, and I saw their feet move. He rushed over and helped me to my feet. Suddenly, a bunch of lights erupted on the tarmac outside. Dozens of sirens and lights swirled outside the building and the number of officers and airport agents coming out of every nook and cranny surprised me. Scarface and his armed men took advantage of the distraction and hightailed it out of there.

Marcus pulled me behind him, shielding me. Then, he spun around and pulled me into an embrace as if assuring me I was safe with him. He held me tight as he bent down and kissed me gently, wiping a stray lock of hair out of my face, holding me like he was never going to let me go. It was soothing to know that his heart was beating just as fast as mine.

Viper approached us, seeming to blend in with the rest of law enforcement, and handed Marcus a business card. He said, “You two have our deepest apologies for how this night erupted. We want you to hang around for another few days.”

“What if Scarface or someone else tries to hurt us or steal the clock?” I asked. Marcus pulled me tighter against him.

Viper stared at us for a moment before he answered. “That’s a possibility, but unlikely. We’re putting you up in a hotel for the night to be available to the police for an investigation. Everything that’s happened here is on security tape, so realistically you two should be cleared to leave within a few hours. Head to the hotel on that business card. Give the card to the concierge and the rest will be taken care of. I’ll have a couple of my guys outside watching the building just in case Scarface decides to come back.”

“Just like that?” I asked him and looked up to Marcus. I couldn't read his expression, but I could feel the tension in his body. He didn’t like being told what to do and I’m sure he wanted to leave as badly as I did.

“Please accept this token of gratitude from my organization.” Viper’s words were clipped and finite as he disappeared into the crowd of workers and law enforcement.

“Is he always like that?” I asked Marcus.

He peered down at me and shrugged. “I can’t say who that guy is anymore. It’s been a long time since we served together, but I feel we can trust him. Let’s just go check it out and see how we like it. I’ll grab the contact information for the officers in charge and when we get the okay to leave, we can come right back here to head home.”

“What about the Godschalk?” I asked, turning around to face the door I’d come out of.

“It’s still tagged, right?” He looked at my phone.

It only took a few seconds to confirm the tag was still inside the clock. With the permission of the officers on the scene, we headed to a hotel nearby. It was nothing like the Royal Swan, but at least Marcus didn’t have to foot the bill for it after this catastrophe.

The suite wasn’t enormous, just a single room with two full-sized beds and a view of airplanes taking off. I watched the air traffic for a while in silence while Marcus made phone calls. It wasn’t until there was a knock at the door that I was drawn away from the window.

Marcus answered the door while I sat on the bed, waiting for the next shoe to drop. It was the driver who had driven us to the airport. Brody, if I remembered correctly. Viper wasn’t too far behind as they both entered the room and sat around the small table in the corner.

“I see you two are settled in,” Brody smiled. “First, I want to apologize for my methods. We, well I, thought we were dealing with Brian and that you two were a part of the plan to smuggle—”

Viper elbowed him and spoke up. “Brody’s trying to apologize for the misunderstanding and I’m sorry you guys had to go through that. We can’t reveal too much about what’s going on, but just know that we spoke to the people at Montclair’s and our contacts.”

Marcus huffed, his muscular arms folded across his chest. “You could have told me, man.”

“Told you?” Viper eyed Marcus with a furrowed brow. “You don’t work for us, but you could.”

Marcus turned to me with an expression in his eyes I couldn't quite read before he turned back toward Viper and Brody. “I’m okay with my career now, fellas. When can we head home?”

“Probably in the morning,” Brody told us.

Viper continued for him. “What I can tell you is that we found the piece we were looking for, so your purchase is in the clear.”

Marcus nodded slowly, still with his arms folded across his chest. “So all the trauma that you put us through, from the auction, to the hotel, to here, was all a misunderstanding?”

Viper tapped the table as if contemplating his answer, “It was a misunderstanding and you have this glorious suite as an apology for that.”

“It’s not enough, Vin, and you know that,” Marcus snarled.

“Well, Adler, you guys survived and this is as good as GOLIATH gets for civilians. We just wanted to offer you our apologies, face to face, man to ma—”

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