Page 108 of Hard Limits

“How can you be so casual about this?”

“What do you want me to do? Gasp? Cry? Wring my hands and panic?”

“You could try sounding a little more horrified.”

“The world sucks. What’s new? We should get some sleep.”

“Sleep?”

“It’s that thing where you close your eyes and snore.”

“I don’t snore.”

“Sure, snookums, you keep telling yourself that.” Jerry rose and patted him on the shoulder. “Sweet dreams.”

“Wait, wait! What about Meera?”

“I don’t have a fucking clue how Amber Road works. Do you?” Jerry already knew the answer. “So we’ll let Echo work while we rest.”

“Divide and conquer,” Alexa said. “I need coffee. Where the hell is Marcel?”

“Who’s Marcel?”

Jerry ignored the question. “Just go to bed, Brax.”

“How do you expect me to sleep?”

“I still have plenty of tranquillisers.”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass.”

CHAPTER 38

THE ASSISTANT

I blinked in the light flooding through the window, trying to get my bearings. My eyelids were heavy, my head filled with sludge. Where was I? What day was it? Beside me, Brax was still asleep, one arm draped loosely over my stomach as he breathed softly.

How easy it had become to spend time with this man.

I’d always told Meera that I dreaded the thought of sharing a bed, of sharing my life with— Holy hell! I knifed up. Meera!

Brax’s hand fell to the side, but he didn’t wake. I leaned down to kiss him on the cheek.

“Sleep for a few minutes longer. I’ll make us coffee.”

It was the least I could do. After all, he’d fetched me a glass of milk in the early hours. Why did I feel so giddy? Were the events of the past two weeks catching up with me? I had to grip the bannister as I walked down the stairs, and of course Jerry and Tulsa looked wide awake when I got to the kitchen.

“You think we should put in a bid?” Tulsa asked.

“There are nearly four days left. Why show our hand now?”

“How high is the auction likely to go? What we need is a ‘Buy it now’ price.”

These two were unbe-freaking-lievable. “Are you shopping? My friend’s been abducted. Can’t you take anything seriously?”

Jerry peered at me over a mug of coffee. “We’re shopping for your friend.”

“She doesn’t need a dress or a pair of shoes. She needs to be rescued.”

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