Jayce laughed. “Literally the numbers one through eight?”
“Yup. The man’s hand nearly landed on my holster so I could get that.” Good intel was critical, but I hadn’t planned on him being so forward, so fast. They usually took longer before their hands were on me. The clock on the dash switched to 8:59. “One minute.”
Rav’s voice came over the earpiece. “Sparklers on the cake are being lit.”
“Jayce, you’re a go.”
Our car turned onto the main road, and Emmett hit the gas.
“Slow down, Em.” I touched his forearm to calm the adrenaline likely spiking through him. He was always at its mercy. “If you’re going as much as a mile over, every cop in a fifty-mile radius will want to stop you just to look at the car.”
He exhaled, slowing to the speed limit. “It’s a sin to drive this car so slow.”
“You know what else is a sin?” I gripped his arm tighter.
“Watching some creepy rich guy make out with my big sister?” He made a face like he’d eaten something disgusting. “I hate that part, Scarlett.”
Rav grunted his disapproval.
“You think I liked it?” Drool on my neck to learn one through eight. “And for the record, stopping to talk to that guy? Not only did the extra minutes risk our egress, but he announced your real name to the entire room and you reacted. Don’t ever do that again.”
“I’m in,” said Jayce. “Room’s clear.”
“Meet you at the motorcycle in ten,” said Rav, metal clanking in his background. Pots, pans, and the sounds of a kitchen.
Emmett kept his eyes on the road rather than hurling any witty barbs at me. He knew he’d screwed up and risked the op.
Part of me wanted to continue about how we weren’t posing as a married couple, didn’t have rings, and he’d risked the job that way, too. But I’d be wrong. Maguire was the kind of man who’d claim me for his, if he so chose, whether Emmett had said he was a colleague, a date, or even a boyfriend. Husband was the right call.
That’s why my brother was my number two. He understood people—read them well.
“Wheels up at the rendezvous point at twenty-two hundred hours.” I released my grip and patted Emmett’s forearm. “Stay safe. Don’t anyone be late.”
Chapter 2
Malcolm
Istaredatthefront doors, where Emmett and his fake wife had exited. “We have company.”
“What do you mean?” came the low voice in my ear.
Before they’d vanished, my eyes had locked with hers in the reflection in the glass. No way that was his wife. I’d noticed the golden dress earlier that evening as she drifted from guest to guest.
Who wouldn’t choose a statuesque stunner like her?
Emmett.
From what I’d seen, he preferred women without a fraction as much intelligence as flashed behind those big brown eyes. I wasn’t a man given to poetry, but I might see fit to change for eyes like those. Let alone that body.
I’d smirked at her, which she’d answered by hurrying out the front door.
“Call it a hunch, but I think the other team we were worried about is going to beat us to the Codex—or already did.”
“Shit.”
“I’m heading upstairs. Get me authorization.” I placed my champagne on a nearby table and strolled through the crowd, smiling at people who smiled back. This was the worst thing about working with a team—all the waiting and discussions and approvals.
The voice huffed. “You can’t go up the main staircase now.”