Page 7 of Stolen Omega

Blue snorts at me. “Kid thinks he’s funny.”

“Not funny, dude.” Graves shoots me a scowl.

They lift the case off the ground in one swift, smooth movement. My stomach lurches. It doesn’t matter how effortless they make it look, and how careful I know they’re being.

This is the part I can barely handle.

It’s getting harder and harder to hide how I feel about her. The other guards have started to notice, not that their opinions matter, but the jokes they make are getting more difficult to shake off.

The instinctive need to defend and protect Zelena is primal and it’s so hard to ignore that it physically hurts.

I don’t know how the hell Archer does it. He keeps his distance, but I know his feelings for our girl run as deeply as mine do. He has a cast-iron grip on his control.

You have a job to do. Get back to it.

Dave’s watching me with a quietly suspicious expression on his face when I turn back to him. His frown smooths out quickly, but my teeth are already starting to grind.

“Hey, man, those guys know what they’re doing,” he assures me, as if I don’t already know that.

I nod slowly in sullen agreement, knowing speaking isn’t an option right now.

“So, the next part is the decoy, right?” he asks, sounding oddly hopeful.

The decoy. Right. Anna. The woman whose heart Dave’s trying to win over.

I relax enough to manage a tight smile. “Two minutes.”

Lucky for me, Dave’s new to this part of the job. All the other guards know Archer gives me direct orders, so they’d never say no to anything I asked of them, but they question every little thing that deviates from the norm. It’s ingrained in them as part of their training, but it grates on my nerves when all I can focus on is Zelena.

I count down the two minutes inside my head, losing one before the sound of van doors being slapped shut penetrates the silence. A few seconds later, the roadies step back inside.

Blue gives me his trademark expectant stare. “You waiting here for a reason, Chuckles?”

Dave snorts, and I wait to hear the van’s engine start.

Once that happens, I check in with our man outside.

“Castle, status update.”

“All loaded up and heading to our destination now,” Castle answers cheerfully.

The reassurance calms me a little, but I know there’s only one thing that’s going to make me feel better, and that’s seeing Zelena back at the hotel, safe and sound.

“Perfect.” I cut the call before I’m tempted to remind him to call Archer when they arrive.

He knows. It’s the same drill every night.

The team is a well-oiled machine.

I seriously need to remember that.

“Do we get Anna now?” Dave asks.

I nod. “She’ll be waiting for us.”

Chapter Four

Zelena

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