Page 76 of The Criminal

“Steel and Derek will secure it, or rather, him. I spoke to Noah before the call. Tony was enjoying a Cuba libre at the Jai-Alai Fronton. He should be easy enough to bag when the game lets out. You two get going. Be sure to wrap him up all pretty for his uncle. He’s our insurance policy.”

Derek looked from me to Smith and back. A sinister smile curved his lips. He surged to his feet, shoving back his chair with a controlled violence that reeked of barely contained hostility. He looked ready to boil over—erupt. My Boy Scout was ready to end Tony Delgatto. A shiver raced over my skin at the thought, and I rubbed the goosebumps on my upper arms. I’d never seen him like this.

“Where are we storing him?” Steel asked John as he pushed back from the table and cracked his knuckles.

I couldn’t believe they were talking about kidnapping like it was a daily occurrence. Smith was a law unto himself.

John scratched under his chin while he considered it. “Our holding cell here will do, but blindfold him. We can’t have him connecting us to his unexpected…vacation.”

“On that note, how about I show you to your room?” Quinn scooted around the table, passing John, Derek, and Steel, who huddled together, considering whether using a stun gun on Tony was too kind. Across the table, Sydney was loudly advocating for a cattle prod to the testicles. I knew I liked her. If any man deserved that treatment, it was Tony.

It all felt like an episode ofThe Twilight Zone. The Smith Agency wasn’t supposed to break the law. Apparently, I was wrong.

I looked at Derek. He must have felt my stare and turned. I gave him a confused smile. He crossed the room, pulled me up from my chair, and crushed me to his chest. One of his hands tangled in my hair, and he tipped my head back. The open-mouthed kiss was a claiming and flavored with the bloodlust I sensed in him moments ago. It stole my breath.

“Quinn will keep you company. I’ll be back in a few hours. Okay?” He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear so tenderly it almost brought tears to my eyes.

“Hey, don’t kill Tony. He’s not worth it.”

“I promise. I’ll only bruise him.” He cupped my cheek and gave me a last quick kiss before returning to Steel and Smith. No one in the room seemed at all shocked by Derek’s kiss but me. He wasn’t just telling his coworkers we were together but blatantly showing them.

The people in this room were here for him. Not me. I vowed to do everything in my power to not squander this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“Steel will keep a leash on him, don’t worry.” Quinn tucked my arm through hers and pulled me toward the door. “Speaking of leashes, want to take Onyx up to the roof deck? He can run around a bit.”

“Sure, that sounds good.” I stumbled along with her, my legs not cooperating. My brain was too busy replaying all that had happened in the last few minutes to manage walking. I was reevaluating everything.

We wove through the main shared office area. The big room was empty except for Simon, the computer guy I met earlier, bent over a keyboard.

“Hold on. Is that normal?” I pulled Quinn to a stop. I needed some answers before my head exploded.

“What part?” She wrinkled her forehead.

“The kidnapping?”

“Hmm, it’s been a few years since the last one. That guy really deserved it.”

“I thought The Smith Agency didn’t break the law.” My picture of the situation was so wrong.

Quinn laughed. “We bend it—like a pretzel.”

“And you’re okay with that?” The image I had in my head of Derek as a perfect Boy Scout was changing and morphing. I’d been a fool to think I had to protect him. He was an ex-SEAL, for God’s sake. I’d let my teenage vision of him cloud my adult understanding.

“I blew up a car a few months ago, so I’d say yeah, I’m cool with it.”

“A car?”

“No one was inside it.” She shrugged and started walking again.

“What about me? Don’t you all hate me on principle? I’m a criminal.” I tugged at her arm.

“Principles are cold, empty things. Loyalty and friendship keep us going. Make us risk our lives for each other. And so long as Derek asks us to help you, we will. But not because of principles. This is a judgment-free zone. We all have pasts.” She motioned me forward so I could use a fob to open the door to my temporary room.

I considered the people I’d met here. It was a varied bunch. Derek had explained as much, and Quinn’s comments about all of them having pasts, ones they might not be proud of, resonated. Lord knows, my history was nothing to brag about.

Inside the apartment, Onyx lay sprawled out on his bed. He startled awake, mid-snore, when I opened the door. He rushed over, tail wagging, excited to see me. I stroked his head.

He’d made himself at home in our small accommodations. Then again, Quinn had brought his bed and food bowl from my house, so he had the essentials.

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