Page 97 of Forbidden Wish

The building’s fire alarm blasted the air. Were they always so loud? The whole block would know. Cops would be called. Fire people. Crowds would gather.

They rounded a barrier and Sersha ran up a few concrete stairs to another door and… voila! That was exactly what Sersha’s smile said. Gesturing inside, the woman entered.

She hesitated.

This was important. Necessary. Yes, it was dangerous, but fuck it, hadn’t she been saying all along that risks were for the greater good? The greater good.

Sersha poked her head out the door again, red light pulsing in the air behind her. “Get in here.”

If for no other reason than Sersha needed backup, she ascended the stairs to enter a darkened corridor. Someone, Sersha, caught her wrist to jerk her through a door and down a flight of stairs.

The alarm wasn’t as loud down there. What did that mean? Well, that she could think straight, sort of. Like they were on a submarine or something, the ominous red bulbs at regular intervals signaled danger. Of fire or the Manzani goons who could catch them skulking around.

“Why do you think they’re down here?” she whispered, following her into the labyrinth. “Do you know this place?”

“Not exactly. Kind of. It’s worth a shot.” Sersha tried doors and peeked through windows. “Everyone above will clear out.” The area would be flooded with people. Great. Nice. “And if the fire guys come, they might evacuate.”

“The entire building?”

Official authorities could save their victims.

“Shh!” Sersha landed a hand on her stomach, halting them. “Shit.”

Whatever she heard, Sersha bundled her back into a perpendicular corridor, flattening them against the wall.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Her father would go crazy. Ford would—Yeah, but that was nothing to how Sersha’s father and brother would react if they were caught breaking and entering. Skulking in the shadows of a known criminal’s semi-lair wasn’t what the superintendent’s daughter should be known for.

Footsteps thundered by, sounded like the corridor they’d been about to turn into. People. Foes not friends.

Sersha peeked out.

“Aren’t you afraid?” she asked, glad she wasn’t the one literally sticking her neck out.

A wide smile on the woman’s face seemed more exhilarated than hesitant. “Of what? If they kill us, we’ll be dead, we won’t care.”

That was one way to look at it.

“They could put us in their videos.”

Sersha’s distracted eyes met hers. “You don’t have to be afraid. Be smart, sure. But when you’re with me, you don’t have to worry about what they’ll do to us.”

Because her father was the police superintendent. And Lach… she’d used her connection to him at the precinct too many times to count. Being with him gave her some reassurance, but she’d never done anything like this, never anything dangerous.

“I didn’t know you were so fearless.”

“Fear gets you nowhere.” More footsteps passed, but the woman didn’t acknowledge them. “My father, grandfather, brother, yeah, they give me cover.”

“That didn’t stop you being attacked.”

“And I came back from that. You learn a lot about yourself when you go through something like that.”

“A trauma.”

“An awakening.” Switching the mood, she laughed. “Besides, Evander would cut off his own cock before he’d let any other man have first go at me in Manzani territory.”

They linked hands and crept out. “You were attacked in McDade territory.”

“Mm hmm,” Sersha said, checking the next corridor before heading down it. “They came from this way, right? They had to be coming from somewhere.”

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