Page 27 of Shockproof

She cannot –and will not– die of shame.

It’s not possible.

Hell, even if it were possible, I wouldn’t let that shit happen.

I would do whatever it took for her to shine like she deserves, even if it meantIwas the one who died of humiliation.

I’m always willing to give up any piece of me for any piece of her.

Put her first.

No matter the cost.

“Should’ve had,” Blu finally bites back after his loud laughter subsides.

“No.”

“Would’ve had.”

“Still no.”

“Fuck you, whatdoyouknow,” he impishly chuckles once more. “You’ve probably only heard mainstream shit, anyway.”

“You do realize that Santana and the rest of the Dipset crew were all more or less mainstream for a while, right?”

“Why do you know that?” my best friend instantly gripes. “And why do I feel like if I were to ask you what Grandmaster Flash’s real name is-”

“Joseph Robert Saddler.”

“See! Why do you knowthat?! Why do I always feel like you’re studying for aJeopardyaudition you forgot to tell me you were going on?”

“One, I wouldn’t tell you I was goin’.”

“Ouch.”

“Two, I wouldn’tgo‘cause they don’t ask enough questions in subjects I am actually versed in versus could probably bullshit my way through.”

A small stretch of silence precedes him inquiring, “You’ve had Arley run a risk analysis and agent performance test on that possibility, haven’t you?”

“That’s not important.” I smirk and allow my stare to sweep the back entrance for a second time. “Whatisimportant is that you keep a clear visual on the situation. I may be familiar with this bar – giving us the initial tactical advantage – but I’m not sure who or what to expect for this package transfer.”

“Roger that.”

After exiting the human pinata’s vehicle that we found the phone in, I pull my baseball cap down to keep my face covered and casually saunter my way towards the trunk, making sure to keep an eye on our surroundings just in case one of the nearby cameras – we’ve been monitoring since yesterday – happens to be hacked pre-exchange.

Which would be asmartmove since they didn’t pick the location.

And since they have no idea what the individual that they’re supposed to be doing business with looks like.

They wanted to keep it that way; however, I expressed my disinterest in leaving the “package” unattended.

Especially after the slightly botched extraction.

It may pain me to admit this – like getting kneed in the nuts during a training exercise – but Seventeen has come through with what I requested. The inner office memos spread around to allude to her capture were not only convincing, they werechilling. They were so well crafted that had I not known for an indisputable fact she was safely in our penthouse, pouting about having to practice more self-defense maneuvers, I would’ve had my ass banging down his office door, demanding he gives me all the information he has for me to hunt these motherfuckers down. The notion that Iwasn’tdoing exactly that was also covered by a small note which informed everyone who received the notice that we had a team on it, a team being led by the worried boyfriend further building on the cover we already had in place. When I say the man crossed his Ts and dotted his Is and scribbled his signature on every angle we needed, I mean anything we strategically requested was fulfilled in impressive timing.

I no longer have concerns he’s in on this shit.

Just that he wants in on theother shit.

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