Five Dates with the Billionaire - Alyssa J. Montgomery Page 0,77

ashen and she had to be strong for him. ‘Britain’s finest operatives are out there for me.’

He drew her to him and kissed her. ‘There has to be another way.’

‘I’ll be fine.’

‘Got to move now,’ Carlisle ordered.

Mia pulled out of Connor’s arms and walked away from him before she lost her nerve.

I’m doing this for us.

This is the only way to move forward—the only way to have a future with Connor.

Almost at the door, she slowed. Another couple of steps and she’d be outside in full sight of Sully. In the sight of his gun.

‘Go Mia. Go now while there’s nobody else around,’ Carlisle urged.

A couple more steps. Mia stopped.

She turned back to face Connor and gave him a tremulous smile. ‘I will, Connor. When all this is over, I will marry you.’

Before he could reply, she turned around and walked out of the building. Heart hammering, she only just remembered to count her steps.

Three. Four. Five.

These steps away from Connor would ultimately allow them to have a beautiful future together.

Seven. Eight. Nine.

They would have the love and happiness that had eluded her poor mother.

Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen.

History wasn’t going to repeat itself. Mia was going to live a long and happy life.

When she got to fifteen, she stopped and rummaged through her handbag for her phone. Shit. Where was it? It didn’t help that she’d started to shake from head to toe and her hands were sweaty. Any moment now she’d dissolve in a pool of perspiration as her nerves took over.

Finally. Her hand connected with her phone case. She took it out and looked at the screen while Sully was likely to be looking at her through the sight of his weapon.

Please protect me.

Her whole body tensed and she closed her eyes as she raised the phone to her ear and prayed there’d be no gunshot.

‘It’s over!’ She heard Connor shout from behind her. ‘Sully’s down!’ Carlisle confirmed.

Oh, thank you God.

Mia couldn’t help herself. The relief coursed through her and tears rolled down her cheeks as she let out a loud sob.

Then she was swept up in Connor’s arms and kissed like there was no tomorrow. Their kisses tasted of salt and she wasn’t sure whether it was her tears or Connor’s.

‘You want to take this inside?’ Carlisle had a hint of laughter in his voice.

Not particularly, Mia thought. She was alive and she was with the man of her dreams and she didn’t care who knew it.

On second thoughts, somewhere private would be good. Somewhere she could take off the blasted bulletproof vest. And she had no intention of stopping there.

Chapter Twenty-five

Later that evening, Mia stretched contentedly as she lay beside Connor in his bed. Her limbs felt boneless now the adrenaline had passed. Or maybe it was a result of physical satiation. Whatever the cause, she loved this feeling. ‘It’s so good to be here with you.’

‘It’s better than good to have you here. You’re the only woman who has ever shared this bed with me.’

That had her attention. ‘Really?’

‘Yep.’ He smiled. ‘I moved out of the home I’d shared with Rachel and got rid of the bed after our divorce. Moving was such a pain in the arse, I decided if I never had a lover in my home again I’d never have to bother moving to free myself of bad memories.’ He tapped the end of her nose. ‘You, my darling, are the exception. You’re here forever.’

She’d heard people describe melting from sheer happiness, but now she could relate to the feeling. ‘I love knowing that.’

Mia’s stomach rumbled and spoiled the romantic moment.

‘Time for food. Sorry, sweetheart. It’s so long since lunch, you must be starving.’ Connor got out of bed and walked into his closet before throwing one of his shirts to her. ‘You can put this on.’

‘I thought you didn’t like me in oversized clothing?’

‘Hm. Another thought I have to revise. It’ll be sexy to have you pad around downstairs in nothing but my shirt.’ His phone rang and he groaned. ‘I’d love to be able to turn that off.’

‘It might be Agent Roberts.’ The agent had promised he’d phone them if he had any news.

‘It is.’ Connor confirmed as he picked up his phone. ‘Hello Carlisle. Mia’s with me, I’ll put you on speaker phone.’

‘How are you, Mia?’ the agent asked.

She grinned at Connor. ‘Exhausted,’ she said, with a wink.

‘Naughty girl!’ Connor mouthed.

‘That’s to be expected,’ the agent said. ‘You went through more stress this afternoon than a lot of people face