Never Gonna Happen - Cynthia Eden Page 0,50
right back.
“No, you seemed to be busy with, uh, other things. And I think that’s an issue.”
Sebastian hadn’t lowered his gun yet. She touched his shoulder. “Why don’t we listen to what the government handler has to say, hmm?”
Another ding sounded.
“Ah.” Dex leaned back. Glanced to the left. “That’ll probably be Antony. Wonder if he will be making out with someone when the doors open? If so, I am curious about who his partner will be.”
Sebastian’s body tightened.
“Don’t,” Alyssa urged him.
He looked at her. “Fine. For you.” He tucked the gun into the back waistband of his jeans. He pulled his shirt down and covered the gun. His fingers curled with hers, and they walked out of the elevator together.
“Thought you’d beat us down,” Sebastian said as he eyed Antony.
“Especially since they paused for a pit stop.” Dex was all smug. She was becoming convinced that he was always smug.
“Had to stop and check some other files.” Antony’s voice was wooden, but his eyes were dark and turbulent.
They stood in the building’s lobby, and, Sebastian had been right, the guards were gone. Well, one guard remained. A lone security guard hunched behind his desk.
The marble gleamed under their feet as they stood there. A tight, uncomfortable group.
“Are you tailing me, Dex?” Sebastian asked mildly.
“I was looking for Antony. Finding him was a priority, of course. Had to make sure that the agency hadn’t been compromised.”
“I wasn’t compromised,” Antony growled right back. His voice didn’t carry beyond their circle. “That text was a lie. I never asked Sebastian to protect Alyssa and—”
“I know,” Dex said smoothly.
He…knew? Her focus sharpened on him.
Dex turned his attention to her. He put a genial smile on his face as he said, “I’ve come for you.”
Sebastian stiffened. “I don’t think so.”
“I very much think so.” Dex’s stare didn’t leave her. “You’re being taken into protective custody. Your safety will be my priority.”
“I didn’t ask to be taken into protective custody.” What was going on? Her gaze darted to the glass entrance doors and the darkness that waited outside. She could see Sebastian’s limo. The driver stood near the side of the vehicle. Two men in Shark Gaming and Design security uniforms flanked him.
“You didn’t have to ask. Consider it a gift.”
Alyssa shook her head. “Then it’s a gift I don’t want.”
“I’m afraid you don’t get to refuse.” Dex offered his hand to her. “I assure you, when the danger has passed, you can go right back to living your life normally.”
She didn’t take his hand. “I’m good exactly where I am.”
“You mean you’re good with Sebastian. But you’re not. In fact, I think you being with him puts Sebastian in considerable danger.”
Her heart squeezed in her chest.
Dex’s expression hardened. “Now you can take my hand or I can cuff you to me and we’ll walk out of here that way. All very prisoner-like. Either way, make no mistake, you will be leaving with me.”
“The hell she is,” Sebastian snapped. “You’re not cuffing her!”
Even Antony was frowning at Dex. “Did you just threaten to cuff my sister?”
“I’ll do whatever must be done.” Dex waited with his hand extended. “Now, shall we go, Alyssa?”
“No.” She was adamant. “We absolutely will not—”
Why was there a red dot on Antony’s chest? But even as that thought ran through her mind, Alyssa was lunging toward her brother because she watched plenty of TV shows. She loved crime shows in particular, and a red dot on someone’s chest always meant trouble.
She screamed and threw her body against his even as she heard the sound of shattering glass.
They hit the floor as shards of glass rained all over the lobby.
“OhmyGod.” Antony stared up at her in shock. “Someone just shot at me.”
“And I saved your life,” she told him quickly. “So how about a thank—you!” Her voice rose in alarm as she was grabbed from behind. Grabbed and carried fast only to be basically thrown behind the main check-in counter in the lobby.
Sebastian had been the one grabbing her. He was also the one now glowering at her. “What the hell? Why did you do that?”
“Because there was a red dot on Antony’s chest.” Her arm was hurting. A hot, fast throb in her upper, right arm. “I saw one like that last week on a CSI re-run. Someone on that show was using a scope to get a lock on his target.”
“This isn’t freaking CSI!”
Antony and Dex had crowded behind the counter, too. The security guard who’d been at the counter was