life, Mona. There simply aren’t enough to protect two locations.” Pierce walked to the bookcase just behind his desk, releasing the hidden latch before swinging it open. “We have to stay in the same place.”
To be honest there was only one person he trusted completely with Mona’s safety, but that admission wouldn’t make her any more willing to agree to his terms.
Mona’s eyes widened as the shelf twisted on its axis to reveal the opening behind it. “Of course you have a hidden passage.”
“And that means?” He loved hearing her assessment of everything. The way she analyzed with both concrete information and the abstract.
Mona waved one hand his way. “It means you’re exactly the kind of person who has something like this.”
“Based on what?” He was ready to get her moving, but first she had to work her way to the only logical conclusion. That meant he had to be patient. Give her the time she needed.
“Based on how you dress.” Her eyes went to his jeans and thermal shirt. “How you normally dress. How you speak. How you act. All of it.”
“Noted.” He held one hand toward the opening. “Shall we?”
Mona huffed out a sigh, her head tipping back to the ceiling. “This is insane.”
“Insane or not, we have to keep the company in mind. The more men we require to guard us, the less men are available to protect everyone else.”
“Damn it.” Mona huffed out another sigh, this one significantly more aggravated sounding. “Fine.” She marched past him.
“The code is 9741.” Pierce twisted the shelf back into place and reengaged the latch.
“You probably shouldn’t give out the code to your secret doors.” Mona punched the numbers into the pad, each glowing button giving off a soft beep when she pressed it.
“I don’t.” He pulled the door open as soon as the lock clicked open. “After you.”
Mona glared at him a second before stomping her way down the stairs. She stopped at the next steel door.
“5428.”
This time she hit the pad harder, stabbing the small buttons with the tip of her finger as she entered the code he gave.
“Make sure you remember these.” Pierce caught the door as she started to open it, knocking it closed. “And I will be the one to go first this time, Love.”
Her eyes widened a little. “Stop.”
He shook his head a single time, leaning closer to her in the small space. “No.”
He’d waited years for someone like her. Someone soft and calm but strong and defiant. He saw it in her from the very first.
Knew he could help her see it too.
“You have to.” Mona’s blue eyes dipped to his lips. “I can’t—”
“What is it you believe you can’t do, Love? Because I can promise you there is nothing you can’t do.”
Mona’s eyes squeezed shut. “This is not what I thought it was.” Her hands came up to rest at the sides of her face. “This is not—”
“Stop saying what it’s not.” Pierce edged in a little more. “Tell me what it is.”
Her eyes snapped open, narrowing a little as they focused on his face. “This is insane.”
He laughed a little. “I can promise you I’m quite sane, Love.”
“I don’t think I believe you.”
“And why is that?” He liked when she bantered with him.
No one else would.
“Because we just found out someone is trying to ruin your entire life before he kills you and you seem fine.”
“It’s my job to seem fine, Love.” He should never have started calling her that. It was impossible to stop. “It’s my job to be calm when no one else is.”
She scoffed. “Are you trying to say I’m not calm, because I feel like I’m handling finding out there’s a hit on me pretty well.”
The reminder of all that was at stake sobered him immediately. “No one will hurt you, Mona. I can promise you that.”
She shook her head. “You can’t.”
It was the part of all this he was working hard to avoid focusing on.
Because Mona was right, and if he acknowledged the danger she was in he might lose his mind. He couldn’t handle the weight of one more head on his shoulders.
“I can do anything.”
Her eyes locked his. “Does that mean you were raised without limits too?”
God she was brilliant. So quick. She could have figured all this out ages ago if she’d known everything. He reached up, tracing the line of her face with the tip of his finger. “No, Love. I was not.”
Her skin was as soft as he knew it would be.