mind Pierce would have stepped in front of literally anyone at Alaskan Security under the circumstances.
“Maybe that was a bad example.” Heidi poured a little more wine into her glass. “But he’s still been into you at least since I showed up.”
Mona turned to Eva.
Eva winced, her face scrunching as she gave Mona a tight smile.
“You knew too?”
“I was pretty sure if you realized he liked you it would only freak you out.”
She wasn’t wrong.
“He tried to kiss me in the tunnels.” The admission jumped out. “I almost threw up on him.”
Eva let out a breath. “Thank God. I was starting to worry that I was wrong.”
“I’m glad my anxiety helped ease your conscience.” Mona grabbed a small bunch of grapes from the fruit tray. “But maybe I would have handled it better if I had more time to get used to the idea.”
She wouldn’t have handled it better. Knowing earlier might have actually made it all worse. At least she’d been able to power through it only being intimidated by Pierce in general.
Not Pierce who was interested in more from her.
“So are you sticking with ‘kissing Pierce was just fine’?” Heidi wiggled her brows.
“I think he didn’t know how to react.” At first he definitely did. There was no mistaking that the man who held her so tight owned the act in less than a heartbeat.
Owned her.
But then he changed in the blink of an eye, and it was like she was kissing someone else.
And it turned out she didn’t like kissing that guy.
But she did like kissing Pierce.
Mona tipped back her glass, draining the rest of her wine. “I’m tired. I was up late last night.”
She’d been expecting Pierce to come to collect her at the end of the day, insisting she stay at his place again.
Weren’t they supposed to be sticking together? Didn’t he say there were only so many men to go around and it would stretch them thin to guard two locations?
He did say that.
“I’ll see you girls in the morning.” Mona stood up and walked to the door. She opened it to find Abe standing outside. She eyed him. “What are you doing here?”
“You know what I’m doing here, Monster.” He tipped his head toward the ceiling separating them from the rooms above.. “I got orders.”
She pursed her lips, the evening’s wine relaxing her even more. “Go tell Pierce that if he was really worried about me he wouldn’t send someone else.”
Abe’s brows lifted. “You really want me to tell him that?”
She mulled over the possible ramifications for a few seconds before straightening a little. “Yup.”
Mona walked past Abe. “Have a nice night.” The sound of Shawn’s voice carried over Abe’s shoulder speaker as she opened her door.
“He’s going to lose it if she starts acting like that.”
Mona smiled as her door clicked shut.
Good.
Pierce made her so crazy she almost barfed every single day.
Now it was his turn to feel a little uncomfortable.
Mona brushed her teeth and swished some mouthwash before layering on a swipe of deodorant and spritzing both the perfumes she mixed on the ultra soft pajama set she changed into before going to Eva’s room.
It was time to go to battle, and now that things felt more evenly-matched the prospect was less daunting.
Maybe a little exciting.
She’d lived a sheltered life of private schools and coordinated friendships. It set her up perfectly to land where she did, the tool of a manipulative asshole.
If she was going to be a tool it was going to be on her own terms.
She was going to be the one deciding how she was used.
Mona walked out of the bathroom, scanning the space as she decided where to wait.
The door to her room unlocked, shoving open to reveal a slightly rumpled Pierce.
That didn’t take long.
She crossed her arms and lifted her brows. “Can I help you?”
It seemed like Pierce suddenly realized what he’d done. He straightened, tugging at the hem of his jacket. “I just came to make sure you were okay.”
“And that necessitated barging into my room uninvited?”
He glanced back to the door as it clicked closed.
“Pierce?”
His attention slowly came back her way.
“Why are you here?” His normally perfect hair was loose, falling to one side in a way that made him look less polished. Less buttoned-up.
And more real.
“I just told you. To make sure you were okay.”
“You knew I was fine.” She smirked at him. “You sent Abe to be sure of it.”
His nostrils barely flared. “There is a hired hit on your head.” Pierce