“Whatever she’s trying to negotiate is not an option.” He grabbed Mona’s arm, pulling her from the chair and hauling her away from Vincent.
The man who wanted to use her just like the man who came before him.
Mona didn’t fight him. “It’s my life. It can be an option if I want it to be.”
“You. Are. Wrong.” He dragged her toward the door. “Risking your life will never be a fucking option.”
“You’re using that word an awful lot right now, Pierce.” Heidi was spun in her chair watching as he managed to get Mona out the door. “It’s almost like you don’t want to let Mona help us find Anthony.”
“She’s not getting any-fucking-where near him.” He motioned to the room as he shot a look at the men in the hall. “Deal with that.”
Mona’s feet kept pace with his as he all but carried her to an empty room, shoving her in and slamming the door behind him.
He spun to face her, but her expression stopped him short.
Her cheeks were flushed and her lips lifted in a single-sided smirk.
“There you are.”
CHAPTER 12
WHY HAD SHE worried for so many years about people being upset with her?
Pierce was definitely pissed as hell at her right now and there was nothing scary about it.
“What in the hell were you thinking?” He was already raking his hands through his hair, messing it up, loosening the perfect confines he combed it into every morning.
“What are you thinking?” She held her ground. “We can stop this now before anyone else gets hurt.”
She didn’t just invite Vincent here to piss Pierce off, she legitimately wanted to be used as bait.
And prove she could make the choice herself.
That she was finally in control of her life.
Of herself.
“I will not allow–”
“Then I quit.”
Pierce looked like she slapped him. “You can’t quit.”
“Of course I can.” Mona crossed her arms. “If you’re not my boss then you have no say-so in what I do or don’t do.”
“If you for one second think this has anything to do with me being your boss then–”
“I would hope that’s what it has to do with, otherwise it means that you believe you should be able to tell me what to do.”
“Maybe someone does need to tell you what to do.” Pierce moved into the room, slowly circling his way toward her. “Because you’re going to get yourself killed.”
“No one’s managed to kill me yet.” It was a fact she leaned on almost every day. She’d been kidnapped. Dragged through the freezing air and snow by men who definitely had bad intentions.
She’d been shot at.
She’d killed a man to protect her friend.
She was not what the men she once knew tried to convince her she was.
And she definitely was not what Pierce thought she was.
“I have no intention of tempting fate, Mona. Not when it’s you on the line.” His steps were slow and even, but there was something different about them. They were still careful. Still perfectly spaced.
Calculated.
Like he was hunting her.
“It’s not your choice to make.” Mona stood straighter as he continued to come closer. “It’s mine.”
“I will go to lengths you can’t begin to imagine to keep you safe, Mona. You don’t want to force my hand on this.”
She laughed.
Because the whole situation was so insane it had to be funny. “I’ll take my chances.” She started to edge around him, planning to carefully make her exit.
Because old habits died hard.
Instead she stood tall as she walked right past where Pierce stood, seeming to take up so much more space than he actually did.
Her hand made it to the door, managing to get it open.
But that was it.
A second later she was up off the ground, head down, ass up.
Pierce strode past where Dutch, Shawn, Seth, and Gentry stood, arguing with the rest of Intel.
“Put me down.” Mona gave him one chance.
Pierce ignored her and kept walking.
Zeke taught her more than how to shoot a gun. After the night she, Harlow, and Eva were taken she’d struggled to sleep. To eat.
To function.
Zeke helped her through it. He taught her how to feel strong. In control.
Capable of handling anything that came her way.
Even bull-headed rich men who were used to getting their way.
Mona let Pierce take a few more steps, waiting until they were in a spot where she could hit the ground running.
Then she lifted her upper body hard and fast, straightening high over Pierce’s head, using her weight and momentum to throw his balance off and loosen his hold on her.
Only