Strategic Maneuvers - Jemma Westbrook Page 0,5

eating at her nerves, feeding the fears that wanted her to stay silent.

Disappear.

“We were.” Mona sat taller, swallowing the gag trying to strangle her. “I would like to see Zeke today.”

“That’s the reason I’m here.”

“You’re letting me go see him?” Last night Pierce seemed so averse to the idea. Now he was fine with it?

“I’m escorting you.”

The gag was back with a vengeance.

Heidi snorted. “Imagine that.”

Pierce finally tipped his head Heidi’s way, eyes dragging along with it. “What was that?”

Heidi gave him a sweet smile. “I didn’t say anything.”

Pierce’s gaze came back to Mona before Heidi finished her false claim. “Are you prepared to leave now?”

No. Definitely not. “That would be perfect.” Mona stood, her legs somehow managing to support her weight. “I need to go get my coat from my room.”

“No need.” Pierce watched as she walked his way, waiting until she was past him before following behind her.

“It’s well below zero out there. I’m quite sure I need a coat.” It was nearly impossible to walk and talk at the same time. Each step felt like it might lead to a full-fledged face plant as she forced them out. Each word teased the tickle in her throat, threatening to send her retching.

“I don’t disagree.” Pierce paused at his office door, grabbing a heavy wool coat from the rack just inside. “But I have a small window in which to make this happen for you, and every minute spent finding your coat is another minute you won’t be able to spend with Zeke.”

His words were clipped and sharp.

Probably because he could think of a million things he’d rather be doing. “I’m sure someone else would be willing to take me.”

Pierce’s usually smooth steps barely lost their rhythm. “I’ve no doubt of that.”

He was suddenly very close.

Mona almost jumped away. The only thing keeping her from showing her true colors was the shock of his nearness. “What are you doing?”

Pierce pulled the coat around her, wrapping the soft scarf paired with it over her neck. His hands worked the buttons down the front. “It’s my responsibility to keep you safe, Mona. No one else’s.”

The coat was thick and heavy. Warm enough she was almost instantly hot, her cheeks flaming from the added insulation.

The coat was definitely the issue.

“Come.” Pierce took her hand in his, leading her through the doors where a SUV was waiting, the tinted windows making it impossible to see who was inside.

The cold hit her instantly. She hadn’t been outside since the night she, Harlow, and Eva were lured outside and taken by a team of men who didn’t survive their kidnapping attempt. “Oh my God.”

Her eyes burned as an icy breeze sucked the breath from her lungs.

“Inside.” Pierce yanked open the back door to the SUV. “Get in the car, Mona.”

Mona blinked at the watering of her eyes, the shock of the unbelievable cold stalling her feet.

Suddenly she was moving again.

Just not by foot.

Pierce hefted her body against his, easily lifting her up and onto the heated seats of the warmed vehicle. He was in right behind her, pulling the door closed before turning her way, tugging at the coat, working it tighter against her body. His sharp blue eyes snapped to the front seat. “Turn up the heat.”

“Why in the hell do you live here?” It was an honest question, just not one she’d meant to ask.

His gaze came back to rest on her face, the edge there already gone. Pierce’s lips barely lifted at the edges. “Should I remind you that you also live here?”

“Not by choice.” Mona started to ease down, planning to burrow deeper into the coat that felt part cocoon, part fortress. A place where she could escape and hide from her immediate reality.

Instead she straightened, sitting a little taller beside the man who made her want to cower back into the woman she’d been. “I’m here because of you.”

It was meant as an explanation. A way to prove her decision to be in Alaska was less insane than his.

But the change in his expression made it seem like Pierce didn’t understand her attempted jab at his decision-making skills.

“That is good to know, Mona.” His voice was softer, quieter.

Almost intimate.

Pierce was commanding. Controlling.

Dominating.

Everything that terrified her. Sent her stomach rolling and her heart racing.

He reached out, warm fingers brushing over her skin where her hair caught in the scarf he’d wrapped around her. “I wish I could apologize for bringing you here.”

Her lungs were no longer working, which meant neither were