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Making any progress through the mansion feels like it takes forever. We take slow steps, and once again I’m stuck climbing over the sprawled bodies from before. I wish I could say I’m more graceful, but I’m not. It’s a miracle I don’t end up starfished on top of them, goochplanting in some dead guy's crotch.
My ass feels warm at the mere thought of Jasper punishing me for being that close to another man’s cock.
We finally make it down the hall to where the blueprints said the office door should be located, but it’s nothing other than a blank wall. We assumed there would be differences, and there have been. But being on the same floor as TB’s bedroom… I’m worried about what we’ll find.
Following the wall, there are no breaks, no doors until the very end of the hall, meaning it’s most likely one solid room. There’s one problem though. The door we’re staring at doesn’t have any handles, no keypad, nothing.
“How are we supposed to get in?” I ask, watching as Jasper runs his fingers along the outside of the door.
“Not sure,” he grunts. “Maybe there’s a secret button or a latch. If not, we’ll need to get Cole to hack this too. But I doubt he’ll give it any of his attention until after the Tulip Broker is dead.”
“Why do you call him that instead of his name? I heard you use it earlier.” I move to the window and shift the curtains to the side, searching if the secret way to open the door is hidden here. Something tells me it won’t be some obvious trick.
“Because it humanizes him, and he’s a fucking monster. He doesn’t deserve any sympathy. The things that happened in his past doesn’t give him carte blanche for what he’s done. I’m a sick and twisted man, I’ve started an assassin’s wet dream of a guild for finding business, but even I’m disgusted by what he’s done.
“When I think about it for too long, I hate myself for knowing who he is, for knowing what kind of sick things he dipped his fingers in, and I’ve done nothing about it. Let him hide away with no recourse. I could’ve stopped him and I turned a blind eye.” He turns around and rests his back against the metal door and pinches the bridge of his nose.
“Someone we care about was affected by him, and it’s all my fault. Cole might not blame me now, but he will some day, and I don’t want that to rip apart your happiness too.” He turns around and punches the sheetrock next to the door, the force of it going right through. Then he starts tearing at the material, working to uncover it.
I’m not sure what to do. Emotions aren’t my area of expertise. But I do know who excels in it. I walk partially down the hall to attempt to hide my conversation. “Grayson? Did you hear?”
“Yeah, I did.” He has access to all of our coms, but it doesn’t mean he’s listening to mine specifically.
Eyeing Jasper, I whisper, “What do I say?”
Grayson blows out a breath. “Remi, babe, you know what to say.”
“No, I don’t,” I practically hiss. The back of my neck prickles with sweat, and I rub my hand at it.
“You’ve got this. I have faith in you,” he tells me. No fucking help at all.
I walk back to Jasper and rest my hand on his shoulder. “Hindsight is always clearer. The important thing is you're doing something now. You’re doing everything you can to exterminate TB and to help Cole find his sister.”
He turns to face me, and I swallow hard. “I—I don’t know what to say to reassure you.” He suddenly wraps me in a hug, squeezing me tight.
“You wanting to is enough. I know there’s a disconnect when it comes to things like this.” He kisses my forehead. “Next time you feel this way, tell me ‘I’m here’, and I’ll know.”
How did things get turned around to him comforting me instead of the other way? That’s Jasper, though, always wanting to take care of those around him. I swipe my hands down my body, stepping away from him so we can continue working the problem.
My hand bumps against the fob I tucked in my pants. I completely forgot about it. It seems curious one of the security guys would have something like this that isn’t attached to any keys. Palming it in my hand, I turn it over so the button faces up, and I press it.
With a slight hiss of flowing air, the metal door opens. Jasper and I share a look, then move toward it at the same time. The first thing I process is the guard shooting to his feet and fumbling to grasp an object.
The second thing I see is the woman banging on a clear wall and shaking her other hand like she’s desperately telling us to hold off.
“Hold,” I snap out, not even risking the use of Jasper’s name. He freezes immediately, but we both keep our guns trained on the man. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the woman breath out a sigh of relief.
“I’m holding a deadman’s switch. You shoot me, all the air out of her chamber gets sucked out,” he says, pointing to the woman.
Fuck.
“I’m letting the others know,” Grayson says, reading my mind. I’m at a loss of what to do. This is so far out of my realm. I’m used to killing people, and not giving a single shit. But my heart clenches with desperation to save this woman.
Jasper lowers his gun, holding up a placating hand. “Seems we’re at a bit of an impasse. What will it take for you to put that button down?”
“You can put the barrel of that gun in your mouth and pull the trigger.” I growl, fisting my gun tighter as I stare the man down. He’s older. Wrinkles mar his skin where crow's feet would usually be, but somehow these lines don’t give the impression they came from smiling. His hair is salt and pepper, buzzed close on the sides and only slightly longer on top. The most defining characteristic, though, is a burn mark starting at the bottom of his jaw, trailing into his shirt.
“We both know that won’t happen, so how about something more realistic,” Jasper counters.
