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It took me a moment to realise he was right. It was, after all, his job. This was not a time to let pride get in the way.
I nodded. "You and Cooper go first. Jake and Hutton, you two follow me. Keep your eyes and ears open. If there is a gas leak, it could be dangerous. If there isn't, then some other shit is up." Something that probably involved a pack of black wolves and a whole lot of fuck nope.
We trotted down the stairs in virtual silence.
Ben's shoes had rubber soles, so they didn't make a sound as we moved. Of course they did, he wouldn't be much of a bodyguard if he banged around as he went.
I kept my senses open and tried to keep my eyes from absorbing the sight of Cooper's bare back. Like the rest of him, it was rippling muscle. Absolutely ridiculously lickable muscle.
Shit, I had to stop thinking like this. It was not doing me or them any good. I reminded myself of my frozen steel wall. This was not a good time to be distracted.
"You okay, babe?" Hutton whispered. "You look pale."
I glanced back over my shoulder. "I'm fine. I could have used a few more hours of sleep, that's all." I realised he identified my growing panic before I did.
Judging by the way he glanced back at me, Ben did too. As ever, he was an island of calm in the middle of my chaos. He was focused on his job, but he allowed himself to take a moment to be concerned about me.
I gave him a look that reminded him once again that I could take care of myself. He gave me a minute nod and turned back towards the stairs in front of him.
"Couldn't we all?" Hutton said lightly.
I stopped mid-step. "Is he planning something? You would have a better idea of that than any of us."
"I wish I could say no," Hutton said. "But I remember something like this happening before. It didn't end well. We should get the hells out of the building." Now he looked pale.
I nodded and resumed trotting, faster than before.
We reached the fifth floor without seeing anyone else. From there, the stairs got busy. Floors four and five housed the brothel.
Sex workers were ushering clients out the door and down the stairwell. Some of the clients were in an obvious hurry to save themselves, but others seemed more concerned with their reputations. I recognised a couple of businessmen and local politicians. Being seen here would be damaging for them, to say the least.
Boo fucking hoo. They made that choice when they walked through the door. Curious how one or two who preached about 'family values' ended up here. They were hypocrites, but their money was as good as the next person’s.
One of them noticed me and looked like he was ready to drop back behind me in the hope that any press who might be waiting outside would focus on me and not notice them.
They apparently changed their minds when Cooper and Ben ushered them forward. There was no way they would let anyone leave behind us. Or rather, they wanted to keep everyone in sight. It was never a good idea to turn your back on men like these, even though most of them were only human.
Only a couple of people stepped out of the doors at the third and second levels. By the time we reached the ground floor, the bar was empty.
I made a mental note to upgrade the evacuation procedures for the brothel. They should have been long gone before we got down there.
"You'd think the fear of dying would be greater than the fear of getting caught with your pants down," Jake remarked.
"When you build a house of cards on your reputation, then you have to be careful which way the wind blows," Hutton said.
"That's deep," Jake said. "Did you read that in a fortune cookie?"
"If you don't stop it, I'll have you both made into fortune cookies," I growled. "Hutton is right. Our clients rely on our discretion. That's why they come here and not somewhere else. And why they go out the side entrance while we go out the front." It would take us another minute, but it would keep our reputation intact.
That might be all Dagen planned, embarrass our clients into being too scared to come back. That would be bad for business.
Apparently the clients in question heard the words ‘side entrance,’ because they started to move faster. They followed the employees to the small door which led to an alley behind Crimson. From there, they would have to make their own way away from the area.
We headed across the wide foyer, out the large front doors and onto the street. Only a handful of staff stood outside. Our customers had dispersed, no doubt in a hurry to get as far away from a potential explosion as they could.
"Would you really have them made into fortune cookies?" Cooper asked.
I thought he was serious until he broke into a grin. "Why? Do you want to kill them for me?" I kept my voice low, in case anyone was listening.
