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She sighed. “Yeah, I do. But Tryst may want to call in some favors with his federal contacts to make sure there’s nothing we’re missing.”
BB dropped an arm around her shoulders. “Let’s get out of here. The bomb squad needs to get inside and make sure it’s clear.”
“Right. The bomb. Damn, BB, I thought my mom’s judgment was going to be the worst thing we faced this weekend. At this rate, I wouldn’t blame you if you put as much distance between us as you possibly can.”
He hugged her to his side as he guided her to the door. “Not going to happen. You’re stuck with me, Gen. We make too good a team for me to walk away from this.”
Her smile was bright and sweet, and he felt its imprint long after they left the hotel to join their friends.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Gennessey stood with her arms crossed and her shoulder leaning against the wall. Her eyes peered through the slight opening where the door didn’t close completely. She hadn’t wanted to spy on Autumn and Cohen, but as she stopped by her cousin’s hospital room to check on them, she hadn’t wanted to disturb them but was unable to look away.
She felt BB’s presence behind her before she heard him speak. She wasn’t sure when she’d started to feel him whenever he was close by, but her sixth sense seemed to always know when he was around.
“They going to be okay?” His voice was a low timber tickling her ear.
She shook her head. “I’m pretty sure they’re ending things.”
When they had arrived back at the hospital after giving their statements to the authorities, they found U.S Marshals waiting for Autumn.
Though Ryan Bannon was going to jail, the risk on her life as the daughter of Big Tommy Burke was still very real. The Marshals wouldn’t confirm her suspicions, but Gennessey guessed this time the O’Banions were keen to leverage her against Big Tommy to stop his testimony.
“She’s going into witness protection, isn’t she?”
With her eyes still on what she could see of the couple through the crack in the door, she nodded. “Her parents decided to go into WitSec with her. But as much as Cohen loves her, his life and his family are here. His career as an artist is just taking off. He has a lot he would have to leave behind, and I don’t think it’s a sacrifice he can make.”
“Wow. It’s an impossible choice.”
She sighed. “He may have said yes, but she lied about being in contact with Bannon and about the threat against her. How can he give up everything he’s ever known when he’s not sure he can trust her?”
“I’m sorry, Gen. It was supposed to be a weekend of celebration, and it all went to hell.”
She turned her head, and her gaze landed on his sensual lips. She raised her eyes until she met his, the warm irises drawing her in. The comfort he offered with his mere presence washed over her.
“It wasn’t all bad. There was some good to come out of this weekend.”
His expression grew thoughtful. “True. We took down a crazed monster without anyone getting hurt. I apprehended a pickpocket at your uncle’s hotel and recovered all the stolen merchandise. I earned you some brownie points with your family and kept them from trying to set you up with a neighbor’s son’s single nephew or something. Oh! And I let you seduce me.”
Her lips had curled in a contented smile until his last words. Then her jaw dropped.
“Wait. I don’t remember it quite that way.”
“Oh, I do. You definitely seduced me. I thought about telling you no, but I figured I was here this weekend for whatever you needed. And if you needed an itch scratched, who was I to argue?”
She rolled her eyes and turned back around to face Cohen’s room. After a moment, she shoved her arm back until her elbow landed squarely in BB’s solar plexus. She felt no small measure of satisfaction at his low grunt.
“You’ll pay for that.”
His growl sent a shiver down her spine. Before she could reply, the door to Cohen’s room opened wider. Autumn rushed out and hurried down the hall to where her parents and two U.S. Marshals waited for her. The sight of her tears sobered Gennessey’s mood. She pulled her eyes away to focus on her cousin, but his head was averted. She glanced at BB over her shoulder and saw he was also watching Autumn being comforted by her parents.
“I should go and talk to Cohen.”
BB turned to face her, and his lighthearted mood had also become solemn. “Yeah, you probably should. I’ll wait for you here.”
“You don’t have to. You should go and blow off some steam with the rest of the team. Everyone deserves it after the day we’ve had.”
“They just left heading home. I told them we were staying one more night, so you can still have brunch with your family tomorrow. I saw your mom as I was heading this way, and she said everyone still wanted to spend time with you before we head back.”
