She smiled contentedly. “I already think I am.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jake wished he wasn’t in love with Astrid. It made him want to protect her more than anything on this planet – and getting emotional meant he was possibly going to start making mistakes. But the sexual tension and warm affection flowed between them like magnetic energy. And there was nothing he could do to stop it.
He wondered, if he could switch off this feeling and walk away, would he? The part of him that was afraid of getting hurt wanted to. But it felt so good to be with her. Like coming home after years of wandering aimlessly in the wilderness. How could he not love her? She was the missing piece of the puzzle. The person he’d known was always there with him, just beyond the scope of his vision. It was as if perfection had been delivered to him in the beautiful form of Astrid Lawrence – and his life would now be occupied with worshipping and protecting the goddess she was.
But first, there was this one final mission…
He stood with his gathered men on the scrubby grassland under the suspension bridge, hoping he was out of sight of anyone looking from inside the warehouse. The huge disused edifice looked empty and lifeless from out here, but he knew Graves was in there, waiting for him.
It was a ten-story red-brick building, which looked as if it was about to fall down at any moment. Jake hoped Graves wasn’t planning on blowing it up, but luckily it was on a reasonably busy highway – surrounded by other ramshackle buildings and scrubby bushes – so another explosion would attract way too much attention for Graves’ liking. The bottom of the warehouse consisted of five giant metal-shuttered entrances, held up by gray concrete pillars – presumably where trucks would’ve driven into when this place had been alive with industry. But now the shutters were dull, grimy, and rusted shut. All except for one, which was open – like a taunting grin with a missing tooth.
And in the darkness was Graves, holding Emma hostage. And possibly Astrid’s ex Simon was in there too. He pushed away his fury. Not beating Simon to a pulp was going to take a lot of restraint...
He briefed the ten cops Daniel had recruited to help – forcing himself to focus only on rescuing Emma. He’d carried out plenty of briefings like this before, but never with so much to lose.
“You guys surround the place,” Jake said. “Daniel, you stay out here too – he’s already made it clear he’s not keen on having a crowd around. I’ll go in and confront him alone. You should provide assistance if you hear gunfire.”
The cops nodded. Luckily they weren’t asking who the hell Jake thought he was to be giving them orders. But he knew from experience that if you acted like you were in charge, people tended to believe you.
“What about me?” Astrid said, looking cold in the steely chill. “I want to come with you.”
“No, Astrid, you stay in the car.”
“No way. I’m coming in with you.”
“Astrid, come
on…”
She glared at him. “No. That’s my sister in there, Jake. And Graves wants to deal with me, not you.”
“Well, he doesn’t get to decide what happens to you, sweetheart.”
“No, he doesn’t. But I do. And I’m coming in. Let’s go.”
She strode off and started to cross the busy highway toward the warehouse. Jake’s heart pounded with protective desire, suddenly terrified to lose her. He jogged to catch her up, but he realized he wasn’t going to be able to stop her without force. That would mean grabbing her, throwing her over his shoulder, and bundling her into the car. He wanted to do it, but he knew she’d cause a scene by screaming and struggling – possibly attracting Graves’ attention. Reluctant as he was to allow her anywhere near Graves or danger, time was ticking on, and they needed to rescue Emma. He glanced back to check the cops were in position, then fell into step with Astrid as they crossed the road.
She was so beautiful. He pushed away his tingling love for her. “This is crazy, Astrid. I might not be able to protect you in there. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I won’t let you down,” she said. “I’ll be helpful. You’ll see.”
“Just stay behind me, okay. Do everything I tell you.”
She nodded. “I promise.”
It jarred with his inner-protectiveness – he didn’t want her in there – but from the tough expression on her face, he decided to trust her. He knew she wouldn’t try anything stupid. And he knew those cops out there had his back. He realized maybe it was okay to let other people help. Maybe it was time to start letting people in a bit more. Not everyone in the word was an asshole…
Not everyone in the world was like Daniel…
They arrived at the cavernous entrance, and he pulled Astrid away with force. “Wait!”
“Hey,” she said, stumbling backwards. “I told you, I’m coming in.”
“I know. I’ll go first.” He drew his gun. “You armed?”
She smiled and flashed the revolver in her hand. “Let’s hope I don’t need to use it. But I will if he tries to hurt my sister.”