Still Waters (Greenstone Security 1)

The doors closed, trapping me in the enclosed space with the two of them. Fear curdled my stomach, for sure. Unadulterated terror, actually, but anger burned too.

“Two of you are needed to subdue one woman?” I asked with bravado I wasn’t feeling. “Rather excessive, don’t we think?” I paused, my thoughts on Keltan. “If you’ve done anything to him—” I began to threaten, my anger getting in the way of my logic. Not smart of me, considering if they hadn’t encountered my bodyguard boyfriend, then stating he existed wasn’t in my best interests. But I doubted them coming when I was most vulnerable was dumb luck. They likely knew about the bodyguard boyfriend.

All of that was cut off, however, by the blinding pain in my cheekbone from a backhand courtesy of the British dude.

I slammed into the side of the elevator painfully, my hip hitting the railing. I didn’t cry out, biting my lip so viciously that my mouth filled with the metallic twang of blood.

“We didn’t tell you to speak, lovey,” he informed me pleasantly.

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, attempting to stand on unsteady feet.

The numbers on the elevator went down slower than they ever had.

Two pairs of eyes on me while I was at my weakest was something that I would never wish on my worst enemy. Not when those eyes swam with depravity I recognized from the two men in my life who had looked at me with those same devoid eyes.

“See, we’re here for something simple,” moustache guy cut in. “We just need the manifest.”

He nodded to the bag containing the laptop and his friend picked it up. “We know what’s on there and we know how to clear whatever you’ve got on the company server.” He paused, looking at me. “We also know you’ve got something not on the computer.” He tsked. “Don’t you know paperless is out? Might’ve just saved your life if you hadn’t been in this very elevator clutching the only thing other than your little story that would have stopped you getting dead.”

His friend looked up after rifling through my bag. “Not in here.”

Moustache guy grinned at me, a sick promise in it as he raised the gun to my forehead. “Where’s the manifest?”

My knees shook, but I clutched at my impassive shield to stop me from looking completely helpless. “I tell you right now, I’m guessing you’ll shoot me,” I stated. “I like not being shot, so I’ll pass on telling you.” I was hoping to stall so I could see what the lobby offered. If it was the lifeless body of the man I loved, I knew this would go a lot differently.

The ding of the elevator gave way for the ding that echoed through the stillness in my soul.

Something made the moustache guy move quickly as the door opened. Then I was no longer struggling to stay upright on the railing but was pressed against so much Old Spice I almost choked on it.

Cold steel kissed my temple.

I got the reason for the sudden movement when the doors fully opened, and I was presented with another weapon pointed at me. One held by the man I loved. I sucked in a clean breath at seeing him upright. He was flanked by a stony-faced Heath, weapon of his own raised at the British guy.

The air turned to ice the moment Keltan’s eyes focused on me. Then the gun at my temple. Then at the blood trickling down my lip and the area of my cheek that felt hot and tight.

“Snow,” Keltan bit out, his voice unrecognizable.

“Hey,” I whispered.

His eyes met where I guessed moustache guy’s would be. “You’re fuckin’ dead,” he promised.

The man’s response was to press the gun harder into my temple and yank at my hair painfully.

I didn’t make a sound, which was what I was sure he wanted. To taunt Keltan with my pain.

No way was he getting that.

No way would I give that to Keltan. To haunt him. Especially if he pulled that trigger.

I couldn’t get right with the fact that it was the last time I might see him.

My eyes roved over every inch of him, desperately. Hungrily.

They finished at his eyes, which turned hard. Diamond hard. “Don’t you fuckin’ dare, baby,” he ordered. “You are not sayin’ goodbye. Don’t you fuckin’ dare.”

The doors started to move, and I felt the finality of the gesture. Felt my throat close up with it.

Heath moved forward to put his boot in the elevator door to stop it from closing.

I let in another breath.

British guy’s gun steadied itself on him. “Easy, mate. You want to take your foot from there if you want to live,” he declared as the doors started to open again.

I sucked in a breath of air at the prospect of a few more moments looking at Keltan.