Take (Deliver 5)

If the room was watching, she didn’t notice. She was only aware of the strength of his arms around her back and the heat of his breath on her neck.

She ran her hands up the strong column of his neck and spoke against his mouth in an almost-kiss. “I like you like this.”

“That so?”

“Yeah.” She pressed her smile against his cheek, delighting in the scratch of stubble that had grown in within a few hours.

“Then I’ll dance with you every night.”

He carried her through another song, gently rocking, pacing the rise and fall of her breaths. But something started to shift under his skin. A tension that wasn’t there before.

Or maybe it was just her earlier unease seeping in?

She ignored it for a few moments, until his muscles grew tighter beneath her fingers, and his movements stiffened with each note of the song. He was bracing for something.

“What’s wrong?” She looked around and didn’t register anything out of place.

“Let’s take a walk.” His fingers intertwined with hers, and he strolled off the dance floor with a nod to the maestro.

Panic seized her as he wove through the room, keeping his gait slow to accommodate her clicking high-heels. His expression was too calm, too blank. What was he hiding beneath that emotionless mask?

He didn’t make eye contact or stop to talk to anyone. His gaze flitted between Arturo and the side door, where he was leading her.

She pinned her lips tight, knowing not to ask questions or draw attention with so many people around.

“This way.” He directed her into a quiet corridor and around a few clusters of mingling partygoers.

Stalking down the hallway, around the corner, and past a vacant dining room, he seemed to know his way around. She glanced back and found Arturo trailing at a distance.

“Are we in danger?” she whispered.

“Just one more meeting. Then we’ll leave.”

“That’s not an answer. Where are we going?”

“Not sure.” He flicked a finger at the wood flooring. “Following the beer.”

“What?” She squinted in confusion. “The beer?”

He stopped and lowered to a crouch. With a swipe of his thumb, he collected a tiny drop of wetness from the floor and held it to his nose. “A trail of beer.”

“Why? Who left it?”

He rose and touched his lips to the sensitive skin beneath her ear, shushing her. “Through here.”

With a hand at the small of her back, he turned her into a dark, empty service kitchen.

“Where is everyone?” She craned her neck, searching the shadows amid commercial appliances. Her pulse skittered out of control.

“The main kitchen is on the other side of the house.” He ushered her toward an industrial steel door.

An entrance to a walk-in freezer?

A beer bottle sat on the floor in front of it. He moved it out of the way and shrugged off his tuxedo coat.

In the doorway to the hall, Arturo stood with his back to the kitchen, keeping watch.

“Tiago, you’re scaring me.” She rubbed her arms. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s going to be cold.” He draped the jacket over her shoulders and pulled the lapels together at her chest.

With a hard, tense kiss against her lips, he turned and opened the steel door.

A blast of frigid air punched through her, but that wasn’t what froze the breath in her lungs.

Standing at the rear of the walk-in freezer was a man she never expected to see.

Dressed to the nines in a black tuxedo, he looked like an apparition in a swirling cloud of wintry air.

She gasped. “Cole?”Kate blinked rapidly, struggling to believe her eyes. Her pulse thundered, and her palms slicked with sweat, despite the frosty air.

“Kate.” Cole Hartman folded his hands behind him, shoulders back, as if he were expecting her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m kind of freaking out.” Her gaze snapped to Tiago as he shut the freezer door behind him.

Not a hint of surprise or anger on his stern face. What the almighty fuck?

Her mind reeled to make a connection between the two men. They seemed to look at each other with familiarity, and that kind of made sense. Cole had appeared on the video with Lucia when she found Tate in the shack.

But Tiago had never mentioned Cole’s name to her. Did he know Tate had hired Cole to locate Lucia?

In all likelihood, Cole was here for her. To rescue her.

What if he’d sneaked in a gun? Would he shoot Tiago?

Were her friends here, too?

Elation and terror jolted through her, trembling her limbs and making every breath a workout. “Are you alone?”

“Yes.” Cole narrowed his eyes at Tiago.

“Don’t kill each other.” She gripped Tiago’s hand and squeezed. “We can figure out whatever this is without spilling blood.”

Cole stared at their entwined fingers, and lines formed in his brow.

She would have to explain her relationship to him, even if she wasn’t sure how to explain it to herself.