Page 105 of Ruthless

“You’re in no shape to—”

Grabbing her shoulders, he pulled her close, pressing his forehead against hers. “We do this together.”

“But—”

“You still don’t understand, do you, Wells? You’re not just my partner. My best friend. My significant other. You, Evangelina Wellingsley, are my everything.”

Her mouth trembled, and tears rolled down her face. His Eve rarely cried, and his heart hurt that he’d been the one to cause her tears.

“Why did we take so long to get here, Gideon?” she asked softly.

“I don’t know, but we’re here now, and whatever we do, we do together. Understand?”

“Yes,” she breathed. And then she put her mouth on his, her kiss filled with love, desperation, devotion, and tasting of the sweetest surrender he could ever imagine. Pulling away a few inches, she said softly, “Together. Always.”

“Always.”

“Then let’s do this.”

They turned and marched toward the danger together.

Eve kept an eye on Gideon as they ran down the stairs to the first floor. He was paler than she’d ever seen him, a fine sheen of perspiration covered his face, and his eyes were dulled from the pain she knew he was trying to hide. The bullet had been in his body for hours. There was no telling what kind of damage it was doing. Even if it hadn’t hit an organ, sepsis was a very real threat. He needed medical treatment as soon as possible.

“Stop looking at me like that, Wells. I’m not dead yet.”

“Don’t say something like that,” she snapped.

“I’ve been in worse shape than this. Ash and the team will be here soon. We’ll take care of those idiots downstairs, and if they’re not here by then, we’ll grab some wheels and leave. Either way, I’ll be fine.”

She wasn’t going to respond to something that he’d so obviously said to try to make her feel better. It hadn’t worked. In fact, his assurances only made her worry more. Gideon wasn’t one to throw out assurances like candy in a parade. He was a straight shooter without an ounce of bravado. This Gideon was trying to make her believe something they both knew wasn’t true. By the time Ash and the team arrived, Gideon could be dead.

They stopped at the landing of the first-floor stairway. Eve put her ear to the door and heard nothing. She was tempted to call Ash and tell him to hurry the hell up, but she knew it would do no good. He and the team would get here as fast as they could, and she and Gideon had to make sure they could land safely. The roof was probably not large enough for another helicopter, so the only other option was the parking lot. Whoever was at the front entrance would see them coming and start shooting. It was up to the two of them to ensure that didn’t happen.

Turning back to Gideon, she noted the color in his cheeks was high, meaning his fever had risen. They needed to get this done so she could concentrate on him.

“Ready, partner?”

“Always,” he answered with a tight smile.

Wishing with all her heart that she hadn’t pulled him into her family drama, Eve eased the door open. The lobby was large and empty with the exception of two men sitting behind a giant reception desk. What they were waiting to receive in a building that was so new it wasn’t even considered occupied yet was anyone’s guess. She caught sight of two other guards, standing at the entrance and looking out into the parking lot. Were they expecting someone or just being watchful guards?

She turned to Gideon, whispering what she saw. He nodded and said, “Let’s get the two at the reception desk out of the way. Then we’ll go for the others.”

“Roger that. Stealth?”

“Yeah. The guards hear bullets, they’ll come running.”

“Okay,” Eve whispered. “We’ll go up behind them.”

They went through the door together. Gideon pointed to the smaller guard on the end, who was looking at his phone. Eve nodded, heading toward him. She would wait until Gideon got to his man. The guard he was targeting was on his cellphone, talking rapidly in Albanian. The language wasn’t one either of them was proficient in, but Eve understood a few of the words. She heard her brother’s name mentioned a couple of times. She also understood two other words: army and guns.

That didn’t sound good at all. She glanced Gideon’s way to see if he’d understood anything more and got a headshake and a shrug. They continued to wait out of sight until the man finished his phone call. The last thing they wanted was to alert anyone sooner than necessary that they were there. When the man finally put his phone away, he turned to his co-worker and said something.

Eve and Gideon struck simultaneously, using their knives to take both men down quietly and efficiently. Having them as prisoners would have been good, but they couldn’t take the chance of drawing the attention of the guards. They hid the bodies beneath the large desk. Anyone who looked through the glass doors might wonder where the men were, but they’d have to come inside to find them.

Slinking back out of sight, they stood behind a wall on the other side of the reception desk. Gideon pulled out the satphone and called Ash.

“We’ve got two guards to go before we can say all clear. How far are you?”