I give a nod and glance at Blake. “Where am I when she’s in the lobby and walking to Starbucks?”
“You’ll exit the hotel through the side door, and you can walk the parallel street to the Starbucks,” he says, “but don’t join her inside the coffee shop. Watch her from across the street. Once she’s safely in the car with me, walk a block east, and we’ll have a car waiting on you. You and Pri will reconnect at the safe house.”
“What happens to Pri once she gets to Starbucks?” I ask.
“She orders,” Adam interjects. “I’ll already be inside the coffee shop, and I won’t be in disguise.” He glances at Pri and adds, “I don’t want you to have to hunt for me. But don’t talk to me or approach me.”
She nods and folds her arms in front of her, and focuses on Blake. “How do I pay for the order? I’ll have no money.”
Blake reaches into a bag on the coffee table and hands her a cellphone. “This is yours to keep.”
“I have one Adam gave me.”
“Out of an abundance of caution, we’re changing it out again,” he replies. “And yes, all your calls are masked and forwarded, just as before. You’ll find a Starbucks app set up as Paige West. Pay that way. As long as you’re here in the city, you’re Paige. There’s a wallet in your purse with an ID that validates your identity. You’ll need to keep that wig and use it.”
He then grabs another phone from the bag and hands it to me. “Your replacement for the phone you threw away back in Austin. Everything is plugged in already.”
“And after I order?” Pri queries, obviously no longer about distraction but rather the plan. “What next?”
“You pick up your drink,” Blake says, “exit the store, and walk to the black sedan that will be waiting on you by the curb with me inside.” His eyes meet mine. “We’ll be on her like a bee on honey, man. She’ll be safe.”
And yet, Logan still got to her last night, I think, but I keep that to myself. Pri doesn’t need another reason to be nervous. I glance around the room and focus on Blake. “I need a minute with Pri.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
ADRIAN
Blake motions for the team to head for the door. In a quick rush of activity, they grab our bags and their supplies. Blake drops two sealed bags with earpieces in them on the table. “Take ten, then move. We’ll be in position.”
“Got it,” I say, but Blake doesn’t leave.
He steps toe-to-toe with me. “You’re not used to having a team you can trust. You do now. “
He’s wrong. I’ve had people I trusted. The problem is that trust has become a reoccurring theme in my life of friendship, betrayal, love, and loss. I didn’t think I’d trust again, ever, but then Blake and these hard heads at Walker don’t like to take no for an answer.
His eyes narrow on mine as if he’s read my thoughts. His lips quirk slightly before he glances at Pri and says, “The next half hour will suck, but it’s just a half-hour. Once you’re in the safe house, no one is going to find you.”
“I know,” Pri says, standing a little straighter as she does. “I just want to do this and get it over with and then laugh at myself in the red wig.”
Blake gives her a little nod and then looks at me, a promise in his stare to protect her before he backs away and disappears inside the foyer.
Pri and I turn to each other, the air instantly charged, anger flickering in her eyes, no less hot than the heat of desire there, too, desire she can try to deny, but she’ll fail. The minute the door opens and shuts, she says, “You need to know—”
“I know,” I say, and I scoop Pri into my arms, one hand between her shoulder blades, the other cupping her neck. “I know you hate me right now, but—”
“Hate you?” she asks incredulously. “I don’t hate you. I’m angry with you, but that isn’t hate. You should have talked to me, not them, about my decisions, and about what’s best for me and us. And we’re going to fight about it later, in the safe house.”
“In my apartment.”
She pulls back and studies me, blinking in confusion. “Your apartment?”
“Yes. My apartment. Where I will keep you forever if that’s what it takes to keep you safe.”
“And if I won’t stay?”
“I’ll convince you,” I assure her.
“And if you can’t?” she challenges.
I have a vision of her tied to my bed, which I don’t think she’d appreciate right about now, so I repeat, “I’ll convince you, Pri.”
Her eyes narrow, awareness in their depths. “Never cage an angry woman. You need to learn that and so does Waters. She won’t play nice. I won’t play nice, Adrian.”