Page 69 of Shield

“What? He’s a puppet. Aurelio put him in place here as CEO, he changed the codes and took over the business for his own purposes knowing Aurelio would take his daughter in response, and now he still won’t give up the codes but expects her back?” Vin looks pointedly at Tommy. “Father of the year.”

Tommy shrugs.

Matti pulls a sheet of paper from his coat pocket with thecodes from Emily’s phone case, then nods at me and gestures toward the smaller room with the vault. “You ready?”

Before I can answer, a crash followed by shouting explodes down the hallway, coming from the main area with the glass counters and tables. Vin shoots a look at Tommy and takes off down the hall.

30

Matti

Ishove Siena into the small, stark room dominated by the vault and follow behind her. The vault takes up the back half of the room, a keypad and a dial on the wall beside it. No biometrics this time, but I didn’t expect the dial. There’s nothing else in the rest of the room except black velvet on the walls.

My eyes flick to Siena, who glares at me before glancing anxiously toward the office door.

Shouts are still echoing down the hall, punctuated by what sounds like crashing furniture and a woman screaming.

Tommy mutters, “Keep it moving, brother.”

I’ll deal with Siena’s attitude later.

Stepping into the smaller room, I check the next set of numbers on the list and realize in relief that the letters attached to each must denote the direction to turn the dial. Twisting first right, then left, left again, and back, I listen for the heavy clicks, confirming each correct number. A grinding sound follows—got it.

Quickly, I input the next row of numbers into the keypad.The pad flashes red and then stays red. A thirty-minute timer appears and begins to count down. Letting out a long breath, my shoulders relax.

Now all we have to do is wait.

Heavy footsteps thunder down the hall toward us, and Tommy runs out the door. Gunshots ring out and he fires back and ducks back into the room, slamming the door behind him and locking it.

“You two, stay in there and wait for the vault to open. By the time you clean it out, I’ll be back.” He shoves the suitcases in with us and slams the door.

Grabbing for Siena’s hand, she stumbles toward me, shrieking as I catch her in the dark.

The door latch clicks shut with a whoosh, like it’s suctioning the air out of the room. Tommy bangs on the door once. His voice comes through tinny and distant. “I heard that, Siena. Keep quiet. I don’t know if these doors are bulletproof. I’m going to help Vin.”

With the door sealed shut, the room is suffocatingly dark except for the dim red glow of the countdown timer. Twenty-eight minutes. Siena’s anxious breathing is the only sound.

I reach out for Siena in the dark, pulling her into my arms. “Kitten, you’re okay. Take a deep breath,” I whisper.

“Fuck you, Matti,” she hisses, slapping my hands away.

Not having that.

In the darkness, I grab her wrists in one hand, my other hand finding her throat. I push her back until she’s against the wall. “You really think now is the time for this?” I grit out.

She groans, and my cock stiffens. “Fuck you,” she chokes out in a whisper.

“The attitude is unnecessary, Siena,” I growl.

“Then quit being a fucking control freak.” Her voice is low and sharp.

Control freak? Accurate.

“I know what your problem is.” I can hear it in the undertones in her voice, feel it in the way she pushes back against my palm on her throat. “My girl needs to come.”

“I don’t need you for that,” she hisses, but when I step in closer, her chest brushes against mine and her breathing quickens. “Why the fuck do you think you’re in charge of me? Having your men follow me, cameras in my house, giving me a phone you hacked—all that was bad enough. But now you tell me we’re getting married instead of asking. You come inside me, trying to knock me up, but won’t let me come. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Her voice rises slightly in her whisper-yell before she reins it in, seething.

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