Page 78 of Own

It had to be in the rules somewhere.

“I know,” he said, his mouth barely moving as he shaped the words. “That’s why I’m checking.”

We left the dead men behind us and continued down the hall. The surroundings grew more lush, the decorations more fine, and the furnishings promised opulence and comfort. The man didn’t go for antiques, despite the staging.

He did go for expensive damn artwork though. There was a Degas on the wall, one of his black ink on brown paper pieces. Pretty sure it was theJockey à cheval—or Three Mounted Jockeys, a work that was stolen decades earlier.

“Heat sigs moving below you. Might be a patrol. Four minutes until the next security sweep. Reznik’s office is two halls over. Go left.”

We slipped through an open archway and through a gallery. There was more art in here, some of those paintings had to be worth millions.

There was a marble figure of a woman, with bronze added to the parts of her clothing. Her bare breasts were small but clearly a woman’s and her direct stare faced any possible challenge. She was familiar, but I couldn’t place her offhand right now and it wasn’t important.

On the far side of the gallery, we reached a hall that divided, Bones followed it unerringly and I was right behind him.

We reached the door. Locked. Biometric.

“Vault is cracked.” Lunchbox let out a low whistle over the comms. “We’re in. Holy shit, this server array’s alive. Pulling the whole damn skeleton closet.”

“Focus,” Voodoo cautioned. “We’ve got five minutes max.”

“Bravo—two guards outside the office.” Alphabet hummed. “If he’s inside, you’re going to have to do a soft approach.”

Bones frowned then glanced at me.

“Soft approach?” I mouthed the words. I would rather go through this locked door, but that wasn’t an option right now.

“It means distract them,” he answered, his gray eyes intent on me. “You saunter out there and get their attention, non-aggressive, not a threat.”

Oh. “Kind of like when I played bait.”

He grimaced. “Yes.”

“Okay.” I tucked the taser back under the vest then glanced down at myself. “Not really that sexy at the moment. But I can make it work.”

I started toward the hallway but got hauled back when he wrapped his hand around my biceps. “Distraction, only. I will be right there. You think they aren’t going for it, duck, cover, shoot, or stab. Got it?”

“Well,” I murmured. “That’s a bit intense even for me.” I pushed up on my toes and pressed a kiss to his jaw. “I can do it.”

Comms had gone almost dead silent. When he finally nodded and released me, I flashed a smile at him.

Deep breath. Second deep breath, and I shook out my hands before I headed around the corner and down the hall. There was no mistaking the two guards standing there, chatting with their weapons holstered or slung by a strap over a shoulder.

Nope, they weren’t expecting anyone.

I grinned as their surprised gazes lifted toward me.

“Hey, boys,” I purred the words, mimicking one of my favorite actresses. “I’m lost.” I kept my hips fluid, the slow, swaying walk that accented the flow of whatever clothing I was wearing. In this case, I just wanted to keep their attention up and not on the holster I had on.

Spreading my hands out, I added, “Could one of you point me toward the tasting room?”

Incredulity took root on one guard’s face as he reached for me while suspicion marked the other man’s as he went for his weapon. Neither fully completed the move. I stumbled forward even as Bones just raced past me.

He caught the second guard in the jaw with a pair of hard hits, then a third one dropped him. The first guard gaped even as I caught his arm for balance and then slammed my knee into his crotch.

Bones had him in a headlock not even a full second after. He locked gazes with me as he lowered the guard to the ground as the other man’s eyes rolled up in his head. He pulled a card from the man’s pocket and didn’t bother to clean up either man, though he did strip down their weapons.

One swipe and we were in Reznik’s office. A massive desk occupied the center with a fireplace on one wall. Velvet drapesframed the huge windows and sheers kept anything from being visible from the outside.

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