Page 29 of The Gentleman

Meanwhile, her body betrayed her—registering the hard plane of his abdomen beneath her palms, the heat of him through his shirt, the clean scent of his cologne cut with rain. Honed muscles shifted under her fingers, his heartbeat a metronome compared to her racing pulse.

Hell.

MI6 would be on them within minutes, and all she could think about was the man she’d sworn she’d never let close.

Focus, Kat.

She forced herself to scan the street, slowing her breath to match his. Time to pull her super-spy pants back on—the ones without theI have a massive crush on my fugitive partnertag.

The night shattered—blue strobes washing over the street as three black MI6 tactical vehicles tore around the corner, tires shrieking on the wet road.

Too late?—

“Hang on.” Leo gunned the engine.

Kat tightened her grip as they shot forward. He veered down a pedestrian path barely wider than the handlebars, forcing a late-night dog walker to dive into the bushes with a startled yell.

She glanced over her shoulder at the wash of blue light.

Thirty seconds later, and we would’ve been trapped.

Sharp left, immediate right. The scooter’s tires hissed against wet concrete as Leo threaded them through narrow side streets parallel to the main road, the tiny engine screaming.

Kat pressed her cheek against his broad back as he navigated through the back streets with ease. Rain streamed against her helmet visor, distorting the neon shop signs into watercolor smears.

She instinctively moved with him as he cornered, melting against him with a synchronicity that felt dangerously good. Each lean into a turn pressed her closer, his muscled back a wall of heat against her chest, a hint of his cologne hitting her nose. She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting the treacherous thought that crashed through her—that this, his body against hers with nothing but thin fabric between them, even now with everything on the line, felt more right than anything had in years.

At each cross street they passed, she caught staccato glimpses of black SUVs paralleling their route—one flash, then another. Not random vehicles, but a coordinated net closing around them.

They’re bracketing us.

She gave his waist a squeeze and raised her voice. “Leonid.”

He nodded once, a sharp jerk of his head that told her he’d already spotted the pattern. He hooked a sharp right, bolting out onto a commercial street. The dazzling light from department stores whipped past.

She peered over his shoulder. Where was he going?

A black SUV screeched around the corner ahead, cutting diagonally across both lanes. Leo braked hard, the scooter fishtailing on the slick road as they skidded to a halt twenty feet from the vehicle.

The driver’s door flew open.

Victoria Eldridge scrambled out, her service weapon locked on them followed by several operatives in dark suits.

“Landon! Stop right there!” Eldridge paced forward.

Gunfire shattered the air. Kat flinched as a bullet punched a hole in the sidewalk inches from their rear wheel.What the hell?

Eldridge whipped toward her team. “What the fuck? Hold your fire!”

Leo wrenched the handlebars and floored the scooter.

It lurched violently, nearly sending them sprawling before he regained control, aiming for the arched entrance of a pedestrian jewelry arcade open for late night shopping. As they hurtled through the arched entrance a bullet gouged dust from an ornate column that flanked the entrance.

The arcade was a kaleidoscope of light and luxury. Display cases of diamonds glittered under spotlights.

“Move!” Leo bellowed, punching the scooter’s horn.

Shoppers scattered like startled birds, dropping bags and tripping over each other in their anxiety to escape.

---