Page 54 of Pride
Deciding her defense was better served from the side of the door, Alice propped a body behind the desk so the top of the hair showed—hopefully a decoy. Then she took up position and waited, trying her hardest to listen to what went on outside. Shouts. Crashes. The gunfire ended. A man’s scream cut off. A heavy crash against the door. And it sounded like… it sounded like… she inched closer to the door and put her ear against the wood. A low, feral snarl. The lion returned to claim his kingdom. Death incarnate. Someone was praying, over and over:Please God. Please Go—
A clawed metal hand burst through the door, right next to her face. It was covered in blood. Alice jolted back and gripped her daggers. The fist withdrew, leaving a hole in the door. Taking a deep breath, she summoned her courage and looked through.
On the other side, a shadow slid down the length of the door. A body, she realized. After it fell, she saw the back of broad shoulders, heaving with breath, and a Deadly Seven hood move as he surveyed the room for more enemies. There were none. He’d killed them all. Sensing her, he turned to reveal a strikingly dangerous profile, jaw tense and face hard. Parker.
“It’s me,” he said.
Two words and her heart burst. Alice opened the door, her daggers ready in her palms.
Parker held her gaze. “Are you hurt?”
“I’ll live.” Alice glanced down at his bionic hand—that’s new—still dripping with blood, and then to the body on the floor, his chest pulverized. “You… ran your handthroughhim.”
“He was in the way,” Parker said, starkly serious.
In the way. To get to Alice.Right. Okay, well, they’d deal with that later. First, they had to get out of there and, with the authorities downstairs, they wouldn’t be alone for long. Alice glanced over Parker’s shoulder and her stomach dropped. Standing in the doorway to another office was one of the executives, his gaze pinned to Parker, his expression a mix of horror and shock and… smugness. When Alice looked back at Parker, she realized why. He wore no mask to hide his identity.
“You’ve been made,” she hissed, turning the daggers in her palms, ready to take out the executive.
Parker tensed. His eyes flashed gold, and he snarled. “We have to go.”
Alice tried to bring him back into the office. “We should find a scarf, or something, to hide your face.”
“It’s not important. Getting you out is. Let’s go.”
“But—” His identity!
“Now, Alice.” He tugged her across the reception area until stumbling became jogging. The executive fled the moment they’d started moving, like the coward he was. Probably the one who’d been paid off to let the Faithful in.
Once inside the stairwell, Alice hesitated. All she could think of was that smug look on the executive’s face.
“Alice,” Parker said, a few steps up. “Come on.”
She clenched the daggers, her knuckles turning white. “Hesawyour face. With everything going on here, don’t you think that’s a bad thing? They’re already pushing for a vote of no confidence.” A nod to herself. “I’m going to eliminate him.”
She pulled the door halfway open before Parker slammed it shut and held it. Shocked, she looked up at him and prepared to argue, but his eyes—they sparked. And his scent, it flourished with musk.
“You would murder to protect me?” he asked, his voice turning deep.
“I am an assassin, Parker. I’m aSinner. Or have you forgotten that?”
The gravity of her words showed on his face. Alice expected disgust, or at the very least disapproval. It was one thing to kill or maim in the heat of battle, but it was another to deliberately seek out and end someone’s life. He said, “It was my choice to come in here without a mask. I knew what I was doing.”
Alice’s eyes narrowed. “Youknewyou’d compromised your identity?”
He searched her face. “I had to get to you.”
“I could have handled it myself.”
“I didn’t care.”
“But—” She glanced back at the door.
“Alice, we have to go.”
“But—”
Parker’s lips met hers hard and with passionate fury. His big body pushed her against the door. He kissed her like she was the air he breathed. Tasted her like she was a drug. It lasted a glorious second, and then he broke away, chest heaving, golden eyes dark with desire.
