Page 122 of Tangled Like Us
I catch comms chatter in my ear while we pay for the costumes. “Thatcher, Farrow—we’ve got a problem outside.” Temp guards are speaking. “Someone slashed the tires of the Beetle and Audi.”
They should’ve been watching our clients’ vehicles. But I’m not ripping into them. That’s for the leads to do.
I make the next decision fast, and I speak into my mic. “Call a tow truck. Your job now is to babysit their cars at the repair shop. We’re going to take security’s Range Rovers.”
“Roger.”
Maximoff and Jane heard my end of the line.
“Some fucker slashed tires on both cars,” Farrow informs them.
Maximoff crosses his arms. “Typical.”
Jane nods. “Will we manage without extra security to block paparazzi? Or will we need to wait for more?”
“We should be fine,” I tell her. “I’ll drive to New York.” I know she prefers not to drive security’s vehicles.
Farrow turns to his fiancé. “You going to let me behind the wheel, wolf scout?”
“Maybe,” Maximoff says firmly.
“Maybe,” Farrow repeats, but comms suddenly reignite.
Oscar speaks. “I think you should come to Hell’s Kitchen, Redford.”
Goddammit.
Farrow and I exchange a serious look. This isn’t news I like delivering to Jane.
“What’s wrong?” Maximoff asks his future husband.
Farrow has to respond to the team first. He clicks his mic at the collar of his V-neck. “How critical?” To Maximoff and Jane, he says, “Something’s going on at Charlie’s place.”
Jane unfreezes. “We need to hurry.” She collects the shopping bags off the counter, says a quick thanks to the pink-haired girl, and then I hear more through comms.
“I’d say not too critical,” Oscar says in my ear. “Charlie isn’t letting me in the apartment, but I heard broken glass and groaning. Just to be safe, a doctor should come here with Jane.”
Farrow relays this to our clients, and I radio my brother to come fill Farrow’s position as Maximoff’s bodyguard.
I speak to Banks in my mic. “I’ll text you the address.”
“Right on,” Banks says. “I’ll be there soon.”
Maximoff sets his green eyes on Farrow. “You’re not waiting around for Banks just for me. I can have one of the temps on my detail until he arrives. You need to go to New York now.”
Farrow’s jaw muscle tics. He sweeps our extra security standing at the entrance. He has to trust the temp guards, who are heavily vetted and trained for these situations. They have less direct access to our clients, but they’re still our men. I’ll defend them, and their mistakes in the end are my mistakes.
I’m about to reinforce this out loud, but Farrow already tells Maximoff, “Okay. I’ll leave you here.”
Jane is antsy. Ready to go, and she asks Farrow, “Are you riding with us?”
“No, I’m taking the other Range Rover.” He clasps Maximoff’s face in a loving hand. “Please wait here for Banks. Don’t go outside. Don’t do anything impatient as fuck.”
“I’ll wait.” Maximoff cups the back of Farrow’s head, and they kiss before they leave one another. Their love is palpable—and I’m not some Scrooge. They’ve found something rare in a profession where all the odds were against them.
It can’t happen twice.
I hear the leads warning me in my fucking head.Can’t happen again.
