From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10)(115)

Please talk to me. Don’t go to bed without talking to me. I’m waiting here for my brother. I’ll be up all night.

Kori, do not believe everything you hear. Talk to me.

Baby, I’m so tired. I just want to hear your voice.

Tears blurred her vision at that one. How alone had he been? Should she have stayed despite it all? Guilt wrapped around her. He’d been there worried about his brother and she’d been warm and safe and bitching about him.

She’d been so angry at the thought that he’d helped make her safe place dangerous. She’d been angry at them all. Sanctum was the one place she could be herself. Or was it the only place she trusted herself to be herself?

“I know he’s not guilty. And I don’t care what that FBI dude says,” Sarah continued. “He wasn’t trying to hurt me. He was about to kiss me.”

“Jared was going to kiss you?” Squirrel asked.

“He put his hands on my face, not around my neck. I don’t think FBI guy could see much past his gun. He acted like he’d saved me from certain death. All he did was stop me from kissing my one true love for the first time. He’s an *. Why am I surrounded by *s these days?” Sarah complained as she moved to the coffeepot.

Squirrel followed her. “So you and Jared are still tight? Even after he got arrested?”

Kori read the last text Kai had sent her just a few minutes before.

Talk to me. Please talk to me.

That didn’t sound like a man who didn’t care. Was he trying to win her back or trying to keep his secretary?

When had she gotten so damn cynical? Sarah’s words and Erin’s advice from the night before swirled around in her head. How much time did she have with Kai? Was she willing to let last night be the end? Or was she brave enough to try?

I’ll be in the office in an hour. We do need to talk. I don’t know how we move past this.

His reply pinged mere seconds after she’d sent hers. We will move past this. I love you. No matter what you heard, I love you. Let me try to explain.

Did an explanation truly matter? It suddenly struck her that she’d been making this about Kai. Yes, he’d done something underhanded. Never in the time she’d known him had he done it before. Shouldn’t she wonder why he would do it now? Why would Kai place her in danger? Why would Kai lie? What would motivate him to do that?

Love. Friendship. Brotherhood.

And what would motivate Kori to turn away from him? Fear. Self-loathing. Cynicism. Only one thing could make her stay. Faith. Faith in Kai. Faith that this time she’d chosen wisely, that this time she could love herself enough to not lose herself entirely.

I’ll be there soon. Just got home and have to deal with your brother’s friend first. As soon as I’ve figured out what he wants, I’ll be there.

Who’s there, baby? I don’t want you opening the door to anyone. Anyone.

She keyed her reply. It’s the weird one. He’s trying to find out if we saw Lena last night. Don’t be a drama queen. I’m not alone.

She put the phone down. She could hear Squirrel talking to Sarah. Naturally they were discussing Jared. She peeked into the kitchen. “I don’t suppose we have any muffins left.”

Sarah shook her head. “No, but I can mix up a batch.”

Squirrel smiled. “I love it here. We get carbs here.”

“I’ll help you in a minute. I’m going to check the laundry and see if I have anything clean to wear.” She walked out, making her way to the small laundry room. Luckily she’d done a load the day before and there was a dress hanging in there. She scooped it up after making sure it didn’t need ironing. She was going to need to look good if she was going to face Kai.

She really didn’t have a ton of time now that she thought about it. She needed to get to work and get this over with. She would listen to him this time. They would talk and get everything out in the open.

“Hey, I probably should get ready and go into work.” She pushed through the door and into the kitchen.

And stopped in her tracks. Squirrel held a knife at Sarah’s throat.

“Don’t you run. If you take another step, I swear I’ll slit her throat.”

Sarah stood still in his arms, but tears flowed down her cheeks. “Get out of here, Kori.”

Shit. They were really were going to get spanked for this.





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN





Kori put her hands out, trying to show the creepy serial killer dude that she wasn’t a threat. Not in any way. “Let’s talk. What do you want?”

“I’m pretty sure he wants to kill me,” Sarah said, sarcasm still in her voice even in a life and death situation.

“I do. I want to kill you so bad. I thought killing Lena would quiet the voices, but it didn’t because she wasn’t the right one. I’ve been trying to figure out for a week who the right one was. He’s always got someone, you see. Jared always has. Ever since we were kids. I swear he was diddling girls when we were in fifth grade and not a f*cking one of them would ever look at me. Not while he was around.” The arm he held Sarah with wasn’t empty. He had a pistol in that hand. It looked like he was ready for anything.

“Then why didn’t you leave him?” Kori wished she’d brought her phone with her. She was fairly certain crazy guy wouldn’t let her go back and text Kai a 911 message. So that left her with the only option she had at the moment. She had to keep him talking until she figured out how to save Sarah.