The Dom Who Loved Me (Masters and Mercenaries #1)(89)

Grace tried to drag her heels. “Look, I don’t know what he’s told you, but whatever interest he has in the Bryson Building isn’t about the gas company. He wanted in that building for something else.”

The gun pressed in so hard it made Grace’s ribs ache. “Move. Don’t try anything or I’ll shoot. Now open the door.”

Grace opened the door and almost immediately was assaulted by the quiet in the stairwell. The minute it closed behind them, it was like they were in another world. She could barely hear the music, and it seemed far too bright. There were stairs going down immediately in front of her, and to her left were a set that led to roof access.

“We’re going up.” There it was again, the press of steel against her side.

“Why, what’s up there?” Grace was stalling but she wasn’t sure what else to do. She wasn’t an action hero. She was terrified. It took everything she had just to stay upright. She had to stay alive until Sean got to her.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

She tried to pull Grace along, but her heels slid on the smooth surface of the industrial floors. Grace tried to stay on her feet, but tripped forward. Her captor cursed. She slipped toward the bank of stairs going up, and then the report of a gun filled her world with a single bang that seemed to echo on forever. Grace was suddenly covered in a fine spray of red stuff.

Blood. Oh, God, she’d been shot. She felt her side, trying to find the hole that was surely in her abdomen. It didn’t hurt the way she would have thought. She couldn’t feel anything at all. A strong hand pulled her up.

“Are you all right, Grace?”

Grace clung to Adam as he pulled her to her feet. She had a glimpse of the woman who had taken her, a single, neat bullet hole in the middle of her forehead. She stared down. “How?”

Adam’s voice sounded far away, but she could understand him. He had a gun in his palm, the gun he’d used to kill her captor. “I saw her start toward you. When I realized I couldn’t get to you before she did, I figured there were only two places for her to take you, out the front or down these stairs. Jake is watching the front, and I ran down to the floor below. It was too easy to hear me if I followed you from directly behind.”

“You were fast.” Her hands were shaking. She turned away from the dead body. Adam looked like a different person. Gone was the happy, funny friend she’d come to know, and in his place was a deadly warrior.

“Yes.” Adam replied with a clipped, harsh tone.

“But I’m faster.” The words came from above, and Adam reacted violently. He shoved her back, covering her with his body.

“Get out of here, Grace.” He started to move back toward the stairs going down, but her whole world was filled with terrible explosions and suddenly Adam went down. Grace watched in horror as Adam’s white dress shirt blossomed with blood. He hit his knees, a sad look on his face.

“Go,” he shouted with what had to be the last of his breath.

He fell forward, but not before she saw the bullet hole in his gut.

“You’re not going anywhere, Grace.” Evan Parnell had his gun trained on her. He was dressed in black from head to toe. Even his hands were covered in black gloves.

Grace tried to move to get to Adam. A red dot was suddenly on her chest right over her heart. Parnell came down the stairs, moving with the grace and care of a man well trained.

“I said stay there, Grace. I meant it.” Parnell sounded different now. The gruffness that was always in his voice was gone. This man was smooth and competent.

“Let me help him,” Grace pleaded. She wasn’t a nurse, but she was willing to try anything.

“He’s past help.” He gave his dead assistant a single glance, and then kicked Adam’s body over as he joined Grace on the landing. “Still alive, you faggot? Is the army letting your kind in these days?”

There was blood coming out of Adam’s mouth. He looked up at the man who had shot him, defiance still on his face. “Got kicked out of the army, *. Best day of my f*cking life. But sorry to correct you, I’m not gay.”

Parnell shrugged. “The whole queer thing is a good cover. I totally underestimated you. If you hadn’t been so concerned with the girl over there, I doubt I would have gotten the drop on you. As it is, thanks for taking care of Melissa. I was going to kill her myself, but I hate to wreck my karma, if you know what I mean.”

“Fuck you,” Adam spat.

“Please let me help him.” Grace could feel tears running down her face. Adam was dying right in front of her. She needed to call someone. She needed to get him help. The reality of the situation was starting to flood her and panic threatened to take over. She pushed it down. It wouldn’t help Adam, and it wouldn’t help her. “What do you want from me, Patrick?”

She used his real name, hoping it would throw him off.

His eyes widened, and he hissed. “Son of a bitch found me. Damn it.” He looked down at Adam, whose hand covered the hole in his gut. “I should have known. You CIA?”

“Contractor. I hate spooks. Can’t trust ‘em.” Adam gritted his teeth with each breath.

“At least you got that right. And if you think you can trust Nelson, you’re wrong. He’s as dirty as I am.” Parnell turned his cold eyes to Grace. “As for what I want from you, well, you dumb bitch, I want you to pay up on the twenty million you just cost me.”