“I understand,” Mila smiled up at him as she cupped his cheek.
Gabe wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a tight hug. With his lips near her ear, he whispered, “Miles sees three men in the vicinity. One he says is a Rahmi guard. We can’t get a visual on the faces of the other two yet. I’m sorry. I’m going to have to break my promise. Just don’t tell my brother.”
Mila didn’t have time to ask before Gabe planted a kiss right on her lips. It wasn’t just a kiss—it was a lips, tongue, and body-grinding type of kiss. And it was all wrong. He didn’t have the same feel, the same spark that she had with Zain.
“Sorry about that. Too many eyes around to half-ass it,” he said softly before looking down at her with concern. “Why don’t you have that dazed face all the other women get after I kiss them?”
“Why would I be dazed?” Mila asked as Gabe kept his hands on her shoulders.
“Because of my kiss. I don’t mean to brag, but I’ve been told I do it rather well. A fifteen on the ten scale,” Gabe said cockily.
Mila shrugged. “More like a six.”
“A six?” Gabe said louder than he meant to. “Sounds good. I’ll see you at six tonight,” he said loudly after catching himself.
Mila bit the inside of her lip to keep from smiling. “Sorry?”
“Didn’t the hip-thrusting get you hot?” Gabe asked in a whisper.
“Not really. It was kind of like you were humping my leg.”
“Are you trying to give me a complex? This is a joke, right? I’ve kissed a lot of women and every one of them begged me to take them right then and there.”
“Sorry, I just wasn’t into it. Now when your brother kisses me . . .”
“There it is. The dazed look. Ugh, you got it and my brother wasn’t even here. I won’t tell him we kissed if you don’t tell him I’m a six. Deal?”
Mila let herself grin up at him. “Deal. You know, someday a woman will make you look all dazed after a kiss.”
“Jeez, you already sound as if you’re part of the family,” he teased. “Miles is yelling in my ear. I have to go. Be safe. And Mila . . .”
“Yes.”
“You’re perfect for him.” With a faint smile, Gabe turned and strolled away.
Mila watched him go before walking toward the house. “Abby, I need to run a brush through my hair. Is that okay?”
“Give me just a second to clear the house.” Mila took her time walking to the door as Abby went from room to room. “Come on in. You have an angry squirrel in the kitchen.”
“Squirrel!” Mila hurried inside and cringed as she passed a mirror. Her hair looked like 1950s Texas hair. Big, teased, and, well . . . big. Squirrel was beating on the cage door. “Are you okay?”
Mila opened the door and Squirrel moved awkwardly up onto her hand. “It’s okay. I’m here. What’s wrong? Are you hungry?”
“What are you doing?” Abby asked.
“I’m making him a snack. The meetings start soon and he’s hungry.”
Mila fixed a snack for Squirrel who insisted on eating from the comfort of Mila’s arms. She was going to miss the little guy when he healed.
“Are you going to be done anytime soon? The conference starts in a couple minutes. You were supposed to meet the chancellor early, right?”
Mila shrugged. “He fired me already. So what if I get to the meeting five minutes late? I already know what he’s going to do.”
“Shit,” Abby cursed as she hurried to the back door.
“What?” Mila asked. “It’s really not a big deal if I’m late. What else can he do to me?”
“No. Our guy is here. Miles spotted someone hiding behind a tree with a ski mask. Sound familiar? And he’s coming this way.”
“Are they going to shoot him?”
“They can’t get a good shot with all the trees in the backyard. This guy knows his way around. He’s staying out of sight. The team is moving in, but this man will get to the house before them. Go into the guest room upstairs and hide. Lock every door you can,” Abby ordered.
“I’m not leaving you here alone,” Mila said, outraged.
“Yes, you are. Go!” Abby demanded as she pulled a gun from her back. She hid behind the island with her gun trained on the back door.
Mila hurried upstairs with Squirrel tucked in her arms. She paused at the guest room door when she heard the first gunshot. The gunfire increased until there was no beginning and no end to each shot. Mila felt frozen with fear. Her eyes filled with tears as she tried to force herself to move. When she heard the gunfire stop, she waited to hear Abby call for her. But she never did. What she did hear was the first stair creak as someone stepped on it.
Mila hurried through the door and locked it. She looked around and closed all the doors before diving under the bed. She felt the silent tears falling with every sound on the stairs growing nearer. She heard other doors being kicked open and the intruder walking around each room. Then she heard the steps slow in front of her door.
Mila stifled a gasp as she clasped one hand over her mouth. In the other, she held Squirrel tucked against her shoulder. The bedspread was huge and she couldn’t see anything but darkness as the sound of the splintering wood echoed. Mila’s eyes darted to where she thought the man was walking. What had happened to Abby? Was she lying downstairs bleeding to death while Mila hid?
The silence was suddenly overwhelming. Mila strained to hear the man’s footfalls, but there was nothing. Had he left? Then she felt it at the same time light washed under the bed. Two hands grasped her ankles and pulled. Mila screamed and kicked, but it didn’t matter. She was being dragged out from under the bed. She lost her hold on Squirrel as she fought to stay under the bed. As she was dragged, she reached into her shirt and palmed the switchblade Dani had given her.
Blind panic filled her body as she was hauled out from her hiding place. She looked up into the dark eyes hiding behind the mask. “Why are you doing this?” she stuttered as he pulled the gun from his belt.
“You rip a man’s heart out and he’s as good as dead. And you are Zain’s heart. Don’t worry. Your love will be joining you soon.”
Mila knew two things in that moment. One, she was going to die. Two, she wasn’t going to die begging for her life. Mila flicked her wrist to expose the switchblade at the same time a small ball of brown fluff with a bright blue band around his front paw raced across the bed. Mila lunged and the gun fired.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“Piper is in the conference room along with the rest of the delegates. They are early for once,” Dylan whispered as soon as Zain and Suri walked out of the room.
“Where is my secretary?” Suri asked as she looked around. Zain scanned his surroundings and then asked Dylan.
“She left right after you entered the queen’s room,” Dylan told him. The queen looked perplexed when he relayed the message in her language.
Zain hurried down the stairs where he saw most of his friends and some of their parents. Annie and Bridget had brought one of Bridget’s police dogs. They were no longer trying to blend in. There was a show of force as Suri walked down the stairs to meet his parents.
“Surman is not involved,” Zain told his parents in Rahmian.
“I swear. I am not. Even if you don’t think of me as family, I think of you as such. I would never harm you,” Suri told them before bowing her head in a sign of respect.
“What’s going on?” Annie whispered to Dylan.
“Queen Suri isn’t behind the attacks. And her secretary is missing.”
“She’s not missing,” Cassidy said and then told the queen in her language, “I saw her leave with her bags a little after Zain went to see you.”
“Leave? Why would she do that?” Suri wondered.
“There’s only one reason,” Mo said gently.
“No. It can’t be her. She’s been my secretary for years. She’s been my only friend . . .” Suri stopped talking, suddenly embarrassed.
Cassidy interpreted for the group as Suri, Zain, and his parents continued to talk.