Page 63 of Russian Rescue

I went over it in my head for the one-hundredth time, remembering all the specs I’d studied of the mansion’s layout and the video feeds I’d hacked and watched for hours. “I go to the bathroom right there.” I nudged my chin at the door situated at the top of the velvet-covered stairs. “You distract the guards so they don’t see me go in, then notice I never come out. I slip through the ventilation system until I get to the room across from the stairs leading to the third floor, then I sneak up the stairs, find the computer room, and Knox breaks me in. Get the info, slip back out, and come back out the bathroom to meet you.”

“Knox,” Piper said into her comms, though to the outside world, it looked like she was talking to me. “You got the security footage looping yet so Wes can move undetected?”

“Yeah, figured it out. Cameras are looping now,” he answered. “Shit, Pretty Boy. Even with your instructions and you doing ninety-nine percent of the work, this stuff is hard. We didn’t give you near enough credit all those years you watched out for us.”

“Thank you.” I grinned at Piper like I was responding to her. “I appreciate you saying that. You guys would all be pink mist if it weren’t for me keeping an eye on you all those years we ran ops.”

“I’ll never argue that, Pretty Boy,” Knox answered. “Mad props to your skills.”

“Let’s just hope you can do his job and keep him safe tonight,” Piper said as worry flickered through her eyes.

“I’ll be okay.” I reached out and slipped her hands into mine. “You’re both watching my back, and worst-case scenario, they catch me. I’ll just bide my time until you can get me out. They won’t kill me. And even if they do, it will save my family. This is the best plan.”

“I’d feel better if you’d let me go in there and just walked me through it,” Piper said.

“I’ll be fine.” I squeezed her hands. “It has to be me. Don’t worry. I’m getting in and getting out. We’re driving out those front gates tonight together.”

With a quick nod, she straightened her shoulders, and the worry in her eyes slid behind the seductive gaze she used to captivate everyone in her presence.

“Petro is coming in,” Knox said. “West Wing.”

We spun our attention to the second-floor landing where Petro appeared above his party. He sported an expensive tux that fit his large frame well, and with his perfectly trimmed grey beard and smoothed back salt and pepper hair, he looked the part of Mikhail Alexeyev, a rich Russian philanthropist.

The crowd broke into applause as he greeted us all, and I had to give him props as he addressed us that he certainly pulled off his role as a caring man with a heart of gold. By the time he ended his speech about our mission to save the starving children, I was ready to pull out my checkbook and write him a check for all the millions accruing interest in my real bank account. But then I remembered those millions of mine wouldn’t feed a single starving child and instead would fund a terrorist group seeking out Russian nukes to some terrible end.

“Damn. He’s good.” Piper clapped her hands along with the other guests. “Really good.”

“All I want to do is go feed hungry children now.” I clapped with her.

“All I want to do is go slit the throats of the bastards who hurt them.” She glanced up at me, and the fire lit up in her eyes again.

“Like I said, when this is all over, if you need my help,” I paused and casually tapped my comms piece to show her I was careful not to let Knox hear.

Her bright red lips pulled up into a smile. “Thanks, Wes. I appreciate you saying that.”

“I’m not just saying it. I mean it. I’m always here to help.”

She smiled again, then Petro descended the stairs. I tried to look natural as his gaze passed over the crowd while he greeted everyone with a wave. When his eyes moved right over me and onto Piper, I knew he didn’t recognize me as the man he’d hunted down... and still hunted. And why would he? In what world would I walk straight into his home?

His gaze slid down the length of Piper’s body as he passed by, and I had to clench my jaw to prevent myself from snarling at the way he undressed her with his eyes.

Mine.

And then I remembered she wasn’t, and my heart sunk again. I’d tried so damn hard to make her realize her life didn’t have to be lonely, but I’d failed in my mission to get her to open her heart before we left Russia. Tonight would be our last night here if all went well, and then Piper would go her way, and I’d go mine. But I meant what I’d said to her earlier... I’d wait for her for eternity. No other woman would ever be able to take her place in my heart, and I wasn’t going to marry someone else while I dreamed about Piper. No. I’d just bide my time and take whatever she’d give me and hope like hell that maybe someday I could get her to admit her feelings for me.

Petro walked up on stage to start the auction, and Knox popped in my ear. “It’s go time. You’re clear down the hallway once you pass those two guards. Bathroom is empty.”

“Good luck, Wes. Be safe,” Piper whispered into my ear as she brushed a casual wifely kiss on my cheek. When she pulled back and looked up at me, worry drowned out the normal confidence in her eyes. “I mean it. Please, don’t fucking die on me, Wes.”

“I won’t die on you,” I answered. “Well, at least I’ll try like hell not to. But if shit goes sideways, which it won’t, but if it does, I just want you to know that I love you, Piper. I do.”

Her emerald eyes swelled with emotions as her mouth softly parted then closed again in a tight-lipped line.

I shook my head. “You don’t have to say anything. I know you can’t. But it doesn’t matter if you say it back because I feel it, Piper. I do. I feel it, and that’s more important than you saying it.”

Before Piper could utter a word, I leaned down and kissed her again. Her breath hitched in her chest as I pulled away and started off in the direction of the bathroom. I got into position at the portable bar just at the base of the stairs, then glanced back at Piper. She stood staring at me, and I wondered what thoughts were bouncing around in her beautiful mind.

“Okay, Piper. You’re up,” Knox cut in. “Pretty Boy will wait for you to distract the guards, then I’ll guide him up to the computer room.”