Page 48 of Innocent Salvation

“Yes, boss.”

“Crystal.”

Bás looked between them then nodded. “Reaper, bring him up to speed on the way over and as soon as we find her, we’ll let you know where to go.”

Seb wasn’t a soldier or a badass, but he was a man prepared to do whatever it took for the woman who’d stolen his heart.

Chapter 19

Snow watched through the long-range scope as Dominique slid one elegant leg out of the limo, before angling her body with a grace Snow had never seen and stood. She waited a beat as if making sure everyone got a good look at her before she was ushered by her security team into the Hôtel de Matignon, where she was attending a meeting with the French Prime Minister.

As President, she used the beautiful Elysée Palace as her official residence and spent the majority of her time there when she wasn’t in the country at her private estate. Snow knew Patrick lived there with her and Jean-Claude but getting to her at the Palace was harder, so she was staking out her offices for a way into the inner circle. All she needed was a few minutes to do what she needed to do.

Leaving Seb that morning while he slept after the night they’d shared had almost torn her in two. The care he given her, the patient understanding and the restraint not to push her for answers even though he knew there was something bothering her, was a testament to how much he cared, and she knew it had been hard for him.

Sebastian may not be a killer like the men of Shadow, but he had the same morals and the same protective nature. He was an alpha and his nature was to fix things for those he cared about, and she knew he cared. He may not have said it, but he’d shown it in innumerable ways.

She tensed as she felt someone lie next to her on the roof of the building that overlooked the Hôtel de Matignon before her body relaxed.

Snow couldn’t look at Reaper knowing she’d see the disappointment on his face. “How did you find me?”

“Really?”

Watchdog! “That was quick.”

“Yeah, well you know how we are when one of our own decides to be a fucking martyr.”

He was angry and, in all honesty, she understood it, but she was trying to keep the only people who’d ever stayed around from getting hurt. “I know you’re angry.”

“I’m not angry. If you want to see angry, wait until you see Sebastian. That man is fit to be tied.”

Snow looked up sharply cricking her neck and wincing from being crouched for so long. “Seb is here?” Her stupid heart raced with excitement or fear, she wasn’t sure which, her mouth going dry.

Reaper tipped his head, as he chewed on a cocktail stick, a habit he’d had since he quit smoking and regarded her as if she’d lost her mind. “Did you honestly think he wouldn’t come? That man is so far down the rabbit hole with you, he’d walk across hot coals just to see you smile.”

“He can’t be here, Reap. He isn’t trained and there’s a fucking hit on him. And who the hell is looking after Fleur?”

“Slow down, baby girl. Seb is secure at the safe house. He isn’t trained but he isn’t a complete moron either. He’s been working with Hurricane to improve his shooting skills and hand to hand combat. You could still take him, but he isn’t the newborn babe he was before. Oh, and Fleur is with Valentina, who volunteered to watch her while we haul your ass home.”

Snow processed all of that and nodded, then shook her head. “I’m not going home.”

“Yeah, we thought you might be a pain in the ass, so the team is heading out now and will meet us in four hours so we can formulate a plan to end this threat against you and your family.”

Snow felt tears hit her eyes and tried to blink them away. She wasn’t normally so weepy. She was usually the annoying happy one but the last few days she couldn’t seem to stop.

“Hey now, save the tears for when Seb spanks your ass.”

Snow laughed, snorting inelegantly at Reaper’s words which were meant to make her smile and as always, hit the mark. “Is he very angry?”

“Fuck, yeah. I think I saw sparks coming out of his eyes and smoke out of his ears.”

Snow chewed her bottom lip considering how this would go and deciding honesty might be the best option. Deciding that she’d done enough surveillance for now and that avoiding Sebastian would only make things worse, she followed Reaper down the fire escape of the tall building and let him drive them to the safe house.

As they got closer, her belly began to flip with nerves. I’m a badass. I’m a badass was the mantra she kept repeating to try and stop her hands from shaking. The words were true. She’d been on missions since joining Shadow that seemed like suicide missions, she’d been shot, chased, almost kidnapped, and watched her father murdered, and stolen a priceless work of art from the Vatican that was still hidden in her rooms at the bunker.

As an operative and thief, she was the best. Which reminded her that she hadn’t divulged that part of her history to Sebastian. Her being an art thief, and one still talked about in certain circles, wasn’t something she just spat out in conversation and Seb was slightly obsessed with the law, being a judge and all.

The car drew to a stop in a quiet part of Paris near the Left Bank, and she looked up at the quaint property. It was usual for the area and in no way looked like the fortress she knew it was inside. It looked ordinary, which was the whole point, to blend in and be forgettable.