He groans softly, nipping at my lower lip before releasing me. Then he takes my hand and leads me across the ballroom, his stride confident and determined.
I keep my gaze settled squarely on his back. I want to glance around and see if anyone’s noticed us, but I know it will only make me look guilty.
Pushing open a door on the far side of the room, Theo tugs me through. Once the door closes behind us, his expression shifts, and he glances around quickly.
“Looks clear. Let’s go.”
We hurry down the hall, wending our way through the large house toward the room we were escorted to when the men were summoned by Luca so he could yell at them for killing Jordan.
The place is fucking huge, and every time we turn a corner, I tense in anticipation of running into a militia of armed guards.
But there are none.
We know there are security cameras placed around the mansion, but we’ve decided not to worry about them. It’s possible we could’ve plugged Zee into the closed circuit system and had him turn the feeds off, but that would’ve taken time we don’t have. Our hope is that the security camera feeds aren’t monitored live, so we’ll be long gone before anyone sees it. If we’re smooth enough and cover our tracks, there’s a chance no one will ever check the footage and Luca will never know we broke into his office at all.
God, that’s way too many fucking “I hopes.”
As we walk at a fast clip, I try to shove away thoughts of all the ways this could go wrong. It’s too fucking late to bail now, and Luca may already be getting suspicious anyway. There’s a reason he decided to throw this party tonight, and it definitely wasn’t just generosity of spirit.
He wanted to bring everyone together for a reason. Maybe to get a read on people? To try to pit the contestants harder against each other?
“There.”
Theo’s quiet voice refocuses my attention, and I pick up the pace as we approach the heavy door of Luca’s office. There are no guards stationed outside, but the door is locked.
I turn away from it, scanning the corridor as Theo drops into a crouch, pulling two small pieces of metal from his jacket pocket.
“I’m surprised he doesn’t have a fingerprint scanner or a voice activated lock or something,” I murmur.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Theo shrug. “Hazards of being old school.”
It probably only takes Theo a few minutes to pick the lock, but it feels like a fucking hour as my heart does its best to jam itself into my throat. The back of my tongue tastes coppery, and I’m so fucking anxious I could barf.
Then he makes a quiet sound of victory and stands up, shoving the lock picks back into his pocket.
“Knew there was a reason you keep me around, didn’t you?” He winks, then swings the door open for me, following close behind as I step inside.
The interior of the office is just like I remember it, full of dark woods and decorated with tasteful accents. A laptop sits on the desk, shiny and dark gray.
Letting out a shaky breath, I cross to it, already digging out the flash drive and the connector from the hidden pockets of my dress. I flip the top open and plug both in, trying not to panic at the password screen that flashes to life as the computer wakes up.
Zee promised it wouldn’t be a problem. That he could get past the computer’s security and transfer files to the flash drive.
I fucking hope he’s worth whatever the guys pay him.
Theo taps out a quick message on his phone, letting the hacker know we’re ready. Then he opens the door a fraction of an inch, keeping a lookout while I wait for… whatever the fuck is supposed to happen next.
For a long moment, I’m terrified that whatever it is, it’s not working.
Nothing changes on the screen, just the password prompt and the little cursor blinking over and over.
Then, finally, the screen flickers. The password prompt disappears, and the desktop pops into view, several folders arrayed in neat rows at the top of the screen. After another few moments, the light on the flash drive flickers.
Theo glances at his phone. “He’s transferring files now. He said he’s just doing a grab of everything he can get his hands on. Some of it’s encrypted, but we can sort through it later when we’re not at Luca’s fucking house.”
“I like that plan,” I whisper fervently, staring at the computer screen so hard I’m surprised I don’t burn a hole in the damn thing.
There isn’t even a progress bar to let me know how close the transfer is to being complete, and my heart slams unevenly against my ribs as my gaze darts between the screen and the flash drive.
Then Theo’s phone vibrates again. He glances down, then back up at me, nodding once. “It’s done. Grab it and let’s get the fuck out of here.”
I yank the flash drive from the port with shaking fingers, then pull out the connector too.
Shoving them both into their hiding spots in my dress, I join Theo by the door. He peers outside once more and gestures me forward.
It takes everything I have not to sprint down the hallway as we make our way back to the ballroom. We got what we came for, but I won’t be able to relax until we’re out of this fucking house and safe at Theo’s place.
We slip through the same door we left by, and my gaze immediately scans the crowd, looking for Ryland and Marcus. Marcus is still talking to Victoria, and Ryland has joined him. They both glance up as we enter, and although their faces are carefully neutral, I can almost feel the relief emanating from them.
Theo rests a hand on my lower back, and we start to navigate our way through the clusters of people toward the two other men. But when we’re halfway there, movement out of the corner of my eye draws my attention.
A man in a black suit enters from a door at the back of the room.
He could just be another guest, another party-goer. But somehow, I know he’s not. Maybe it’s in the purposeful way he walks as he strides toward Luca, or maybe it’s the stoic expression on his face as he leans in to speak to the older man.
My heart drops.
Fuck.
Chapter 8
My footsteps slow, and I can feel Theo tense beside me. He’s noticed the man talking to Luca too.
“What do we do?” I whisper, my skin prickling with nerves.
“Get to Marcus and Ry. Luca’s vicious, but he’s careful about violence on his own turf. It’s part of the reason he’s managed to amass as much power as he has without getting arrested.”
Theo’s voice is a thousand times calmer than I feel, but his fingers dig into my back as he urges me forward. Ryland and Marcus break away from Victoria to meet us, but as we reach them, a voice booms over the crowd.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here tonight.”
I look up to see Luca standing on the small platform at one end of the room, a microphone in his hand. He’s standing in the same spot where he congratulated Victoria and Marcus on their engagement last time, and my stomach turns over as dread unfurls inside me.
What the fuck is he about to say?
“I’m grateful that so many of you were able to attend,” Luca continues, his voice smooth and deep. “As many of you know, I’ve been considering retirement for some time now, and I admit, these gatherings help me see who is doing well in our fair city. Who may be worthy of doing even better.” He pauses, seeming to consider his next words. “Unfortunately, there are three people who, although once under consideration, have fallen out of the running.”