“What do we do?” I ask as my nerves escalate.

He stares at me for a moment, thinking. “Did you leave anything lying around at home about New York?”

I think for a moment. Oh no. “I scribbled the flight times on the notepad on your desk.”

“When you booked the flights, did you use my credit card like I told you?”

I shake my head nervously. “No. I used mine.”

“I told you to use mine!” he snaps.

“I know, but I was taking you away. I didn’t want you to pay for your own birthday present.”

He glares at me.

“The hotel, Bridget. Tell me you booked the hotel with my card.”

I wince and shake my head. “Nope, that’s in my name, too.”

“Fuck!”

He briefly disappears into the bathroom, then comes out carrying all my shampoo and makeup and throws it in my open suitcase.

“Get dressed.”

“What?” I frown.

“Now!” he orders as he starts throwing everything into our suitcases in a frenzy.

I start to run on the spot in a fluster. “Do you think they’re on their way here?”

He looks up at me and he’s eyes have a steely calm about them. “Bridget, don’t freak out. Every moment we’re here, you’re in danger. Hurry the fuck up.”

“Ah,” I cry as I start to run around the room frantically. I grab my wallet and phone charger. “Where do I put this?” I wail.

He looks at me, deadpan. “In the fucking suitcase. Where do you think?”

“Got it.” I run around, but don’t actually do anything productive.

He throws his phone at me. “Log into my internet banking and transfer one-hundred-thousand dollars.”

“What?”

“Do it,” he growls.

With shaking fingers, I hit the banking app on his phone. “What’s your password?” I ask.

“Bridget,” he replies.

My eyes rise to him and I smile broadly. “I’m your password?”

He rolls his eyes, but he keeps packing, and he zips up his case at super speed.

“You are so getting laid tonight.” I smile.

“Bridget, we won’t fucking be alive tonight if you don’t get your shit together. Transfer the damn money now.”

“Oh.” I fumble with the phone and nearly drop it. “What am I doing?”

“Transfer one-hundred-thousand dollars from my savings into the other account.”

He throws a pair of jeans on while I concentrate on my job. I click into the account.

I scowl. “What the hell? Why do you have so much money in your account?”

He throws his T-shirt over his head. “For a rainy day. Hurry up.”

I transfer the money, check it, and then double-check it again before I hit transfer. “Okay, done.” I look up at him and he zips the last suitcase up. “Now get your phone and write down the phone numbers you want.”

“Huh? Why?”

“We are leaving the sim card here. Hurry,” he growls.

I grab my phone and scramble through it, writing down Mum’s , Tash’s, Abbie’s, and Adrian’s phone numbers.

“Done?” he asks.

I nod, and he takes my phone apart, removing the sim card, and puts it under the mattress. I grab my clothes and throw them on as I watch him do the same to his. I slip into my low heels.

He glances down at my feet. “Get some comfortable shoes on.”

I frown. “Why?”

“Bridget… just fucking do it,” he growls.

I screw up my face, in tears. “You’re scaring me,” I cry.

His face softens with guilt and he grabs my hand in his. “Didge, let’s go, baby. It’s okay.” He tries to calm me. “You just need to hurry up.”

I bend and quickly tie up the shoes of my runners. Ben opens the door and looks both ways. He holds his hand up for me to stay where I am.

I hold my stomach as I try to control my racing heartbeat. Oh my God, oh my God.

He grabs my hand and we walk out into the corridor, down to the lifts where he hits the button hard three times.

“If we get separated go straight to a police station and call Brock and Joshua to come and get you. Don’t leave there without them,” he tells me quietly.

My eyes widen in horror. “What’s going to happen?” I whisper.

The elevator dings and he clenches his jaw, as if expecting something. My heart actually stops beating. I can feel the pause. The doors open to reveal an empty elevator and I close my eyes in relief. We get in and he pushes the button to the basement. I glance at him in question, but I hold my tongue.

The elevator opens into the underground parking lot. He grabs my hand and we walk out, dragging our cases behind us.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“We’ll get a cab and go to the bank to withdraw some money. Then we’ll lay low for a couple of days,” he replies as he marches across the parking lot. I nearly have to run to keep up. “It’s fine. Don’t worry,” he adds.

“Is it really fine?” I ask.

His eyes flicker to me, and I instantly know it’s not.

For fuck’s sake. I clench my jaw so hard it feels like I’m going to crack my back teeth.

We walk over to the drive-through gates that open up onto a side street, and Ben hits the button. The security gate begins to slowly roll up.

Please don’t let them find us, please don’t let them find us, I keep chanting in my head. We walk out onto the street and Ben hails a cab. Miraculously, one stops straight away, and we scramble into the back of it.

“The closest Bank of America, please,” Ben instructs.

The cab driver nods and pulls out into traffic. Ben puts his arm around me and then pushes my head down onto his lap.

I frown, but he glares at me. Oh, he’s hiding me. Jeez. I thought he was trying to be sexy. Oh, God. I’m an idiot.

He then drops his head and puts his hand up to shield his face.

Oh no, he must think they’re out there looking for us.

“When we get to the bank, my wife will stay in the car with the bags, if you could just circle the block a few times, please?” he asks the driver.

“Sure,” the driver replies.

I grab Ben’s hand across the seat. “I want to come with you,” I whisper.

“No. Stay here.” He glances out the window and then back to me. “You know what to do if we get separated.”

I grab his hand and the cab pulls over.

“Just circle the block; I’ll only be a moment.” He jumps out and runs across the road and I watch him disappear into the bank. The cab pulls back out into traffic and I drop my head. Oh, my God. How did this happen? Why did he go to the damn security box and get those papers?

What was he thinking?

Now he’s put us in danger and I have no fucking idea what’s going on. We circle the block a few times, and then finally I see him on the side of the road.

“There… there he is,” I stammer in excitement. The driver pulls over and Ben runs across the road to jump into the backseat. He smiles and grabs my hand. “Can you take us to the Lombardy on 56^th, please?” he asks the driver.

“Sure thing.”

I smile nervously at him, and moments later we pull into a driveway of a swanky hotel, and then make our way into reception. I stand beside Ben like a child, unsure what to say or do.

“I would like a suite for seven days, please,” he says to the girl on concierge, calmly.

“Of course.” She smiles warmly as she looks him up and down. Yeah, I’m right here, bitch. I look at her flatly. He’s married, you know.

A satisfied smile crosses my face. He’s married to me.

So, this is technically my honeymoon.

I look around the luxury hotel and then glance down at myself. I look a mess and I must smell like sex. I haven’t even showered today. I drag my hand through my ratty hair, suddenly self-conscious.

“I would like an adjoining single room, too, please… for my children,” he says calmly. “They will be joining us later tonight, with their nanny.”

I glance up at Ben as he acts cool, calm, and collected. Some fucking honeymoon. Two rooms, fake children, real-life strangling of new husband by crazed new wife. This is just dandy.

“Credit card, please.” She smiles.

Ben slides a credit card over and I glance at the name on it. It’s the Jake Martin one he had. “I would like to pay in full now, please. Cash okay?” He takes out his wallet.

A frown crosses her face before she recovers. “Of course, Mr. Taylor.” She types in the computer. “That will be three-thousand-six-hundred dollars.”

He counts it out and hands her the cash.

She shuffles through to check it. “I’m going to give you an upgrade to a two-bedroom suite.” She smiles.

Ben nods. “Thank you.”

I watch her work in silence. We get the keys, and minutes later we are walking up the hallway towards our room on the sixth floor. I would like to say that I notice my surroundings, but over the sound of the pounding of my poor heart, my brain can’t take in any more information. It’s luxurious, I can say that much.

He opens the door and holds his hand out for me to take, but I walk past him and into the room.

I’m annoyed. No, scratch that. I’m furious.

I fold my arms angrily in front of me, and he rolls his eyes. “Don’t,” he snaps.

My eyes bulge from their sockets. “Don’t?” I hiss in return. “Oh, I do,” I sneer. “Why the hell did you go to that security box and get those documents?” I throw my up hands in despair. “This was none of our business, Ben.” I begin to pace back and forth as he puts the suitcases up to the rack and opens them.

“This was my business. Something is going on and I need to get to the bottom of it.”

“I’ll tell you what’s going on,” I spit. “You have two deranged fucking hit- men coming after you… and, technically, me, too, now, because they think we know what the information on that sheet means.”

He clenches his jaw in anger as his eyes hold mine.

“We can’t read the fucking sheet, Ben!” I hold my temples as I begin to pace again.

“Calm down,” he groans.

“I will not calm down. We have no idea what is going on, other than the fact that they wanted you dead and that they killed Jason Steele and his wife last night. Whatever is on that sheet is very fucking important. You need to call the police right now and tell them everything.”

He rolls his eyes and walks into the bathroom. I storm in after him. He unzips his jeans and begins to take a pee.

“Call… call the police,” I stammer as I point to the phone.

“Do you mind?” he says dryly, gesturing down to his dick with his chin. “I’m hanging a piss.”

My eyes bulge from their sockets. “For fuck’s sake, Ben. I’m going to hang you from the fucking shower. Will you listen to me?”

“Bridget, you listen to me.” He finishes, zips up his pants, and washes his hands before he walks back out into the room. “The police won’t protect us.” He gets out the black case and unlocks it, taking three handguns out and laying them on the table.

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose.

“I need to get you out of here, and then I’m going to take care of these two guys once and for all.”

My face falls. “What are you going to do?”

He picks up one of the guns and loads it. “I’m going to kill them.”

I frown. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”

“Bridget—”

I cut him off. “No, Ben, I’m not going anywhere while you’re in danger.”

“I’m not in danger!” he snaps as he puts a gun in the back of the waistband of his jeans. “They are.”

“I’m going to buy new prepaid sim cards for our phones, so I can call Joshua. You’re staying here,” he tells me.

“No, I’m coming.” I grab my bag, suddenly petrified that something may happen to him.

“No, you’re not.”

I grab his arms. “Ben, please,” I beg. “You’re frightening me.”

His face softens and he tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. “I’m going to be twenty minutes, babe. Take a shower, order us some room service breakfast, and I’ll be back before it gets here.”

I watch him with scared eyes.

He kisses me softly. “You’re safer here. Please, just listen to me. If you never listen to me again for the rest of our lives, I don’t care, but right now, for the next little bit, I need you to trust me. It’s going to be all right, but you need to be out of sight. I need you safe.” His eyes hold mine. “Do you trust me, Bridget?”

I nod nervously and he kisses me again. He goes to the table, picks up the gun he bought me, and passes it to me. “You remember how I taught you to use it?”

I nod nervously as I stare at it in my hand.

“I’m just going to find a phone shop and get our sim cards, so I can make some phone calls, okay? I’ll call it in to HQ as soon as I get back.”

I continue to stare at the gun in my hand.

“Babe?” he asks softly. “Don’t you go falling apart on me now, okay?”

I look up at him through unshed tears. “It’s our honeymoon, Ben,” I whisper.

His face falls. “This is a…” He frowns as he thinks. “It’s a temporary setback.” His lips take mine and his tongue gently sweeps past my lips. “Lock the door behind me and take a shower. We’re safe for the meantime.”

I nod nervously.

“Don’t answer the phone and don’t call anyone. Now, if someone comes to the door, don’t answer it. Look out through the peephole, and if it’s anyone suspicious, go into the adjoining room and lock the door between the rooms.” He goes to the door between the two rooms and opens it to show me.

I nod.

“Bridget.” His eyes hold mine for a moment. “If anyone comes into this room, you shoot to kill. No fucking around.”

I swallow the lump in my throat.

“Angel?”

I nod. “Just go so you can get back quicker, please,” I whisper.

He brushes my hair back from my forehead and looks down at me lovingly. “I won’t be long.”

I nod as I try to hold back my tears. “I love you,” I whisper.

He kisses me. “I love you, too. Lock the door behind me.” He walks over to the door, looks out the peephole, and then opens it. “See you soon.” He disappears and I turn the two locks on the door.

My stomach rolls and I feel sick. I look around at the swanky room, and I shake my head as I try to pull myself together.

Take a shower. Yes, take a shower. I walk into the bathroom, completely on autopilot, and I turn on the water.

What a hectic twenty-four hours.

I glance at the clock, just like I have done every minute for the last thirty minutes.

Where is he?

It’s been ninety minutes and Ben’s still not back.

I walk over to the window and look out onto the street below.

Has something gone wrong?

Shall I call the police? He said not to use the phone, though. Fuck, this is such a mess.

My stomach is churning.

I shouldn’t have let him go; I should have made him stay here with me.

It’s 10:43. At what time do I panic? I walk into the bathroom and dry-retch into the toilet. My stomach lurches as it tries to rid itself of the excess stomach acid. I scrunch up my face.

The door chain bangs and my eyes widen. Someone is trying to get in.

I hold my breath as I peer out the bathroom door, and I see the door open a few inches, the safety chain blocking it from opening completely.

“It’s me,” Ben calls.

“Fuck,” I cry as I run to let him in. “Are you okay? I’ve been frantic,” I whisper.

He kisses me quickly on the lips. “I’m fine, babe.” He has three large bags and he throws them on the bed. He looks me up and down and puts his hands on his hips. “Are you okay?”

I shake my head. “No, I’m vomiting.”

He frowns. “Vomiting?”

“From stress, Ben. You are stressing me the fuck out!”

His eyes dance with mischief. “Do I need to pat you off to sleep?”

“No. Why would you?” I snap.

“You’re getting snarky.”

I look at him, deadpan. “No, Ben. I’m getting stabby. Get it right.”

He chuckles as he tips the contents of the three shopping bags onto the bed. He pulls out two sim cards for our phones, as well as a scanner. “Can you set up the scanner while I get the phones working, please?”

“What do we need a scanner for?”

“I need to scan the document over to Joshua. We need to know what it says. If I know what it is, I have more chance of finding them.”

I nod. “Good thinking, sure.” I begin to unwrap the scanner at double speed, and then I take it over to the desk. I try my hardest to concentrate on the instructions. Computer crap is not my forte. Ben puts the sim cards into our phones and goes through the set-up program for each of them. He then adds our phone numbers to the other’s contacts.

“All done,” he mutters to himself. He then clicks through a few things on his phone. “Shit,” he murmurs.

“What?” I frown as I look up from my task.

“I got an email from my boss.”

“What does it say?”

He passes me the phone.

* * *

Bridget’s eyes widen. “Well, what… what are they going to do about it?” she stammers. “Who’s Commissioner Greg Jackson?”

“He’s the head of security,” I reply as I take the phone from her and read it again. “This was sent last night, before they broke into my house.”

She drops her hands to her side, as if defeated. “So, what do we do?”

“We stay low until they find them, I tell her calmly.

“Do they know about the code?” she asks.

“No. I want to know what it says first.” I gesture to the scanner. “Is it nearly set up?”

“Yeah, a few more minutes.” She returns to the set-up mode and I stare at the phone in my hand for a moment.

Fuck. I’m dreading this call. I dial the number and he answers first ring.

“Statham.” He smiles. “About fucking time you called, you prick.”

“Hey, Stan.” I sigh, damn it. Joshua Stanton is the last person I want to get involved with this shit.

I stare out the window. “Listen, I need your help with something.”

“What’s up?”

“I was slipped a note on a napkin at a function from a dude saying if anything happens to him, I had to go to this safety deposit box.”

He listens. “Right…”

“So I went and got it the next day.”

“Of course you did.”

“Only, it’s in some kind of code. I can’t read it.”

“I could have a look at it. Do you think it’s important?”

I roll my lips. “The man who gave it to me was Jason Steele.”

He stays silent as he does the math. “The diplomat who got murdered yesterday, alongside his wife?”

“Yep.” My eyes find Didge as I talk. “There’s more. My house was broken in to after he was murdered. They know I have the letter.”

“Where the fuck is Bridget?” he snaps.

“She’s with me.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” he growls. “You got her messed up in this shit?”

I close my eyes. “Unintentionally.”

“Where are you?”

“New York.”

“What are you doing there?”

“Weekend away. Good timing, I guess.”

“Fucking hell, I’m going to break your neck when I see you.”

I roll my eyes. “Can I send the letters over to you to see if you can crack the code?”

“Yes, fine.” He thinks for a moment. “Do they know you’re in New York?”

“I think so.” I glance at Didge again as she plugs in the cords of the scanner. “We’ve changed hotels and I’ve gotten rid of all phones and key cards. HQ said to stay in a secure location.” I face the other way. “I need to get her out of here,” I whisper. “She’s not safe with me.”

“Fucking hell, Statham,” he growls again. “She’s safer with you than anyone else. Nobody will protect her like you can. Natasha’s going to fucking flip out. I’m sending my private jet to get you both.”

“Yeah, but where to?”

He thinks for a moment. “Take her to Kamala. It’s secure, and I’ll send some extra security over. How long did they say it’s going to take to find them?”

“They didn’t say.”

“Kamala. It’s the best option,” he replies.

Kamala. That’s actually not a bad idea. Nobody can get in there; it’s like a fort. “I’ll call the guys and get back to you.”

“Okay, make it quick. We will have to get a flight plan together.”

I nod. “Yeah, where will I send this file to?”

“Send it to my private account: [email protected]outlook.com.”

I smile. “You’re a fucking soft cock.”

“Look who’s talking.” He pauses. “Put Bridget on the phone.”

I roll my eyes. I’m not in the fucking mood for him to lecture my girl. “No.”

“Statham,” he demands.

“Goodbye.” I hang up.

I turn to Bridget.

“Is everything all right?” she asks softly.

“Can you scan this and send it to [email protected], please?”

She smirks when she hears the email address.

“I know, the soft cock has her name as his email.”

“Because your internet banking password is so gangster,” she mutters dryly.

I smirk as I pass the file over to her, and I watch on as she scans it in.

“So, what do we do now?” she asks.

“We wait.”

It’s late afternoon. Bridget is reading on her phone and I’m trying my hardest not to pace around the hotel room.

I can’t stand this. I can’t stand this fucking waiting.

If I didn’t have Bridget with me I would be out looking for them, but my main focus now is to keep her safe. I watch her fiddle with her long, dark ponytail and my heart constricts. Just the thought of anything happening to her is driving me crazy. I spoke to Rick this morning and he agrees that Bridget is safer with me. The name ‘Stan’ lights up my screen and I answer it.

“Hey.”

“Hi, I’ve been working on this thing all day. I can’t seem to decipher it. It’s a code within a code. I think I may have the first one, and I don’t want to alarm you, but I think it’s some pretty fucking heavy shit. The amount of money mentioned is four-hundred-million dollars.”

“Shit.”

“I’ll keep working on it, but it will take some time to get through.”

“Yeah, okay,” I murmur. I look over at Didge as she watches on.

“The plane is picking you up from JFK at 4:00 a.m.,” he continues.

I frown.

“It was the only landing time I could secure for tomorrow, otherwise we would have had to wait for three days.”

Shit. “There won’t be many people around then,” I think out loud.

“I know, but I’m going to send some security to New York tonight to help you get to the airport.”

I think for a moment. “It’s okay, I’ll get a couple of my friends to come over.” I can see the worry on Bridget’s face. “Just in case,” I add.

“Take them to Thailand with you to be sure.”

I nod. “Yeah, I might.”

“How’s Bridget?” he asks.

“I’ll get her to call you.”

“When?”

“In a minute, while I call the guys.”

“Is she okay?”

“Acting it.”

“I’ll get this code done and then we can move on from there. I’ll call you back later. Have you spoken to your friends already?”

“Yeah, I called them this morning; they know what’s going on.”

“What do they make of it?”

“Same as us, they’ve no idea.”

He stays silent as he thinks. “Speak later.”

“Yeah, okay, mate. Thanks, hey?” I smile.

“Tell Bridget to call me.”

“Yep.” I hang up and turn to Didge. “Joshua wants you to call him.”

She blows out a deep breath. “Yeah, okay.” She clicks out of her book on her phone. “Maybe this is all a bit dramatic, Ben. Maybe it was just a coincidence that your apartment was broken into?”

I watch her. “The boys are over at my apartment now going through the security footage. They’ll get back to us soon, and yeah, hopefully it’s unrelated so we can go home and check on my things.” I have a sinking feeling of dread about the state of my apartment, and I want to check on it.

Her face lights up with excitement. “Oh, I forgot.” She rushes to her carry-on luggage bag and rustles through it. She digs out the small wooden box that I keep in my room. She hands it over to me and I open it. Meika’s things are all here. I take out the string of pink beads as my eyes search hers.

“You didn’t think I was going to leave her at home, did you? She goes where we go now,” she says softly.

Emotion overwhelms me. I get a lump in my throat and I fall to the bed, taking her into my arms and holding her as tight as I can. “Bridget,” I whisper.

There aren’t enough words in the world to explain my love for this woman.

At a time when I just want to enjoy her and drink her in, I’m terrified that something’s going to happen to her. “I’m going to call the boys and ask them if they want to come to Kamala,” I murmur into her hair.

She pulls back to look at my face. “Is that really necessary?”

I stand. “Probably not, but they could do with a holiday, and it will put me at ease having them around. Joshua suggested it.”

She nods as she watches me. “Okay.”

“You need to call Joshua and Natasha; they’re freaking out. Why don’t you go and take a bath and call them? I’m going to call the guys.”

“Yeah, okay.” She grabs her phone and disappears into the bathroom. My phone rings. It’s Ethan.

“Hey, man,” I answer.

“We’re at your apartment, watching the security footage, and it’s definitely them.”

“Can you see their faces?”

“Yes, as clear as day. Definitely looking for something. I’m going to send you a video so you can show Bridget what they look like.”

“Thanks. Were they armed?”

“Yep.”

I close my eyes. “How do you guys feel about coming to Thailand for an all-expenses-paid holiday?” I ask.

I hear him tell the others in the background. “He wants us to go to Thailand with them.”

“Fuck, yeah.” I hear Jed in the background, then they say something I can’t hear and laugh.

“We’re in.”

“Get on a plane to New York. Our private flight leaves at 4:00 a.m. I need you to help me get her to the airport safely.”

“Will do, we’re on our way.”

“Eeth?” I say.

“Yeah, man?”

“Bring your weapons.”