Harlon had his gun out and pointed at the ladies. “How did you bypass security?”
Their lips twitched as if Harlon was just a pesky bug, and they turned their attention on me.
“Gwen sent me,” the leader said with a smile.
“Right.” Those were the only words I needed to hear. I disappeared into the room and grabbed the bag. When I returned, I handed it to her.
She took it and set it atop the cart before stepping around me.
“This shouldn’t take long,” the woman exclaimed as the others headed down the hall. “If you two will take a seat at the dining table, it will take us about thirty minutes to thoroughly clean the place, and then we’ll be out of your hair.”
“Who the hell did you call?” Harlon whispered.
“My sister,” I answered back and took his hand, squeezing it. “She’s an operative with Fairy Damn Godmother.”
“That I most certainly did not know,” he said. “FDG Operatives don’t play around.”
“Yeah. I know.” I swallowed hard.
Thirty minutes turned into a smidge longer, but it had been worth it when they’d found three more stashes in the ventilation system and one in a fake potted plant.
“Someone was willing to spend a fortune to set you guys up,” the lady said as she and the rest of the team walked out, one pushing their cart.
She pulled out a card that had a phone number written on it from her pocket with the Fairy Damn Godmother emblem, only this suggested they were a cleaning service. “Call me when you need everything back or if you’d like any other place cleaned. We’re really good at getting all kinds of stains out without questions.”
“Thank you.” I clasped the card tight in my hold.
“Don’t thank me, dear. Thank you. I’m now no longer in debt to your sister.”
The elevator dinged closed, and I rested my back against the wall. This was more than I’d signed up for.
“I don’t know what to say,” Harlon said, closing the distance between us. He took my hand. “I think you should go home, Nina. If someone were to have called the cops with you here and the drugs, they would have arrested you too. This is my mess. You shouldn’t be in the middle of it.”
“Harlon, even though you’re probably right, the Bennetts don’t run from a fight, nor do they turn their backs on their friends. I’m not leaving.” Yet.
“Friends?” he asked.
“For the time being…friendswith benefits,” I corrected. “Now we have a ball to get to and your sister to find.”
He rested his palm on my cheek, pressing his lips to mine in a way that seared and branded my heart.
“I think we’re going to be late to the party,” he whispered against my lips as he started a heated trail down my neck.
I pushed at his chest. “Oh no, we’re not. Someone went to all of this trouble to take you down. Imagine what your sister is going through. We need to find her, and we aren’t going to do that in bed.”
“You’re right.” He took me by the hand and led me to the room. “But afterward…”
“If we find your sister and catch whoever is doing this, then yes... Afterward, I might even be able to spare another day.” I chuckled. “Maybe.”
Harlon kept his hands to himself while I got ready. I couldn’t help worrying what might have happened had I not needed a bag for my things. Would he have ended up like Riley’s dad? Was this some type of payback?
I stepped out into the living room to find Harlon on the phone barking orders to only God knew who. He turned, his gaze met mine, and the words died on his lips.
His gaze caressed me from head to toe. “You look stunning.”
Heat claimed my cheeks. “It’s the dress.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s not.” He shook his head. “Not you, Milton. I was talking to Nina. We’ll meet you there.”
