“Needed my kiss first. It was important.”
She pushed back from the window, moving until her back pressed against the wall on the opposite side of the hallway. It seemed like she wanted me to chase her, and I was happy to.
The warmth of the house hit me as I slipped through the window and closed it behind me. There was quiet piano musicand the din of chatter coming from the ballroom, but this hallway was well out of the way.
Stalking across the hall to Talia, I ran a gloved hand down her side. This dress looked so damn good on her—I’d wanted to devour her when she’d put it on, and that hadn’t changed.
It wasn’t the time or the place, but I couldn’t resist pressing her back against the wall and kissing her. Just once more.
Especially since she had a faint alpha scent of sea breeze and acrid smoke clinging to her. It sent my instincts into overdrive. She wasmyomega, and no one else had any right to touch her.
I couldn’t cover the scent with mine, not while the scent blockers were working, but I could claim her in other ways.
I never wanted to break the deep, claiming kiss I gave her.
“Did you get in?” Lavinia’s voice interrupted the moment.
I pulled back from Talia with an awkward cough, my omega going pink in the cheeks. “Uh, yeah. Officially inside with her.”
“Good. Stay on task. They’ll be sending extra patrols out now that their cameras aren’t working.”
The order hinted that she had an inkling of what I’d been doing, but I wasn’t going to ask. Grabbing Talia’s hand, I headed off down the hall.
This heist would have been easier if Emilia had been able to loop the footage to hide our wandering, but she’d deemed it near impossible. Some firewall or something—I hadn’t grasped the nuances. Basically, she could watch their live feed or cut the signal, but she couldn’t fuck with the system itself to trick them into thinking nothing was happening.
Security guards would be scouring this place soon enough.
Our first stop was Ronald’s office. A camera attached to one of the nearby mansions faced that room, and Emilia had hacked their system and accessed the footage archives. The billionaire spent a lot of time in that office.
The feed was too distant and dark to know for sure if that’s where Benjamin had dropped off his mystery package, but it was our best bet.
Talia kept up with my quick pace despite her high heels. I wanted to sweep her up in my arms and carry her, but it would be harder to protect her if I had to drop her in the event of getting caught.
As we took the stairs to the second floor, a voice caught me off guard.
“Cameras are down. IT is looking into it, but go out and patrol; someone from that party might be snooping around.”
It was coming from a door right beside the top of the staircase. Must be the security office, because of fucking course it was.
Talia’s steps faltered, but I kept going up the stairs. She recovered easily, but the way her heels clicked against the marble was going to give us away.
High heels were great for a ballroom party, but terrible for clandestine activities.
I swept her up in my arms and she stifled a surprised squeak. Taking the stairs two at a time, I watched the doorknob start to turn. We only needed to get past the door and around the corner. There was a closet in that hall we could hide in until the patrol had gone on its way.
The door started to open, and we were still well within view.
Oh, we’re so fucked.
“Start the search near the party and circle out from there. You’ll probably find some rich fucks banging in the first floor bathrooms and lounges, so make sure to send them on their way back to the main area.”
The superior’s orders made the security guard pause long enough for me to careen around the corner.
That was way too close.
I should have sent Talia out the window instead of taking her with me. The thought of her being caught here made my stomach twist in knots.
Letting Talia down to the ground, I opened the closet door. It was a walk-in linen closet, full to the brim with towels, sheets, and blankets. No one but the housekeepers would be coming in here.
