Hacking Mr. CEO (Billionaire Heists #3) by Anna Hackett

This was a man who’d never stop.

I got a sense that it wasn’t just about the money. This man liked his work.

“Come on.” Mav yanked me out of the room. “He might have more of those explosives.”

God, I hoped not.

We raced out the door. The sprinklers were still on, drenching us. I almost slipped on the slick floor.

Mav’s hand tightened on mine, holding me up. He kept moving across the mezzanine and finally we reached the edge of the sprinklers. I’d only activated the ones outside the lab.

I pushed my wet hair out of my face. A huge net draped down from the ceiling, covered in green climbing plants, all the way to the floor below.

It looked like a green waterfall.

“You will die here.”

The shout made my adrenaline spike and I glanced back.

The assassin was striding toward us, his lean body moving fast. His black hair was plastered to his head.

He held a massive knife with a jagged blade in his hand.

Oh. God. We’d never make it to the stairs in time.

Mav stopped and looked at the green net.

“Jump,” he said.

I shook my head, my brain not computing.

He lifted me onto the railing.

“Mav, no—”

“Jump and live! Stay and he’ll get us.”

Dammit.

I didn’t let myself think. “You’re jumping too.”

“Right behind you, angel. I promise.”

The Shadow was almost on us.

I dragged in a deep breath. I wanted to live. I wanted Mav.

I’d been protecting myself, holding back.

Not anymore.

I lifted my chin and leaped.

There was a moment of weightlessness, then I slammed into the net and grabbed onto the leaves. Greenery hit my face and the net swung a little.

A second later, Mav hit it. This time, it swung wildly under his larger weight.

Oh, shit. I almost slipped, and tightened my grip.

“Down,” Mav yelled.

I started downward. He moved quicker than me.

Suddenly, the entire net swayed and I looked up.

My gut clenched. The assassin had followed us.

“Keep moving, Remi,” Mav ordered.

I hustled. Below me, Mav reached the bottom.

Only a few more feet.

The net swung. The assassin tried to kick me.

I let go, and I fell the last few feet.

Oh, God.

I landed on my butt with a hard jolt. Mav yanked me up.

A dark shape fell from above. Unlike me, the assassin landed gracefully in an elegant crouch, one long leg outstretched to the side.

Mav and I backed up.

The Shadow rose. His mask was gone.

He had a fairly ordinary face, but with sharp cheekbones.

“I don’t like to kill,” he said. “I take no pleasure in it.”

Bullshit. “So go,” I said.

“No, it’s my one rule. I finish what I start.”

He walked toward us. The knife was so big.

Mav shoved me back.

God, he’d protect me. He’d get stabbed, he’d die for me.

I bit my lip. Pain and panic churned inside me.

The assassin darted forward, and then Mav moved.

My mouth dropped open.

He slammed a hard kick into The Shadow’s mid-section, sending him staggering backward.

Mav could fight.

The men circled, attacking and blocking each other. Mav dodged the knife, and landed a punch.

I saw The Shadow’s mouth tighten.

Mav attacked in a flurry of hits and kicks. One kick caught the assassin, and sent him crashing into a table.

“Not so easy when your prey fights back, is it?” Mav said.

“I always win, Mr. Rivera.”

“So do I.”

The men charged at each other. God, where were the police?

I had to help Mav. I scanned around and all I saw were empty tables.

No, wait.

One table had two laptops resting on it—one open, one closed. A coffee mug sat beside them. Someone had abandoned them, probably when the power went out.

The Shadow and Mav clashed again.

Mav grunted and jerked back.

I saw the cut on his bicep, the gash in his shirt.

And then I saw the blood.





19





You Changed Everything





Mav


The cut stung like hell.

Mav ignored it and focused on his opponent.

He tried to block Remi out, his worry for her. Simeon’s voice echoed in his head. Focus on your opponent. Their every move.

People gave a lot away in a fight. In faint movements, the flicker of their eyes, the shift of their feet.

Mav had to keep Remi safe. The need beat inside him, steady like a drum.

Keep the woman he loved safe.

The Shadow attacked.

Mav released the breath in his lungs. He slammed his arm against the man’s, blocking the slash of the knife.

He bent his knees and hammered his fist into the assassin’s thigh.

The man’s leg collapsed, but he was good. He leaped back and caught his balance.

They circled each other.

The Shadow jumped onto a table and ran at Mav, knife flashing. Mav dodged, gripped the man’s shirt and yanked.

The assassin crashed to the ground and Mav got a kick in before The Shadow rolled away.

“Yeah, Mav, mess him up!” Remi yelled.

Hell. Even in the middle of a life-and-death fight, she made him want to laugh.