Kenney, Laina - Overexposed [DIG Security 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Laina Kenney

man. She had to breathe, to think her way out of this. She got away from him once and she could do it again, but only if she could keep thinking through the fear.
    Billy took his hand off her mouth. When she didn’t scream, his grasp loosened.
    “Fix yourself up,” he said and gave her a hard push toward the mirrors. “You need makeup. And smile.”
    Avelyn moved to the mirror on shaky legs and ran cold water over her hands. She tried to smooth down her hair.
    Billy wouldn’t know it, but there were probably eight or ten security agents on this floor and at least two more of them smoking and putting in time down in the parking lot, all of them Uncle Conn’s friends and colleagues.
    The odds were in her favor, though it didn’t feel that way right now. She caught a glimpse of Billy in the mirror. He was watching her ass, and she shuddered. She felt so vulnerable, exposed. Just the look on his face made her skin feel dirty.
    She just had to keep thinking and not panic. If she could just stall long enough, maybe Sam would wonder what was taking so long and come to see if she was okay.

    * * * *

    Locke looked down the hall in the direction of the bathrooms again. What the hell was taking so long? He had some new information for her about the man who had followed her from Ireland. He was more dangerous than she knew.
    “How long has she been in there?” he asked.
    Sam shrugged.
    “Women take a long time in bathrooms,” Sam said.
    “Not Avelyn,” Locke said with a frown. “She doesn’t waste her time, and she wants to see Conn.”
    As he said it, he knew it was true. Avelyn wouldn’t spend her time alone fixing her hair and putting on makeup when she could be right outside Conn’s door waiting for news.
    The woman didn’t even wear makeup most days. She didn’t need makeup or fancy clothes to be the most beautiful woman Locke had ever known.
    He turned and stared down the hall, and his skin prickled in elemental warning. Maybe he was overreacting and she was just wiping away a few tears, but his instincts were clamoring, rising like another consciousness inside his skin, trying to break free.
    He started down the hall. He had to be sure.

    * * * *

    “Now you’re just wasting time. Walk out to the elevator. And you’d better smile like you just fucked your boyfriend in the ladies’ loo. Go on, then.”
    Billy’s grip on her hand was painful. The man was seriously delusional if he thought that she would just relax and let him lead her off to a life of utter misery in Ireland. Didn’t he realize that if she had run from him before, she would run again?
    Still, she pasted on a trembling smile. The first person she saw when she opened the door was Locke.
    He was walking down the hall, and he was looking right at her. His gaze settled on her face for an arrested moment, and then his eyes narrowed, and he started running flat out.
    Locke was silent as he ran, muscles bulging, legs working, arms pumping with power, as graceful and deadly as a tiger at full stride.
    She couldn’t stop the sudden leap of her heart.
    She knew the moment Billy caught sight of Locke bearing down on them because he squeaked out a curse and tried to pull her close to him.
    She dropped to the floor and kicked at Billy’s legs. The maneuver threw him off balance, and he fell heavily on top of her. The force of his fall knocked the air out of her lungs and banged her bruised cheek on the cold tile of the floor.
    There was a loud shout and a crash, and then Billy’s weight was off her back. The impact of Locke’s body and all that built-up speed hammered Billy into the wall above her with a meaty thud.
    Avelyn writhed on the floor, trying to suck air into her lungs. That bastard weighed a ton.
    There was a long scraping noise followed by a couple of grunts. Billy’s cursing cut off abruptly. There was no other noise in the background except for a ragged cheer and the inexplicable sound of people clapping.
    Was Locke okay? What was going