“Did you mean what you said in the box?” Jace asks, stroking his fingers up my arm as we both lay on the camp bed.

His arm was around my shoulder and my head was on his chest, my leg draped over his. Turns out, the bed is stronger than it looks because we were both currently led on it and it showed no sign of collapsing just yet.

My index finger traced patterns on his bare chest as I answered his question “I meant everything I said in there.”

“Even the part about you wanting a normal life?”

I tense slightly as my speech in the box flashes back through my head, realising just how much of myself I had exposed by revealing all of that. But I didn’t care anymore, I was fed up of hiding everything away and I knew I was with the one person who I didn’t have to hide with.

“More than anything.” My voice was so low I was surprised that he actually heard it.

He was silent for a while, before I felt his lips brush my hair and kiss the top of my head “Why don’t you then?”

I let out a bitter laugh “Yeah I’ll just hand in my papers and take my two weeks’ notice.”

I couldn’t see his face, but I can guarantee he rolled his eyes at my sarcasm “Why not? When this mission is over with the drug lord, why can’t you just walk away?”

“Believe me if it was that easy, I would I have done it a long time ago.” I inform him “Ed would never let me walk away. Especially not alive.” I add the last part in a mutter.

Again, there was silence around the room but I could basically hear how hard Jace was thinking. His fingers had stopped moving down my arm as he debated on something. Finally, he spoke.

“Run away with me.” I almost choked on air as I heard him say those words.

My eyes bulged as I lifted my head off his chest and looked up at his face, expecting to see him laughing at his own joke, but to my shock he was utterly serious.

I let out a nervous laugh “You’re joking right?”

“No I’m not.” His eyes locked with mine showing me just how serious he was “When this is finished, we can leave. Disappear. You’ve been an agent for a few years I’m sure you know how to make yourself disappear.”

My mouth was still hanging open and I had a sudden urge to laugh, even though this was anything but funny “Jace you don’t seem to realise who you’re dealing with. They will not quit if we go, we would have to run for the rest of our lives. This isn’t some fantasy where we get a little house in the mountains and change our names to Bonnie and Clyde.”

The corner of his lip twitched, before he shook his head in amusement and went back to the conversation “I thought that’s what you wanted? Me, you, a little house somewhere with a few kids running around. You having a go at me for my drunken behaviour and trying not to laugh at my amazing jokes.”

Now it was my turn to try and fight back a smile as he refers to my confession back in the box. He really had heard everything, and if I was anyone else I probably would have blushed.

I shook my head as I got back to reality “It would never work Jace. Believe me, no one has ever walked away from the agency for a reason.” Then, in a cold tone I add “There’s only one way to get out, and that’s in body bag.”

He clenches his jaw, his face turning disgusted at the thought. He raises his hand to brush the hair off my forehead, his thumb tracing my bottom lip slightly “There’s always a first time for everything.”

I feel my chest tighten as I stupidly let myself get carried away with the thought of actually going along with what he is saying. Walk away? Well, run away but it would still be away. Far, far away from the life that I despise, with the guy I love. The idea was starting to sound so much more appealing by the second.

Then I became realistic and remembered Ed. When I refused to join he threatened to kill my family and friends, running away would not be easy. As long as Ed was in the picture, he would never let me go. Not without putting up a bloody fight.

I saw Jace’s expression fall slightly as he must have read my face, and knew that there was no hope of me agreeing because we just wouldn’t be able to pull it off.

“There isn’t a first time for this.” I finally tell him, my tone firm and final.

His jaw clenches as the disappointment flashes through his eyes, and I could basically read his mind.

What is going to happen to us when the mission is over?

I swallowed the lump back down in my throat as the thought rushed through my head, and instead I moved my body over his so my legs straddled his hips. He looked up at me with a curious expression.

“Now I think that’s enough talking, don’t you?” I whisper against his lips seductively, trailing my hand down his abs and all over his torso. I smiled slightly as I felt the jolt in his boxers, proud of my work.

His face studied mine for a second, and I could tell he got what I was doing. Changing the subject. And he was more than happy to comply, but I could see in his face that he was not done thinking about his earlier proposal.

His rough big hands caressed the outside of my thighs, before dropping onto my hips as he rolled his bottom lip into his mouth. I rolled my hips against him, still feeling him hardening against me as he let out a groan.

“Yeah...” he swallowed “...More than enough talking.”

He lifted his top half off the camp bed, his strong muscled chest now pressed up against mine as one hand went up my back and pressed me closer to him, his lips possessing mine as he made me forget my own freaking name. My arms wrapped around his neck and I grazed my nails lightly inbetween his shoulder blades and he let out a moan at the back of his throat.

I pulled my face away and tilted his head back by his hair so I had more access to his neck. I kissed down his throat, before grazing my teeth against his skin while rolling my hips against his hardened member once more, and I swear the noise that came out of his mouth was primal.

And that’s when the bed collapsed.

“Oh shit!” Jace cursed loudly as the legs of the bed gave away, and we both sunk instantly to the floor. We remained in the same position as we were previously, only now the camp bed had no height to it and if it wasn’t for the thin mattress and bits of crappy metal we would basically be on the solid ground of the basement.

We both begin to catch our breath, the sudden movement of the camp bed scaring the crap out of both of us. Jace’s face is wide eyed, and he is looking around him like he was expecting some sort of monster to come up behind him and kill him. As I stare at his face, my shoulders begin to shake as the laughter gives away.

Jace turn to look at me, scrunching his brows like I am a freak but at the same time looking amused himself. My laughter slowly gets louder and louder as the image of us collapsing on a crappy camp bed keeps replaying in my head, and pretty soon even he is laughing along with me.

“I really should cut down on the dorito dip.” He declares the corner of his mouth tugged up into a smirk, and I find myself laughing even harder at his comment.

Well, I suppose the bed lasted longer than I thought it would. Kudos to it.

***

The collapsed bed didn’t stop us from finishing off. If it didn’t collapse when it did, it definitely would have by the time we were finished I can tell you that.

I slipped my underwear back on, grabbing Jace’s hoodie that was on the basement floor and slipped it on over my bra and underwear. It barely reached about mid thigh, but hell I was cold and putting my clothes on was way too much effort.

I was hastily yanked back down on the thin mattress, and I turned to see Jace with a big innocent smile on his lips.

“Jace I really need to get hold of Chris, we can’t stay down here forever.” I almost groan as he pulls me closer to him so his arm is around my shoulders and my body is tucked into his side.

“Boy how I fucking wish we could.” He lets out a long sigh “Look we can get hold of Chris to let us out soon, but can we just sleep for a while? I don’t know about you but I am shattered.” He finished off with a suggestive smirk.

I shake my head in amusement, and as he mentions sleep I find myself yawning much to my annoyance.

“HA!” Jace exclaims as he points at me with a triumphant smile, and I curse as he has caught me out.

“Fine!” I snap “10 minutes of shut eye, then mind back on the job.”

He smiles like a naughty little school boy, before saluting me “Scouts honour.”

I fur my brows at him like he is an idiot “Jace, first of all you were never a scout, and second of all scouts don’t salute people.”

He shrugs, his eyes already closed as he tightens his grip around my shoulder as a hint for me to do the same “Who cares, never saw the point in scouts anyway. I mean who needs a badge for tying a damn knot together correctly?”

His voice drifts off as I can already tell sleep is taking over him. I smile slightly as I stare down at his sleeping face, before resting my head on his bare chest again and closing my eyes.

“I really do love you.” I mutter as I slowly begin to drift off.

Before I sink into a peaceful sleep, I hear his voice “I love you too sweetheart.”

**

The sound of the wooden door being smashed through shot me out of my sleep. I frantically look around and see figures begin to walk down the stairs to the basement. My instincts immediately kick in.

“Shit!” I hiss, before slapping Jace in the stomach and he grunts awake, looking around the room in a sleepy daze. I don’t bother wasting time explaining to him; instead I dive off the mattress and towards the duffle bag on one of the tables.

“Rise and shine sleepy heads!” Lee Golding’s voice booms around the room. I reach the duffle bag, but I freeze from putting my hand inside it when I hear the cocking of a gun right next to my ear.

I clench my jaw and turn to face the barrel of a gun, the guy holding it obviously one of Lee’s minions. I flick my eyes to Jace, who is now on his feet looking furious as he stares at the creep with the gun to my face, as well as Lee who is smirking between me and Jace.

“Clearly you two have had to make your own fun.” He comments trying to hold back laughter as he gestures towards the lack of clothing both me and Jace were wearing.

I wrap the hoodie around me tighter, covering my exposed skin as best as I could which didn’t work that well considering the hoodie came up about mid thigh. Thank Christ I had put underwear on before I went to bed last night.

The guy holding the gun to my head licked his lips as his eyes scanned me up and down.

“Oi pal, you wanna keep your eyes I suggest you keep them up top.” I snap at him, pointing at my face.

“But the view is down low...” he drifts off, biting his bottom lips as his eyes travel south.

I did warn the prick...

I raise my arm in a flash and push his wrist, twisting it and disarming him while sending an uppercut to his jaw. I turn to the table behind me and pick up a fork from one of the cutlery sets, turning and plunging it into the guy’s right eye. He screams out in pain as blood pours from his socket, stumbling back and the fork was still sticking out of his eye.

3 other guys raise their guns at me “Drop the weapon!”

With a small smirk on my face I casually throw the gun on the floor, holding my hands up to show my innocence “Don’t go blaming me for that.” I point at the guy who was on the floor screaming in agony “All of you were here, you heard me warn him. He has no one but himself to blame.”

I heard Jace snort a laugh “The term ‘stick a fork in me, I’m done’ comes to mind.”

The corner of my lip tugs up, and I turn my attention back to Lee Golding giving him an innocent smile. He actually looks amused at what he has just witnessed, and instead of being concerned about one of his ‘employees’ he sighs in frustration as the guys screams still echo around the room.

“Get him out of here.” Lee orders another guy, and pretty soon fork guy is being ushered up the stairs and out of the room. Screams of ‘my eye’ and ‘bitch’ could still be heard for a few minutes.

“So, took you long enough to find us.” I comment while at the same time counting the number of guys who had guns in the room. There were 8 guys, including Lee. Easy peasy.

Now all I needed was one of those guns...

“Oh no, we knew you were in here we just had to come at a time that was more convenient.” Lee informed me, looking like he knew something we didn’t.

Jace scoffs “Had a brazillian you couldn’t cancel?”

I resist the urge to laugh, and much to mine and Jace’s annoyance, so does Lee as he looks at him.

“Oh no, not convenient for me.” he corrects “We had to come at a time that was convenient for the boss.”

So that confirmed it. Lee was not the drug lord. And judging by what he was saying, we were about to meet the man himself any minute now.

“And there was me thinking you ran the show Golding.” I smile mockingly.

“Nope, I run a big majority of it but unfortunately I am not top of this food chain.” He grins, flicking his eyes to Jace as a glint of something flashes through his eyes.

“Who is then?” I ask, raising my brows and looking around the room “Are we ever going to meet this dude or is he a no show?”

“Actually, I always keep my appointments.” A man’s voice cuts in, before a figure in an expensive grey suit waltzes down the stairs.

My body freezes and my eyes widen as I finally lay eyes on the real drug lord. The target. The man responsible for this entire thing.

He flashes a set of pearly white teeth in a smile that screams out danger, looking at me then turning his eyes to Jace who by this point had lost all colour in his face.

The drug lord shakes his head, tutting but the amusement is still on his face.

“Please Jace, put some clothes on.” He chuckles slightly. Jace is like stone, his eyes glued to the man in the suit with a look of horror and shock tattooed on his face. The drug lord carries on, clearly entertained by Jace’s reaction. A smirk appears on his face. “That is definitely not how I raised you.”

.