Free The Executioner: A Love Story by Melissa Silvey Page A

to say more. She always did.
    “I grabbed a bottle of water and was psyching myself up to sneak upstairs.” He could still hear the tears in her voice. It hurt his heart more than he could explain. “You didn’t tell me which room was yours.” He seemed surprised.
    “I’ll show you tomorrow,” he offered calmly. “Why won’t you listen to him?” His observation skills were eerie. She would never be able to hide anything from him.
    “He’s like most men. He wants something from me so he will do whatever he has to do to get it. He needs me to testify against the Secretary. But then what? After that no one could protect us.” She laid her head on his shoulder again, a now familiar comfort in a sea of uncertainty. He was a rock, strong and sure and steady. And she felt relief.
    She heard his phone chime, an odd sounding alert that she’d never heard before. He pulled it out of his pocket and frowned. She could see the confusion in his eyes. She thought he knew everything.
    “What’s wrong,” she asked, and changed her position to stare over his shoulder.
    “We need to alert Argento somehow.” He looked around her room to find her bags still packed and sitting by the door. “Good you didn’t unpack. I didn’t either.” He sounded cryptic; she became nervous very fast.”
    “What’s wrong?” She asked, as he moved toward the door.
    “Put your shoes on. We have to leave now.”
    “Wait,” she whispered. Her senses were tingling, alerting to the caution in his voice. She listened to the sounds of the house but heard nothing. “Can we trust Argento?”
    “Yes,” he responded quietly. “But we can’t trust Wolf. I’ll carry your bags out to the car. You go wake up Argento.”
    “Make sure you get this one.” She handed him the bag with the money and the guns after she pulled one out and tucked it into the waistband of her sweatpants.
     
    She listened closely before she climbed the stairs. She still didn’t hear anything. She moved quietly, made it to the top of the steps, and looked left and right. To the left was what had to be Jordan’s room, she saw the laptop unfolded on his bed. So she turned toward the right, and found the door open. Both beds were occupied. The TV was on, her favorite show. Both occupants seemed to be asleep, but when she stepped into the room both jumped.
    When Argento saw it was her he smiled brightly. She smiled back. She knew how to seduce a man, and she used all her talents at that moment. She placed her index finger to her lips, and then crooked it at Argento. His eyes glittered as he climbed out of the bed quickly. He shoved his feet into the tennis shoes that waited beside the bed. She giggled, for effect. Wolf rolled back over with a heavy sigh.
    He hurried toward her, as if the most important thing was to be beside her. She placed her right hand on his shoulder, and put her left hand on his. She drew his hand to her back. She hoped more than anything they were as alike as Vince Argento seemed to think they were.
    He paused for only a moment; his dark eyes burning like hot coals before they became as cold as ice. She flipped the light on as Argento pulled the gun and aimed it at Wolf.
    At that moment Jordan stormed up the stairs. Arianna glanced over her shoulder, but Argento kept his eyes trained on his partner.
    “I don’t know how much time we have,” Jordan exclaimed as he hurried toward his room.
That’s when Wolf turned over with his gun in his hand, and pointed it at Argento. Wolf was surprised to see the other agent already had a gun as well. “Hand me my jacket,” he ordered Arianna, and pointed toward the closet.
She hurried and grabbed the suit that hung in the closet, and his bag that lay at the foot of the bed. She quickly found her gun in the pocket of his jacket, and trained it at Wolf. Jordan ran from his room down the stairs again, apparently carrying his gear to the car.
“It doesn’t matter, they’ll be here soon.” Wolf’s tone was