Forever Is Not Enough [Council Enforcers 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

going along with him. When they reached the back wall, she noticed he had led her to a metal door that looked as though it belonged on a bank vault somewhere. Jacqueline was amazed that she’d had no clue it had been there the whole time she had been working down there.
    Nico was struggling to open the large door. “Daddy says we have to get in here if bad men come.”
    “How do you know there are bad men here?”
    The sudden sound of breaking glass and the blaring of an alarm answered Jacqueline’s confused question before Nico could. That was all it took for her to move the boy aside and pull the door open. It took all of her strength to get it opened, and she knew there was no way he would have been able to if he had been alone. Once the door was opened, Nico didn’t hesitate to go into the dark room, pulling her in with him. He let go of her hand as she blinked into the dark, praying her eyes would adjust because she couldn’t see a thing.
    “Nico, honey, don’t move too far away from me,” she said as she waved her arms in front of her and slowly stepped, trying to feel for him. She heard a click and then blinked as a dim light came on.
    Nico was standing by the switch, smiling at her. “Why are you dancing?”
    Jacqueline frowned at him wondering what he was talking about until she realized he was talking about her feeling for him in the dark. She was about to ask him how he was able to see her, but the sound of feet thundering on the floor overhead had her turning back toward the door and pulling it shut.
    The inside of the door had a large spinning wheel on it, similar to what she’d seen on a ship door, and Jacqueline hesitated before spinning it. What if Ben or any of the guys needed to get in? Where was Tessa? She needed to be down here as well. The woman was pregnant. If anyone needed to be in the safe room along with Nico, it was her.
    “Daddy says you have to shut the door and lock it when you get inside.”
    Jacqueline wondered how he could be so calm. Nico was only three, and he was taking things better than her. “What about your momma? Maybe I should lock you in and go help her down here.”
    “Daddy says not to come looking for him. He will come and get me when it’s safe. Mommy has another room upstairs.”
    Jacqueline stared into Nico’s eerie blue eyes before finally nodding and turning the wheel on the door. She spun it until she heard the loud thumps of several giant bolts slamming into place. She had no doubt anyone was getting in unless she allowed it. She turned and followed Nico over to two large chairs in the middle of the room and sat down. She looked around the room, surprised at how comfortable it seemed. There was a bookshelf full of books behind the chairs with an open door next to it. She could tell it was a bathroom. To her right was a large bed covered with huge pillows and a smaller bed next to it. The chairs they were seated in divided the room in half and to her left was what looked to be a full-sized kitchen, complete with fully stocked shelves and refrigerator. If she had to guess, they could probably live in the room for quite a long time. Jacqueline shivered at the thought. Mitch had spared no expense when it came to keeping his family safe.
    Nico climbed in her lap and laid his head on her chest. “Don’t worry. The kitty will eat the bad men.”
    Jacqueline had no doubt Nico was telling the truth. When she had first got there, she’d thought Mitch was arrogant, but after getting to know him, she realized he just saw the world differently. He didn’t hold back or censor what he said. He told the truth without sugarcoating it, and she had grown to like his dry sense of humor. He was also loyal to the ones he considered family. What Jacqueline had also learned about Mitch was that he treated Nico as his own, and he was fiercely protective of his mate and child. She wanted to feel bad for whoever it was that had come to the man’s home, but she couldn’t bring herself to. Whoever had come and brought danger to Mitch’s home and family deserved everything he did to them.
    Stroking Nico’s hair as he lay against her, Jacqueline wondered if it was her father upstairs. Had he come after her and Ben? Was she the one who had brought danger to this family? Her gut screamed yes. Everything happening was all because of her. She wondered if Mitch would have been so quick to let her stay here if he’d known this would happen.
    Jacqueline stopped that line of