He didn’t respond.

“I’m sure you want to get home to her now.”

“I know you just want to leave,” he whispered in a shaky voice. “But once you’re gone, they’ll just shoot me.”

Story tried hard to maintain a relaxed expression. She could see him starting to regret the deal they’d made and needed to reassure him before he changed his mind completely. “You’re right. I do want to leave. It’s almost lunchtime and I’m starting to get hungry,” she returned lightly, grateful Daniel and Jack couldn’t hear her. They’d definitely worry for her sanity. But her instincts told her not to force him to overthink the situation. He needed to feel as though his issue had been resolved and they could move forward. When he glanced toward the door warily, she pressed forward. “If you don’t get home right away, I’ll make sure your mom gets something to eat for lunch and dinner. You have my word.”

For long, interminable moments, she thought he would decline. Then he said, “She likes the shrimp scampi from Don Carlo’s. Two doors down from our building.”

It had to be seafood. “Great. Shrimp it is.” She made her final push. “I’m going to open the door now. Okay, Frank?”

Frank followed her to the exit and crouched down behind her, repeating “don’t shoot, don’t shoot” under his breath until the possibility began to alarm her as well. Since speaking with his mother on the phone, he’d calmed down considerably, but now that they were leaving the office, his agitation had increased once again.

“They will not shoot you. I promise. You trust me, right?”

“Yes. But I don’t trust them.”

A little bit of her composure slipped. It had been a really shitty morning thus far. “Well, if they do shoot, I’m the one who will get hit. So you should feel pretty damn good about that.”

To her surprise, when Frank spoke she could hear a smile in his voice. Oh sure, now his sense of humor makes an appearance. “I guess so.”

“All right then, here we go.” She turned the knob and nudged the door open with her foot. With her hands up the air, she took in the scene before her with a sense of shock. At least a hundred officers were positioned in various spots around the lobby. Jack stood at the forefront looking extremely anxious, but relieved to see her. She tried not to be alarmed when she didn’t see Daniel anywhere.

When no one said anything, she decided they must be waiting for her to speak. “Frank left his gun inside on the desk. Please don’t shoot.” Story waited until Jack finished barking out a command before stepping out of the office.

Daniel moved so fast from her left, she barely had time to register it was him beside her. With a strong hand on her shoulder, he thrust her behind him, inserting his body between her and Frank. Several officers sprang forward to take hold of Frank’s arms and handcuff him. His body coiled with tension, Daniel kept his gun trained determinedly on Frank, refusing to lower it until she wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled his upper back with her cheek. Breath shuddering in and out, his arm finally went slack.

He turned then, arms crushing her against his chest in a fierce hug. Somehow, just being held by him cured her of all the pain and fear of the morning, as though he was absorbing it into his own body. She inhaled his scent hungrily. It calmed her and invigorated her at the same time.

“Dammit, Story. Don’t you ever do that again.”

“Get taken hostage?” she struggled to say as the breath whooshed from her lungs. “I’ll try not to.”

“You know what I’m talking about,” Daniel growled into her hair. “You shut me out. Do you have any idea what the last five minutes has been like?”

“But you trusted me. You knew I could do it.”

“Yes,” he replied unevenly. “That didn’t make it any easier.”

Story pulled back and laid a soft kiss on his lips. “Thank you.”

“Damned if I know what you’re thanking me for, but I’ll take it.” Daniel shook his head. “Tell me you know this thing between us is real,” he said urgently. “Tell me you know that.”

“I know,” she whispered. “Of course I know.”

Then he leaned down and kissed Story until her legs went weak.

A throat cleared loudly. She pulled back to find Jack averting his eyes just beyond Daniel’s shoulder. A blush crept across her skin as she moved out of Daniel’s embrace.

“Dad, you really shouldn’t be out of bed.”

He sat down in a chair retrieved by Daniel. “I guess I should be glad you’re not too mad to care about my health.” For once in his life, it appeared Jack didn’t know what to say. He gestured toward the office door. “You got out of there almost entirely on your own. Maybe I should offer you a job.”

Daniel pulled her roughly against his side, clearly not feeling that idea at all. She rubbed circles into his stiff back. “Oh, it wasn’t too hard once he got what he wanted.” Clearly detecting the note of mischief in her tone, Jack narrowed his eyes. “I told Frank we’d get his mother a live-in nurse. And that you would pay for any expenses the insurance won’t cover.” She smiled brightly. “Since you had enough cash lying around to bribe my fiancé, this should be no sweat.”

“Ex-fiancé,” Daniel clarified gruffly.

Jack could hardly keep the grin from his face. “Deny it all you want, you are your father’s daughter.”

Story smiled, but after a moment grew serious. “When everything calms down, we need to talk. No more behind-the-scenes string-pulling from you. Promise me, Dad.”

He gave a single nod in Daniel’s direction. “I’ve already been read the riot act. Daniel, you get her on home. I’ll handle any paperwork and postpone her statement until later.”

Daniel smirked. “Not even out of the hospital yet and he’s already giving orders.”

After Story secured yet another grudging agreement from Jack that he would go back to his room and rest, Daniel took her hand and led her toward the hospital entrance, blocking her from the news cameras and reporters taking pictures outside. They ducked into the back of a waiting squad car with an officer behind the wheel, and seconds later were flying down Second Avenue. Ignoring the driver, Daniel pulled Story onto his lap and buried his face in her neck.

Since walking out of the office, Story’s emotions had been all over the map. She’d stemmed the flow of adrenaline in order to deal with Frank, but now that the danger had passed, she didn’t feel tethered to reality. If it weren’t for Daniel’s arms around her, she felt like she might float away. She craved more of him. Needed him to surround her. Bring her back down to earth. Story knew she was experiencing the aftereffects of being in a dangerous situation, but didn’t care. Only knew what she needed and that Daniel could provide it.

On her thigh, his warm hand rested protectively, but beneath it her skin began to tingle, the heat moving higher until it settled between her legs. As if on cue, his mouth parted against her neck to taste her skin. The air around them felt stifling, hot.

She shifted slightly in his lap and put her lips to his ears. “I need you,” she breathed. Beneath her, she felt his stomach and thigh muscles tighten and had to force herself not to squirm. They weren’t alone in the car.