by Raven Scott
“The reply came from an unprotected computer. Yeah, okay. Send me everything you got, and I’ll figure out the rest. I can work with an IP address.” I hung up to lean heavily against the door, rolling my jaw as my mouth filled with cotton. When Vanessa said Riley’s information was probably forged, the obvious conclusion was that something illegal had happened to her. But—that her birth mother was a child having sex with a 25-plus guy. . .
“Ugh! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” What the fuck am I supposed to tell Riley, now?
25
Riley
Shoveling my egg-in-a-hole into my mouth, my body throbbed with the need to consume something of substance. Delilah and I were eating silently, but Hannah hadn’t woken up yet. Considering how much she drank, it’s not surprising.
She easily downed more than the both of us put together, but I wasn’t judging. I had a great time, even if I couldn’t remember most of it. At least none of us had woken up in the hospital or something.
“Riley—”
Twisting slowly, I winced as Reece’s voice pierced my brain, but if he noticed, he didn’t show while he sat down across from Delilah and next to me. His face looked haggard and drawn, with deep circles under his eyes and lips seemed to be screwed in a permanent scowl. “We need to talk. I just need you to listen and not say anything until I’m done, okay?”
Chewing my bite slowly, I ducked my head in a nod as the hairs on the back of my neck bristled in unease. I swallowed my mouthful as I set my stuffed piece of toast down. Anxiety zinged in the air just above my head.
Reece took a deep, stabilizing breath and captured my gaze to hold it as his pupils narrowed into fine points. “Your mother put a request into my Network to murder you.”
My eyes widened, goosebumps washed down my arms and across my chest as I stiffened.
Quickly, Reece raised his palm, but the world blurred for a second before he continued. “I initially received the request a few weeks ago, and I’ve been trying to find out who put it through. Last night, I received some information that, well…isn’t going to be easy to accept. Your mom replied to my offer on her home computer, so I know it’s her. This happened after you blocked her from your life, and I didn’t tell you immediately because I wanted to be sure.”
I sat and stared at him wild-eyed as I felt like throwing up.
He went on, “When I was going over your information, some stuff didn’t add up, and I dug to find out why. Your mother isn’t your biological mother. Your father cheated on her with a 14-year-old girl and got her pregnant, which resulted in you. Your mom probably knows, but at this point, it doesn’t really matter. I was fielded the request because you’re a contact in my phone, and Vanessa has been watching the Network, but no more requests about you have come up.”
I blinked hard as disbelief flooded my brain.
Reece didn’t stop talking— didn’t let me catch up. His expression hardened, his mouth twisting into a sneer as he clenched his hands into tight fists on the table, “I thought originally that, with the timing and everything, it could’ve been Brandon, but obviously he’s not capable of being anything but a professional victim and irritant. That only left your parents and your brother, or the possibility that someone not closely connected to you decided to put the request in. Vanessa dug into your medical history and found out that you’re not related to your mother. So…the only plausible explanation is that she put this request in to kill you because she realized she couldn’t lord over you anymore. She spent your whole life belittling you and degrading you because you’re a product of an illegal relationship outside her marriage. I don’t know why she agreed to keep you, but now, she contracted someone to kill you, and I was lucky I got fielded the request. You’re not in any immediate danger, but it’s gotten to the point where I had tell you, Riley.”
My ears rang shrilly as Reece went silent, and I tore my eyes off him to stare at my half-empty plate. His words ran ruts into my brain, but they were too fast to see or hear and created a white noise in the background of my dwindling scope of comprehension. “U— uh— w—” My tongue felt too big for my mouth, and I clenched my teeth hard as I struggled to breathe. “What...?”
“Your mom hired someone to kill you, Riley.”
I gasped as my throat closed sharply, and Reece’s dark rasp knocked around inside my skull. Shivers raced up and down my spine, jerking my shoulders and making my knees bounce under the table. The blood drained from my face, and my heart raced as I glanced over at him under furrowed brows. “Why?”
He pursed his lips at my croak, reaching across the table to hold my frigid fingers in his. “I don’t know why, but if I had to guess…it’s because she hates you. Maybe, she always has, but she consolidated it by being so awful to you to make herself feel better. The reason doesn’t matter, Riley…” he paused and shook his head. “…the reason never matters. It’s never going to be good enough. I’m telling you now because she wired payment, so I need to know what you want to do next.”
My cheek twitched as confusion shot down my neck to raise the fine hairs on my chest and back.
Stroking my palm with his thumb, Reece licked his lips in preparation to state something outrageous, “You have a few options. We can stage your death, which reduces the chance that your mom will try to hire someone else— someone that will actually try to kill you. You can go to the police with all the information I collected, and they can arrest her and your father. Or…”
“Or. . .?” Dread gnawed at my gut and invaded my bones, and I forced myself to wheeze a breath. “You— you kill them?”
“That’s the safest option, yes. They can’t retaliate if they’re dead.”
Reece’s confirmation sounded like it was coming through a tunnel and I took my hand from his to pick up my egg-in-a-hole. Taking a bite dazedly, my eyes not leaving the plate, I stuffed more past my teeth. Egg yolk dribbled down my fingers, and butter slathered around my lips as I jammed the entire half slice into my mouth.
Still, the sour taste didn’t go away as I chewed, my cheeks straining from the huge amount of bread and egg. Gripping my empty plate, I could finally breathe harsh, fast wheezes, and I blinked hard against the realization pounding my body.
My mom put a hit out on me that my boyfriend took on— like I was an underdeveloped character in a B-rated movie. Like my life had suddenly become the first five minutes of a bad trilogy of revenge and strange misadventure.
“. . . When—” Struggling to swallow my mouthful, I huffed hoarsely and flexed my fingers around the edge of the plate. “Do—does she know you’re my boyfriend?”
“No. She only knows what I tell her…I would take the job when I received payment. She has no way to knowing who I am or that we’re involved. She’s already paid, and she gave me no instructions to alert her with proof the job was done, but. . . Riley, I got lucky this time. If your mom uses a different servicer when she finds out you’re alive, we may not be so fortunate next time.”
She’s already paid. Those three words were all I could hear, and I managed a shallow, calmer breath. My mom hated me so much for so long that she really paid someone to kill me. “Wow…” Slumping in my chair a little, the hysterical urge to laugh tickled my chest and forced a choked sigh from my lungs. “Wow. That’s—so, so stupid?”
“You’d be surprised how common it is to kill family members, actually. They’re the ones that hurt the worst.”
Delilah’s voice made me jump, and the table rattled loudly when my knees hit the underside. Sympathy creased between her slender brows and flooded her green eyes as she sighed. “In my case, it’s extortion, but it’s basically the same thing.”
“Oh…um, right—what? What would you do?” The fuck kind of question is that! Groaning softly as my brain kicked into high gear, I reached to push my palms into my temples. “What’s happening?”
Delilah shook her head. “There’s no guarantee that any answers you get will be the truth, Riley, and…to be honest, I have no idea wha
t I would do in your situation.” Delilah set a hand on my bicep and she gave me a warm smile. “Just breathe. It’s rough, at first. I’ve been there.”
“My mom hired my boyfriend to kill me! How can I ‘just breathe’!” My voice crackled harshly as it rang shrilly through Reece’s apartment and I glared hotly at Delilah. “Just don’t, okay.”
She nodded meekly.
Just now, I didn’t have the room to feel bad about snapping at her even as I blew out all the air in my lungs. Lowering my head, my fingers snuck into my hair to curl into fists and pull the strands taught.
“Wha-a-at the fuck did I wake up to. . .?” Hannah grumbled.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
She sniffed harshly. “Are you for real right now?”
“Please, Hannah— no commentary right now, if you don’t mind.” I hoovered up air roughly through my nose, lifting my head as huge, gaping spaces opened up in my chest. Standing up, I pushed my knuckles together before shuffling out of my seat to push it in. All eyes bored holes into me, but I ignored it to head upstairs and into the bathroom.
I feel so disgusting.
26
Riley
“Next time, just…” I paused to swallow heavily. “Tell me one— one thing at a time, okay?” Wiping my soaked hair from my face, I pulled back the shower curtain.
Looking concerned, Reece nodded from his spot sitting on the toilet. Upset, guilt and regret waged war on his face.
I’d been in the shower for a while, but time escaped me as I struggled to make my brain work. I inhaled a deep, soggy breath and held it. “So. . .”
“So, what happens next is up to you. Even if you just tell me to make a decision on your behalf and ignore the aftermath…” Reece trailed off to scowl lightly.
Resting my cheek on the lip of the tub, I sniffled harshly. “This isn’t a situation I’d ever thought I’d be in. “Is it bad that you took her money and didn’t do…the job? Like—”
Reece shook his head immediately and at least there was one thing he was sure about. This wasn’t his fault, but he never bothered with answers before, and it was coming back to bite me in the ass.
I sighed. “I don’t know. What if you just don’t do anything?”
“There’s a chance she’ll try again with someone else. There’s a chance she won’t do anything. Theoretically, she could go to the police claiming she was scammed and get the money back, but that’s part of the problem. $13,000 dollars isn’t enough to hire a proper handyman. She’ll end up with one of those idiots that’s a friend of a friend’s cousin that’s kinda alright but talks himself up.”
“How much does someone expect to get paid to kill me?” The question slipped out of my mouth, and I pulled my knees up to my chest. Hot water streamed down on me, but it seemed cold under Reece’s narrowed, heated gaze.
“It depends on who you are, to be honest. You remember on the news a few weeks ago, some kid got killed outside the courthouse?”
Humming softly, I could see the news report when I blinked. Supposedly, that guy got into trouble with the wrong people. It wasn’t his first time on screen, if Google was any indicator.
Reece explained, “That was a million-dollar job for a few reasons. Is there a narrative to follow? How easy will it be to pull it off? What’s the risks involved? All that is calculable into the price. For you…for any average person, really, it’d $25,000 bucks minimum.”
“That’s not a lot, really. You took it anyway because you thought it was Brandon?”
Again, Reece nodded.
I licked my lips heavily as I circled my fingertips on the edge of the tub. “When did you start suspecting my mom?”
“I didn’t consider it until after your interview. After you went out, Vanessa told me your documents weren’t right, but that alone wasn’t enough to make me think she’d done this. Last night, Vanessa told me we’d gotten a reply from an unprotected computer, and it pinged in Redding, Connecticut. So, I knew better than to not suspect her, but I was still a little caught off guard by the fact that it is her. Knowing what I know now, it makes sense, though.”
Tilting my head to arch a brow quizzically, I watched Reece from under heavy lids.
He clasped and released his hands between his knees, his troubled expression deepening before he opened his mouth, “She treats you like shit because she feels like she has a reason. You’re the product of an affair and if she blamed her husband and left him, she’d have nothing and no one. It’d also allude that she’s doing or had done something wrong at some point, and people like her never blame themselves for their mistakes.”
“You don’t think it could be my dad?” The crease between his brows deepened at my question, and I was running out of ways to express how fucked this whole thing was. “I guess there’s not much to suspect him, but isn’t that why you should?”
“Riley…what’s the point in asking any of these questions? If you want answers, real answers…you should ask your mother. Despite what Delilah said, if we grabbed your family, your mom would go into trapped animal mode. She’d spill her guts, saying any and all horrible, nasty things, all the worst truths, that she could to try to fuck you up because she’d know it’d be over. It won’t be easy, but you’ll have the answers you want. I’m sorry that I can’t give you anything and I hate that you’re in this position, but. . .” Trialing off, he blew out a hot sigh into the dense, heavy air and caught my gaze. His eyes roiled with emotions so clearly. “Just because you hire someone to kill someone else, the alternative is still the same as any other argument. You have to talk to her. Asking me is just going to be frustrating and disappointing.”
“I know…If I hired you to not kill me, what would you do?” Now, I was just asking simply to ask, to keep the line of communication open. I didn’t want to know specifics about his job, but Reece obviously felt compelled to give me straight responses right now.
Well, I couldn’t pin that entirely on the fact that he knows for sure that my mom was the one that hired him to kill me. He’d told me the truth last night, a number, and that was good enough for me. I was pretty sure that the phone call from Vanessa happened after I drunkenly confessed my love for him, too.
Which seemed like an okay thing to do at the time because fuck me— it just hit me! How lucky am I that I can spend time with Reece whenever I want? I mean, yeah, starting Monday, I had a 9-5 office job, but it wasn’t like he lived outside the city or across the world.
“My services are for hire, Riley.” Breaking my thoughts, Reece smiled faintly, but it was strained and thin. “Whoever pays more, usually has the upper hand. That’s why it’s always prudent to put a time limit on this kind of thing. If the person on the other end finds out, and has more money to throw around, it’s not difficult to take it and walk away. It’s the same with any business transaction. You take the more profitable route. Most of the time, I take both payments because it’s not my problem that Mr. Rich let slip his evil scheme.”
“It’s happened before? What happened after?” The drone of water hitting tile, the feel of the drops pelting my skin, made me numb.
Reece shrugged. “Dude knew about it, had cash prepped and said I could take it if I left him alive. I mean— there’s people out there that’ll kill him and take the money anyway, but I am not one of those people. So, I took it. I told my client, that if he wanted the job done, he’d have to match plus half. Which he did. He wasn’t happy about it, of course, but whatever. So I went back a week later and finished cleaning up.”
He’s so casual about it. I guess when you’re growing up in an environment like that—
“I’ve never done a job for nothing, but…I’ve never been a position where I was more concerned about a person than the money involved.”
“It wouldn’t be for nothing.” I braced my feet on the tub floor to hoist myself up, and Reece straightened to watch my warily. Stepping out of the tub, I crossed the short distance to straddle his lap, and he tensed with a sharp inhale.
“Do I make you happy, Reece?”
“Of course, you do,” he answered instantly, seriousness drawling his tone as he reached to cup my face in both his hands. “I am happy, but more than that, I’m excited for where this can go. You and me…I think we’re a great fit.”
“I’m not keen on being number eighty-one.”
His eyes widened, lips parting slightly in surprise.
I rested my cheek on his shoulder. “I love you.”
Wrapping his arms around me, Reece pressed his lips to my forehead to sigh heavily through his nose.
I could always count on him to treat me right, and that was what mattered. He was a handyman, sure…but to me, he was Reece, and I loved him.
“I love you, too, Riley.”
Isn’t that all it is, anyway? The person I knew was not the same person Vanessa knew, or Delilah knew, or anyone else knew. Basing my feelings on my experiences was all I could do and other people’s perceptions didn’t matter. No one saw the same person the same way.
Reece kissed my forehead gently. “We’ll figure this out. I promise.”
27
Reece
“What do I do?”
Pausing pulling my bed apart, I glanced over at Riley.
She sat in the recliner while staring into space. She held her cheek in her hand, her naked body no longer shivering, but still lacking some color. “I don’t know what to do anymore.”
Tossing my sheet onto the floor, my heart ached at the lost lilt in her tone, and I sat down on the edge of my stripped bed to prop my elbows on my knees. Dazed, brown eyes met mine, and I pursed my lips thinly at the thick sheen that brightened them. We stared in silence for a long moment before I stood up to walk over to her. “Come on, baby.” I held out my hands, waiting for Riley to make the decision to take them or not. She moved sluggishly, her grip on my fingers loose, but with her, I found that I had patience in abundance. Unfurling her legs from under her, she stood up to huff a small sigh, and I squeezed her hands gingerly. “There’s no reason to make hasty decisions. You don’t have to do anything right this moment.”
