KILLER: An Unfit Hero Novel

by Faiman, Hayley

  “Baby,” he rumbles. I refuse to move my face from his neck as I continue.

  “We probably won’t last. We’re just so different and your life is so big and beautiful. But I just need you to know that while you want me, while you’ll have me, that I love you with everything that I am.”

  His hand tangles in my hair and he tugs my head back, his fiery green eyes focused on mine. “Never lettin’ you go, Tullie. Fell for you then, too. It’s only you, baby. There’s never been anyone for me like you.”

  Pressing my lips together, I give him a small nod. He lifts his head, touching his mouth to mine but he doesn’t deepen the kiss or move his lips away from my own before he speaks.

  “Just you, Tullie baby. This is going to last, swear to fuck it will.”

  We don’t say anything more. Silence falls over the room, instead of trying to talk, knowing that I can’t bear anymore promises that I know he won’t be able to keep, I close my eyes.

  Forcing my body to relax, I curl up next to him and pretend to fall asleep. Everything that he’s saying, I know that he means, but I also know that he will break me.

  Keeping my breathing even and calm, I stare at his throat for hours. I don’t sleep even a moment. The sun slowly peeks up through my windows and I know that my alarm will be sounding soon.

  I missed working at Headlights last night without even calling in, so I have no doubt that I’ll be reprimanded, if not fired for the action. I should care more than I do, but it’s not like I was stripping because I loved it.

  Dancing was only meant to be part-time anyway, and if Louis is serious about me living with him, even if it will only be for a short period of time, that will help me save rent money and hopefully be able to figure out a future for myself.

  Frowning, I wonder if I accepted his proposal far too easily, selfishly. Pressing my lips together, I try to stay perfectly still as I begin to panic. Am I using Louis?

  “If you don’t tell me what the fuck has kept you up all goddamn night, I think I might actually go insane,” Louis rumbles above me.

  Placing my hand on his chest, I push up, straightening my arm to look down into his slightly opened eyes. His lips twitch into a small smile as one of his arms wraps around my back and his warm palm slides up my spine. His fingers grip the back of my neck loosely as his eyes open a bit wider.

  “I think I’m using you, or attempting to. I don’t think we should move in together,” I blurt.

  His eyes widen and then he surprises me by letting out a burst of laughter. His fingers squeeze the back of my neck as he pulls me closer, shoving my face in his throat, his entire body shaking in laughter.

  “Tullie,” he says, sucking in a breath. “I asked you to move in with me. Is this what’s kept you up all night long?” he asks.

  Mumbling against his skin, I know he can’t hear me, so he tugs my neck back and his sparkling green eyes meet mine again. “Partially. I mean, it’s super beneficial to me not to pay rent on this place anymore. Think of how much I can save a month. It feels wrong, I need to pay you something,” I softly demand.

  He shakes his head. “No, Tulip. You aren’t paying me anything and you want to know why?” I jerk my head in a small nod and he thankfully continues to speak. “I asked you to live with me because I want you there. You don’t need to pay for anything, because I don’t want you to. You’ve worked hard your whole life and taken care of everyone around you, let me do that for you now.”

  “Not everyone,” I mutter.

  Louis’ piercing green eyes focus on mine and he watches me for a moment before he speaks again. “You’re right. You haven’t taken care of yourself. Let me do that for you.”

  “Louis,” I breathe.

  He smirks as his fingers flex against the back of my neck. “Yeah, baby. Let me take care of you.”

  Licking my lips, I give him a small nod. I can let him do that for now, I suppose. I don’t know how long he’s going to want me at his side. How long before he discovers that I’m not worth all of the trouble, but I decide to just go with my gut. My original instinct that shouted out a yes when he asked me yesterday.

  “You need help packing? Maybe call the girls over?” he asks.

  Shaking my head, I let out an exhale. “They’re all pregnant. Channing and Exeter are really pregnant. I can’t ask them to help.”

  “Hutton and Laurie will help you,” he announces. “I’ll call Beau and Ford to move everything.”

  Frowning, I look down into his eyes and tilt my head to the side. “What about you?”

  He shakes his head slowly from side-to-side. “Can’t. I’ll be training eight hours a day and I can’t risk pulling anything.”

  “Oh.”

  Louis’ lips turn up into a grin. “Can’t tell you how fuckin’ happy I am to have you fall asleep next to me every night,” he murmurs.

  My own lips turn up into a wide smile. “Me too,” I agree.

  Though most of my panic has eased, I can’t help but sense a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. I don’t think that this is going to go down as easily as he’s making it seem, but all I can do is hold on for the ride and see where life takes me.

  LOUIS

  After following behind Tulip’s car as she drives to work, I kiss her in the parking lot before she heads inside for the day. I wish that I could take her and pick her up, but I don’t want to accidentally leave her stranded again. I have meetings today with my trainer, chef, and sparring partner, it’s going to be crazy busy, again.

  Leaving the grocery store, I can’t stop the smile on my face. Everything is happening just the way that I’ve always wanted it to. I have Tulip at my side and soon she’ll be moving in with me.

  There’s something so fucking perfect about the way things are turning out. I don’t know if that means that something is coming to try and destroy it all, but I refuse to think about that.

  Tulip has enough doubt rolling around in her head for the both of us, I’m going to stay completely confident and positive.

  I see Ford’s front gate and I decide to visit him on my way home. Making a sharp right, my truck bounces going through the gigantic fucking potholes in his road before I stop and jump out to open his unlocked gate.

  Getting back in my truck, I pull through, closing the gate behind me, then drive down his rough as shit road toward his house. This fucker really needs to get his road smoothed out, he won’t, but he fucking needs to.

  Once I’m in front of his house, I shift the truck into park and jump out. I don’t expect to see him leaning against the front railing of his porch, his phone in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

  Ford is an early riser, he has to be, he has a whole fucking ranch to run. He’s usually out and working somewhere. To find him standing on his porch, that makes me think that there’s something really fucking wrong.

  “Ford?” I call out as I begin to walk toward him.

  He jerks his body, looking surprised to see me. I’m not sure how he didn’t hear my truck come up the drive or hear my door slam, but whatever he’s reading has to be really fucking intriguing. He quickly straightens his back, shoving his phone into his pocket as he smirks over at me.

  “When’d you show up?” he asks.

  “Just got here, what’s going on?” I ask

  He looks down at his dirty work boots, inhaling and exhaling as I climb his wooden front porch steps.

  “Nothin’,” he lies.

  “Ford.”

  Lifting his gaze to meet mine, he shrugs his shoulder. “Don’t matter.”

  Shaking my head, I wrap my fingers around his shoulder and give him a small shake. “It’s something that matters, brother.”

  His eyes don’t leave mine and I swear to fuck I’ve never seen the man look so goddamn sad in my entire life. He inhales a deep breath, then exhales and leans over the porch railing again, his gaze shifting from me to his barn in front of us.

  Dropping my hand to my side, I wait for him to speak. “St
ephanie was it for me. Always. She left Gallup because she didn’t want to just be some rancher’s wife and pop out half a dozen of my babies. She made a name for herself, the whole fuckin’ world knows who Sterling LaRue is, but to me she’ll always be Stephanie.”

  “Heard you and her had a thing back in the day. It was serious then?”

  Ford snorts. “For me, yeah. I was ready to walk down the aisle. Eighteen and ready to start the rest of my life. Wore my best goddamn jeans, white button-down, a vest I rented, along with a tie that matched her fucking bouquet.

  “She stood at the end of that aisle, on her daddy’s arm. She took one fucking step toward me before she turned around and goddamn bolted. Never saw her again. Haven’t talked to her either.”

  I didn’t know. Nobody had ever told me. All I knew was that he wasn’t quite over the girl. I’d heard rumors and some of the guys had made jokes about how he couldn’t fuck without one of her movies playing in the background, but I had no clue that he had been fucking jilted at the altar.

  “I had no clue…”

  He shakes his head. “Nobody talks about it anymore, thank fuck. Probably because I got into more than a dozen barroom brawls if anyone even fucking mentioned her name around me. Only people who mention her now are Wyatt, Rylan, and Beaumont.”

  “Something happen with her recently?” I ask, dipping my chin toward the phone in his pocket.

  “She’s engaged.”

  “Fuck.”

  He snorts and pushes off his porch railing to stand up straight again. “It’s fucking stupid, right? Been almost two decades since she ran, not walked, goddamn ran away from me and here I am upset that she’s engaged to some fucking A-list actor.”

  “Not stupid, not if you still care about her.”

  “That’s the thing. I shouldn’t give a flying fuck.”

  “But you do.”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  I don’t say anything else and neither does Ford. I stand next to my friend for at least thirty minutes in silence while he processes the news of the one marrying another man.

  I try to envision Tulip leaving me and marrying someone else, hell it almost happened with Joey, and I was sick over it. Which is why I was so fucking jealous seeing them together last night. Just thinking about her leaving me for him or anyone else fills me with rage.

  “I’ll be fine,” he lies.

  It’s then that I decide not to ask for his help moving Tulip over to my place. He needs a friend right now and that’s exactly what I’ll be to him. What he doesn’t need is for me to ask him a favor, especially since that favor is probably what he wishes he could have with Sterling.

  Instead, I just sit with him until he’s able to shake off the shock and practically forces me to leave so that he can get working for the day.

  Chapter Sixteen

  TULIP

  After work, I head home to eat a quick bite then pack an overnight bag for Louis’ before I get dressed for Headlights. I don’t know if I’ll be allowed to dance, if I’m fired or what, but I’m going to go and face the music for my no-show of last night.

  Opening the trunk of my car, I toss my overnight bag inside before I sink into my driver’s seat and start the engine. Looking around, I can’t help but shake the feeling that someone has been watching me all evening.

  With a snort, I decide that I’m being ridiculous. I’ve had a wonderful day. I’m just begging for something to go wrong when I shouldn’t.

  What I should do is smile and often. I have a man who has all but confessed his love to me. He’s asked me to move in with him and he supports everything that I do, even when he doesn’t necessarily like it.

  Mark was only slightly creepy today and just stared at me from across the store all day long. He didn’t even try to talk to me, which was a blessing in itself. Everything is as perfect as it can be for a girl like me.

  Sure, it could come crashing down at any moment, but then again, so could anyone else’s life.

  Headlights come into view and I pull into the parking lot, finding my spot, I shift my car into park and turn the engine off.

  Reaching for my bag, I push the driver’s door open and unfold from the front seat with a groan. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be doing this.

  I really need to figure out what I want to do with my life so that I can get a clear plan into place, but I’m terrified of making a huge mistake. I don’t want to waste money that I don’t have.

  Pushing past the bouncer, I hear him snort as I walk by, no doubt I’m in trouble for yesterday and he knows it. Deciding to get it all over with, I don’t walk into the dressing room, instead I walk directly toward my boss’ office.

  The door is closed and I’m not surprised seeing as he’s screwing at least half of the dancers in this place. Lifting my hand, I rap my fist against the wooden door. I hear a loud groan and I wrinkle my nose, knowing exactly what that means.

  A few moments later one of the girls opens the door, looking disheveled as she fixes her top. Arching a brow toward her, I’m not surprised when she only frowns, lifting a shoulder as she brushes past me.

  “C’mon in,” Jeffery, the owner of the club, calls out.

  Shifting my gaze from the retreating girl, I step inside of his office and I stand at the door debating on closing it or not. Part of me wants to close it for the sake of privacy, the other part is a little afraid that he could take advantage of that privacy.

  “Close the door, Tulip,” he sighs, sounding frustrated with me.

  My body jerks and automatically moves to do what he’s demanded. I close the door, but I don’t lock it. Though, I’m not sure it matters considering the only security in this place is too far away to hear me if there was a problem.

  “You didn’t show up yesterday and you didn’t call,” he announces.

  Gulping, I look in his direction, but he’s got his head down and is writing something on a notepad. Nodding, I lift my hand and run my fingers through my knotted and teased out hair, successfully getting them caught.

  Jeffery lifts his gaze to mine and his lips twitch at the sight of me trying to get my fingers free of my tangled hair.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t show and didn’t call. I had an emergency and I couldn’t get to the phone to call you until this morning and then that seemed kind of obsolete, so I thought I would just come to you in person.”

  He nods once, his gaze sliding down my entire body before it lifts to my eyes. “This is your free pass, Tulip, and only because I have so many clients in here that absolutely love that sweet innocent thing you got goin’ on and they come back on the regular to see you show it off.”

  My brows knit together and I lick my bottom lip, completely confused as to what he’s saying to me. He chuckles, lifting his hand and pointing at my face. “There it is. Hot as hell, sugar,” he states.

  Shaking my head, I try to deny his words, but he only lifts his palm up. “Don’t deny it. I’m a man, I know what I see. Figure you won’t be working here much longer anyway, with the famous boxer that’s been picking you up and dropping you off every night. So, I’m going to get as much out of you as possible until he makes you quit.”

  “Jeffery,” I breathe.

  He snorts. “Get your ass out there and shake it before I do fire you.”

  Turning around, I reach for the door and turn the knob, pulling it open. Taking a few steps, I pause before I look back over my shoulder. He’s watching me, well my ass, and when he realizes that I’ve paused, he lifts his gaze to meet my own.

  “Thank you for not firing me,” I whisper.

  He dips his chin, his eyes staying on mine. “Get your ass outta here,” he barks.

  Lifting my lips into a small smile, I nod and turn back around, walking out of his office and toward the dressing room to put my stuff away and get ready for the night. I’m not surprised to see Charlie front and center when I arrive.

  Her gaze lifts to mine and something along the lines of relief washes over her face. She
closes the distance between us and wraps her hands around my shoulders before she gives me a small shake.

  “I need your number,” she demands. “I had no clue where you were and I worried about you all night and all day today.”

  My lips tip up into a smile and I can’t believe that I’ve made such a wonderful friend in her. Licking my lips, I nod. “Okay. You can have it, and I’m really sorry to have worried you, but something huge happened last night and I kind of just lost track of time.”

  Her eyes widen and she looks around at the other girls before she drops her hands, takes my wrist and tugs me toward the small single stall bathroom in the back of the room. Once we’re inside, the door locked behind us, she levels me with a look and arches a brow demanding that I spill everything.

  “He asked me to move in with him,” I exhale, choosing to skip over him being late, accusing me of sleeping with Joey and his jealousy.

  Her lips break out into a huge smile. “You said yes, right?”

  Nodding, I inhale a shaky breath. “I said yes,” I agree.

  “God. I can’t imagine. He’s hot, he’s a pro-boxer and did I mention that he’s hot? Plus, I assume he’s rich?”

  Shrugging a shoulder, I bite the corner of my lip. “I don’t know. I do know that he has more than I’ve ever had.”

  “He’s rich.” She nods.

  I think about his house out in the country. Property that expands as far as the eye can see, which around here means something as land isn’t cheap in this part of Texas. Then there’s his house. It’s two stories and bigger than anywhere I’ve ever lived, but I wouldn’t call it a mansion by any means.

  Still, it’s not over-the-top, but for girls like Charlie and me, it’s more than we could ever dream of. And to live there, it’s beyond anything that we could ever imagine for ourselves.

  “It still doesn’t feel real,” I admit.

  She leans forward, wrapping her arms around mine and placing her lips at my ear. “Hold on with both hands, Tulip. You deserve every bit of happiness with him.”