Irreversible: The Hitman & The Heiress

by Alexx Andria

  “I don’t have time for polite introductions but let me tell you this, for your sake you’d better have the answers I’m looking for or you’re going to retire courtesy of my fucking Glock. Got it?”

  “W-what do you want?” he garbled, his fat, pasty face wobbling in his fear. His wet mouth gaped like a fish gasping for oxygen, flopping around the beach in search of water. “W-who are you?”

  “Caroline Burke. Who wants her dead?” I asked, going straight to the point. “You’re the executor of the Burke estate. Someone found out that Caroline Burke is very much alive and wanted to rectify that. I want to know who and where I can find them.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he protested but the way his eyes shifted gave him away.

  I pressed my gun up to his puffy cheek to drive the point home that I had no patience for bullshit. “You were saying?”

  His hands went up, shaking in fear, “Please don’t kill me. I’m just the executor.”

  “You’re running out of time, old-timer,” I warned. “In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m a bad man and I kill people for a living. Do you really want to call my bluff because I don’t think you’ll like how it ends for you.”

  “Okay, okay!” he blubbered, tears squeezing out from the corners of his eyes. “There was a secret will — one that no one knew about until Richard died. It was delivered to my office a week ago with the instructions to find his daughter, Caroline, who was living under an alias. His entire fortune was willed to Caroline.”

  “Yeah? And someone wasn’t happy with that news...who was it?”

  “Richard’s brother, David. He was set to inherit in the event that Richard died without heirs.”

  “And where can I find this David?” I asked. The old man hesitated just long enough for me to arch my brow in warning. “My patience is wearing thin.”

  “West 40th Street, the Bangor Building, penthouse.”

  I removed my gun from his cheek. “Thank you. Now, assuming your information is correct, we’re going to leave and you’re going to forget this happened because if you don’t, I’m going to come back when you’re asleep, on the shitter, or walking in your garden and put a bullet in your skull, got it?”

  He jerked a nod.

  “And, I think it goes without saying that if your information is shit, I’m going to come back and do terrible things to your fucking skull before I put you out of your misery, understand?”

  “I swear that’s his address,” Edward babbled and I nodded, satisfied. “Oh, one more thing...you better hope she’s still alive or I’m coming for everyone associated with the Burke account — that includes your family, your secretary, your goddamn mailman — are we clear?”

  I didn’t wait for his response. We had what we needed.

  “Don’t call his bluff,” Travis warned on our way out, making cuckoo gestures with his fingers. “He’s loco and he’ll do it. It’ll be a bloodbath. No beuno, you know?”

  Once clear of the building and back in the truck, Travis said, “I think he pissed himself.”

  “He did.”

  “I really hope we don’t have to come back and kill him, he seemed like a nice guy,” Travis quipped and then punched the gas.

  Fucking greedy bastards.

  I’m coming, baby girl, and I’m bringing vengeance with me.

  30

  BREE

  I groaned at the vicious throbbing in my face as I awoke, carpet fibers scratching my cheek as I rolled to my back with a whimper.

  I think my nose was broken.

  “You should’ve stayed dead,” a female voice broke through the pain haze. I opened my eyes to find a beautiful woman with jet black hair and an impeccable figure staring down at me as if I were a contagious disease.

  “Who are you?” I asked with a wince.

  “I’m the one who sees that things get done,” she answered sharply, her gaze narrowing. “I’m not about to lose out on a fortune just because you decided to rise from the dead. That money belongs to me.”

  “Again...who the fuck are you aside from a colossal bitch?” I repeated, swallowing the sickly taste of blood in my mouth.

  She smiled. “Who am I? I’m fucking rich, that’s who I am.” But then the woman selected a framed picture from the credenza. “Isn’t this sweet?” she asked, drawing my attention to the happy family in the photo. My mother smiled back at me, holding an infant with a man standing behind her, his hand protectively on her shoulder.

  I couldn’t hide my shock. I was looking at the one existing photo of my parents together.

  I didn’t recognize the happiness in my mother’s expression. A sob caught in my chest at the realization that I’d never known my mother at all.

  The woman let the photo slip from her fingers to shatter on the floor. “Oops. That’s a tragedy. Now I’ll have to buy a new frame. At some point. Do you know how nauseating it is to listen to your husband go on and on about the sainted Lily Burke? How she was cut down in the prime of her life? And the poor baby, Caroline, the prettiest little angel that’d ever been born? Fuck me, I wanted to puke but I tolerated the stories because I knew David was set to inherit the Burke fortune as the only living heir on the Burke side.”

  Confusion cleared as I took a guess. “You’re my...aunt?”

  “Auntie Bunny,” she confirmed with a fake smile. “But I think we can both agree that name would never suit me. I’m barely older than you for Christ’s sake and I didn’t put up with David’s incessant bullshit to walk away empty-handed. I have that fucker blow jobs whenever he wanted. I’m owed that money.”

  I didn’t know if the pain was making me sick or the conversation but I suffered through it to buy time. I knew in my gut Dex would come for me and when he did, this bitch was going to choke on her teeth.

  “Does my Uncle David know you hired someone to kill me?” I asked, scooting away from her sharp heeled feet. The fierce pain in my head caused spots to erupt in my vision but I refused to pass out again. “Or is this all you?”

  “David wouldn’t have the balls to pull something like this off. It’s no wonder the man shoots blanks, he’s not man enough to do what needs to be done.” She sighed with open annoyance. “Good God, if David knew you were alive...he’d fucking weep. He’s such a pussy.”

  My uncle wanted to know me. So many questions and all I had was this crazy, greedy bitch for answers.

  “Are you going to kill me?”

  Bunny laughed as if my question were absurd, answering, “Me? Hell no. That’s what the help is for. I paid good money to see this job done and I don’t accept failure.” She checked her diamond-crusted watch. “Your ride should be here any minute. Traffic can be a bear at this time of day.”

  “Why did my mom fake our deaths?” I asked, needing to know. “Was my dad a bad man?”

  “You think your mother had the wherewithal to pull this off?” she mocked with disgust. “You know your mom was bat-shit crazy, right? Mentally unbalanced is the PC term but let’s be real, her soufflé was a bit uncooked in the middle. Your mother didn’t do anything but go along with Richard’s plan.”

  “How do you know?” I shot back, anger blotting out the pain. “You didn’t know my mother.”

  “As often as David and your father talked about the poor, sweet Lily, I feel as if I did. Honestly, I tolerated the endless stories because I knew the pay-off would be worth it in the end. I had no fucking clue that Richard had set Lily and his precious daughter up in New York under different names so Lily could live without the pressures of being the wife of Richard Burke.”

  Tears pricked my eyes as understanding dawned in the most heart-rending way.

  Suddenly, I saw my mother’s actions in a different light.

  My father had loved my mother so much that he’d protected her in the only way he knew how.

  “Awww, it’s a sad story, isn’t it?” Bunny mocked, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, when that damn secret will was revealed, the truth came out that yo
u were alive and well scratching out a mediocre life as a sub-par photographer and I knew something had to be done.”

  “How did you find out about the will before my Uncle?” I asked.

  “Because I was blowing the old fart for details on the existing will and I happened to be there when the courier delivered the second will to Edward’s office. Pretty fortuitous, actually.”

  The door opened and a burly, heavily tattooed man walked in.

  “You’re late,” Bunny snapped. “I ought to dock your pay for that.”

  “Traffic—“

  “Whatever. Take her. I’m done looking at her.”

  The man lumbered toward me and I tried to bolt for the door but a wave of dizziness nearly sent me tumbling back to the floor.

  The man’s hard grip curled around my arm and yanked me to my feet. “Let’s go, princess. Time to go for a ride.”

  “I don’t want to go for a ride,” I protested. Going for a ride never ended well for the person or the dog being loaded up into the car. I dug my heels in and started scratching and biting. “Fuck you! I’m not going for a ride!”

  “Watch the rug,” Bunny exclaimed as I was dragged forcibly from the room.

  The sound of splintering wood startled us both.

  “Jimmy, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll take your hands off my girl.”

  I smiled through the haze of pain as Travis and my Dex entered the room, locked and loaded. “I knew you’d come,” I gasped, so happy to see my avenging bad ass with a look of pure fury in his green eyes. I would happily watch this thug choke on his own tongue. Squinting through my bleary vision, I told the guy smugly, “You’re so fucked” and I wasn’t wrong.

  Lord in heaven, I was not wrong.

  31

  DEX

  Bree slept hard courtesy of the pain meds the hospital prescribed for her broken nose but each time she whimpered or shifted I was instantly awake.

  Purple and black ringed her eyes and her poor nose was packed with gauze following the surgery to repair her broken septum.

  Each time the memory of seeing her on the ground, blood caked on her face, scratching and clawing at Jimmy as he tried to drag her down that hallway, fresh rage threatened to boil over.

  My saving grace was Jimmy was dead.

  The fucker got what he deserved for double-crossing me and for hurting my girl.

  My only regret was that I couldn’t kill him twice.

  Bunny Burke was in jail for conspiracy to commit murder — another contact of Travis’s, this time at the DA’s office — and my girl was safe from murderous family members.

  She was also rich as fuck.

  Not that she cared.

  The last few days had been a dizzying circus with her Uncle David at the helm, eager to help in any way he could.

  I’m glad I hadn’t killed him.

  I kinda regretted not popping off that smarmy attorney for his part in Bunny’s Murder-For-Hire scheme but karma was a fucking bitch — the old timer’s ticker went kaput the night after our little tete-a-tete.

  And I didn’t feel an ounce of shame or guilt. Fucker deserved it.

  Everything had been set right.

  Which meant there was only one thing left to do — say goodbye.

  But I couldn’t bring myself to leave until she was coherent so I remained at her side for days to ensure she was properly cared for.

  And maybe I was stalling, too.

  I would miss the smell of her hair on my pillow.

  I would miss the way her nose crinkled when she grimaced at food she didn’t like.

  I would miss the way her glasses always seemed to slip down her nose until she remembered to push them back to the bridge moments before they fell off her face entirely.

  I would miss her sighs, moans and unabashed enthusiasm when I was deep inside her.

  Goddamn, I would miss so much.

  But for once in my life, I was going to do the right thing — not what I wanted for myself — but what was best for someone else.

  Someday she’d thank me.

  Or not.

  But I knew in my heart that I wasn’t good enough for her.

  Especially now that she was a billionaire heiress.

  Not that I was a broke-ass loser, but c’mon, we’re talking billions in her bank account — that’s life-changing money.

  So, yeah, leaving on a high note was best.

  I had a note in my hand.

  An apology for what I was about to do as well as a promise of setting up an account for her in the event she was pregnant.

  Not that she needed my money now but it was the least I could do to feel as if I was contributing in some meaningful way to my child.

  Fuck me for being a selfish prick, I hoped she was pregnant.

  She would know in a few weeks.

  Just go. Don’t make it worse by dragging out the misery.

  Bree would recover; she was in good hands.

  Travis would keep his word and David Burke was so happy to have his long-lost niece returned, he would do anything to keep her safe and well.

  I wasn’t needed anymore.

  This was as happy an ending a man like me could expect to have.

  So, go.

  With nothing left to use as an excuse I knew it was finally time. I placed the note on the pillow next to her and turned to leave quietly but her scratchy voice at my back struck a blade through my heart.

  “I love you, Dex.”

  My legs were rooted to the floor even as my brain shouted to keep moving, to reach the door, and never look back.

  Yet, I remained frozen.

  “I love you, Dex,” she repeated, her voice strengthening. I slowly turned to see Bree regarding me with knowing in her eyes.

  I love you, Bree.

  The words burned on my tongue but I wouldn’t turn them loose.

  I love you with everything my blackened and torn-up soul has to offer.

  “You don’t know me,” I answered, my throat closing up.

  “I love you, Dexter Lansing Whatever The Fuck Your Name Truly Is,” she said in a clear voice, daring me to walk away. For the first time in forever, the echo of an emotion I’d boxed away bubbled to the surface.

  Fear of letting someone in.

  Fear of giving someone the power to destroy me.

  Fear of losing the single most wonderful gift the world had ever given me.

  “I don’t care where you came from. I don’t care what you’ve done in the past. All I care about is building our future together.”

  “I’m rotten, Bree,” I said, my voice cracking.

  “You’re not.”

  I shook my head. “You don’t know what I’ve done.”

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  “It does and it will,” I said, desperately afraid of the revulsion that was guaranteed to creep into her expression when she learned the true depth of my sins.

  “Nothing you could possibly say would change how I feel about you.”

  “I killed my own father when I was thirteen years old,” I said bitterly. “How do you feel about me now?”

  Bree shocked me by saying, “He must have deserved it.” I stared, unable to comprehend how she wasn’t repulsed or afraid of me. “You’re a good man, Dex. If I have to spend the rest of our lives reminding you of this one simple fact, I will gladly do it because it’s true.”

  “You say that now but later...”

  “No one knows the future. We’ll face it together and deal with whatever pops up. My father sacrificed his happiness for the love of his life. I won’t let you do the same. You are going to be here, by my side, through the thick and thin, through the shit and joy, and you are going to be my partner for life because without you...I’m missing the most important part of my soul.”

  To my utter shame, unmanly tears pricked my eyes but I couldn’t stop the waterworks no matter how I tried.

  This woman...she was unlike any I’d ever known.

  How could
she love me with such unwavering conviction when I didn’t deserve it?

  I opened my mouth but Bree wasn’t finished.

  “And you are going to change diapers. I don’t care if you’re gagging and throwing a huge hissy fit, you are going to be on diaper duty because our child deserves two parents willing to do the dirty work together.”

  Wild, insane hope flared in my chest and I could only stare. How could she know? Was it possible?

  I stared, unable to speak.

  Bree graced me with a soft smile that melted me from end to end. “Before I went in for surgery, I told the nurse I could be pregnant...barely pregnant but still, I wanted them to do a blood test. So they did.”

  “And...?” The word squeaked out of my mouth as the all the spit dried in my mouth. “Are you...pregnant?”

  Bree’s smile deepened as she nodded in answer. “Barely. Like barely, barely but there was enough of the hormone to show up in my blood, which means, you’re not going anywhere Mister unless it’s back in this bed to celebrate your super sperm successfully going after my egg like heat-seeking missiles.”

  I’m not sure how I managed to make it to the bed but within a blink I had Bree in my arms, unable to kiss her hard or deep enough to convey my utter joy.

  A baby.

  Bree was having my baby.

  Suddenly, I pulled back in horror when I realized I was probably squeezing her too tightly. “Oh my God, I’m sorry,” I exclaimed, feeling like a bull in a China shop, flustered as to how to properly care for my baby mama. I didn’t know a thing about pregnant women.

  I needed help.

  Books. Or something.

  I started to scramble from the bed but Bree grabbed me by the shirt and yanked me back with surprising strength.

  “I said you’re not leaving this bed until we celebrate...long and hard,” Bree said, smiling as her hand went searching for my cock.

  Instantly, my shaft thickened in her palm, eager to comply, but was it safe for the baby?

  God, I had so many questions.