Killing Game

by Felicity Heaton

  “The guy, the one who’s been helping Lily out. Man, she cannot stop talking about you.” The girl stopped talking and frowned. “Are you okay?”

  “No, bloody well... not okay. Are you blind? I’m sodding bleeding to death... and you... you’re yammering on about fucking Lily.” He gritted his teeth as he held onto his side.

  “Sheesus... cranky?” Sarah frowned again and then her face blanched and a look of panic surfaced in her eyes. She flapped her hands about and made an odd whining noise. “I’ll call a doctor or the hospital or something... wait there.”

  “No... no doctors... no hospitals...” Cain grabbed her arm tightly, his fingers digging into her skin as he desperately tried to stop her. He couldn’t go to the hospital. There would be too many questions. “No... you go... sit down and be a good little girl... I’ll fix this.”

  Sarah backed away from him and blinked before turning away.

  Cain slammed the bathroom door shut and collapsed against the sink as the world spun around him.

  * * *

  Chapter 14

  When Lily pushed the door open, she found Sarah curled up on the couch watching the television. She leaned against the back of it and stroked her sister’s hair.

  “What’s up, Sarah? I know that face,” she said softly as she watched her sister frowning, her lips tightened into a scowl.

  “Your boyfriend, that’s what. He was here when I came home. He’s a real bundle of joy, isn’t he?” Sarah folded her arms and set her jaw.

  Lily looked incredulous.

  “I don’t have a... oh... Cain? He was here?” Lily watched as her sister looked towards the bathroom.

  “He still is here. Shut himself up in there, wouldn’t let me call a doctor...”

  “Doctor? Sarah... what’s going on? Why would he need a doctor?” Lily felt a sudden panic rise up and lodge itself in her throat along with her heartbeat.

  Sarah stood sharply and shouted, “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him? You can give him a lesson in manners at the same time. I took this kind of crap from Dad, I’m not taking it from him, too.”

  Sarah stormed off into her room and Lily flinched as the door slammed.

  Heaving a sigh, she walked in the opposite direction and knocked on the bathroom.

  “Cain?” Lily opened the door slightly and peered around at him. He was sitting on the edge of the bath dressed only in his jeans and boots, and he looked as pale as the white tiles around him.

  She moved quietly into the bathroom and knelt down in front of him, her eyes dropping to rest on the discarded bloodstained rags and then rising to the bandages that were wrapped around his ribs. As she reached out to touch his side, Cain raised his head and met her eyes.

  “What happened?” she said softly.

  He looked at her apologetically. “I think I shouted at your sister.”

  “Not that. God, I shout at her all the time. I mean this.” Lily gingerly touched his temple and he closed his eyes.

  “I got in a fight,” Cain said in resignation, knowing that more questions would follow.

  “Why? Who?” Her look turned soft.

  Cain found himself wanting to tell her everything, wanting to be honest with her no matter what the consequences were.

  “You. Your boss.”

  “Me? Why?” Her eyes searched his, her fingers stroking his cheek, soothing his hurt.

  Cain dropped his eyes so she couldn’t read them. “He wouldn’t transfer you back. He said he had plans for you. I’ve seen his plans, Lily, and I don’t want that for you.”

  “So you hit him?”

  “Worse.” He forced the word out.

  “How much worse, Cain?” She looked him over and then her eyes widened. It was a look that told him everything. She’d realized what he meant, now he just had to confirm it for her.

  “Think I killed him.” Cain braced himself against whatever she was going to say. Now that he’d admitted that he was capable of killing, he realized how much he’d changed since meeting her. If she asked, he’d give it all up for her.

  “God, Cain... are you sure?” Lily looked at him, a frown on her face. “Of course you’re sure. What are you going to do?”

  “Nothing. I know some people...” He met her eyes and watched them widen.

  “I met someone you know tonight. She said she worked with you.”

  “You what?” Cain blinked at her as panic caused his heart to skip a beat. “What did she look like, Lily? I need to know.”

  The sudden force of his tone caused a whirlwind of worry to settle in Lily’s stomach and she tried to remember what the girl had looked like so she could tell him. “Slim, red hair... kinda got the feeling she was coming on to me.”

  “Bollocks,” Cain growled as he recognized the description, and immediately got to his feet. Reaching for his t-shirt, he looked back down at Lily and swayed slightly as the blood rushed to his head. “You stay here. You don’t go to work tomorrow and you don’t move from this apartment. Got that?”

  A look of worry crossed Lily’s face. “Cain?”

  “Listen to me. The girl, she’s not a friend, Lily. She doesn’t work with me and she’s capable of doing bad things if it means she gets what she wants.”

  Lily stood up and looked Cain in the eye. She could see all his concern for her coming to the surface.

  “But I can’t...” she started.

  “You can, you bloody well will... Lily... she’s liable to try and hurt you... please?” Cain watched her nod solemnly and then moved to leave.

  “Where are you going?” She caught his hand. He looked down at it and then up into her eyes, catching the blush that flushed her cheeks.

  “To make sure she leaves you alone.” Cain went to move again but Lily’s grip on his hand tightened.

  “Stay. I’ll be safe if you stay,” Lily whispered and took a step towards him.

  Cain looked down at her as she leaned her head back slightly. His heart was pounding so hard against his ribs it caused the ache to worsen and he felt unable to deny her request as she moved close to him.

  “I have to go...” he breathed and she shook her head in the negative.

  “Stay. Just for tonight. If you stay... I’ll quit my job tomorrow.” Lily could feel her insides trembling. His look was so serious that it was making her scared. Was the girl as capable of killing as he was?

  “I won’t be long...” He freed his hand and moved towards the front door.

  Dashing after him, Lily caught his arm again, unwilling to let him leave.

  Cain winced as she tugged on his arm, and as he spun around to face her, he found her pressing him up against the front door.

  Her hand slipped around the back of his head and pulled him down to her. She pressed a hard, demanding kiss against his lips. It took Cain a few seconds to register what was happening, but once he realized that she was kissing him, all thoughts of leaving her melted away and he kissed her back, finally doing what he’d been constantly thinking about since meeting her.

  As her lips smashed against his, Lily felt her heart hammering against her chest and a sweep of tingles washed over her as his arm snaked around her waist, drawing her closer to him.

  Cain broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. Panting hard, he kept his eyes closed as his fingers ached to touch her, his body delighting at the feeling of her pressing against him.

  “Don’t go,” she whispered softly.

  “I have to,” he breathed in return.

  “Please... stay with me.” She brushed her lips against his as she spoke. He sighed into her mouth and tensed his jaw.

  Letting her kiss him languidly, Cain considered his options. Lily would be safest if he stayed with them. He knew Sherry’s patterns, and she wouldn’t have tailed Lily yet. Tonight was just a warning. He smiled slightly as he made a decision.

  Lily felt him hold her tighter against him, his fingers grasping her sides as his mouth pressed down on hers. Closing her eyes, she let the f
eeling of his possessive kisses drive her on until she was matching his ferocity. Just as she was losing herself in him, a noise caught her attention and she froze.

  They both broke apart at the same time and looked at each other.

  “Not your boyfriend, huh?” Sarah raised a brow at them where she stood just a few feet away. She folded her arms, her face echoing how clearly unimpressed she was with them both.

  Lily turned her head to one side and looked at her sister as Cain kissed down her neck and nuzzled it gently.

  “Sarah, he isn’t... it’s hard to explain.” Lily gave her sister a smile and then slipped her hand into Cain’s. Catching hold of Sarah’s hand, she led them both over to the couch.

  Cain just stared blankly at her as she sat him down on one sofa while sitting Sarah down on the other. He offered a sheepish look to the little girl as she scowled at him, clearly still annoyed by his earlier actions and the fact that he was still present in her home.

  Lily just looked at them both. She could see the cracks beginning to appear in Sarah’s defenses, and she knew that if she gave her five minutes alone with Cain, she’d be talking to him by the end of it.

  Looking over at Cain, a chill swept up her spine as she remembered what he’d told her. He’d killed her boss, for her. She didn’t know how she was supposed to react to that, what she was supposed to feel or do. Was she supposed to turn him over to the police?

  Police.

  The night in the alley flashbacked in front of her eyes and she could still hear the sirens as though she was there, could still remember his face as he appeared out of nowhere.

  Another chill ran up Lily’s spine and she pushed her thoughts away. He had seemed genuinely shaken up by the fact he’d killed someone. He still looked shaken up.

  “You alright?” Cain frowned up at her as she stared at him blankly.

  “I just need to get changed, sort some things out... I’ll try and do it quickly.” Lily looked out the corner of her eye at Sarah, seeing that she was already starting to relax and the scowl was gone.

  Cain watched her disappear into the bathroom and then turned to face her sister.

  “So... Sarah is it?”

  * * *

  As Lily finished getting changed, she listened to the conversation in the other room. She smiled as Sarah rambled on about anything and everything, telling Cain all about Los Angeles and her escape from their father.

  She glanced at Cain’s leather coat where she’d placed it over the back of her chair and then smiled as she remembered having his lighter. Walking over to her bedside table, she picked up the little metal Zippo and carried it over to the coat. Slipping it into his pocket, she paused with a frown on her face when she found something was already in there. She pulled the object in question out and frowned as she saw what she was holding.

  Someone walked into the room and stopped. She knew it was Cain without looking. When she turned to face him, he was staring at her hand with wide eyes.

  “What’s this?” Lily looked down at the pen and then up into his eyes for an explanation.

  “A pen.” He slowly took a step toward her, his focus wholly what she was holding.

  “I can see that, Cain. I mean... what’s on it?” She struggled to keep her composure as she waited to hear his answer, not wanting to believe that it was what she thought it was until he confirmed it.

  He just held his hand out with his palm facing upward and moved his fingers in a way that intimated she should hand it over.

  Lily frowned and looked down at the pen. Taking a step and closing the gap between them, she kept her voice low as she looked to him for an answer.

  “What is it?” she whispered.

  “Blood.” Cain answered bluntly, telling himself that she would have found out eventually and this way she would probably go easier on him—this way he wasn’t lying to her.

  She dropped the pen into his outstretched hand as though it was a hot coal.

  “Cain! You didn’t...” She searched his eyes and hers went as wide as saucers. “Oh God, you did.”

  She backed away from him, the look of shock on her face making his heart ache. He quickly reached out to her and winced as the pain in his side was renewed. He drew in a sharp breath, partly to abate the hurt but mostly to keep a tight leash on his frustration.

  “He didn’t leave me much choice, Lily. I didn’t want it to go that far.” He ground the words out hard, hoping she’d see that his meeting with her boss hadn’t gone anything like he’d planned.

  Lily mulled over his words.

  “But you knew it might,” she said slowly, watching his reaction closely, and when his face remained blank, her stomach turned again. “You did... you knew there was a possibility and you went anyway?”

  She couldn’t believe that he’d gone to see her boss knowing that it could come down to killing him. She felt like a monster as she thought about how differently things could have gone, how Cain might have ended up being the dead party, and deep in her heart, she was glad it was her boss who had died and not him.

  Cain stepped up to her and reached out to cup her cheek. When she didn’t flinch away from him, he felt a little calmer inside and managed to stroke her cheek gently with his fingers before feeling like he was tainting her with his touch.

  Tainting her by just being there.

  “I didn’t want to. He told me... he was going to prime you, Lily.” Cain hung his head and sighed as he moved past her and sat down on the end of her bed.

  Lily turned to look at him. He was staring at the pen that was still in his left hand.

  “Prime?” She moved to kneel in front of him and could see his eyes harden for a moment before they became soft as he looked at her.

  He ran his fingers down her hair and smiled absently. “Sometimes I wish you weren’t so innocent.”

  She frowned up at him and caught his wandering hand, bringing it down from her hair. “I’m not so innocent.”

  He chuckled softly.

  She wasn’t that innocent, not anymore, not since he’d walked into her life.

  “The girls you work with, they do a different kind of job after you tuck yourself up in bed,” he said.

  She frowned and gave him a questioning look. “What are you saying?”

  Cain looked into her large round eyes and wondered how she could say she wasn’t so innocent. Even after everything he’d done to drag her into his world, she was still the purest, most innocent creature he knew.

  “The guys that hang around after you’ve been let off for the night, they’re hanging around for a reason. The girls you work with are no better than cheap whores.” He kept his tone emotionless as he held her gaze, forcing the words to sink in as she knelt in front of him like a little child.

  “No. I mean they... I’d know...” Lily found herself backing away slightly as she tried to deal with what he was telling her. She’d never once wondered why she was usually the first to go home, or why people always stayed after closing. She’d just presumed it was something that happened in most bars.

  “You’re sure of that? I’ve been around a little longer than you.”

  Lily dropped her eyes to her knees as she thought about what he’d said and couldn’t stop herself from asking him something. She needed to know, even if the answer would hurt her.

  “Have you... with them?”

  He shook his head. “Not my scene.”

  She nodded slightly, acknowledging what he’d said as she thought about what he’d told her. It was scary how everything made more sense to her now as she stared at the patch of carpet in front of her knees. Now that someone had told her such things happened, everything else fell into place. Over the past few weeks, she’d come to the realization that the city wasn’t as good as it appeared to be, that it was evil to some degree, but now it all seemed a million times worse than she’d originally thought. There was a whole world that she was unaware of, another city that hid behind the veil of darkness, and Cain was a part of it.<
br />
  And so was she.

  She worked with whores and her boss had wanted to make her into one. Her stomach turned as she thought about what Cain had done to save her from being made into a prostitute. He’d killed for her, to keep her safe.

  Did that make it right?

  She felt confused as she looked up at him, seeing his blue eyes full of sorrow as he looked at the pen in his hand. He hadn’t wanted to do it. He’d had no choice. It was kill or be killed, and he’d chosen to live.

  And she was thankful he had, and she was thankful he’d killed her boss.

  Did that make her wicked, too?

  If it did, she didn’t care.

  Looking at Cain, she told herself that he was a good man at heart. It was the city that was evil.

  “I really can’t go back there, can I?” she asked him, trying to make sense of everything that was happening, of everything that had happened.

  “Afraid not. I don’t want them linking you to what happened and I don’t want them priming you.”

  “Priming... it’s just another way of saying whore isn’t it?” She knelt a little closer so she could see his eyes clearly and see if her assumption was correct.

  The more Cain thought about it, the tighter the feeling in his stomach got and a lump formed in his throat. He tried to swallow it down with little success as he stared at his hands, remembering the countless lives he’d ended, the countless times he’d scrubbed blood off them, and it was as though he could still see it all.

  He’d killed a man for no real reason. He wasn’t under contract and he didn’t have an order to fulfill. He’d killed him in cold blood on personal grounds, all for the girl nestled in between his knees and looking up at him with innocent eyes.

  He shifted his gaze from his hand to her. She was looking at him so tenderly that it felt as though she was twisting a knife in his stomach.

  He was living a lie.

  She’d never look at him that way if she knew the real him, if she found out what he really did for a living, and exactly how he’d paid for all the things she had in her apartment.