by Amie Stuart
“And yeah, I’m done. This one was too close to home.”
“Don’t be such a puss. What are the odds?”
“Obviously not in my favor,” Will snapped back. “And who the fuck knew Dre Anderson was such a dumbass?” Will added with a painful sounding laugh. “I don’t care. It’s Nevis for me...after this.”
“What about her?” John asked.
I was the only her involved. Stood to reason he was referring to me.
Will stayed quiet for so long I wondered if somehow I’d missed his reply. “What about her?” he echoed.
“You planning on taking her to Nevis with you?”
This time Will’s answer must have been non-verbal, or so soft I just didn’t hear him. Shortly after, footsteps whispered on the carpet, the door opened and close and John was gone.
The room fell into darkness as Will flicked the light off, then the petrified slab that doubled as a queen sized mattress sagged the tiniest bit as he slipped into bed beside me. He touched my hair, his fingers gentle so they didn’t snag in tangled curls. His finger traced the curve of my shoulder then slipped under the covers while his breath gently moved my hair. A part of me wanted to make him stop. I wasn’t sure this was a memory I wanted to carry around. Knowing I was leaving in the morning hurt even worse than losing Ronnie, but as Will nuzzled my hair, as his mouth found my neck, I didn’t have the heart or the strength to say no.
“I thought you were dead, when I saw you up on that roof.”
I rolled over. “I knew you’d come. When he told me what he wanted.” I just wasn’t sure if he’ come for me or to catch Jim/Mark. “I just...didn’t know if you’d make it in time.”
“Neither did I.” Will’s hand skimmed my hip, and then he pulled my nightgown up, and we were done talking. He lightly traced the inside of my thigh with those long, skillful fingers of his, and pressed his lips to my shoulder. I tugged the top of my gown downward and drew him to me, pressing my nipple against his lips, into his open mouth. I sighed at the feel of his soft tongue caressing me and my legs fell open. Together we pushed my panties off. That’s when I realized he was naked. The feel of his skin on mine was electric. I reached for his cock, ready to shimmy under the covers and give him a blowjob, but he stopped me, pinning my leg down with one of his. His hand dipped between my thighs and gently stroked my pussy.
“You like that?” he whispered against my skin.
Words failed me. I licked my lips and nodded. My hips moved in time with his fingers, my clit swelled with every stroke. He rolled over, pulling me on top of him and positioning me just over his cock. I slid home with a happy whimper, letting him stretch me, fill me. Will rubbed my juices on one nipple, and then sat up, puling it into his mouth. He sucked and bit both of my breasts while I rode him one last time. I clung to him when I came, goodbye playing over and over in my head as each bittersweet wave of my orgasm hit me.
Come morning, I'd never see or smell or touch Will again. I didn’t like it but what choice did I have?
* * *
In the murky morning light of the hotel room, Will’s sleeping face seemed much more relaxed. I wiped my sweaty hand on my jeans, and then leaned over to give him a gentle shake. “Will.”
He stretched and groaned and stared up at me through sleep-bleary eyes. A tiny smile tickled his lips.
“I have to go. Work.” I wanted to kiss his cheek, or his mouth, but considering we’d never see each other again, probably not a good idea.
Smile now gone, he nodded and sat up. “Need some money for breakfast?”
“No. I’ve got money.” I should have taken his cash; I should have asked him if I could go to Nevis with him. “I’ll be right back.”
I carried my stuff downstairs to the van, my steps slow and careful on the dew-covered treads. I was three-quarters of the way down when somewhere above and behind me, a door slammed. Scamp barked. I looked up in time to see him licking Will’s hand. With a shake of my head and a deep steadying breath, I crossed to where he’d parked the van.
Inside, everything was just like I’d left it, including my heart. I threw my tote in and turned to take Scamp from Will. “You didn’t have to bring him down.”
“Saved you the extra trip.” He gave me what seemed like a wistful smile. Or maybe he was still sleepy. “I filled your van up too.”
“Thanks.” I reached for Scamp, shoving away my regrets as Will’s lips brushed my cheek.
“You could come with me.”
I shook my head, reluctantly. “I’m sorry.” Retirement or no, the fact remained that Will Collier killed people for a living. I just couldn’t reconcile myself to...that kind of life. At least, that’s what I told myself.
Even while a part of my brain was screaming at me to say yes.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Will slowly headed back upstairs, pausing at the sight of Wynn waiting outside the door of his hotel room, fresh coffee in hand.
Will accepted the cup with a grunt of thanks, and then slid his keycard in the door. Downstairs, the van roared to life. He kept his back to the parking lot. The sight of her leaving hurt, especially after he’d come so close to losing her yesterday. “You’re up early.”
“So’s she.” Wynn nodded toward the parking lot.
Unwilling to listen to Bree drive away, Will pushed past his brother and inside his hotel room. They’d dodged more than one bullet in the last twenty-four hours. The important thing being that Sabrina was safe. And Lord help him, he was almost glad she’d turned him down. He didn’t know if his heart could take going through something like that again.
Wynn closed the door, and then took a seat, his eyes sharp over the rim of his cup. “Why’d you let her go?”
“She actually said she was sorry I didn’t get to kill Mark.”
Wynn chuckled into his cup. “Sounds like something Julie might say. Now, why’d you let her go?”
“It’s what she wanted.”
“You don’t really believe—”
“You know, Tilly hated me.” He absently peeked out the curtain to watch the traffic on the nearby highway hurtle past—and reassure himself that Sabrina’s van was gone. “She even said so. Bree said it too; more than once.” He laughed harshly.
“But Tilly hated you for different reasons. You know that as well as I do, and you weren’t sorry to see her go.”
“True but Bree hates me for all the right ones.” He shrugged. “Or she wouldn’t have left.”
“What are those reasons?”
“I kill people for a living.” He might have lied but he’d never made excuses or apologies for his job. But now, he definitely had regrets.
“You’re retiring. And?”
“And? And? What the hell else is there? Oh yeah, I kidnapped her, and I nearly got her killed.”
Wynn set his cup on the table. “I could argue that she nearly got herself killed. She did leave you after all.”
“She would have never been in any danger if I...”
“If you what?”
“If I hadn’t tried to return her journals, if I hadn’t bought her that van. If I...” Will shook his head.
“Finish it, Will.”
“If I’d left her standing on the side of the road.”
“If you’d left her there, she might be dead anyway.”
He winced at the thought. “Point taken, but still...”
“But still what? You love her, go after her. Tell her it’ll be okay.”
“I never said I loved her.”
“You didn’t have to. It’s written all over your face. And now you’re just going off to Nevis all by yourself? To fish?”
Nodding, he sank onto the unmade bed, feeling all of his almost forty years. “Looks that way.”
“Sounds kind of boring,” Wynn said.
“Well that’s the plan. As soon as we take care of Dre Anderson.”
Once Wynn was gone, Will packed up his stuff. It didn’t take long. And as soon as John got his ass up and m
oving, they were heading to Phoenix.
* * *
“I don’t like this,” Will said. “We’re not ready.”
They’d made the drive to Phoenix in record time and now sat outside the six-story glass and steel building that held the investment firm of Anderson-Frost. They could have flown, but guns didn’t mix with airport security and they were in a hurry, which made buying one in Phoenix out of the question.
“Time is not our friend, so we’re as ready as we’ll ever be,” John said from the passenger seat.
They’d spent only twenty-four hours tracking Dre Anderson’s movements. Not enough time to get a feel for him, or know who’d miss him once he was dead. Or even how long after his death before anyone realized he was gone. But as soon as Dre found out that Mark Green was no longer in play, he’d hire someone else. So time was not their friend.
* * *
It was almost twilight when Dre’s Audi exited the underground parking garage, and they followed him all the way back to his house. After assuring themselves that Dre was alone and safely tucked in for the night, they waited. At 3:00 a.m. they went back, ski masks firmly in place, and Will waited impatiently while John disabled Dre’s alarm.
The glass sliding door opened effortlessly, Dre assured of his safety by the alarm that should have beeped but didn’t. The house was quiet and smelled faintly of sandalwood. On soft-soled shoes they made their way through the lower level, too intent on the job to bother with checking out their surroundings. Upstairs, they paused long enough to check each door along the hallway until they found the right one.
No more than a minute or three had passed since they entered the house, but it seemed like a lifetime to Will. He took a deep breath and slowly, softly exhaled before following John into Dre’s bedroom.
For that reason he let John take the lead. They’d agreed during the drive that John would be the trigger-man. They had no intention of waking Dre and having a confrontation. It just wasn’t necessary. And if Dre knew his man his man was out of play, then he also knew they were onto him. If his snores were anything to go by, he wasn’t worried though.
Will stood at the foot of the king-sized bed while John moved closer. He leveled the gun a few short inches from Dre’s head and glanced Will who gave a slight nod. John pulled the trigger with no hesitation. Then shot him again in the heart.
Dre Anderson was an arrogant stupid man and had just paid the price for his arrogance, in spades.
“Let’s get out of here,” Will murmured.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Two weeks had passed since I’d left Will at the Holiday Inn on I-35. I’d managed to find a second job and a cheap efficiency apartment that rented by the month. Between waitressing in the greasy-spoon and working the fair every weekend, I’d fallen into bed every night, too exhausted to think about Will—okay, well almost too exhausted. The sad fact was I missed him, and I hated being alone but I didn’t want to be around anyone.
It was a muggy, late-summer, Saturday afternoon, the kind the South was famous for. The cards were even sticking to my fingers as I shuffled, and both Scamp and I had missed lunch.
I was all ready to take a break when a pretty brunette had strolled up, a hopeful smile on her face. “Mind if I sit down?”
“Help yourself.” Inwardly, I groaned. “I’m just going to grab some water.” I retrieved a bottle from the cooler under the table, cracked the lid and poured half in Scamp’s dish.
“He’s a cutie,” she said.
“Thanks.” I smiled and took a few seconds to study her. She looked as if the heat didn’t bother her, despite wearing jeans.
“It’s forty dollars, cash only.” I discretely wiped my hands on my skirt, then shuffled the cards as she slipped two twenties on the table. After tucking the money away in my box, I said, “Anything in particular you’d like to know or just a general reading?”
Her glossy lips pursed, she slid her sunglasses back on her head. “Actually, I’m worried about someone.” Flawless green eyes stared back at me. “Can you do a reading for someone else?”
I shrugged. “I can try.”
“It’s my brother-in-law.”
My throat went dry. Frowning at her, I reached for the water bottle and took a tiny sip. “Go on.”
“He’s leaving...he’s going away.” Sighing, she leaned forward, crossing her arms in front of her. “I just want to know if maybe he’ll find someone special to go with him. I hate to think of him down there in Nevis with nothing but the fish for company.”
The half-shuffled cards fell to the table. Echoing her own sigh, I stacked them up again, searching for an appropriate response. There was no doubt in my mind she was talking about Will. “Maybe he wants to be alone.”
“No—“ she shook her head, “—he’s just too stupid to know what he what’s good for him.”
Her bluntness made me smile, but I shook my head. “I don’t think I can help you.”
“I disagree. I think you can. I also think you just don’t want to. I think you’re scared.”
Lips pursed, I slipped her money out and slid it across the table toward her. “No.”
She shook her head. “I’m not leaving until you agree to see Will one last time.”
“No.”
“And I can be damned stubborn. Just ask Wynn.”
“I don’t intend to ask Wynn anything.”
“Do you know how I met Wynn?”
“No,” I said, wishing she’d leave. I didn’t want to hear anymore.
“He was hunting me. For a job. Someone paid him to find me. And it wasn’t a long lost relative, if you catch my drift. So when I say, those Collier men are hard to love, I get it. Now, Will. He’s miserable.” She waved a hand. “Oh, he tries to hide it, but you can tell. That’s what he gets for letting you walk away. But enough with the punishment.”
“I can’t just take off to Nevis or wherever. I don’t even have a passport. Besides, Will doesn’t miss me.”
“Trust me. He misses you—“ she gave me a narrow-eyed smile, “—as much as you miss him.”
“He’ll recover.” Just like I would.
“What’s the problem? He loves you; I’m assuming you love him.” She stared at me for a few heartbeats as if waiting for me to fill in the blanks.
“He kills people for a living.”
“He’s retired.”
“That doesn’t negate what he did.”
“Would it make you feel any better if—”
“No.”
“Let me finish.” Her face hardened slightly in anger. “If I said I had the same hang-ups about Wynn’s job? I’m not blind and I’m not an idealist. I do understand how you feel but...Will’s done. He’s retiring. He’s getting out.
“How do you get past...it all?” I asked.
“I don’t ask questions I don’t want answers to. And I pray every time he leaves on a job. It is what it is. You can’t change what the Collier men are, but their occupations don’t make them bad husbands, bad brothers, bad sons or even, bad men. In the words of my esteemed mother-in-law, ‘This is the life. Love it or leave it.’ I chose to love it and Wynn. Despite his job, I wouldn’t trade Wynn for anything,” she said with a chuckle. “At least you’ll know where Will is every night.”
“I don’t know.” I could feel myself wavering though. A part of me wanted to say yes and just ride off into the sunset with Will. “What if he gets bored? What if he hates retirement?”
“I’m sure you can find ways to keep him busy.” She gave me a naughty grin that I couldn’t help but return. “Just...think about it. Will leaves on Wednesday. We’re throwing a going-away party for him at our house on Tuesday afternoon.” She slid a business card toward me. “And he won’t be home again until Thanksgiving.”
Nodding, I slid my fingers over the edge.
“See ya.” She left, quickly disappearing into the thick crowd. That’s when I realized I hadn’t even asked her name. The card read, WYNN AND JULIE COLLIER and had thei
r address and phone number listed. 7:00 was scrawled on the corner in blue pen.
* * *
You better believe I thought about it all day and early into the following week, trying to rationalize what going to Nevis meant. Hell, trying to rationalize what going to Wynn and Julie’s meant. What if Julie was wrong? What if Will didn’t really miss me? What if he didn’t really want me there? What if I just made things stupid and awkward for his family? What if I embarrassed him? I wasn’t exactly the kind of girl that guys took home to meet the folks.
I’d even contemplated calling Julie to talk some more, but never managed to work up the nerve. By the time the sun broke through the curtains Tuesday morning, I was exhausted from another restless night. The drive to Dallas would take right around five hours.
I glanced down at Scamp in his doggy bed. “What do you think, dude?”
He stared up at me, one graying eyebrow quirked, stood and shook, as if to say, “You know me. I’m game for whatever.”
With one last sigh, I threw back the covers and got ready to pack.
* * *
The steering wheel was slippery under my hands as I circled the block for a third time. Four cars, none of them over two years old, and Will’s Tahoe were parked out front or in the driveway. And the neighborhood was so nice, I worried one of Julie’s neighbors might have my van towed. Finally, I gritted my teeth and made myself park just past the next-door neighbor’s mailbox. I climbed from the van, shook the wrinkles from my best skirt and called for Scamp. I hoped Julie and Wynn wouldn’t mind but it was too hot to leave him alone in the van. And besides, if he was a problem, I had an excuse to leave. Even after doing two readings for myself, which I normally never did, I still wasn’t convinced this was the right move. But I’d decided to play it by ear. If he didn’t want me here, I’d go.
Scamp licked my hand, a signal to get my ass in gear. I slammed the door and clipped his leash on him. We quickly walked past a black Lexus and a sporty, red convertible. I was so out of my league, but I forced my feet to keep moving as I stepped on the grass and crossed to the walkway. I never even got to ring the bell as the door flew open and Julie stepped outside.
