by West, Sinden
My head was pounding as I sat up in my empty bed. It took a few moments for me to gather myself and make my way down stairs. She had her back to me. Her hair was scraped back into a high pony tail and she wore a sports bra and shorts. I slid onto the barstool and she turned to place a cup of coffee in front of me.
“I’m going for a run,” she told me.
“Why don’t you use the treadmill? It’s cold out.”
She shrugged. “I like the cold.” And then she left, through the glass doors to the outside and then past the pool and through the next gate, never looking back.
I kept my eyes on the direction that she had gone, until my cell phone sounded, piercing the silence.
“Shit.” I read the message. It was from Antony asking where the hell I was. We were supposed to meet. I threw the phone down. He could fucking well wait. I was gonna have a long shower first.
He was drinking by the time I arrived at the restaurant. It was still morning and it wasn’t open. Only the staff moved about silently at the back as they began preparations for the day.
“Drink?” He asked, raising his eyes.
“No.” I sat opposite him, placing my boot on the adjacent chair.
His eyes slid to the offending foot which lay where some rich bitch would be putting her ass later that day but said nothing. He leaned in closer and I prepared to hear him start on about what I’d done last night, but he didn’t.
“I’ve got a job for you.”
I stayed quiet. That wasn’t unexpected. Why was he looking so nervous? It wouldn’t be obvious to anyone else, but there was that same sheen on his forehead as when I had plowed my boot into that guy’s face the other day.
“It’s important that it stays quiet.” He lifted his glass to his mouth with a hand that was nearly steady.
I refrained from rolling my eyes. What the hell was he on? Everything I did was quiet. That’s why I was so good. I just kept watching him. “I don’t want Luca to know.”
I stiffened. That wasn’t good. Going behind Luca’s back was never good. Pissing him off was never good. My relationship with Luca made my life easier and guaranteed a steady income stream. I wasn’t going to fuck that up.
He saw my reaction and gave a slight laugh. I hated when people could read me. It took away the element of surprise. “It’s nothing like that. It’s nothing to do with him. It’s just something I want to keep to myself. That’s it.”
He put his hand in his jacket pocket and drew out a crisp white envelope before sliding it across the table. “It’s all in here. I just want it done and then to never talk about it again. Understand?” There was a rare serious look to his face and his hand rested on the envelope for a moment as if he wanted to take it back, but finally he removed his hand.
I waited a moment before taking it. “Is it business or personal?” I asked as I slipped it into my inner jacket pocket without opening it.
“Does it matter?”
“Guess not.” I stood. “I’ll be in touch.”
I left him and walked out into the sunlight.
She had finished her run by the time that I got back. Freshly showered, she smelled like vanilla.
“How are you feeling? You didn’t get in until late last night” she asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.
“Just great. How was your run?”
She flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Great. It made me feel…empowered.” Her body, always slim, was now more muscular. Her arms were shapely and strong. She lifted weights in the gym, even though she said that she hated it in there. Sometimes I would watch her, enjoying seeing all the muscles glide under her skin with each movement. She slung her purse over her shoulder and grabbed her car keys.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m meeting Thomas for lunch. I’ll be back later.” She left with her gaze never swinging back up to me from the keys in her hand. I reached out for her, trapping her wrist in the palm of my hand. That, at least, was as still thin and frail as always.
“What?” She finally lifted her eyes to mine. They were sharp but unreadable.
Slowly, I let her wrist slide from my grasp. “Nothing.”
She held my gaze for a few seconds later before turning for the door.
I waited for the door to hiss and automatically lock behind her before I made my way to my office. It was a spartan room decorated with just a clean glass desk with a black lap top sitting in its center. The only other object in the room, besides the chair, was the door to the built in safe. Everything was on digital file now, encrypted by the best, but I kept cash in the safe. It always paid to have emergency funds. Sinking down in the desk chair, I pulled out Antony’s envelope. Sliding my fingers under the seal, I pulled it open and tipped the contents out onto the shiny desk surface.
The instructions were type written and the names weren’t familiar. There were three of them. Two men and a female with an address in the north. Most of the work I did for the family were familiar names from rival groups or from within and they had betrayed Luca or begun to cause problems. This was odd, in both location and name. Not that it mattered. I freelanced. I had an agent who would pass on jobs to me on behalf of employers who wished to remain anonymous and have their hands clean of the dirt involved. Anonymity was powerful. It meant that your problem could be wiped clean with a transfer of funds before sitting down to dine with your wife and children, free of guilt that your business partner or rival was about to be removed from the earth.
I reread the name of the town and raised an eyebrow. That was a coincidence. I committed the names to memory before sliding the paper back into the envelope. I would do my homework and then those names would be burned and nothing would ever connect them back to me…well, except for Antony, but I had so much dirt on him that I could always negotiate my way out of any shit storm.
And if not, identities and money were safely hidden away in several locations. It always helped to have a contingency plan, especially with the things that I had done, and especially when dealing with Luca and his ilk. It never paid to leave anything to chance.
My phone buzzed. Luca was summoning me, and to his home of all places. Shit. They were having drinks that afternoon and really wanted Rachel and I to come. I looked at the message and waited a while before replying. I wasn’t his bitch and I didn’t fear him. Still, he called so I came. I wasn’t stupid. He provided a steady income stream for me. Rachel wouldn’t be thrilled. She liked his wife, but she could read what Luca was and I tried to keep her away from him as much as possible. It was easier to have her locked away. That was the best way to keep her safe. I texted her the news and her reply didn’t come straight away. When it did, it was a short ‘Fine. I’ll be there soon’.
She took her time coming home, and when she did, she went straight to the bedroom to get changed. I followed her impatiently and stood there as she studied her wardrobe, one delicate finger tapping against her chin like this was an important decision.
Finally, she pulled out a white dress that had long sleeves but a deep neckline. She’d worn it before and it hugged her body like a second skin.
“Not that one.”
She frowned. “I look good in this.”
She was right. She did and that was the problem. The last thing I needed was Luca’s predatory eyes following her and appraising her. She wouldn’t appreciate his sadism and I didn’t need her sexiness fucking up my business relationships.
“You look good in everything but it’s cold out. Try something more…” I snatched at a dress, pulling it off the hanger. “Here. Try this.” She took it from me and stared down at it.
“I look like an old lady in this.”
“No you don’t. Just wear it. Please.”
I saw the surprise in her eyes when I said please. It always shocked her. Every single time. Silently she dressed, pulling the dark fabric over her pale skin. The turtleneck of the dress covered her graceful neck and the long sleeves disguised her powerful shoulders. The skirt
dropped down respectably to below her knees and was loose enough not to hug her ass.
She still looked sexy as hell though. She always would.
“Better?” She held her hands out to present herself, a petulant look on her face.
“Yes. Let’s go. We’re late.”
She stared out the window for the entire car ride and didn’t speak. Luca’s home was a mansion, maybe the kind of home that her mother had aspired to but never achieved. It loomed over the neighborhood‒a material structure that represented money and power. There were legitimate businesses that acted as a front for his more illicit endeavors. That was why he was free to show off what all of his conniving had earned him and why his wife could respectfully lead P.T.A meetings and run charity events.
The waiter at the door passed us glasses of champagne and directed us to the garden at the rear of the house. Outdoor gas heaters disguised as real fireplaces prevented the afternoon chill from reaching their guests. Luca’s wife was the first to spot us and greeted us with air kisses like we were normal people. Did she ever ask her husband what his associates did for a living? Did she care? Did she know what her husband was?
Rachel greeted her warmly even though I knew that she regularly found excuses to avoid invitations from the woman. She didn’t like the power there. She didn’t like anyone having more power than her. She was a smart girl.
Luca caught my eye and sent a nod in the direction of the house. I gave his wife a tight smile and excused myself, ignoring Rachel’s cool gaze. “I won’t be long.” I let my fingers dip under the turtleneck right at the base of her skull as I bent down and kissed her cheek.
“You two are so cute,” Luca’s wife cooed and I could almost feel Rachel rolling her eyes. “It’s like you can barely stand being away from one another,” I heard her say as I walked away. I didn’t hear what Rachel said in response.
Predictably, Luca had a fire roaring in his study. He sat behind a polished wooden desk. It was probably mahogany or oak‒something assholes loved. Me, I preferred glass. You could see through it and clutter never seemed right in its presence. Plus, it shattered with ease. You could destroy it and start over, but wood, that was here forever unless you burned the thing down to ash.
He had a fountain pen in its original box open on the desk, lying in a bed of satin. Who the hell used pens anymore? It was just for show. He didn’t even have a computer or laptop in his office. It was all for show‒from the moose head on the wall to the map of the world taking up an entire wall. There were a selection of novels bound in leather sitting in the bookcase behind him. I’d bet my life that they had never been opened let alone read. The psychopath liked to give out an image. I couldn’t blame him. Sometimes I liked to act like the boy next door and charm and smooze my way into people’s lives to get what I wanted, but it always got boring quickly. Plus, the charm act always felt wrong; as if I were wearing someone else’s face for a time and I was constantly waiting for the person, my prey, to figure out that I was just one big lie, but they never did, not until I wanted them to. That right there…that was power.
“Cigar?”
“No, thanks.” I didn’t sit at one of the chairs in front of his desk that were set up for his minions or anyone else that he wanted to intimidate. I took a chair by the fire, raising one leg up casually to rest my foot on the edge of the matching footstool.
“Did you handle Antony?” he asked.
“He didn’t need to be handled. He understood.”
I felt Luca’s eyes on me but I just stared into the fire. I didn’t know why his lack of respect for his brother irked me, but it did. Still, I made sure that my voice remained even and didn’t reveal any of what I felt.
Luca gave a grunt. “He’s not a natural. He’s too soft and he cares too much about having fun rather than the business.”
I stayed silent.
“There are several interests in which you would be better at handling.” Crap. This was exactly what I didn’t want. I didn’t need shit like this hanging over me, giving me more cause to be trapped with these people and brought to the attention of people who could fuck up my life.
I gave him a grin in response. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t work well with others.”
His dark eyes were on me, hard, with nothing in them, and his face was immobile. He was thinking, but what? Good or bad? Every muscle in my body tensed and I didn’t take a single breath as he kept his eyes on me. The inadvisable urge to get up and leave tore through me, but of course I didn’t give into it. I wasn’t about to show weakness. If I pissed him off, so what? He may have an army of brutal yet moronic goons at his bidding, but none of them were me. None were as stealthy or smart. They took orders. They didn’t think for themselves. I could take all of them down if I wanted to, one by one, piece by piece. Maybe I’d even make him watch…
He gave a laugh and showed good, white teeth. I didn’t relax though. I knew all about putting on acts to make people feel at ease before going in for the kill.
“You don’t work well with others. That’s funny, but don’t forget, Aaron, there’s power in numbers.” He was still smiling.
I shrugged. “I’m not a leader.”
His unflinching gaze was still on me, even as he smiled. He leaned forward slightly. “You like it, don’t you?”
He didn’t need to elaborate. We both knew what he was talking about.
The stalking.
The kill.
And the rush that came with all of that.
“Yes.” I didn’t look away as I said that. Why would I? It was the truth and nothing to be ashamed of.
His smile stretched. “Me too.” The smile didn’t reach his eyes but something glittered there‒passion, perhaps, or bloodlust. What was the difference? Then his shoulders squared and it was all back to normal. He spoke of other matters, other jobs and things he perceived to need taking care of in the future. It didn’t escape me that all of these had something to do with Antony’s responsibilities. Did Luca think he was going to rope me in this way? I nodded, I agreed, but in the back of my mind, my exit plan lingered. Maybe I would be using it sooner than I thought.
His wife interrupted with a rap on the door and poked her perfectly made up face around it to ask when he would be returning outside. People were asking for him, she said. He gave her a loving husband smile and said ‘Soon, Alexa,’ but his eyes remained dead as always. She either didn’t notice or chose not to. They had been together a long time. They had children together and a life, in spite of the fact that he was…me…an older version of me…
Rachel stood by herself, near the warmth of one of the fires while she sipped champagne. With her youth and beauty, other women wanted to stay away from her out of jealousy while their husbands were too scared to even speak to her incase their wives misconstrued the attention as something else.
Her eyes flicked up to me as I finally managed to make my way over to her. Luca seemed to want me by his side and that was a problem.
“I’m bored,” she said quietly. “Can we go?”
“I know. Soon.”
She took another sip of her champagne. Her cheeks were flushed like she’d had several glasses in my absence. That was probably where her next words came from. “Why?” she asked suddenly.
“Why what?” I reached for my own glass from a passing waiter.
“You don’t want to be here either. Why are we even bothering with these people?”
“These are my business associates. It’s important to keep up appearances.” I kept my voice smooth.
She gave me a petulant glare and slugged back the rest of her drink. Instantly she was signaling to a waiter for another. He came obediently‒she had that effect on men‒and she placed her empty glass on the tray before taking another. “Keeping up appearances,” she rolled her eyes. “What do you care about what people think? You don’t care about anything!” Her voice was too loud and too drunk. Several pairs of eyes swung in our direction and Luca was the owner of
one set. He made his way over to us, a smile on his face as his eyes raked over Rachel leisurely.
Something stirred in me then and my arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her to me with such a sudden movement that her champagne jumped from her glass and spilled down the front of her ugly dress.
That was a mistake, my pulling her to me like that. He read that sign. He read that she was my property, and now he knew that if I ever screwed him over that he’d know how to screw me over just as well. He’d seen me with women before and knew that I cared not one bit about them except how well they sucked cock and whatever else they could do for me.
That was what he’d thought about Rachel up until now. Suddenly, she was more precious. She was more than just a good looking piece of ass. She was mine and that made her important. Men like him only wanted what was a challenge; the girl didn’t matter.
I stiffened. “She’s drunk. I’m taking her home before she ruins your party.” Mercifully, Rachel kept her mouth shut.
He nodded but didn’t buy it. “Of course. It’s a terrible thing to see a woman drunk,” he murmured. I nearly barked out a laugh at his double standards. He could sever a man’s limbs from his body but God forbid a woman actually got drunk and made a scene.
I clawed my fingers into Rachel’s arm through the fabric of her dress. She didn’t wince or pull away when I held her tighter than I should have, merely walking away while I muttered thanks to him and to his wife as she came to join us.
“Let’s just get the fuck out of here,” I muttered under my breath to Rachel as soon as we were out of earshot. She let out a peal of laughter.
“That’s what I’ve wanted all along. Let’s get away from your scary as fuck boss and his Stepford wife,” she said in a dramatic stage whisper before giggling again.
“Why are you acting like this?” I pulled out the car keys and pressed the button to unlock it.
“It’s like you said. I’m drunk. You left me alone and the booze started flowing.” She swept into the car more elegantly that I would have thought she was capable of.
