“Where the fuck are Ellie and Theo? Weren’t they supposed to be here?” she barks, throwing her hands on her hips.
“Change of plans,” Journey says while popping chewing gum between her teeth. I want to slap the damn candy out of her mouth, but I restrain myself.
“Ellie guilt tripped me into being here. What a bitch.” Seven laughs at her own joke, hooking her arm in the crook of Suzanne’s elbow. “There’s someone here I want you to meet,” Seven says to Suzanne before starting to usher her toward the bar.
“Don’t be long,” I call after them.
Suzanne waves her hand over at me. “Journey will keep you company.”
I roll my eyes at her and finish my drink quickly. “One more and then we will find our seat for dinner,” I state, turning my back on Journey to follow after Suzanne and Seven. To my dismay, Journey is right on my heels. She’s like a goddamn puppy.
“I just love seeing all these women in gorgeous dresses and all dolled up. It’s like a real-life version of Vogue.”
I completely ignore her; how am I supposed to respond to that? I take a seat a few stools away from Seven and Suzanne, pulling the one on the other side of me out for Journey. I’m not going to be a complete ass to her all night. I need to give her a chance—a real one. Theo and Ellie see something in her and if they do, then eventually I will too. I just need to give her a break. I know I am being unnecessarily harsh.
I strain to overhear Seven introduce Suzanne to a beefy dude in a penguin suit.
“Suzanne, this is Carter Blake. He’s a player for the New York Otters.”
I glance over to see Suzanne take his hand, smiling up at him. It is nice to see Suzanne talking to another guy. Remington did a fucking number on her and she deserves to get back out there and meet a nice guy, but the protective side of me starts to rear its ugly head and I want to go be a fucking cock block. A hockey player is not my idea of a nice guy. I know what those jerks do—they all have women they fuck while they are on the road and cheat like bastards on their wives. Yes, it is a stereotype, but those rumors start from somewhere.
The rest of the gala drones on like it started. Suzanne’s new beau occupies most of her time, and Journey actually starts to grow on me. By the end of the night, we are having a decent time together. Seven is hilarious like always and is the overall badass all of us love.
I hate to admit it, but I end up having a good time. It might be the countless Manhattans I down throughout the night, topped off with a few flutes full of champagne, but whatever it is, I know I can’t admit that I halfway enjoyed myself to Ellie or Theo or they’ll start making me go to more of these snoozefests, and that is a risk I am not willing to take.
“Oh. Sorry.” Corin quickly covers her eyes as she walks in on me in the kitchen in my birthday suit. I have lived alone for so long that I didn’t even think about walking around my own home stark naked, but with a live-in nanny hanging around, I need to start remembering to at least throw on a robe or some boxers before I stumble into the kitchen for a midnight snack.
The whiskey is still streaming through my blood as I try to steady myself with the kitchen counter in front of me, not even attempting to cover up. “I should be the one to apologize.”
I know I am still drunk. I know that what is about to happen is wrong—very wrong—but I give zero fucks.
Corin nervously stands in the doorway of the kitchen as I start to walk over to her, but she doesn’t move. Her face has a mixture of concern and lust colliding as she slowly licks her bottom lip.
“Do you know how many nights I have dreamt about this?” My hand lands on her hip and I pull her into me.
My dick is already getting hard as she starts to breathe heavier in my arms. I let my lips glide slowly over her cheek before finding hers. I kiss her and it feels wrong, but I don’t stop—there is no way I can stop now.
“Linc, are you sure this is all right?” Her voice is low and shaky as she stands still.
I drag my tongue over her ear. “How could it not be?” I breathe before scooping her up into my arms. I set Corin onto the counter and pull her oversized t-shirt up over her head, revealing her plump milky breasts. Leaning down, I take her small, hard nipple into my mouth, sucking gently.
“Oh. Linc.” She moans quietly, letting her head roll back.
“Do you like that?” I ask, starting to twerk her nipple between my fingertips.
She just nods before pressing her lips to mine, using her soft tongue to part my lips. Yanking her sleeping shorts and panties off quickly, I let them fall to the floor in front of the dishwasher. I pull her to the edge of the counter, firmly gripping her ass cheeks. I don’t waste any time and start to rub the head of my dick over her slick opening. The gentle moans cheer me on as I gradually let my cock fill her tight pussy.
A quick gasp leaps from her lips as I start to thrust deeper into her wetness. “Oh. Fuck. Linc.” She cries out before biting my shoulder.
The slight pain ignites me. I pump harder and harder into Corin, knotting my fingers into her hair as I nip at the nape of her neck.
“Fuck. You feel so damn good, Ellie,” I growl before the shock of what I just said actually sets in.
Quickly, Corin shoves away from me. “The fuck?”
The disgust on her face breaks me as I scramble to grab her clothes and hand them to her.
“Fuck. I am so sorry. I don’t know where that came from,” I say, running my hands over my beard.
“Maybe you need to deal with that instead of trying to ignore your feelings by fucking the help,” she barks before running off to her room.
Walking back into my room, I slump down on the edge of my bed. “God fucking damn it,” I curse at myself. This whole Ellie thing needs to get back into check. She is my boss. She is my best friend. She is nothing more than that. She will never be more than that.
Chapter 7
The Hit
Ellie
My heart hammers against my chest as we sit in a dark abandoned office suite on the thirteenth floor. I always thought buildings skipped adding a thirteenth floor because of superstition; maybe that is why this one is empty. Theo sits next to me, thumbing through his phone, waiting for the signal we need. Shane’s caravan is going to be passing through within the next half hour, and I’m just ready for this to be over and done with. I’m ready to go home—have been since we got here two days ago.
Finley is the only thing consuming my mind. Usually during jobs, I am one hundred percent there mentally, not letting anything but my mark consume my thoughts, but there is nothing typical about this situation. I crave to be wielding my knife, letting it pierce through Shane’s jugular in the bathroom of his suite. I want to be up close and personal for this one, but there is no way for that to happen. My recent kills have had to be so far from my comfort zone, and that is making all of this even harder for me to deal with.
My head isn’t in the game; it’s a million miles away. I shake it off and try to focus on the task at hand. I screw the sight onto my Remington M24 sniper rifle and adjust the stand. I set the sight on the exact spot the vehicle is supposed to pass through and take in a deep breath.
“You have nothing to worry about, you’re a sure shot,” Theo says encouragingly while keeping track of the security cameras on his cell phone. “We have two plainclothes backups on the first floor as well.” I rest slightly assured because if something were to go wrong, we have two fallback men. The burner phone rings and Theo picks up the line. The signal is given and we can see the small motorcade coming down the road.
It’s now or never, I say in my head as Shane’s face becomes visible. I close my eyes and compose myself. My hands begin to sweat as my heart leaps from my chest. My breathing stops as I take my aim. Seeing his chest directly in my line of sight, I move my finger to the trigger. Three…two…one… My finger presses down and two bullets fire at the speed of sound. The car swerves as the bullet makes contact with Shane’s bodyguard. The Secret Service speed th
e car off in the opposite direction, seeking shelter as Theo curses up a storm next to me.
“Fuck! We have got to get out of here right now.” He grabs me by the arm and pulls me toward the stairwell. My mind is racing in a million different directions, but the biggest mind fuck is how I missed that shot to begin with. I had him fucking perfectly in my crosshairs. What in the fucking FUCK!
A black SUV pulls up just as we reach the ground level of the building, and Theo pushes me into the back as the car speeds off in the direction of the hotel.
“The driver swerved—there was something in the fucking road!” Theo yells into the phone. “I want a plane at Reagan in twenty-five minutes. We’re going back to Boston immediately.”
I can hardly make out what Theo is saying to whoever the fuck is on the other end of the call. I look down at my hands, shaking in my lap. “What now?” I ask Theo as he frantically scans our surroundings.
“We go back to Boston and we formulate a new plan. Now our biggest goal is to make sure no one finds out we were the ones behind this.” The car parks in front of the W Hotel and Theo and I take a minute before we exit the vehicle. We don’t want to send any shockwaves the press might pick up on. I can tell for once Theo is actually worried because we’ve never had a hit go wrong like this, and certainly not something this high profile.
“I’m sorry,” I say to Theo before we step out of the car.
He smiles at me with genuine warmth, not a single upset bone in his body. “It happens, love. You’ve just been so spoiled.” He wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me close, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Nothing to worry about, I promise.”
My dread starts to vanish a little bit. If Theo says everything is going to be okay, I know for sure it will be. He’d never lie to me. Within ten minutes, our entire suite is packed up and we are heading for the private plane we will charter back to Boston. My excitement to go home is absolutely palpable. When I get home, I will finally have Finley with me full time and I can really become her mother officially. Finley Stella McGuire will make her very public debut within the week, and life will be good.
We sit in the SUV on the tarmac, waiting to board the small plane. Theo is much more relaxed than he was a half hour ago, but I don’t know if I will ever be able to shake this feeling of failure. I had one job and I couldn’t even do that. I’m all over the damn place and I’m going to drive my damn self crazy before we land back in Boston. “You need to relax, Ellie. Everything is okay.” I just wish I could believe him right now. Moments later, we are on the plane, taxiing to the runway.
“Take this,” Theo says, handing me a Xanax. I toss it back and chug a bottle of water. It isn’t long before I am fast asleep, and I stay that way for the remainder of the flight.
Chapter 8
The Confirmation
Linc
“Morning.” I nod at Journey as she walks through the office door. She looks half asleep and her face is overly puffy.
“Hey.” She waves with a halfhearted smile before bee-lining it to the coffee pot that just finished brewing.
“Everything all right?” I reluctantly ask. Usually I can’t get Journey to shut up in the mornings while I am still waking up.
Journey shrugs. “I had heartburn all night and I didn’t sleep for shit. I was chugging milk like it was nobody’s business.”
Grabbing a bottle of Tums out of the top drawer of my desk, I toss it over her way.
“Thanks,” she says as she catches the plastic bottle.
“Don’t mention it.” I give her a quick wink before turning back to read an email from Theo. He wants to throw Ellie a baby shower and is asking me to plan it. How could he even think I would know how to plan a damn baby shower? I mean really, what the fuck?
Journey sits down at her desk across from mine with a huge sigh.
“How would you like to plan a party?” I ask, and Journey’s eyes snap to mine.
Her eyes light up a bit. “What kind? I would love to.”
I pull up Ellie’s calendar and check for her next free weekend afternoon. “Theo wants to have a shower for Ellie and Finley. Make it cute and fun. I will print a list of people who should be invited for you.”
Journey starts typing away like her life depends on it. “I am going to start a Pinterest board right now and get the best ideas ever! Gold and pink? Oh my god! This is going to be best!”
Her excitement is palpable and I can’t help but catch the excitement bug. Even though I am still a little nervous about Ellie keeping Finley, there is no going back at this point, and turning it into a positive experience will be great for everyone.
Ellie’s name starts to flash on my computer screen with a FaceTime call. Before answering, I glance over at Journey. “The shower is a surprise.”
Journey meets my gaze. “Mum’s the word. I love all of this so much.”
I click the green button, watching as the call takes a few seconds to connect.
“Linc?” Ellie questions as the screen reads Poor Connection.
“Ellie, I’m here. How’d it go?” I am expecting her to say it is done, that the job is finished and I can start billing out the rest of the payment from the benefactor. Even though it was a personal vendetta, I was still able to find someone else that wanted Shane’s ass wasted.
“It didn’t. I can’t explain right now but we’re going to have to go with another plan.” Ellie’s voice is low and even. I am in complete shock. It isn’t that we haven’t missed a mark before, it’s just that this plan was flawless. Theo worked for weeks setting everything up, and with him being there with Ellie, I had no doubt in my mind that Shane would be front page, murdered news in all the papers.
“Ok. See you later?” I ask as the pixelated picture of Ellie packing flashes in slow motion on my screen.
“Yeah, I will text you when we land.” She’s in a robe with her hair still wet from a bath. My mind trips back to last night when I said Ellie’s name while with Corin, and my stomach does a few backflips thinking about Ellie being naked on my counter in my arms.
“Sounds good. Talk to you then.” I end the call while a half chub grows in my pants. Why the fuck does Journey have to be here right now? All I want to do is search for some porn to rub this frustration out at my desk.
Journey dramatically exhales. “Ok. This is going to be so hard to keep quiet about.”
I point my finger at her. “If you spoil this surprise party, I will fucking fire you myself in two seconds flat.”
Journey laughs, thinking I am joking around with her. “Oh, you know you love me.”
I roll my eyes at her, turning back to my computer screen. “Don’t test that theory, Journey. Mark my words.” I force a smile, just to keep up with the facade of liking our newest addition. Right as I finish talking, Journey’s face turns sheet white. “You ok?” I ask as she shoves up from her desk with her hand over her mouth and violently shakes her head. She darts to the bathroom and I can hear her blowing chunks for a few minutes. The sound of someone else praying to the porcelain god makes me want to hurl. It is literally the worst sound on the face of the ever-loving planet.
She shakily shuffles out of the bathroom, holding her stomach. I rush to her side, helping her back into her rolling desk chair. Her hands tremble as her eyes dart around, completely confused.
“What the fuck is wrong with me?” she mutters under her breath.
I stare at her, not wanting to ask the question that is about to come out of my mouth. “You’re not pregnant, are you?” I am silently begging to be wrong. She blankly stares at me, blinking. Fuck it all the hell. Of course I have to ask the hard question and get the answer I do not want to get.
“Well then,” I state, digging my hands into my pockets and taking a step back from her.
“Don’t tell anyone, okay?” She sheepishly bites her bottom lip. “Theo doesn’t want anyone to know yet. It’s still early.”
“It’s not my news to tell.” I walk back over to my des
k and get back to work. It’s the only thing I can do. What the fuck is going on? Everything is changing. We’re on the fast track to going to hell in a damn bus, and I feel like I am the one driving the fucker. It’s only eleven in the morning and I ready for this day to be over. All I can do is distract myself with work. If the hit fell through, that means I have to come up with another plan. I open a new email to Theo; it is step one in getting everything back on track. I know he is probably already coming up with a new plan, and there was no time to waste. My email is short and to the point.
Theo,
Ellie filled in me, but no details yet. Call when you land so we can get everything sorted out.
-Linc
I know it will be a while until I hear back from him since he and Ellie are probably on their way to the airport at this very moment.
“Do you need me to get you anything?” I look over at Journey, who looks like she is going to puke again at any second.
“Soup?” Her eyes are watery.
I pull up UberEats on my phone and order her chicken noodle from Panera. “It will be here in about forty minutes.”
“Thanks.” She tries to smile, but it twists into horror as she rushes back into the bathroom.
This is going to be a fucking long ass day.
Chapter 9
The Shower
Ellie
It’s been three days since I fucked up my job, and with each day that goes by, I care less and less. It is almost like a weight has been lifted off me. In fact, I could not care less about anything that doesn’t have to do with Finley right now. My past couple days have been full of midnight feedings, diaper changes, and singing Finley to sleep in the world’s most comfortable rocking chair that Linc found in an antique store, and I’ve been completely content. I’m exhausted, but with Corin and Linc helping me around the clock, I’m getting by just fine. Next week we will actually move into Theo’s home—our new home.
The Hopeless (The Huntress #2) Page 5
