Perfect Ruin (Unyielding #2)

by Nashoda Rose

  “You sure this is a good idea, Georgie?” the guy asked.

  The girl with the pink streaks answered. “Nope, I’m not sure, cupcake. But if there’s a chance he’ll remember something of who he was…then it’s worth it.”

  “He can’t have the pill then,” the other girl stated. “He has no idea what he’s doing when he takes it and he has no memory of what he did. As the drug wears off, he’ll start to remember the present and the past. Although, I don’t know if he will remember what he’s been doing for the years he’s been on it.”

  “He could kill a few people and not even know it?” the guy asked.

  The girl nodded. “Devil’s breath makes someone do whatever they’re told. But my feeling is he’s been conditioned to do whatever a particular someone tells him.”

  “Kai’s mother, maybe? A goddamn deadly machine,” the guy said.

  I watched pinkie move across the room and my body stilled. It was the way her shoulders were held, the way her hips swayed, the way her steps were quiet and careful. It was a combination of everything that sent the blunt agonizing lash down on me.

  I fell to my knees, my one free hand holding my head. I growled a low, deep scream as my body fought against letting whatever it was in.

  “Connor!” Footsteps ran toward me.

  “Georgie. No.”

  I glanced up as the pain faded and saw the guy grab her around the waist and haul her back.

  She struggled in his arms, which pissed me off and I didn’t know why. I felt… protective of her.

  “Tyler. London. Out,” a deep voice ordered from the doorway. “Georgie. I told you to stay the fuck out of here.”

  The guy, Tyler, still had Georgie in his grasp, but he put his hands up and let her go then he and the other girl left, leaving the door ajar.

  “Deck.”

  I stiffened as she said his name. It was so familiar, yet it was like trying to lasso a dark cloud. My mind failed time and again to latch on to any reason why I’d know him. No, I did know him. I knew her, too. But my mind fought me every step.

  She held out a small leather-bound book and my stomach cramped. I clenched my jaw as the memory of the sound of the pages turning flicked across my mind, but it wasn’t a gentle flicking. It was so loud I wanted to tear out my eardrums. A pen scribbling across the pages. My pen. My hand.

  “We’ve found nothing in it, but maybe we weren’t meant to. Maybe it’s just what it is, his thoughts.” Her back was to me as she walked confidently toward Deck still in the doorway. “What if I read it to him?”

  “He’s not even lucid, babe.”

  She glanced at me and I glared back. “London says as the drug wears off, he should start to remember things from his past. It can’t hurt.”

  I wasn’t so sure about that. I hurt with her being anywhere near me and I hurt hearing her voice and I hurt every second they kept me here.

  The guy, Deck, stared at me and I stared back. I took several deep breaths and calmed the anger before I smiled. “I’m going to fuckin’ kill you.”

  Georgie gasped.

  Deck stepped toward her and wrapped his arm around her abdomen, dragging her back against his chest. My eyes narrowed as uneasiness shifted through me. Why did I give a shit whether he was holding her close to him?

  Ice cream.

  The clank of a spoon as it settled in the bowl before it slid across a table toward her. The girl. She sat with her legs crossed at a kitchen table and he was there, the commando guy, and he gave her the bowl of ice cream, a soft, gentle look in his eyes that didn’t match the commando who stood in the room now.

  My breath quickened as the memory filtered through the burning. Through the pain. Through the rage. Then it was gone and darkness.

  “Read it, babe,” he said as he guided her over to a chair on the opposite side of the room. He sat and pulled her into his lap. She flicked open the book and read.

  My torture began.

  I RAN DOWN the hall, my heart racing, nerves shooting off like misfiring electrical wires. I pushed open the guest room door and he was standing with his back to me, his shirt off and the muscles flexing as he placed it on the hanger then reached to hook it on the metal bar in the closet.

  I knew he knew I was there because his head slightly turned in my direction, not enough to look at me, but as if he were listening. I loved that about him, so perceptive to everything around him. It settled a deep calming blanket over me.

  “You going to stare at my back or come in and shut the door so I can fuck you?”

  My breath hitched and my belly flipped. He closed the closet doors and, still, without looking at me, he undid his belt buckle then I heard the zipper.

  I shut the bedroom door.

  “It was okay? You’re okay?” He was standing, no blood that I could see, but I still had to ask.

  His pants fell to the floor, his boxer-briefs following. He stepped out of them and only then did he turn to face me.

  And when he did, every worry dissipated because he had that twinkle in his eyes and that cocky grin pulling at his mouth.

  “Were you worried, braveheart?” He didn’t wait for a reply as he prowled toward me. And it was a prowl, his muscles contracting with every step. “I like that you were concerned for my wellbeing.”

  I was still trying to catch my breath when he cupped my chin and tilted his head down and mine up. “Never had that.” His thumb stroked back and forth over the dip in my chin. “You doing okay?”

  He’d just met a dangerous man who could have killed him, probably wanted to, and Kai was concerned about me. I melted. “I’m glad you’re back.”

  “Not what I asked.” His brows rose as he waited for my answer.

  “Okay, well, not really.” I tried to look down, but he wouldn’t allow me to pull my gaze from his. “But better now that you’re back.” His naked body was so close to mine the heat radiated off him and sank into me. “Guess I’m not feeling too brave right now. With my dad dying and you leaving, I was so scared you wouldn’t come back. I hated that feeling. It’s like I’m suffocating. Like my lungs aren’t getting enough oxygen until I see you again. It’s debilitating and I don’t like feeling that way. I want to be strong like you.”

  His knuckles stroked down the side of my face. “Baby, don’t you know, I feel that, too.” I melted some more. “You’re brave as hell. You’re a survivor. And being scared doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you’re alive. It means you care.” His other arm slid over my shoulder to the back of my neck where it settled. “Don’t ever lose that. It’s part of the reason why I had to have you.”

  He dipped his head forward and lightly kissed my lips. It was barely a touch and made my belly drop at the anticipation for more. “I want to go home, Kai. One day. Back to your house. I liked it there. I liked that everywhere I touched, I knew your hands were on it. Will we get that one day?”

  “No,” he answered.

  I frowned, body tensing. “Why?”

  “When I came back and you were gone, I burned it.” I gasped. He hadn’t told me that.

  Kai, with his hands on my hips, backed me into the wall then kissed the side of my neck. “Didn’t know at the time if it was compromised or not, but I couldn’t take the chance.”

  “But you built it.”

  “Yeah, baby.” His hands ran down my arms, then latched onto my wrists and brought them up above my head. “I’ll build another. For us.”

  He nuzzled my neck. “Kai?”

  “Babe, can we talk later? I want to fuck you right now.” He ground his hard cock into me and I moaned, closing my eyes.

  “But….” I shut up when he raised his head and looked at me. It was a warning look. It was the ‘be quiet and let me fuck you’ look. It was a look I was going to obey because I wanted him to fuck me, and knowing Kai, if I didn’t, he’d walk away and let me suffer wanting him for hours. So, my question on whether I could help him build a house would wait.

  That was when his mouth
claimed mine and there was nothing gentle about it. This was Kai making it clear that I was his.

  LONDON FROZE AND gasped. “Ernie?”

  We were walking into the dining room where the guys were gathered discussing the next move. London and I had slept in, something I never did, but after meeting Dorsey and staying up half the night with my cock in my girl, and my tongue tasting her pussy, I’d slept in.

  I quirked a half-smile when I saw Ernie’s face drop then red inflame his cheeks. “Hey, beautiful.”

  After spending a year watching London, another two years helping me find her, it was obvious Ernie was attached to her. He’d used that four-letter word a few times, too, when talking about her. I knew he saw her like a daughter, and it fuckin’ killed him to see her so broken because he knew her before Raven. He knew her smile, her kindness, her generosity. Only a few would take the time to chat with a homeless guy and give him coffee and breakfast every morning. It also killed him that he’d been lying about being a homeless guy.

  She looked up at me then back at Ernie. “Ernie. I don’t understand.” Her eyes came back to me. “You know him?”

  “After the fire, I hired him to watch you. He’s an ex-Navy SEAL. Knows what he’s doing and had eyes on you when he could.”

  “You had Ernie watching me?”

  I nodded.

  Her eyes shot to Ernie again. “You owe me years’ worth of coffees and croissants.”

  Then she stepped from my arm and ran for Ernie, who was looking rather uncomfortable and guilty. Tyler, who was beside him, stepped away with an amused look on his face.

  She stopped a foot from Ernie then threw her arms around him. It took a second before his arms found their way around her and he hugged her back, lightly lifting her off her feet when he did it.

  “Where have you been? How have you—” She jerked as his hands slid down her arms and she noticed his bandaged hand, minus a finger. “Oh, my God. What happened?”

  Ernie looked at me and shrugged. It was up to him if he cared to share what Dorsey had done. London had been through hell, but I’d never lied to her. If she asked me, I’d tell her the truth.

  Ernie didn’t like bullshit. He was pretty straight up, so he shared. “Dorsey. Decided to feed a snack to his pet shark.” London’s mouth gaped, her hand going to his chest. He put his overtop. “Thought he’d take my trigger finger. Fucker, picked the wrong hand. I’m a lefty.” He chuckled.

  London didn’t. Instead, she pulled him into her arms again. I saw her whisper something, but I didn’t know what. I did see Ernie’s cheeks flush again.

  Georgie and Chess sauntered in carrying mugs and a coffee pot. They set them down on the dining room table. Georgie then went to Deck, and Chess to the laptop where she started scrolling. Tristan, who’d been lounging against the windowsill, frowned and strode over to her, his arm snaking around her waist and pulling her up against his side.

  She ignored him as her fingers typed furiously across the keyboard. “The media says the car explosion was an accident.”

  “I told you I’d make it happen,” Deck said.

  “Oh, Deck always makes it happen,” Georgie proclaimed, eyes flickering to his crotch.

  Chess looked up from the computer screen and laughed. She stopped abruptly when she glanced at Tristan. The fuckin’ guy was staring at her like he wanted to eat her alive.

  London moved in to me and I settled my hand on the back of her neck before I said, “With Mother and now Dorsey dead, proclaimed accident or not, Moreno will have his guard up.”

  “Colombia,” Josh muttered. “He’s careful. Word is you can’t even get a sniper on him.”

  “Why did he need Vault?” Deck asked, his leg half-hitched up on the edge of the table. “His drug business is solid. Doesn’t need contacts, he already has them.”

  “But he needs drugs smuggled,” I said.

  “Jesus Christ, the kids,” Tyler said. “He’s using fuckin’ kids to get the shit over the border.”

  “That’s why the farm was moved to Colombia after you escaped.” I chin-lifted to Tristan. “I’m betting he paid my mother and Dorsey a percentage. He had his pick of kids from the farm to use for his smuggling, and Vault had a place to train killers.”

  “But Dorsey wanted out,” Deck said.

  “Men don’t like other men having more power,” Georgie said. “Not greedy meatloaves like those guys.”

  “We need to get the kids out before he moves them.” Chess closed the laptop. “We have to go in now.”

  This was where shit wasn’t going to be easy. We were leaving today, but not all of us.

  Tristan, I realized, had fuckin’ balls because he didn’t make it sweet. He just told Chess what was happening. “You’re going to Greece.”

  Chess scowled. “Excuse me?”

  I was getting to like Tristan, despite his arrogance. He wouldn’t take shit from my sister and my sister was going to be a handful. Her heart had always been her weakness and she’d go down to Colombia and run into a fray of bullets in order to help those kids.

  Deck and I discussed it. Brought Tristan in and discussed it, then decided on a location. Tristan wasn’t a mark for Moreno, so his house in Greece was ideal. Fuck, no place was ideal, but it was as ideal as we were getting in this situation.

  “You heard me,” Tristan said calmly.

  “Tristan,” my sister retorted. “Don’t think for a second you have the right to tell me what I can and cannot do.”

  Georgie started to say something when Deck sent her a warning look that had her snapping her mouth shut and frowning.

  “You’re not going near this shit. It’s fuckin’ Colombia,” Tristan growled.

  “This is so not happening.” Chess crossed her arms, stance wide, defensive and ready to take on the CEO. He, of course, looked unconcerned that she was pissed off or that she’d be pissed for a very long time.

  “My plane is scheduled to leave in two hours.” And he was smart to leave it to the last second to tell her. “We’re leaving for the airport in ten.”

  “WHAT?” she yelled. “Tristan. No.” She looked around the room as if for help, then settled on London.

  London shifted uncomfortably beside me and then her eyes were on me. “Kai?”

  “Moreno will come after us with everything he has when we go after the farm. He won’t take a hit lightly.” I glanced at Deck and he gave me a subtle nod. “Chess, London and Georgie go to Greece. Josh will go with. Along with Connor who will be sedated for the trip.” I addressed London, “I need you to continue weaning him off the drug.”

  Chess marched from the room. Tristan wasn’t far behind.

  “Deck—,” Georgie started, but was cut off as he interrupted.

  “Not having you near this any longer.” Deck looked unconcerned that Georgie was fuming, her eyes glaring, her cheeks heated and red.

  “I can help, damn it. Kai, tell him.”

  I shrugged. “No choice. I said I’d support him on this, Georgie.”

  Her mouth dropped open and I knew why. I never called her Georgie. She’d always been Chaos, but shit had changed. She was Deck’s girl now and I didn’t work for Vault. This was about respect and I had it for Deck.

  “What? You trained me. You made me into Chaos and I know what I’m doing. I can help.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “But I don’t call the shots. Not when it comes to you. Not anymore.”

  Her eyes darted back to Deck. “You’re really doing this?”

  He nodded and his scowl deepened, but his gesture contradicted that when he tucked her hair behind her ear and said in a quiet, calm voice. “Need you safe, baby. And I need you to do this for me. I can’t do my job if I’m worried about you.” She opened her mouth, but he wasn’t done yet. “You could be the best assassin in the world and I’d still send you to Greece. This isn’t about what you’re capable of, babe. This is about letting me protect you.”

  London moved in closer to me, and when I glanced down at her
face I caught the tear slipping down her cheek to drip off her chin.

  I saw the moment Georgie gave in to him when her shoulders slumped and she sighed. Then she said, “Looks like you only have ten minutes to rock my world, sweetpea.”

  Deck snorted while scowling, but his lip twitched as he snagged her hand and pulled her from the room.

  London had yet to say anything about going to Greece and I knew why. She understood why this had to happen this way because she’d been immersed in bad shit. No matter how brave and strong she was or pretended to be, she needed to be far from this.

  “You good?” I asked her.

  She stood on her tiptoes and lightly kissed my lips. “I don’t want to go to Colombia, and I don’t want you to either. But I know you have to do this.” Her hand slid down the front of my chest, over the scars that she’d kissed and licked last night. “You’ll come back to me?”

  “Told you right from the beginning I’d never lie to you, so I’m not starting now. Can’t promise that. But I’m good at what I do, so yeah, I expect I will.”

  Took her a bit, but then she smiled and I put my hand on the small of her back to guide her toward the door. “Ernie, give me ten.”

  “Later, London,” Ernie said.

  She suddenly bolted from my arms and ran to Ernie, throwing herself into his. I heard his oomph as he staggered back a step. I grinned. Ernie laughed.

  “Be careful. Love you.”

  She kissed him on the cheek and came back to me. I linked our hands and started heading for the stairs when I heard the rush of water draining through the pipes.

  She didn’t notice, nor did Tyler and Josh who were arguing over whether it was cool to fuck a chick on the first date. Tyler thought it was. Josh didn’t.

  “What is it?” London asked, her hand on my arm.

  It could’ve been someone showering, but it wasn’t a gentle flow of water. This sounded too powerful like—“Fuck. Connor.”

  Jesus Christ, he broke the fuckin’ pipe he was cuffed to.

  “Tyler,” I shouted. “Take her. Josh, get Deck. Ernie, side door. Connor’s free.” I made certain Tyler had London before I took off for the basement. I heard Josh running up the stairs yelling for Deck, and a door slam. Ernie headed for the side door. The shattering of glass breaking solidified that we were too late.