by KB Winters
I’d been wrong though. Everything had changed…
A man, some dude I’d never seen before, entered the room. He exchanged a dark, pointed look with Laura—who was still wearing her undercover outfit, posing as Crystal, the hooker—and crossed to me. He held out a phone. “Marshon.”
“I thought you said he was missing,” I said, glancing at Laura. She shrugged.
My hand gripped the phone so hard, the plastic case around it groaned under the strain. I tore it from the assistant who’d handed it to me, a flicker of guilt tamping down my rage, at the way the man flinched and shrunk away from me. My eyes flashed to the opposite wall, blocking him from my peripheral view.
“Where the fuck are you?” I growled into the phone.
“You’re still pissed at me? Damn…” Bennett sighed, and I didn’t have to close my eyes to imagine his halfway frustrated, halfway amused expression. “Listen, you can be pissed at me later, we’ve got work to do right now. Meet me in the hotel bar.”
Click.
My fist closed even tighter around the phone, not caring if the screen shattered in my hand.
“What did he say? Did they find Sanderson?” Laura asked, sidling up to me and prying the phone out of my hand. We’d known each other for a few months, and the only, reason I was able to keep from flipping out on her because of the way she’d acted in the casino in front of Everlie, was because I respected her. I knew it wouldn’t do any good anyway, even if I did let my anger loose. The whole fucking, pain-in-my-ass mission was my real problem and there wasn’t anything she could do about it.
I shook my head and crossed my arms to keep from flailing them in a demonstrative rage. “He wants to meet. Can you go? I need to…take care of things,” I asked, leaving the details for her to fill in. She’d been at the casino when Everlie had appeared. She knew exactly what I needed to handle without an explanation. I cringed, replaying the look on Everlie’s face when she’d spotted me in the casino with Laura—who had been in full undercover mode, acting the part of a prostitute looking for a nights work.
God, what she must be thinking…
I scrubbed a hand down my face and turned to Laura, awaiting her reply. She opened her mouth, closed it again, and considered me for a moment. “What?” I snapped.
She sighed. “Knight, you know he won’t want to see me, and I can’t go to the bar like this,” she paused, gesturing at her revealing attire. “That’s a classy bar. My other clothes are across town. It has to be you.”
She was right, but my stomach knotted tighter. I hated that Everlie was out there, confused, conflicted, alone. She deserved an explanation. My parting words had meant to repel her, to get her far, far away from me before she was caught up in the bullshit as well. Even as the words left my mouth, I’d hated the way they sounded. And I’d hated her hurt, wounded expression even more.
In all honesty, Everlie deserved more than just an explanation and an apology. She deserved an honest, straight forward, simple guy. My life was so fucked up in ways that even I didn’t understand. Each day brought a new reality of just how convoluted things had become recently.
“Are you going?” Laura asked, cutting into my self-loathing.
I jerked my chin in a curt nod. I didn’t bother waiting for her to say anything else, before pushing past and leaving the hotel room that was being used as a central meeting place for the team.
I heard footsteps behind me. “Knight, wait—” I froze at Laura’s voice and guilt slid down my spine, knowing what she was about to say. “I need your phone.”
Without a word, I spun, handed her the burner from my pocket, and watched as she dropping it to the floor and crunched it under her cheap, plastic looking shoe. She collected the shattered pieces and turned to go back into the room. “I’ll get you another one and have it sent to your hotel.”
I didn’t say anything. There was nothing to say. She went back into the room, and as soon as the door was closed, I stormed out of the hotel, taking heavy steps out to the sidewalk, still fuming that once again, I’d failed to memorize Everlie’s number before the phone had been destroyed. Exactly like the last time. I really needed to get my shit together.
Maybe it was for the best. As good and kind as Everlie was, she deserved someone better, and after this latest stunt, there was probably less than a one percent chance she’d even want to talk to me again. Ever. I had to let her go. I had to forget her and move on with whatever was going to be left of my life once this mission was done. That was why I’d never had a serious relationship before. My job. And the fact I was never in one place very long.
I hailed a cab, squared my shoulders, and waited for the first one to slide up along the curb. Minutes later, I was stalking through the front entrance of my hotel. Instead of going to the central elevator bank, I veered left and went inside the hotel bar. For a moment, I was actually surprised it was still open, since it was nearing two o’clock in the morning—then I realized where I was…the city that never sleeps.
I spotted Bennett right away. He was hulking over a cell phone at a corner table, a tall beer glass sitting to the right of his elbow. He looked up when I approached and smiled.
I curled my hands into balls to avoid swinging out and slapping the grin off his face.
“Hey brother,” he said.
“Save it, Marshon. Just tell me what the fuck’s going on so I can go upstairs and crash. I’m done with this night.” I slid into the seat opposite him and laid my hands on the table top.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Bennett nodded at someone over my shoulder, and moments later, a waitress slid a beer in front of me. “Drink, enjoy life!”
I waited for the waitress to step away before shoving the beer across the table, clinking the glass together with the half empty one sitting there. “I’m not in the fucking mood.”
The hint of a smile faded from Bennett’s mouth and the corners turned down as he studied me, as though only just noticing that I was in a foul mood and not kidding. “Damn, you really are pissed at me. What the hell?”
“I need to get out of this job, out of this hotel, out of this city,” I growled, my teeth grit tight together. “I’m done.”
“Done?” Bennett’s eyebrows arched, genuinely surprised by my announcement. “Why? Because of the blonde?”
“Everlie?” I snapped, instantly correcting him. “No. This has nothing to do with her.”
He cocked a brow, daring my answer.
I scoffed, a sarcastic smile flashing across my face. When I brought my eyes back to him, it faded, and my glare was steel. “I’m tired of the bullshit, that’s all. We’re out here chasing our fucking tails, because we’re at the bottom of the totem pole, like a couple of chumps, doing all the shit work. I busted my ass for too long, and too hard, my entire life, to be doing anyone’s grunt work. And yeah, fine, Everlie is a part of this. I don’t like lying, hiding, being all fucked up about it. She’s—” I paused, not wanting to overrun my mouth. “She’s a good girl. I don’t want to drag her into this shit. It’s not fair to her.”
Bennett crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat. “So, what? What does all that mean? You leavin’? Abandoning me?”
I scoffed before I answered him. “I’m not abandoning you.” The fact that he was even phrasing it that way made my blood pressure spike. We’d gone through everything together. I’d never once left him alone—no matter what kind of shit was raining down on us, and I’d always had his back. “I’m going back to Oklahoma. At the end of this, I’m gone.”
“Sounds like the definition of abandonment to me,” he fired back, unmoving.
I jerked away from the table, and started to stand. “You know what, Marshon. Call me when you’re done bullshitting. Oh wait, you can’t, they took my fucking phone away again. Guess you’ll have to call someone else for help next time.”
Before I could spin away, Bennett’s hand snapped out, as fast as a cobra, and gripped my forearm so tight, I nearly fell against the
table, surprised by the sharp movement and the strength of his grasp. Bennett had an inch and nearly thirty pounds of muscle on me, and while we were evenly matched when it came to combat and sparring, when he had the element of surprise, I was at a major disadvantage. I yanked my arm free, and stared down at him, surprise and fire blazing in my eyes. He looked back, just as steely and fierce. “Sit down.”
I hesitated, at war with myself over whether to cut and run, or do as he asked. Not asked—demanded.
I slunk back into the chair. “You have two fucking minutes, then I’m gone.”
“Fine.” He continued to stare, unblinking. “We have a lead on Sanderson’s group. It’s solid intel. The leaders will be meeting in two nights. We have the location and the time. We stake it out and when the opportunity presents itself, we move in and take everyone into custody.”
Relief flooded my body, releasing tension that had built in every muscle fiber. It was almost over. If things went as Bennett was describing, the entire job could be wrapped up in days…a week at most.
Praise God, I was on the cusp of being free.
Everlie’s face flashed to the front of my mind and I felt like I’d been sucker punched in the gut. Before walking into the bar, I’d braced myself, preparing to let her go, but now…
If I was free, I could tell her the truth. I’d be able to tell her the full story, come clean, and maybe—just maybe—she’d forgive me and we could move on together.
My mind was so overwhelmed with plans and pictures of her at my ranch in Oklahoma—I wasn’t listening as Bennett continued laying out the details for the plan.
“—that’s the part you’re not going to like,” he said, the phrase cutting through the fantasies building in my mind.
“What?”
He blinked, a flicker of annoyance on his face. “There’s a connection to your female…friend.”
“Everlie? What do you mean?” My heartbeat roared in my ears, like waves crashing against the coast. There was no way on earth that Everlie would ever be linked to a group of suspected terrorists.
“Well, more specifically, Tori, her roommate,” Bennett said, amazing me with his detachment to her name, considering he’d spent a week fucking her around the clock. “Our source, the one who gave up the information about the meeting, she’s a dancer at the club Tori works at.”
My face contorted, more confused than I was before his explanation. “What does that have to do with Everlie? Or Tori?”
“All I know is, I told the boss man about…seeing…Tori,” Bennett explained, his words hitching on the description of their relationship. “And he didn’t like it. Says we’ll blow cover, it’s too much of a coincidence. Tori latched onto me at the club. If she’s involved, she might have made us.”
I was unable to hold back a loud laugh. “You can’t be serious. That’s insane. There’s no way that girl is some kind of super spy.”
Bennett stared, his expression unchanged.
“You found Tori, not the other way around,” I reminded him, still smirking. “And even if, and let me tell you…a very small if, Tori was somehow involved, there’s no way Everlie is.”
He waited a moment and shrugged. “I’m just reporting the news, Ryk. I didn’t even want to tell Boss about Tori, but when the club came up, and then the friend, I felt I needed to share the information. He doesn’t like it that you’re still seeing Everlie.”
Suddenly, the meaning of his words clicked. It was a warning. I was being told to stay away from her. As the pieces slipped together, my face rearranged into a scowl. “I’ll take my chances, and so help me, Marshon, if you fuck this up for me—we’re going to have real problems.”
“It’s not up to me, man. But, hey, it’s nice to know where I stand.” His jaw tensed. “Nice to know that some fancy piece of ass ranks higher than your best friend after what? A month?”
I didn’t answer. It wasn’t what I’d meant, but there was something fierce and protective inside me that wouldn’t allow me to refute his statement. I stood and left without looking back, leaving Bennett to sulk in the bar.
Bennett and I were lifelong friends, and I had to lean on that history, and trust that we’d find our way back to a good place after the nightmare was over. Things were too fragile with Everlie to have that same confidence about our relationship.
As it was, I had no idea if she’d even give me a chance to explain.
All I could do was hope she’d give me five minutes.
Chapter Two
Everlie
By the time I’d convinced the man at the front desk to just let me into Ryker’s room to get my stuff and took a cab back to my apartment, it was nearly two o’clock in the morning. My body was exhausted, but still trembling, as my mind raced through the scene in the casino over and over again. The whole thing had scared the crap out of me, and even after the cab ride home, I couldn’t shake the jitters.
Safely inside, I closed the front door behind me silently, not wanting to wake Tori. God only knew what she was gonna have to say about everything. As I wandered down the hall towards my bedroom, I decided it would probably be better if I didn’t tell her anything at all. I realized that after our argument about Ryker, I no longer trusted her opinion about the situation. I had a feeling that whatever she would have to say was going to be judgmental and unnecessary. My mind was mixed up enough without her influence clouding things further.
However, it seemed that avoiding Tori would be impossible. I was halfway down the hall when the voice purred from the darkness of her doorway, “It’s pretty late for little country bumpkin to be getting home from the ball, isn’t it?”
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” I said, ignoring the other thoughts that fired in my brain at her taunting.
“You didn’t wake me,” Tori replied, stepping out of the shadows into the dim light of the hallway night light. She leaned against the wall folding her arms. “I was out myself actually.”
“Good.” I forced a quick smile, and started to push past her to get to my room but she stepped out further into the hallway, blocking my path. “What do you want, Tori?”
She smiled, her lips curling back into an expression that was altogether predatory. “Who said I wanted anything? I was just coming out to see how your night went. Is that such a crime?”
I sighed. Between the adrenaline spike and the late hour, and the overwhelming confusion about Ryker, I was in no state to get into a battle with Tori. “Come on, Tori, we’ve known each other a long time, just tell me what you want so I can go to bed.”
“I don’t want anything, Everlie.” She finally replied, the harshness of her expression softening. Her arms were still folded tight across her chest, but there was a new sadness in her eyes. She sighed in a way that was halfway a scoff of frustration. “Were you with Ryker?”
I hesitated, unsure why she was asking. After a moment, I nodded. “Yeah. But don’t worry, that’s over now, so you don’t have to worry about me anymore.” My voice broke away as tears filled my eyes. “Can I please just go to bed now?”
Tori paused, but then stepped aside and let me pass. I didn’t want her to see me crying, so I ducked into my bedroom, letting the darkness swallow me up without another word. I pressed the door closed behind me and sagged against it, sucking in a deep breath as I struggled to regain control of myself.
“Ev?” Tori’s voice filtered through the door, sounding softer and calmer than before.
“What?” I mumbled, not budging.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
“Right,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I’m sure you’re really torn up about it. Just—go away, Tori. Go gloat somewhere else.”
Silence met my harsh reply.
I didn’t hear her footsteps walking away, but after a few minutes alone in the dark, I knew she was gone, back to her room. I pushed away from my door, stripped out of my clothes, and went to the bathroom to shower off every trace of Ryker and our skin searing n
ight together. As I lathered my skin, my mind flashed with memories and sensations from being with Ryker. They were no longer my hands on my wet, naked skin, they were his. I tried to shake it off, to put him out of my mind, but my efforts were as fruitless as throwing a boomerang. As soon as I thought he was gone, his memory swung back around and hit me in the gut.
When I got out of the shower, hot tears pricked at my eyes. I wrapped a towel around myself, not bothering to dry off, and went to my bedroom. I jumped when I saw Tori sitting on my bed. I clutched my towel tighter to my chest. “What are you doing in here?”
“What’s wrong?” She asked, ignoring my question entirely.
I pursed my lips, a hot frustration brewing in my stomach. Ten minutes before, she’d accosted me in the hallway and had done all but snap her teeth at me, and now, she was sitting in front of me, her eyes wide with friendly concern. I wasn’t sure which version of Tori was the truth and which was just an act. “I don’t want to talk about it,” I said. “Now, please leave so I can go to sleep. I’m exhausted.”
“Do tell,” she purred, as the corners of her mouth twitched with amusement, and the worry in her eyes shifted to laughter. “Sounds like the night wasn’t a complete disaster.”
“Out.” I pointed to the door.
Tori remained glued to the bed. “Come on, Ev. Tell me what happened. I’m sorry about earlier. I’m just…frustrated.”
“What did I do?” I asked, my free arm swinging in a helpless gesture.
“Not with you,” Tori replied, her voice trailing off as her eyes shifted to the wall. “Other stuff.”
I wanted to ask, to prod further, but I kept my lips buttoned and waited for her to continue.
Tori sighed and lay back on my bed, her legs dangling off the side. “Things are just fucked up right now. I can’t really explain everything. But, I am sorry—for earlier. I don’t want to fight with you.”
I stilled. I didn’t want to fight with her either, but lately, we’d gone from being polar opposites, to something that felt like being different species. Or, maybe from different planets. She didn’t understand me, and I couldn’t understand her. But, she was trying to make things right and that was something I could respect. I perched myself on the edge of the bed next to her and looked down into her face, smiling at the way her auburn curls surrounded her face, going in every possible direction. “Apology accepted.”
