Beneath her fear, Vivi had felt something shift inside her, an urge to protect. “Your brother tried to kill him. Can you blame Rhys for defending himself?”
It had probably been the wrong thing to say, because something hot had leapt in the stranger’s blue eyes. “He wasn’t defending himself. He shot Eddie in cold blood. After a quiet drink at a bar.”
Vivi hadn’t known where her courage was coming from, yet she couldn’t seem to stop herself from talking. “So that’s what all this is about? Getting revenge for your brother by taking out Rhys? Or are you just wanting to fix a botched job?”
He’d only given her a noncommittal shrug. “How about you stop talking now. Just until he gets here, huh? And I’m sure he won’t be long. I saw his car down the road.”
“You think by threatening me, you’ll get him to…what? Give himself up?”
But Jason had only kept smiling and cocked his gun instead of replying.
She’d felt pretty helpless right about then, not to mention stupid. A typical damsel in distress being threatened by the villain in order to flush the hero out. It had made her angry, made her feel helpless and she did hate feeling helpless.
She’d wanted to do something, help Rhys somehow or at least take herself out of the equation so he didn’t have her to worry about. But she hadn’t been able to think of anything. She couldn’t fight and hell, even if she could, the man in front of her holding the gun would probably shoot her before she could do anything. Her other option was the big gun that was still lying where Rhys had left it, on the coffee table near the couch. But then that wasn’t much use to her since she’d never fired a gun in her life and anyway, even if she had, she wouldn’t be able to get to it in time.
In fact, there’d been only one thing she’d thought to do and it was probably a stupid idea. But maybe it would provide Rhys an opportunity, give him a moment of distraction that, if he really was watching through the windows, he could use to his advantage somehow.
So she’d stared at the man standing in the doorway, pointing the gun at her. And she reached for the hem of her T-shirt.
“What are you doing, sweetheart?”
“I’m getting hot,” she’d said, knowing she sounded stupid even to her own ears. “Thought I’d take this off.” Then before she could second-guess herself, she’d lifted the T-shirt and pulled it over her head, leaving her standing there in nothing at all but the necklace Rhys had given her.
Now, Jason blinked in shock, and she felt a little thrill go through her, that she’d managed to surprise him. “What the fuck are you doing?” he demanded.
Vivi opened her mouth to say something, but then lots of things seemed to happen all at once.
The door crashed open and Rhys shouted, “Down, Vivi!”
She dropped to her knees like a puppet with her strings cut, face down on the floor, and then she heard the sound of a gun being fired and another answering report. Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest, fear clenching tightly inside her, and she wanted to get to her feet and see if Rhys was okay. But she didn’t want to make things even worse than they already were, so she stayed where she was, with her arms protectively over her head.
Someone swore and then there was crashing and more cursing.
Vivi raised her head cautiously, but could see nothing. Slowly, carefully, she got to her feet, her pulse hammering, looking toward the bathroom.
Rhys was on the ground, grappling with Jason, and she nearly gasped aloud as the guy launched a punch at Rhys’s head that almost connected. The two of them looked evenly matched, which wasn’t good. Especially when Rhys got himself flipped over and Jason started choking the life out of him.
Vivi grabbed her T-shirt, scrambled back into it, then, acting completely on instinct, she grabbed the gun on the coffee table. It was far heavier than she expected and she had no idea what to do with it. But she’d be damned if she stood around like an idiot waiting until Rhys was beaten up, or shot, or hurt in any way.
He’d always protected her and now it was her chance to protect him.
So she gripped the gun, walked right up to the bathroom doorway, put her finger on the trigger and aimed the muzzle at the back of Jason’s head. He was sitting on top of Rhys, with his hands around Rhys’s throat, and he didn’t seem to be aware of her standing right behind him. The asshole. That’d teach him to ignore a naked woman.
“Take your hands off him.” She hoped to hell her voice wasn’t shaking as badly as she thought it did. “Take your fucking hands off him or else I’ll blow your goddamned head off.”
A red haze had descended over Rhys’s vision, part complete and utter rage, part suffocation since he hadn’t been able to dislodge the fucker’s hands from around his throat. It had been two years and he’d forgotten how good Jason was. Not that he’d had a moment to remember.
All he’d been conscious of from the moment he’d watched her take off the T-shirt, was making sure Vivi was safe. So he’d crashed through the door as loudly as possible to distract Jason, only to see that the asshole was already pretty distracted since Vivi was standing there completely naked.
He’d had no chance to think about what was going on, all that had been clear in his mind was to neutralize the threat. So he’d yelled at her to stay down and fired the Glock. Unfortunately Jason had ducked, firing his own weapon almost immediately. But Rhys was already down, rolling to avoid the bullet and coming back up again, moving fast, launching himself straight at the asshole with the gun and taking him down.
He’d tried to be good then, tried to lock all those goddamn feelings away, deliver a few clean blows to at least daze the guy so he could then bring his gun into play.
But as soon as the prick had gotten a punch in, Rhys had lost it. The rage that he’d tried too hard to lock down had roared through him, that this asshole had threatened Vivi. How dare this piece of shit bring her into what had to be some kind of private revenge thing? His problem was with Rhys not her.
Rage had given him strength but it clouded his thinking, and all he wanted to do was beat the guy to a pulp. But the other man knew unarmed combat and matched every one of Rhys’s moves. He was strong too, a certain cold rage that Rhys recognized burning in his blue eyes.
Rhys had tried to pin him then and yet had ended up on his back with the fucker’s hands around his throat, slowly squeezing the air out of him. He’d tried a few moves to get rid of him, but they hadn’t worked, and he was on the point of trying to break a few fingers when he heard a familiar, shaky sounding female voice threaten to blow the man’s head off.
The hands around Rhys’s throat loosened minutely, but the anger in Jason’s blue eyes didn’t fade. “You sure you know how to use that, Vivi?”
“My name is Vivienne to you,” Vivi said coldly. “Only Rhys gets to call me Vivi. Now how about you get off him and I’ll let you live.”
Rhys sucked in a hoarse breath and flicked a glance at her.
She was standing behind them, his sniper rifle held in her hands, the muzzle pointed at the back of Jason’s head. Her knuckles were white as she clutched it and he could see already that the safety was still on. Of course she didn’t know how to use it.
Jason smiled down at Rhys. “She’s pretty scary.”
“Get off him,” Vivi repeated. “This is point blank range, asshole. I’m not going to miss.”
She wouldn’t miss. But not with the safety on.
Taking advantage of Jason’s distraction, Rhys arched his body, jerked one knee up and pushed hard, breaking the hold around his neck. The other man recovered quickly, coming back at him, but this time Rhys was ready, delivering a kick to his chest so he fired back against the vanity. Then Rhys punched him twice in the face. Dazed, Jason slumped back, blood leaking from his mouth. Rhys grabbed the gun that had been knocked from his hand during the fight and brought it up, aiming right between the prick’s eyes.
“No, Rhys,” Vivi said from somewhere far away.
But
he wasn’t paying attention. Because this man had threatened her, might have killed her if Rhys hadn’t gotten here in time. And that couldn’t be allowed to stand.
His finger was on the trigger, ready to squeeze it.
Then Vivi stepped unexpectedly in front of him, the look in her eyes blazing. “No,” she said fiercely. “Put that gun down.”
He didn’t. She wouldn’t understand, because she didn’t know. She’d had the good luck to find a family who loved her, who’d helped her become the beautiful, caring woman she was today. Sure, she had her issues, no denying that. But she was a good person at heart.
She’d never seen one small boy get hit in the face. Get hit over and over again until he just lay on the floor unmoving. She hadn’t been the one who’d tried to defend that boy and been thrown across an entire fucking room for the trouble.
She’d never lost anyone she’d been trying to protect.
But that was okay. She shouldn’t have to lose anyone. And she wouldn’t, because he was here to protect her. He was here to do the things no one else would. And it had to be him, because he was the bad guy already, wasn’t he? He was the stone cold killer. He’d killed before and he would again, and that was fine.
He would do it so no one else had to.
“Get out of the way,” he said, staring straight into her eyes, letting her see he wouldn’t be moved or deflected. “This prick needs to be neutralized.”
But she didn’t move, she only stared back, determination in every line of her. “No,” she repeated. “I won’t argue with you about him being a prick, but if ‘neutralized’ means you shooting him in the head, then I’m afraid I’m not moving.”
“He threatened you. He put you in danger. He needs to pay.”
“Yes, he did. But he didn’t hurt me.” Her chin came up. “Anyway, that doesn’t mean you have to kill him.”
Behind her, the asshole was coming to and if Rhys didn’t pull the trigger soon, they were going to have a whole world of trouble.
“Get the fuck out the way, Vivi.” He made it an order, hard and flat and cold.
Again, she ignored him, staring at him with challenge in her eyes. “I’m not letting you kill him, Rhys. I’m not.”
His patience was beginning to slip through his fingers. If she didn’t get out of the way, he was going to shove her to one side and he really didn’t want to do that. “Why not?” he demanded. “Give me one good fucking reason to let him live.”
Something in her eyes shifted and softened, grief and sympathy flickering in them, though why she’d be feeling those he had no idea. “You killed his brother, Rhys,” she said, a hoarse edge to the words. “He’s after payback.”
A needle of cold slid under his skin. A brother. He’d killed his brother…
“And I can’t let you do it,” she went on, as if that wasn’t enough. “You gave this up. You stopped doing this two years ago and you’re not going back, you hear me.” Her throat moved and he could see her name glitter against her skin once again, his Vivi. And her hand came up and gently she pushed the gun that was actually pointed at her, away. “You’re not that guy, Rhys. You never were, remember?”
But if he didn’t do this, didn’t pull the trigger and end it, then there would be no hope for them. No hope at all.
“I have to.” He stared at her, willing her to understand. “If I don’t take him out, he’ll come after us. And he’ll keep coming and coming and he won’t ever stop. You’ll never be safe ”
Yet even that didn’t seem to move her. “Then we’ll go somewhere else. Hell, we can move states or leave the country. As long as we’re together, I don’t care.”
Vivi, giving up her apartment and her job to go on the run with him? Giving up the safe, comfortable life she’d created for herself? No, she might not care now, but she would eventually. And so would he.
It was going to happen. He wouldn’t let it.
He reached forward, taking Vivi’s arm, gently pulling her out of the way.
“No,” she pleaded hoarsely. “Don’t!”
Her fingers clutched him, but the muzzle of his gun was already pressing against the asshole’s forehead. He’d be able to pull the trigger before she could stop him.
Rage and hate blazed bright in Jason’s blue eyes. “Go on,” he said, his tone vicious. “Shoot me like you shot Eddie. I can tell you want to.”
His hand was shaking and he couldn’t seem to steady it. One squeeze of his finger and it would stop, the threat to Vivi eliminated. He didn’t know why he hadn’t yet. “You wanted me dead,” he said coldly. “And so did Eddie. He got what he deserved and so will you.”
“Eddie was a fool. I told him to let it go, that taking you out would be a mistake, but he didn’t listen.” Jason’s lip curled. “Little brothers, man. What can you do?”
The splinter of cold that had slid under his skin began harden, began to grow into a spear of ice. Rhys knew about little brothers. He knew about the men who hurt them, too.
Men like you.
“Not my fault he didn’t listen,” Rhys said, trying to drown out the thought. “I have to watch my back, protect what’s mine.”
Weirdly, Jason laughed. “You think I’m doing anything different? I protect what’s mine, too.” His smile remained, vicious and sharp. “Us killers, we got to stick together, right?”
The words touched on something painful deep inside him, making that spear of ice become thicker.
He’s right. You know he is.
“Shit, the suspense is killing me.” Jason’s mouth twisted. “Go on. Shoot. Get this fucking over with.”
The shake in Rhys’s hand wouldn’t go away and the cold inside him was spreading wider and wider. Then there was Vivi’s hand on his arm, not pulling this time, just there, a spot of warmth in the slowly spreading cold.
“Don’t,” she said softly. “You’re not a murderer, Rhys.”
But he was, wasn’t he? That’s all his past was, an endless line of contracts, of bodies. He was the bad guy and no amount of her telling him he wasn’t would change that.
“Yes, I am.” His voice sounded weird. “You heard him. That’s exactly what I am. I can’t escape it.”
“You’re not.” Her thumb stroked along his arm, a gentle touch. “You know why? Because I wouldn’t have fallen in love with a man like that.”
If knives could have been fashioned from words and used to stab people, Vivi would have stabbed him right there and then. Because he felt those words slide through him, echoing.
She loved him, but she was wrong. He was a man like that. He’d killed Jason’s brother in cold blood. Fuck, how did that make him not a killer?
You’re no better than Clayton.
Clayton, who’d killed Scotty.
The truth was hard and cold and inescapable.
His arm dropped, seemingly of its own accord, and Jason’s gaze widened in shock. But Rhys didn’t give him a moment to sort out what was happening, he hit him over the face with his gun instead, Jason dropping to the ground like a stone.
“Rhys.” Vivi’s hands were pulling at him, turning him around. And she was taking the Glock out of his hands and putting it down on the vanity next to him, taking his face between her palms. “It’s okay,” she murmured, her thumbs running over his cheekbones, stroking him like he was worth something, like he was still the good guy he’d tried to kid himself he was. “It’s okay, we’re fine. We’re both fine.”
She was touching him. She was the one fucking comforting him and shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t he be the one comforting her?
He focused on her beautiful face, a curious blankness sitting inside him. “You can’t love me,” he heard himself say. “You can’t love a killer.”
“But you’re not. That’s what I’ve been trying to say all this time. You’re not one, not really.”
Yes, he was. That’s what he’d been for years. And he’d quite happily have killed that prick if Vivi hadn’t been there. He would have
pulled that trigger and that asshole would be no more. Because that’s what killers did.
It’s what he was going to do once he’d gotten her out of here and to safety. He would give her that at least, after everything she’d given to him. She wouldn’t have to see him pull that trigger.
Rhys reached up and gently pulled her hands from his face, because he didn’t want her touching him. Not now. Not when he could feel the darkness inside him going all the way down to his soul. “I am,” he said calmly. Coldly.
Her eyes went wide, the gleam of tears in them. “Rhys, no—”
“Stay here,” he interrupted. “Because right now, you’re the only thing keeping that prick alive, understand?”
She stared at him like he’d turned into a stranger. “This isn’t you,” she said flatly. “What happened? Was it because I told you I was in love with you?”
He didn’t flinch at her words and he was proud of that if nothing else. “Nothing happened. This is who I am. This is who I’ve always been.”
“Bullshit.” She was searching his face as if trying to see something in him, something that wasn’t there. “Why are you so hell bent on being the damn hitman? God, you’re more than that, Rhys. At least you are to me.”
Maybe he had been once, but not anymore. He’d tried for two years to put that behind him, to be someone else, someone better. But it was time to accept what he already knew deep down inside. The past was set in stone and he couldn’t escape it. Why bother trying?
“Stay here,” he ordered, his voice toneless. “I need to organize a few things.” He made as if to go past her, but she stood in front of him, blocking his way.
“Don’t go.” She reached for him. “Please, don’t go. Talk to me, Rhys.”
He stared at her and realized he didn’t feel a thing, that the cold inside him had spread all the way through, freezing him solid. The relief was indescribable.
“Sorry, Vivi,” he said. “Jason should be out for a while, but lock the bathroom door just in case.”
Carefully he pushed her out of the way, before striding out.
The Hitman Next Door: A Texas Bounty Novel Page 17
