Killing Game

by Felicity Heaton

  “I’ll grab a shower and then we’ll have breakfast... um...” She glanced at the clock and raised her brows as she saw it was almost three in the afternoon. “Brunch... and then we’ll go out into New York and go up the Empire State.”

  “Sounds good.” Sarah beamed at her, evidently liking the sound of going up the Empire State Building and staring out over the city.

  Lily wondered if it was a good idea. Being up there was only going to bring back her thoughts of Cain, and it was so quiet up there that she probably wouldn’t be able to push them away so easily, but Sarah had seemed so happy about it that she couldn’t change her mind now.

  * * *

  As she stepped out of the shower, Lily wiped her hand across the steamed up mirror and stared at her reflection. She dabbed the water off her face with her towel and smoothed her wet hair back. Her eyes dropped to rest on the toothbrushes and picking her one up, she set about putting some toothpaste on it.

  Bringing the toothbrush up to her mouth, her eyes caught her reflection and she paused.

  Her necklace was gone.

  She panicked and dropped her toothbrush into the sink, her fingers brushing against her bare neck. She frowned at the mirror, wondering where it could be and hoping that she hadn’t lost it.

  Since Cain had given her the little diamond heart, she’d been so careful with it, never wanting to take it off and almost growing superstitious about it—as though bad things would happen to her if she didn’t have it on.

  She scoured the bathroom. When she couldn’t find it, she slipped her bathrobe on and tied the belt around her waist before walking out into the living room. She searched the room and then the kitchen, and then headed into her bedroom.

  It was nowhere.

  Her heart beat a little faster.

  She couldn’t have lost it.

  Cain would kill her.

  “Sarah!” Lily hollered and her sister appeared immediately from her bedroom.

  “What’s wrong?” Sarah said.

  “I can’t find it... I can’t find it, Sarah.” Lily walked toward her sister, her hands waving by her sides as she tried to calm herself down.

  “Can’t find what?” Sarah looked confused.

  “My necklace.” Lily brushed her fingers against her neck again, as though it might miraculously appear there again.

  “Where did you last have it?”

  “I had it on last night, I know I did, at the club. I went into the back to get changed...” Lily’s face crumpled in both despair and relief at the same time. “...I took it off, it got tangled in my hair and I took it off and put it down in my locker. I must have forgotten to put it back on when I’d tied my hair up.”

  Lily dashed into the bedroom and Sarah followed her. “Where’re you going?”

  “To get it back,” Lily said with determination, slipping her jeans on and doing them up.

  “But Lily, the club will be closed.”

  Lily froze mid-way through pulling a jumper on over her head.

  Sarah was right, the club wouldn’t be open yet and no one would be there. Plus, she was risking everything by going back there. She’d promised Cain that she wouldn’t and she knew that everyone would know about what had happened between him and her boss, and that she was the reason behind it.

  If she went down now, there was a chance she would find herself in trouble. She finished slipping her jumper on as she came to a decision. She would go tonight. She would go down to Eden at the same time she did each night, just before it opened. She’d not make eye contact with anyone, would just walk straight in and get her things and then leave.

  Looking over her shoulder, she smiled at Sarah. She walked over to her sister and smoothed her hair down, continuing to smile as she spoke.

  “You’re right, now go get ready and we’ll have some fun.” Lily felt warm inside when her sister gave her a wide smile and hugged her tightly.

  Lily closed her eyes and held her.

  “You’re sure?” Sarah asked as she released her and looked at her.

  Lily nodded.

  “It’ll be fine.” She smiled, pushing away from all negative thoughts and trying to convince herself that everything would be okay.

  She watched her sister walk to the bathroom to get ready and then looked back at her bed, remembering talking away the night with Cain.

  She sighed as she hoped her necklace was where she thought it was and her fingers subconsciously rubbed her neck.

  “I’ll get it back tonight.”

  * * *

  Chapter 17

  Lily pulled her little leather coat tighter around herself as she walked through the darkness towards the club. It was nearing seven now. She’d passed a great day with her sister and felt so much better for it. There had been moments where she’d been worried about Cain and had pulled out her cell phone, wishing he’d call her and let her know he was okay, but they hadn’t spoiled her enjoyment of the day.

  She’d completely forgotten how crazy her sister was.

  Speaking of crazy.

  Lily frowned as she caught sight of Cain up ahead of her. He was walking toward the club just like she was, and she wondered what he was doing here. Surely he wasn’t intending to go in, not the day after he’d killed the owner?

  She hung back and found herself following him through the streets, her curiosity getting the better of her. She didn’t know what possessed her to follow him rather than calling out to him, but she couldn’t stop herself from just wanting to see what he was up to.

  It didn’t make any sense.

  He’d told her to stay away because they knew he’d killed Mr. Valentino, and now here he was going to the club. She hid behind a wall and looked up the alley to the entrance of Club Eden, watching Cain as he walked straight through the two heavy metal doors and let them close behind him.

  What was he doing?

  Walking up the alley, Lily decided that she didn’t like the feeling spying on him was giving her and she would find him and speak with him. He would kill her for coming back to the club, but she was sure he’d understand when she explained why she was there.

  She hoped he’d explain what he was doing there, too.

  Slipping in through the main doors, Lily ignored the looks the bar staff gave her as they set up and looked around, trying to find Cain. She frowned as she saw him disappear into another door and close it behind him. Deciding to get her necklace first so she would feel better and could explain more easily why she was back at the club, she headed into the locker room.

  She smiled in relief as she opened her locker and saw the little diamond heart and gold chain just lying on the bottom of it. Picking it up, she clasped it around her throat and smiled broadly as she looked at herself in one of the mirrors.

  Everything back where it belonged.

  Leaving the locker room, she went straight over to the door she’d seen Cain disappearing into.

  * * *

  Cain looked down at the gun he was holding and then into the street below him.

  He couldn’t do this, wouldn’t do this.

  He couldn’t do this to her, she meant more than anything to him, more than everything. The money on this contract was enough to set him up for life, but he wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt and the pain he’d cause to her if she ever found out what he’d done.

  It was no use. He stared blankly into the street and sighed. He had to give up now. He couldn’t bring himself to do this anymore, not when he wanted so badly to be with the girl he loved. She didn’t deserve to be brought into this world. She deserved a good life, one that he knew he could give her if he just stopped what he was doing.

  Russ could do the contract.

  Picking up his mobile phone, he sent a message to Russ to tell him there had been a change of plans and that he couldn’t go through with it. He knew the boy would understand.

  He just didn’t know how his boss would react to the news.

  But he had to do this, had to be the m
an Lily needed him to be, the man he needed to be. It wouldn’t be easy to leave everything he knew behind, but it was worth it if it meant he could really be with Lily.

  It was worth it.

  A noise caught Cain’s attention as he went to put the gun down and he turned sharply to face the intruder.

  * * *

  Lily walked up the little narrow stairway and pushed the door open, a smile on her face as she walked out onto what looked like the rooftop.

  As she spotted Cain, the bottom dropped out of her stomach and her heart leaped into her throat, a cold chill running up her spine and immobilizing her.

  Cain had turned on instinct where he knelt at the edge of rooftop, his sniper rifle moving with him to face the intruder.

  He had his gun trained on her.

  Her.

  Cain swallowed hard, unable to move his gun off her, unable to move at all as he saw the realization surfacing in her eyes and could almost see her heart breaking.

  Looking him in the eye, it took a few seconds for Lily’s brain to compute the scene before her. When it caught up with the rest of her, she felt as though her whole world was as fragile as glass, and it had just slipped from her fingers.

  She could hear it shattering all around her.

  “Cain?” Lily choked on his name as she searched his face in the near darkness and could see such a deep sadness in his expression.

  Cain said nothing. She stared at him, her eyes filling with tears. He slowly placed the gun down on the roof and stood up.

  “Lily...”

  “Please... don’t... I can’t...” Her heart clenched as she looked at him, panic and confusion threatening to overwhelm her. “This is too much... too... God...”

  “What are you doing up here?” His voice was shaky and he looked as though he couldn’t believe what was happening.

  She couldn’t believe it either, and she certainly couldn’t deal with it.

  Her eyes grew wide as she pieced everything together in her head, and it all became so clear that it just hurt her all the more. She stared at Cain and then down at the gun, then back at him.

  “What am I doing? Funny...” She tried to laugh but it came out weakly. “I was about to ask you the same thing, only I think I deserve to hear your answer first. No more lies, Cain, I want to hear the truth... who the hell are you?”

  He took a deep breath. “The same man I’ve always been, love.”

  Lily choked on the pet name, tears spilling onto her cheeks as she felt all the times she’d spent with him being torn away from her. Everything was a lie, all the kisses, the hugs, and the tender touches. It was all bitter poison to her now.

  She frowned as she looked at him. “I can’t believe that...”

  Cain took a step toward her but she stepped backward, keeping the distance between them steady.

  Lily stopped the words leaving his lips with a glare. “I want to hear it all, Cain, starting with what’s happening here.”

  “I can’t, not now.” His voice was gentle, as though he thought it would make everything all right between them, would make her understand. “I never lied to you, Lily, not once.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me? All those times I asked you what you did for a living and you let me find out this way?” Her hands trembled with a mixture of anger and hurt as she watched him run his fingers over his hair.

  “Do you think it was easy, not being able to tell you? I wanted to, Lily, God, did I want to, but I couldn’t.” Cain took another step towards her but she backed away again. He heaved a sigh of frustration and backed off a step, giving her space.

  “Why couldn’t you tell me?” Lily refused to understand his reasoning. She felt sure that there had to be more to it than what he’d said. If he had really wanted to, then he would have told her. He’d told her last night about what he’d done that day, had confessed to murder in her arms but hadn’t mentioned this. Hadn’t mentioned that it wasn’t the first time he’d killed someone, and that it wouldn’t be the last. Why?

  “This is why.” Cain intimated what was happening between them and then hung his head as he thought about the other reasons he’d kept it from her. “I thought I was protecting you, protecting us. If you’d known, if I had told you like I wanted to so many times... would you have still been able to look at me, or would you think I was a heartless monster even when I’ve proved that I’m not?”

  Lily’s gaze fell to the floor. She didn’t want to see him looking so broken. She couldn’t let it cloud her judgment. “I don’t know. I looked at you last night, slept next to you knowing what you’d done, but this is a whole different level, Cain, this I’m not so sure about.”

  She felt confused. Her emotions were all over the place and she couldn’t make sense of it. She knew how she was supposed to feel, but just like last night, it wasn’t what she was feeling.

  She took a step toward Cain and locked eyes with him, giving herself a chance to study him and see the feelings showing in them. She frowned slightly as she saw them so full of fear and distress, and she wondered if he was really feeling it or whether his eyes were merely reflecting how she was feeling.

  She kept her expression flat as her eyes remain fixed on his and she struggled to keep calm and in control on the inside.

  “That night, when we met, was it you?” she asked and felt sick when he nodded, confirming that her boss wasn’t the only man he’d killed.

  Cain felt as though he was losing an integral part of himself as each second slipped by. It was as though his heart was disintegrating and leaving him hollow inside. Last night he’d told her everything, all about him, but with one tiny piece of information left out—what he did for a living. He wished he’d told her, wished he’d confessed everything rather than holding back

  “And Russ?” Lily’s voice was emotionless.

  Cain nodded again.

  “Boston?” Lily asked, her chest tightening as she watched him for a reaction, part of her hoping that he hadn’t killed someone while he was there.

  He took a deep, steadying breath as he nodded again, his eyes slipping shut as he hung his head and let his shoulders sag.

  Lily noticed the difference in his reaction and blinked slowly as she looked at him. The hit before he’d met her, he seemed to be fine about, but the one since he’d met her seemingly caused him pain.

  “I’m sorry,” Cain whispered as he kept his eyes closed, silently wishing she’d pick up the gun and shoot him now, ending the hurt that threatened to consume him.

  “How long have you been...?” Lily started.

  He frowned and tensed his jaw. He didn’t want to talk to her about this, not when he was falling apart inside, not when he knew that everything he said was pushing her away from him a little more.

  “Four years. I don’t kill randomly. It’s contracted, it isn’t personal... since meeting you—”

  “No, Cain!” Lily cut him off and shook her head, anger evident in her voice. “You’ve brought me into this world far enough. I’m not ready to accept that people like you exist. You kill people... and you make a living off it... it’s sick and twisted... I... I can’t believe I loved you.”

  Cain looked up with a pained expression, his eyes wide, and he swore that with those words she had done more damage than she could have ever done by taking up his gun and shooting him dead.

  His fingers flexed as he reached silently out to her, his whole body numb with hurt and weak from having the one thing in the world he’d loved taken away from him.

  “You loved me?” Saying the words made him feel as though the pit of his stomach had dropped into an abyss, the earth wanting to swallow him whole as he waited for a response.

  “I loved you.” Lily hated herself deep inside for what she was about to say, but she had to show him just how badly he’d hurt her and just how she felt. She was going to crush him, but she had to say it, needed to show him what he’d done. A tear slipped onto her cheek. “I still do love you, but I can’t be a part of this. I
can’t. It kills me to have to do this, Cain, especially when I can see that it’s killing you, too, but I have to leave. I have to get away from you. I don’t think I can be with you, knowing what you do.”

  “But I love you.” Cain’s tone was pleading as he continued to reach out to her, his heart breaking more and more with each passing second.

  “I know, I really do.” Lily wiped the tears from her eyes and stood a little straighter, telling herself that what she was doing was for the best, for both of them. She couldn’t deal with the idea that yesterday hadn’t been the first time he’d killed someone, and that he had kept that side of himself hidden from her. “But what you do... I can’t be with you... there’s one thing I have to know though.”

  “Anything.” Cain lowered his hands and tried to get a hold on his emotions so he could answer her question without breaking down completely. He knew what she was going to ask, and he knew that it would be the killing blow to their relationship.

  “The night we met... who were you supposed to kill? Was it the driver?”

  “Yes,” he answered honestly.

  “Not the passenger?”

  “No.” Cain shrank back slightly, not wanting to think about what could have happened that night. Russ could have killed her if Andrew hadn’t been with someone else, and the police hadn’t shown up.

  “Who was he?” she said, her voice shaking and betraying the fact that she was forcing herself to ask that question.

  “I can’t,” Cain said simply.

  “I think you can.” Lily held his gaze, anger beginning to take over all her other emotions and squash them down, leaving her detached from the hurt she was causing.

  “It will destroy us, Lily.” Cain pleaded with her but she just kept her expression blank.

  “You already did that. If you won’t tell me, I’m leaving.” Lily held his gaze a moment longer and then turned and walked down the stairs, her heart smashing hard against her chest as she tried to come to terms with everything and how she didn’t feel as repulsed by his confession as she should have been.