“And your vengeance will be fulfilled.”
I nodded and tried to smile. I hadn’t thought about what I would do next. I hadn’t planned that far ahead.
“And all thanks to you and the rest of the club,” I said, and Bones crossed his arms over his chest. Why did he have to do that? Why did he have to make any movements? Why couldn’t he just keep still? Because every movement he made; tempted me to run into his arms, to bury my face in his shoulders again.
“Don’t thank us yet,” he said and rubbed a hand over his prickly dark stubble, making my insides tighten with desire again. “Anyway, you’re right, you should probably get started with your day.”
It was time for me to go. Last night had been more unbelievably magical than I could have anticipated, and now it was time to return to real life again.
21
Bones
After Thea left my apartment, I didn’t see her for the rest of the day until I returned to the clubhouse. Our mission was underway, and I’d already received phone calls and texts from the rest of the club. They were clearly worried that I might not ultimately show up. Didn’t they know me at all?
I wasn’t just going to have them walk into a mission like this on their own. Especially not when I was an integral part of the plan. I was supposed to be the sniper and pull the trigger on Gunther.
Besides, Thea’s life and her plan working out lay in my hands too. I wasn’t about to let her do this on her own, no matter how much I disapproved of it. This wasn’t just about my dead sister anymore. It was about Thea’s safety. There was nothing going to stop her from following through with this plan, and I needed to make sure she was safe at all times.
Last night was weird. We’d slept in each other’s arms. I’d woken up with the smell of Thea all around me in my bed. Even after she was gone, and I’d spent a few more hours by myself in my apartment—it seemed like I could sense her everywhere. I could picture her exactly, standing there in my living room getting dressed.
I had no idea what any of this was supposed to mean, but all I knew was it meant trouble.
Now I was back in the clubhouse and she was in the center of it all. Just like always.
She’d dressed up for Gunther, just like she did before.
Her makeup was lathered on in bright shimmery colors. She had long thick fake eyelashes, and she batted her eyes at everyone unintentionally.
Tonight, she was wearing a shiny silver crop top that showed off her flat narrow waist. Milky white and soft. I could feel my cock going hard in my pants, but all I needed to do to make it go away was recall why she was dressed this why. What was the purpose of that denim mini skirt with the rhinestones she had on tonight? The thigh high leather boots with the endlessly long stiletto heels. Her long pink manicured nails.
Were the rest of the guys in the clubhouse having a tough time keeping their eyes off her too? I didn’t want to think about it. She was on a mission, like the rest of us.
This was a part of her job too. That’s what I needed to remember.
If everything went according to plan, this would all be over in a few hours and Gunther wouldn’t even have been able to touch a hair on her head.
If, everything went according to plan.
I wasn’t considering what would happen if things didn’t.
We didn’t have a fuckin’ plan B. Thea and my brothers were so confident about this working out perfectly.
* * *
We were going to drop Thea off a couple of blocks from Gunther’s apartment. Our prospects had scoped the neighborhood out already and we had a building across from his place that we had in mind for keeping an eye on him.
Patch was driving the car with Cash beside him, while Thea, Rogue and I were sitting at the back. She seemed to be in a good mood. She didn’t seem nervous at all, the way I was expecting her to be. I tried not to stare at her even though I couldn’t help but be in awe of her. Maybe I was wrong about her completely. Maybe she didn’t need my help or protection at all.
But then yesterday, at the burger joint; she’d said she needed me to make the shot. That she was relying on me. Was that some kind of a compensation prize?
Patch stopped the car in the dark by the sidewalk. Thea got out and I was the only other person to get out of the car with her. I shut the door behind me, and she turned to face me then, her face shining with excitement and bright.
“This is it,” she said and even in the darkness, I could tell how pumped up she was. The thought of finishing off Gunther excited her! “I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this for ten years. You have no idea how much this means to me, how much this means to the memory of my brother.”
I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss her, but that would’ve been crazy. She probably would have pulled away from me!
I pushed my hands into the pockets of my jeans. Just last night, she was lying safely in my arms in my bed. And tonight, anything could happen.
“I’m glad to hear that. I think that’s what we all want at this point. We just want him gone, a thing of our past.”
She nodded.
“Hey,” she called out to me. “I know this isn’t easy for you. Giving up control of the situation to someone else. To an untrained woman no less.”
“That isn’t…” I tried to protest but she smiled and that stopped me from proceeding.
“It’s fine. I really don’t mind. You made me aware of the dangers of the situation. I’m not going to underestimate Gunther. I want to be alert at all times and I’m going to do everything I can to be safe.”
I stepped up closer to her, but then I stopped. I didn’t know how to proceed further. She raised herself up on her tip-toes and then pressed her lips to my cheek. Thea didn’t care if Rogue and Patch saw us like that in the car. She kissed me, quickly, and then she was done.
“See you on the other side,” she said and then she was walking away.
I could hear the clicking of her boots on the sidewalk. I saw her hips swaying in that skirt as she quickly walked in the direction of Gunther’s apartment. I stood following her with my eyes for a few more moments, till there was a tap on the car window and I saw Rogue indicating that I should hop back in.
I let out a deep sigh and got in the car. It felt like tonight was going to be a long one and none of us could predict how it was going to end.
* * *
The spot that we’d decided on to watch Gunther and Thea from was the open roof of a building across from them. The whole building had been cordoned off because it was still under construction, which meant that we would have our privacy.
The whole point of this operation was to not be seen. We were going to have to work in the dark and be as quiet as possible. I’d ordered everyone who was going to be present on the rood with me to wear masks and black clothing.
The guys poked fun at each other while we put on our black clothes before stepping out into the open air of the roof.
I had my gun and the rest of the equipment, now the only thing that needed to be done was to set it up in a spot that would give me a direct view into Gunther’s apartment and a direct view of him. A clean shot was what I was aiming for.
The rest of them watched me while I looked through the lens on the gun, trying to focus on the two of them through the apartment window.
Thea had just walked in and Gunther was shutting the door behind her, welcoming her in with his arms tightly around her in a hug.
I could feel the rage pumping through my veins, but all I actually did was clenched my jaw and keep the rage to myself. I needed to focus on the mission. This was all an act, I had to keep reminding myself. Thea was just following her instructions for the mission.
I watched them keenly. Their body language. Gunther walked close to her and Thea kept her back to him, trying to stay as far away from him as possible but making conversation with him about the apartment probably.
The only problem right now was that I still hadn’t been able to spot a clean sh
ot of Gunther yet. He was nowhere close to the one lone window on that side of the house that I could shoot him from. As much as I could see Thea trying to walk over to it and lure him in that direction, he seemed to be keeping away.
Did he suspect something?
It didn’t seem like he did because he wasn’t being aggressive towards her. Was it a good thing that I wasn’t a fly on that wall? That I couldn’t hear the conversation between the two of them right now. I would have probably killed Gunther with my own bare hands by now.
All I could do right now was keep a close eye on Thea and hope that at some point, Gunther would happen to come closer to the window and that would be my one chance to take the shot at him.
* * *
Eventually, I just lost track of time, I was in a kind of trance. It could have been half an hour or hours since I first took up my station there, looking through the lens, zooming in on Gunther’s apartment. But Thea didn’t seem to have made much progress and Gunther hadn’t come anywhere close to the window.
I wasn’t sure how this plan was going to work out unless something was done about it soon. We couldn’t just let Thea stay in there with Gunther forever and put her life at risk for much longer.
Patch came up and crouched down beside me where I’d been sitting with the gun. I could feel a few beads of sweat trickling down the sides of my forehead and face as I sat there. My finger stuck on the trigger. My aim was directly on the window. Waiting for that one chance to take a potshot at Gunther.
“You wanna take a break?” Patch whispered as he watched me. I had my jaw clenched, just like my hands were clenched too. I could feel the muscles on my shoulders and back tensing up.
“I can’t. I can’t predict when he’s going to turn up at the window.”
This wasn’t a job for the faint-hearted. Neither was it a job for someone who wasn’t going to be patient about the task in hand. It was an art of sorts. Something I’d perfected over the years through my own sense of discipline. It wasn’t something I could just hand over to one of the others.
Patch thumped my shoulder, startling me.
“You need to fuckin’ leave me alone,” I grunted.
“Whoa! Calm the fuck down, man.”
“Don’t crowd me. I need to do this alone and in my own time. The target on Gunther can’t be disturbed.”
I heard Patch shuffle back, away from me. There were more whisperings going on between them. I could sense they were all discussing me. Maybe they thought I was going crazy. Maybe they thought this was all Thea’s fault and I was in love with her or something…
Or something…
Was I acting crazy?
What was making me behave this way? Why was I losing my shit because of this mission? My patience never wavered when a task was at hand. This should have felt like every other job. But it was so much more than that. To me. That much was obvious to everybody.
I didn’t give a fuck what they whispered about me behind my back while I sat there, positioned in the dark on the terrace, aiming for that one window and for that one split-second moment when Thea would be able to lead him to that spot that would be the end of him.
She needed me to get this right and I was going to do it. No matter how long it fucking took.
22
Thea
I was inside Gunther’s apartment, a place I’d been dreaming of getting into for the past ten years…and not because I was curious about how the man lived, but because I wanted to be as close to his belongings and his life as I could possibly get.
I thought of Drake the moment I stepped into this place. My brother’s life that had been excruciatingly cut short because of one random act of violence. The truth was that Drake was just a kid when Gunther stuck the knife in him, not even giving him the chance to make it to the hospital. Not giving him an ounce of a chance of survival.
Now, I was following my brother’s killer into his home and it sent a chill running down my spine. I was here, inside, alone with Gunther and suddenly, I wasn’t sure of what to do anymore.
It seemed like we were the only ones in his apartment, just like he’d promised we would be. His two bodyguards were stationed outside, in the narrow hallway at his door but inside, we were all by ourselves. Which was exactly what I needed. The plan was to have him completely alone so that Bones could shoot him through the window, and I could escape before the guys outside caught on to what had happened inside.
Gunther had looked me up and down when I first stepped into his place; he was assessing my attire. Deciding whether I was going to be good enough for him. It seemed like he liked what he saw. He was happy with his prize for the night and I felt like a piece of candy on display for a child. His eyes had lingered on my legs, traveling up to the spot between my thighs. He was undressing me, trying to guess the color of my panties underneath the denim skirt. Then he found pleasure in the strip of bare skin of my belly where the crop top, I was wearing gave him full access to that part of my body uninhibited. It wasn’t that I wanted to entice Gunther, I just needed him to be in a kind of daze.
I needed him turned on and wrapped in the palm of my hand so that he’d do what I told him to. I just needed to mesmerize him tonight, no matter how much he disgusted me—just so that Bones could kill him and then it would all be over.
“I’ll be back,” Gunther declared, as he handed me a glass of whisky from his bar in the corner of the living room. I smiled at him and nodded before disappearing into one of the other rooms. I was all alone in his apartment now and I looked out through the window where I knew Bones was watching me.
* * *
I was in love with Bones.
That much was clear to me, whether I was prepared to say it aloud or not. I definitely wasn’t prepared to say it aloud. I was barely prepared to acknowledge it to myself.
Bones was the man I had always been searching for. The man who would be able to live up to the standards my own brother had set for me. He was the only man who made me feel secure and safe, and like I actually needed him.
But since we first met, I had done nothing less than constantly push him away. I had barely heeded his advice. I didn’t consider his feelings and his opinion on this mission. I had made it very clear to him that I could do this on my own and that I didn’t need his help.
And now I wished I could see his face and feel his physical presence around me. I wished I could hear his voice because I knew it would calm me down. I wanted to know if he was actually watching me.
I sat down on one of the chairs in Gunther’s living room, looking straight out through the window. I hadn’t been in this apartment too long, but already it was starting to prove difficult to maneuver Gunther in the direction of that window. It was something I knew Bones needed to happen, if this mission was going to be a successful one.
Without direct access to Gunther through that window, there was very little chance of him getting shot.
Although there was something I’d done which none of the guys from the Black Cobras were aware of; least of all Bones. I’d packed a revolver in my purse.
A thing I’d never fired before, something I hardly knew how to use. But I’d bought it with confidence, telling myself that if the need arose, I’d be able to use it easily on Gunther. I kept my purse clutched on my lap for that reason. I trusted Bones to take care of Gunther, but now that I was worried about if I’d be able to get him close to a window, it seemed like bringing the revolver with me had turned out to be a good idea.
I kept glancing out of the window. Obviously, I couldn’t see anything, I wasn’t even sure of which building the guys were watching me from, but I knew Bones was out there in the dark, with his eyes on me.
I tried not to breathe too heavily in anticipation. There was movement behind me, and I turned to find Gunther stepping out of a room, presumably his bedroom.
He’d made some changes already. In preparation for what he had planned for the night. Gunther was in a long black robe. It could have been silk. He�
��d tied it with a chord at his waist, but I could easily tell that he was butt naked underneath it.
“Did you miss me?” Gunther asked, sidling up to me on my chair. He positioned himself on the arm, swinging his bare leg back and forth like it was going to entice me to do more to him. I realized I had never felt this uncomfortable before, as when his arm grazed against mine. I just needed him to move away, to not touch me. The window and Bones were on my mind and I wondered if there was any way for me to get Gunther closer to it now.
“What were you doing?” I asked him with a casual air and stood up and walked over to the window. Gunther followed me with his eyes, smirking still and looking me over from top to bottom.
“Getting comfortable. You can get comfortable too if you want.” He was imagining me naked again. Even though it sent chills down my spine, I knew this was necessary. A necessary evil.
“Come over here,” I said to him, smiling and hoping he would follow me to the window now.
“You come back here,” he replied to that, a little more sternly this time but I didn’t let that bother me. Instead, I turned around, turning my back to him and starting to push open the window.
“Is it just me or is it really stuffy in here? Need some fresh air to circulate the room!” I remarked.
“Get away from there!” he growled and before I knew it, he’d lunged at me and pulled me away from the window. I’d only managed to get it half open and Gunther had pulled me back. Even if Bones had his gun trained on Gunther this whole time, he wouldn’t have been able to make the shot without going through me first.
It was another missed opportunity.
Gunther had his hand tightly clutching my wrist now.
“Stay away from the fucking window!” he growled, while I wriggled to get my hand out of his grasp.
Bones: The Black Cobra MC #4 Page 15