Rough: A Hitman Romance

by Chambers, V. J.

  “Yeah, back on. Kiera’s even managed to hack into some security cams, and she’s figured out exactly where Natasha’s locked up. We’ve got a plan, and we’re going to do it. Are you in?”

  He was quiet a moment. And then he smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I’m in.”

  “Good man.” I offered him my hand.

  We shook.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Kiera

  We were all assembled in Danger’s hotel room again. He was standing up at the television, walking us through the plan one more time. “So, Kiera will walk Ambrose and I through taking the locks offline, and we’ll let out the girls, just like in the original plan.”

  “What about Natasha?” said Cass.

  Demetrius flipped the image on the television to show a blow-up of the schematics, with the cells above the big room that contained all the girls. He gestured to the level where the cells were. “There are no steps down to this level, right, but there are steps to the level above it. So, Blaze, you’re going down here, and you’re going to be above Natasha. You blow the ceiling, jump down, blow the door, then Cass, you’re waiting for her outside, because you’ve gone down the elevator shaft.”

  Cass nodded slowly. “Okay, I think I can get that.”

  “Then you take her back up the elevator,” said Danger. “Remember, the whole reason we’re inside is because the system will have gone down, thanks to Kiera, so the elevator won’t be running. The only way up or down will be you climbing that shaft.”

  “Got it,” said Cass.

  “Good,” said Demetrius. “So, we’re set to do this next Thursday, which gives us a few days—”

  “Thursday?” said Blaze. “Thursday is Thanksgiving.”

  “So what?” I said. “I don’t have plans. You got a big turkey dinner to get to, Blaze?”

  “No,” he said, “but I guarantee that it’s not going to be business as usual in the building that day.”

  “Well, that’s almost better,” I said. “Less people, right?”

  “And,” said Blaze, “I guarantee that Nikolai will not be there. He’ll be at home with his family.”

  Danger nodded. “Damn it, you’re right. Can we push it up?”

  “No,” I said. “I’ve got to make loops of the security tapes to splice in when the girls are being set free, and that takes time. I won’t be ready earlier.”

  “So, we push it back, then,” said Demetrius.

  “To Friday?” said Cass.

  “We can’t count on that,” said Blaze. “He might take the long weekend.”

  “Right,” said Demetrius.

  “So, Monday?” said Ambrose.

  “Monday,” said Demetrius. “That’s our day.”

  * * *

  Demetrius

  “Uh, hang on a second, Kiera,” I said, stopping her as she started out the door of my hotel room.

  She turned to me, eyebrows raised. “Yeah?”

  “Look, I know that things have been sort of, um, intense between us, and we’ve gotten… close, so I don’t want you to read into this or anything,” I said.

  “Do we need to have the conversation about how we’re not going to have sex again?” she said. “Because I thought that was understood.”

  “No, I understood it,” I said. No way would she touch me after I made that comment about her dad. And I’d done that on purpose. It was better for her to stay away from me. But it didn’t seem right, her spending Thanksgiving alone. I just couldn’t let her do that. “Were you serious about not having Thanksgiving plans?”

  “I never have Thanksgiving plans,” she said. “I’ve got some family back in Vermont, but there’s no way I’m driving all the way up there. Besides, I haven’t seen them in years. Anyway, it’s not a big deal. I’m used to it.”

  “It’s a big deal,” I said. “It’s shitty to be alone on Thanksgiving.”

  She folded her arms over her chest. “I thought you were disowned from your family because you betrayed the mafia or something. You telling me you’ve got plans?”

  “Well, my sisters still speak to me,” he said. “They were never really heavy inside like my dad or brother, and they always have their own Thanksgiving thing, and I always go. So, I thought, maybe, you might come along with me.”

  Her eyebrows shot up again.

  “I’m just asking to be friendly. I hate to think of you hunched over some Weight Watchers microwave turkey meal or something. You should have some real food for once.”

  “I’ll be fine on my own. I always am.”

  “Sure, you’d be fine. I know that.” I shoved my hands into my pockets. “But this will be nice. Come on, come to my sister’s. Have some stuffing. Why not?”

  She chewed on her lip. “Yeah, okay. Why not?”

  “Cool,” I said. “I’ll pick you up around one in the afternoon, yeah?”

  She nodded slowly. “Okay.”

  We looked into each other’s eyes, and it was awkward.

  I looked away.

  She laughed nervously. “Um, thanks for thinking of me.”

  “Oh, sure.” I scuffed my toe against the floor. “Not a problem.”

  “I’ll just, um, be going then.”

  “Right.” I opened the door for her, held it wide open.

  She gave me a little half-wave, and then shot out of my hotel room like she was on fire.

  * * *

  Kiera

  I had pulled everything out of my suitcase and was glaring at my assortment of clothes. I was fairly sure I had brought nothing that would be the appropriate thing to wear to Thanksgiving dinner, and I was seriously considering heading back to my apartment and raiding it for clothes.

  The only problem was that Demetrius was coming to pick me up in an hour and there wasn’t time to go back to my apartment.

  Why hadn’t I considered the clothing problem before today?

  I had been busy, sure. There was a lot of prep work we were doing to get ready for the big job, and I had to do a lot of the heavy lifting. I didn’t mind. I could handle it. But I hadn’t been thinking about anything else for the past few days.

  Not that I cared that much about clothes, anyway.

  I mean, sure, I liked clothes. What girl doesn’t? I could spend a few hours in a clothing store, especially one with crazy sales, trying stuff on and planning outfits. And I did my best to make sure that I didn’t look like a slob, either. I took some care in what I wore.

  But I wasn’t one of those women who lived and breathed clothes. I didn’t keep up with the latest designers and I didn’t worry about wearing white after Labor Day or when to wear open toed shoes or anything like that.

  And for this job, I had packed with comfort in mind. I expected to be spending all my time—including the actual job—behind my computers, so I wanted to be in clothes that didn’t hamper or confine me. Mostly I had jeans and t-shirts.

  I had one pair of corduroys and—by a miracle—a pair of boots. I wasn’t even sure why I’d brought them. They weren’t strictly comfortable, although I didn’t own any really uncomfortable shoes, and I vaguely remembered throwing them in the suitcase in case I wanted to go to the bar or something. Anyway, the corduroys and the boots would probably work, but I didn’t have anything to wear on top.

  Everything else was t-shirts, and most of them had cartoon characters on them.

  One was a Star Wars shirt.

  I didn’t want to wear any of them to Thanksgiving. I wanted a nice outfit, but I didn’t want to look dressed up. I wanted to look casual, but I didn’t want to wear a She-Ra shirt.

  I checked the time again. I really didn’t have time to go home.

  I had already done a search to see if there were any clothing stores nearby, but I’d abandoned the idea once I remembered that it was Thanksgiving. Most of them would be closed. Maybe they’d open later for early Black Friday shoppers, though, I didn’t know.

  Anyway, there wasn’t much of anything nearby, and I didn’t think I could get there and back
in a half hour.

  In desperation, I called Cass.

  “Hello?” she said.

  “Are you still in the hotel?” I asked. “Or did you go somewhere for Thanksgiving?”

  “Oh, we’re going to my aunt’s later,” she said. “She lives in Arlington.”

  “So, you’re still here?”

  “Yeah, is there a problem?”

  “We’re kind of the same size, don’t you think? Would you, um, let me borrow some clothes?”

  “Sure, but what do you need clothes for?”

  “I’m going to Demetrius’s family’s house for Thanksgiving, and I didn’t bring anything except t-shirts with 80s children’s characters on them.”

  “Get your butt up here now,” she said.

  I grabbed my corduroys and my boots and dashed down the hall to Cass’s and Ambrose’s room.

  Ambrose was sprawled out on the couch in the living area, watching football on the TV. He waved at me, but didn’t really look away from the screen.

  Cass tugged me into their bedroom, where she had things spread out on the bed. She picked up a strappy black dress. “What do you think about this?”

  “No,” I said. “That’s way too fancy. Why do you even have that?”

  She shrugged. “I like to be prepared.”

  I showed her my boots and cords. “I was thinking something to go with this. Maybe a sweater or even just a basic plain-colored knit shirt?”

  “Oooh,” she said, digging through her suitcase. “With a scarf? Like this?” She held up a navy blue shirt and silk scarf with fringes.

  I nodded. “That’s perfect. Can I borrow that?”

  “Totally.” She grinned, handing them both over.

  “Oh my God, you are a lifesaver.” I gave her a hug.

  She grinned. “So, you and Demetrius, huh?”

  “No, it’s not like that,” I said.

  “Because you’re focusing on your work and have no time for men?”

  I forgot that I’d told her that. I sat down on her bed. “No… about that. You were right. I was being ridiculous. I was letting life pass me by, like you said. I thought I had a good reason for it, but I didn’t.”

  She sat down next to me. “Something happened between you and Demetrius, didn’t it?”

  I shrugged. “Sort of, I guess. I mean, we maybe kind of had sex a few times. And I was maybe a virgin before that. But I’m not an idiot. I know how this stuff goes. You have sex with some guy, he breaks your heart, you move on.”

  “He broke your heart?” She gave me a concerned look.

  I shrugged again. “He…” Out of nowhere, I felt like I was going to start crying. “No. He didn’t break my heart. It’s not a good idea for us to be mixing business and pleasure, anyway. It’s better if we’re only friends.”

  “I don’t get it,” she said. “He likes you, and I know you like him, so—”

  “He doesn’t like me,” I said. “All he does is push me away.”

  “Which is why he asked you to his family’s Thanksgiving.” She nodded slowly. “Yup, that’s the definition of pushing someone away.”

  I got off the bed. “He only did it to be friendly, because I said I didn’t have any plans.”

  “I don’t believe that for a second,” she said. “You should have seen him with Blaze after you ran off that night. Blaze was all telling him to have meaningless sex with you—”

  “What?” I was horrified. “Why is Blaze saying anything about me and sex and… what?”

  She got up off the bed too. “No, it’s okay. Because Demetrius said that there was no way that he was ever going to work you out of his system, no matter how many times he had sex with you.”

  I furrowed my brow. “He said that?”

  “Well, no not exactly, but he said to Ambrose to explain to Blaze that Ambrose couldn’t work me out of his system by having sex with me, and he was obviously drawing a parallel.”

  I was seriously confused.

  “He has feelings for you,” said Cass. “He cares about you.”

  “He just worries about me,” I said. “He thinks I’m young and vulnerable.” I shrugged. “I am.” I checked the time. “I gotta go. I don’t have much time to get ready.”

  She gave me another hug. “Don’t give up on him,” she told me.

  I decided it wasn’t worth it to argue with her.

  * * *

  Demetrius

  “You’re bringing a girl?” squealed my sister Debora over the phone.

  “Not a girl,” I said. “Not like that. She’s just my friend from work.”

  “I thought you worked for a garbage company.”

  “I do. She’s the receptionist.”

  “Garbage places need receptionists?”

  “Yes. People call.”

  “Like who? Who calls?”

  “People do,” I said. “You’ll have to ask her about it. I don’t know. I don’t take the calls.” I made a mental note to tell Kiera to prepare for this cover story I’d worked up for us. At the time, I’d thought saying that I was a trashman was appropriate. I did take out the garbage, getting rid of people who only made the world a bad place. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t call you earlier this week.”

  “Oh, it’s fine. There’s plenty of food. You know you can always bring someone along.”

  “I wanted to give you a heads up,” I said. “And I wanted to ask you not to embarrass her.”

  “What would I do that would embarrass her?”

  “Oh, hell, Deb, you know that our whole family can be… overwhelming. Just don’t ask her a zillion questions, and don’t tease her, because she’s just my friend, and there’s nothing going on between us.”

  “Nothing at all, huh?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Why not? Is she ugly?”

  I cleared my throat. “She’s very pretty, but that really doesn’t matter. She’s too young for me anyway.”

  “What? Is she eighteen or something?”

  “Twenty-one, but—”

  “That’s not too young for you.”

  “She’s a very young twenty-one.” I rubbed my forehead. Just having this conversation was stressing me out. I didn’t know what I was going to do when I actually got Kiera there. Maybe she and I should just go somewhere else. On our own. But no, that would seem like a date and—

  “What does that even mean?”

  “It means that she’s… young.”

  “You said that already. And you’re not even four years older than her, so I don’t think that you’re too old. Tavi is six years older than me, and that’s not too old.”

  “Look, the point is that we’re not together. And don’t try and set us up. Just leave it.”

  “You know what I think? I think that you’re still hung up on that Mia girl.”

  A chill went through me. I gripped the phone tightly, and my throat closed up. I couldn’t even answer.

  “You never talk about her, but you two were attached at the hip for what? Almost five years? All through high school and afterward?”

  I still didn’t respond. I couldn’t.

  “Demmy? You there?”

  I sucked in a breath. “Mia’s gone, Deb. I’d rather not talk about it.”

  “Well, what happened to her, anyway? She ran off, right? Just disappeared? Went out west or something, I heard. Going to try to be in the movies. I guess it hurt that she left you, but—”

  “Deb. Please.” I was starting to shake.

  “Oh, come on, Demmy, why are you always so weird about her? I know she was your first love or whatever, but you always act like she’s the Virgin Mary or something, and she’s just a girl. Not every girl out there is going to break your heart.”

  “Let it go.”

  “Why, though?”

  I clenched my hand into a fist. “I don’t want to talk about Mia.”

  “No, I understand that. You never do. You always change the subject, or you get real quiet. And all I can think is that you ar
e internalizing something about her that—”

  I slammed my fist into the wall.

  “Demmy? What was that?”

  “Nothing,” I muttered. Ouch. Shit. I was going to have to pay for the damaged hotel room wall. It wasn’t a hole or anything, but it was a dent. Shit, shit, shit.

  “Are you okay?”

  I swallowed.

  “You know, if you want to get past what happened with that girl, you’ve got to talk about it.”

  “Just… don’t overwhelm Kiera, okay?” And I hung up the phone. God damn it.

  Sometimes, I thought about simply telling Deb the truth, but I found that I couldn’t do it. I knew that she knew that our family was into some bad shit, but I still felt like I needed to protect her. After all, she still had a relationship with my parents. I didn’t want to ruin that.

  I touched the place on the wall that I’d hit.

  My knuckles were bleeding.

  Damn it.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Kiera

  “I still don’t understand how you shut your hand in the hotel room door,” I said, looking at Demetrius’s bandaged knuckles.

  He pulled his car into a space on the street in front of a house that looked an awful lot like the one he lived in. It was on the other side of town, but it seemed typical and suburban. “It was a freak thing. It’s really embarrassing, okay?”

  Huh. He didn’t want to talk about it. Fine. I peered at the house. I was nervous. It had been several years since I’d been to a family Thanksgiving, and I had never been to someone else’s family Thanksgiving.

  Danger opened his door and got out of the car.

  I got out too. I looked down at the clothes that I’d borrowed from Cass. I hoped I looked okay.

  “You look nice,” said Demetrius.

  I felt myself flush. Why did he always make me do that? “Thanks,” I said, but I wouldn’t look at him.

  He shifted on his feet. “Listen, my family can be… I told them not to tease us, but I think my sister is going to try to play matchmaker, and I tried to explain to her that we were just…”

  “Ex-fuck buddies?” I supplied helpfully.

  “Friends,” he said, glaring at me, “but she might… push. And if so, I’m sorry. I don’t—”