Rough: A Hitman Romance

by Chambers, V. J.

  “You asked if she was all right there,” said Kiera. “She was with the man she loved, and it was obvious, and I can’t believe that you—”

  “No, I know that.” I sighed. “It was obvious, you’re right.” I started down the steps toward the car we’d taken here.

  She came after me. “So, why’d you say it?”

  “It’s just… it seems unbelievable. That woman is completely out of Matteo’s league.”

  Kiera shrugged. “Well, I’m out of your league.”

  I snorted. “Please.”

  She went around to the driver’s side of the car. “I’m fairly sure that I’m much more educated than you.”

  “Who said you were driving?” I said.

  “I graduated from MIT at nineteen,” she said, sliding inside the car. “I don’t like to brag about it, but I’m basically a genius.”

  I opened the passenger side door. “You’re not driving.”

  She held out her hands for the keys. “I’m not saying you don’t have a sort of… sensual intelligence going for you. I mean, you’re easy on the eyes, and you do have magic hands and all, but honestly, Danger, you’re just lucky I pay any attention to you at all.”

  I shook my head. “You know, you’re right about that. I think I may be the luckiest man in the universe.”

  She softened.

  “But you’re not driving,” I said, going around to the driver’s side. Eye-to-eye with her, I made my voice an exaggerated redneck drawl. “Scoot over, woman, or I’ll have to learn you not to talk back.”

  She giggled and scooted into the passenger seat. “I’m joking, of course. I’m not out of your league.”

  I slid into the car and fitted the keys into the ignition. “Sure you are. But now that I’ve got you, I’m not letting you go.”

  * * *

  Kiera

  “So,” I said, “everyone check your balances, you should have a happy surprise right about…” I tapped my phone’s screen. “Now.”

  We were all gathered in my apartment, Danger, Cass, Ambrose, Blaze, and me. It was the evening after we’d finished the job, and we were spending it watching all the news reports on the death of Nikolai, which was speculated to be the work of a rival gang. Why they’d let the girls he was holding go instead of capturing them themselves was still a mystery, but the fact remained we’d done well, and we were out to celebrate.

  I had a hard cider clutched in one hand, and the guys had beer.

  “Whoa,” said Cass, looking at her phone. “That’s a nice chunk of cash.”

  “Well Mr. Pink was happy with our work,” I said. “He wanted Nikolai taken out, and we did it.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.” Cass looked troubled. “It’s odd to me to be getting paid for killing someone.”

  “Don’t waste any time feeling guilty over that man,” said Demetrius. “You know the awful things he did. He deserved to die.”

  Cass nodded slowly. “I guess so. But I can’t help but feeling that the world isn’t so black and white. How can it be our job to decide that?”

  “We didn’t,” I said. “The fact is, someone was going to take him out. The hit was ordered, and if we hadn’t taken the job, someone else would.”

  She eyed me. “So, that’s it, then? You don’t worry about the morality of what you’re doing at all?”

  “No,” I said. “I don’t. I think we make the world a better place, frankly.”

  Cass shook her head. “I just couldn’t do it, not day in, day out. It would weigh on me, knowing I was ending lives, even bad men’s lives.”

  I was quiet. I wasn’t sure what to say to her. Maybe she was right. Maybe in a perfect world, there would be no killing at all. But we didn’t live in a perfect world. We lived in this one. And I didn’t feel guilt over what I did for the organization. Not at all.

  “Cass,” Ambrose said quietly, “we’re supposed to be celebrating.”

  “I know,” she said, staring at her phone screen. “It’s only that none of you understand. You’ve all done this kind of thing before.”

  “Hey, I never killed anyone,” said Ambrose.

  “You still haven’t,” said Blaze, taking a drink of his beer. “I killed him. Y’all did other stuff.” He looked at Demetrius and me. “I’m still not sure why turning off that elevator meant that your shirt ended up on backwards, Danger, so I don’t know what it was you two were doing.”

  I blushed.

  “But,” Blaze continued, “fact of the matter is, I’m the only one who actually killed that guy. And I get why you’re freaked Cass. I used to be military, a long time ago, and the first time they put a gun in my hand and told me I might have to shoot someone, that shit suddenly got real.” He looked at his fingers. “Anyway, I’ll tell you this, Cass. I feel better about what I’m doing in the organization than I did when I was supposedly defending my country. Because some of the things we did over there, some of the people we killed, they weren’t guilty. They were just normal, regular men. They were just like me. But a man like Nikolai? I don’t lose sleep over that.”

  “Me either,” said Danger.

  “This is all so heavy,” muttered Ambrose.

  “I know,” said Cass. “I didn’t mean… I only brought it up because I don’t want to go back to the way things were, Ambrose. I think when we’re working together, we’re better. I love you, and you complete me, but I think we both need something meaningful to do with our lives. Thing is, I don’t really want it to involve… hurting people, even bad people.”

  Ambrose furrowed his brow. “Maybe there’s a way around that, though. I mean, we could rescue people, like we did this time. We don’t have to be violent.”

  “You think?” She chewed on her lip.

  He nodded.

  And then everyone was quiet and somber, none of us meeting each other’s eyes.

  It was all awkward now.

  “Shots!” I said brightly. “Let’s do shots.”

  Everyone laughed.

  I scampered up to go and find the liquor.

  * * *

  Demetrius

  I felt warm and sleepy, and still a little bit buzzed from the alcohol we’d drunk earlier. Kiera and I were tucked under the covers of her bed. We were naked, and she was lying in my arms, lazily toying with the hair on my chest.

  I felt myself slipping off to sleep.

  “So, it never bothers you what we do?” Kiera said.

  I opened my eyes. “I told you, I’m over worrying about whether being with me is going to hurt you. If you want to be with me, I’m going to allow you to decide to do it. And God knows I don’t want anything more than you, so…”

  “That’s good,” she said, and I could tell she was smiling. “But that isn’t what I meant. I was talking about the stuff that Cass said earlier. About killing and all that.”

  “Oh,” I said, staring at the ceiling. I sighed softly. “That.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “That. I guess… in a lot of ways, I never really think about it too hard. Because, I don’t know. I guess, I just liked the challenge of the job so much that I didn’t focus on the parts that were bad. And we do only kill men who deserve it. So…”

  I stroked her hair. “You don’t kill anyone.”

  “I help,” she said. “I help all of the contractors in the organization. So, in some ways, the number of deaths that I’m responsible for…”

  “Stop it,” I said. “It’s not like that. Don’t think that way.”

  “How do you think about it?”

  “Killing is all I know, Kiera. It’s all I’ve ever been good at. I was trained to be a soldier for the Gallo family. I was taught to kill anything that threatened my family. It’s the only skill I ever had. It’s the only way I know to support myself.”

  “So, that’s why you do it? You don’t know how to do anything else?”

  “Basically.” I rubbed my hands over her bare back. “Maybe there’s some satisfaction in a job well done or something, I don’t know. Why d
id you decide to work for contract killers?”

  “Thought I’d be good at it,” she said. “I guess. The money’s good.”

  I laughed.

  “Speaking of which, I’ve seen your damned house, Demetrius, and what the hell is up with that?”

  “What’s wrong with my house?”

  She rolled away from me, snorting. “You make bank, Demetrius, and you don’t even spend it. You’re doing a lot more than supporting yourself, really.”

  “I don’t spend my money in conspicuous ways,” I said. “Shit like that gets you sent to jail. I learned that from my family too.”

  “Do you spend it on anything at all?”

  I sighed. “I… save it.”

  “For what?”

  “I don’t know.” I pulled her close. “Maybe for you. Maybe for us.”

  “So, we’d just quit, then? Stop doing this, like Ripper and that Shell girl he knocked up? Retire from it all.”

  “No.” I nuzzled her ear. “I don’t think we should do that. You saw what that did to Cass and Ambrose. You’re not the kind of girl who would know what to do with yourself if you weren’t working.”

  That was probably true.

  “So, then… what?”

  I didn’t have the answer. I kissed her temple. “So, then we wait. We keep doing what we’re doing as long as we’re happy.”

  She touched my face. “Are you happy?”

  I covered her hand with my own. “Yes. Very much so. You make me extremely happy.”

  She snuggled close. “I love you, Demetrius Gallo.”

  “And I love you, Kiera Quill.” I was never going to let go of her. Never.

  * * *

  Demetrius

  “I told you that Natasha and I are very happy,” said Matteo’s voice on the phone. “And I don’t understand why it is that you can’t just—”

  “That’s not why I’m calling,” I said. It was midmorning, and I had hoped my cousin would be awake, and that I wouldn’t be disturbing him. Well, honestly, in some ways, I almost wished he wouldn’t have answered the phone. I wasn’t sure how to have the conversation that I wanted to have with him.

  “Oh,” he said.

  “No, I wish you and Natasha all the best.”

  “Thanks,” he said in a different voice. “She may have to go back to the Ukraine get her green card sorted out. I don’t want to let her go, but I might have to.”

  “That’s too bad.”

  “I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that now is when she’ll skip out on me. You still think she’s trying to con me.”

  “I promise you, I don’t. I think she cares about you. I don’t know why people fall in love with the people they fall for. It’s one of life’s great mysteries. But anyway, I want you two to be happy. Which is why…” I heaved a huge sigh.

  “What?” said Matteo.

  “Look, when I blew my cover in front of Nikolai, you remember the things he said to me. About what he and his men were going to do to Natasha.”

  Matteo was quiet.

  “I just… you know maybe she should like… talk to someone. A psychologist or something? If those things happened to her—”

  “They didn’t.”

  “I know you want to believe that, but—”

  “The police came by to talk to her. They’re investigating Nikolai’s death. The building getting blown up. They brought a translator.”

  “If she was talking in front of you, she might not have wanted you to know—”

  “They made me leave the room,” he said. “But afterward, one of the officers spoke to me. He said I had quite a brave girl there. Apparently, every time anyone tried to get near Natasha, she put up such a fight that they mostly left her alone.”

  “That sounds… hard to believe.”

  “I know,” he said. “But she and I talked after the police left. She said that there were so many women in that room with her that it was easy. She said she would be unpleasant, and they would kick her off to one side to be dealt with later, but then she would sneak over and pretend to be a woman who’d already been dosed with heroin or… or… well, you know.”

  “And… and after they moved to her to the cell by herself?”

  “She said they left her alone in there. Maybe Nikolai was too busy with the holiday.”

  “Or maybe he was just saying it to make us crazy,” I said.

  “Maybe.” Matteo was quiet. “Natasha said that the whole time, she kept thinking of me. She said that she knew that I was going to rescue her and that she just had to stay strong and wait. She said that she was sure I would never give up on her. And I never would.”

  I didn’t answer for a second. I was picturing myself in his position, thinking about Kiera being in a place like that. “I know you wouldn’t,” I whispered.

  “Thank you for your help, Demetrius,” he said.

  “I’m only sorry it took so long,” I said. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t more supportive.”

  He laughed. “You came through in the end. That’s all that matters.”

  “I promise to be less of an ass in the future,” I said.

  He laughed harder. “Now, that? That’s going to be real difficult for you.”

  “Oh, come on,” I said, but I was laughing too.

  He teased me a little longer, and I took it, because I deserved it. When we hung up, we were both in good spirits.

  I set down the phone and went back to the bedroom, where Kiera was still sleeping. I climbed back into the bed with her, wrapped my body around her soft curves.

  She stirred, smiling in her sleep.

  I held her close, and everything was good again.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Kiera

  “It’s good to hear from you, boss,” I said into the phone. “Everything is fine here.”

  “I couldn’t get in touch with you for days,” said Ripper’s voice on the other end. “I was about ready to come in there myself. I probably would have if Shell didn’t need me.”

  “She needed you? Did she have the baby?”

  “No, she’s not due for months,” he said. “Where the hell were you?”

  “I was working remotely,” I said. “Everyone else who needed me tried my cell phone. You do have my cell phone, don’t you?”

  “I called the office, Kiera, because that’s where you’re supposed to work.” He didn’t sound pleased. “And as a receptionist, can’t you somehow forward the calls from the office to your cell phone?”

  “I’m not actually a receptionist,” I said. But I felt like an idiot. Yeah, of course I could have done that.

  “If a receptionist can figure out how to do that, you certainly can.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. “Sorry about that. I’ll do better next time.”

  “I strongly suggest that you don’t work remotely anymore.”

  “Um, sure,” I said. “Look, is there anything else, because if not, it’s noon, and I usually take lunch now.”

  “Got a hot date or something?”

  “Actually…” I winked at Demetrius, who was leaning against the wall by my desk, waiting for me to get off the phone.

  “You do think your job’s important, right?”

  “Oh, definitely. But you’d never be able to replace me, you know that, don’t you?” I grinned. “Tell Shell I said hi. Is she the size of a yacht?”

  Ripper laughed. “She’s very pregnant and very beautiful.”

  “Well said.” I laughed too.

  “I’ll talk to you soon, Kiera. Have a nice date.”

  “Thanks. Be well.” I hung up the phone and reached for my coat. “Sorry about that,” I said to Demetrius.

  He threw his arm around my shoulders. “Was it Ripper?”

  “It was,” I said.

  “And did his girl have the baby?”

  “Nope. Apparently, she’s not due for months yet.”

  “Ah,” he said.

  We walked out to the elevator. I pressed
the up button.

  We waited.

  “So, babies,” said Demetrius.

  “Babies are cool,” I said.

  “Are they?” He raised his eyebrows.

  “Oh, you mean, for us?” I pointed back and forth between the two of us.

  “I meant in general, but…” He cocked his head to one side, considering it. “I like babies. I like kids.”

  “Sure,” I said. The elevator door opened. I stepped inside. “In the future, we could do that.”

  He looked relieved. “The future, yeah.”

  I grinned. “The distant future.”

  “Very distant,” he said, smiling.

  “Extremely distant.” I kissed him.

  The elevator doors slid closed.

  * * *

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