by S. J. Maylee
“I know. You’ll never know how sorry I am.”
“Bullshit.”
“I left you all my money.” Reese shrugged. “Don’t say I never did anything for you.”
“It’s nothing compared to what I put into the villa.” She clenched her fingers. “How could you use that beautiful place for the sick things you do?”
“It was all Viktor’s idea. I wasn’t on board until I saw the numbers. You should see the money to be made. It will blow your mind.”
“Don’t you dare talk about the money you’re making. You’re stealing lives!” She shook her hands.
“Hardly. These women have nothing here. We’re taking them to a much better place.”
“Are you completely delusional?”
“Don’t talk back to me.” Reese took a step toward her and reached his creepy hand out to her but Liz flinched away.
“Don’t you fucking touch her,” Aidan said through his teeth and then made quick work of Reese’s distraction, eliminating much of the space between them.
Reese stopped and swung his gun back toward Aidan. “Not another step.” He curled his finger at Liz. “It’s fine, sweetheart. You don’t have to see any part of the business. I’ll keep you out of it. Let me get you away from here and away from this killer.” He reached for her again.
Liz blocked Reese’s hand. “You hired him.”
“No, see, that’s where you’re wrong. This is all Viktor’s doing.” Reece’s damp brow and overly bright gaze caught his attention. It was quite possible the man was high on something. There was no telling what he’d say or do. “I’ve kept you alive. Don’t you see? Come over here and stand with me. I’ll take care of you. I’ll get you out of this and somewhere safe.” He kept his gun on Aidan and inched toward Liz.
“No way.”
“Come on, Bethy, you know you can trust me.”
“I don’t follow scum.” Liz spat.
“Bitch.” He took a quick step to Liz and wrapped his free hand around her throat. The whole time, he kept his gun pointed at Aidan. “Well, if I didn’t just get the upper hand on a career assassin. I was born for this business.” He hollered. “You guys make it look tough but there isn’t anything to it.”
“You need to let her go.” Aidan focused on Reese for a second and then shifted his gaze to Liz. Her face hadn’t lost any color. If anything, she was getting redder.
“The hell I do.” Reese pulled her back against him and turned to face Aidan. “She’s my wife. She goes where I tell her to go.”
“You’re wrong. You’re dead. She’ll never be your wife again.” His focus remained on Liz. He only gave Reese his peripheral vision. His woman was steaming mad. He rolled his shoulders back as an unfamiliar feeling ran wild in his veins.
“You want her. That’s it, isn’t it? I should have known when you didn’t kill her right away. She’s is a pretty good lay.” Reese dragged the tip of the gun down Liz’s cleavage. “I’ll give her that, but it’s about all she’s worth.”
“Why don’t you keep the gun pointed at me?” Aidan waved his hands.
“I don’t have to do as you say. Oh hell no, I paid you to kill this bitch and it’s what you’re going to do.”
“Always a liar. You can’t even keep your lies straight.” She tugged on Reese’s hand at her throat. “You’re pathetic.”
“Shut up, bitch. I’m just going with the flow. I’ll say whatever it takes to get my way. If one way doesn’t work, I improvise. There’s no stopping me.”
“This is your last warning. Take your hands off her,” Aidan said.
“You don’t scare me. Oh, you think you’re all smart, think you have this all figured out. You know, I heard you two talking when you came in. That’s right. I’ve been waiting for you in my safe room.”
“You mean, your sorry excuse for a safe room.” A vein pulsed at her throat.
“The room is all it ever needed to be. If you were ever dumb enough to mess up our plans, you were never supposed to get out of the room alive. This joker was supposed to be my insurance policy. Now, you’ve gone and fucked up both plans. But don’t think you have a chance in hell of getting out of this alive. You’re both going to die one way or another.” Reese’s cackle raised the hair at the back of Aidan’s neck.
“You’re insane,” Liz said and tugged on Reece’s grip once more.
“Face it, sweetheart. There's a bounty on your head. It’s just a matter of time. Plus, now that I’ve come back from the dead, the house will revert to me when your body’s found.”
“You make me sick.” Liz took a little step to her right and swung her left leg behind Reese’s right leg. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. She’d back stopped his leg and Reese was off balance. He stopped watching and made his move before she could follow through.
He grabbed Reese’s wrist holding the gun and twisted as he pushed. The gun went off, sending an echo through the room. Liz went down hard. She grabbed her arm and rolled over.
Pain radiated through his core. He didn’t remember Reese hitting him, but he must have and in the same spot he’d gotten hit earlier. A burning agony reverberated around his chest.
Liz moaned as she shifted into a fetal position.
He needed to stop messing with this piece of shit and get to her. Enough. He wrenched Reese’s wrist around and the gun came loose. It fell to the ground and Aidan shoved Reese hard in the chest. Aidan made a wall between Elizabeth and the cretin. He’d be damned if he’d ever let Reese touch her again.
Reese grumbled something as he stumbled. His back hit a side table and he fell to the ground along with several picture frames. Aidan worried for a second he’d pick up a piece of glass, but instead Reese scrambled around to get his footing. All the while, Aidan kept their distance even from him. Then Reese ran from the room.
Aidan swiped his hand over his mouth. He’d never been so happy to see a man run away. He was quite possibly losing it.
No, his priorities had changed. They had the confession they needed. Liz didn’t need to stick around for any more of this. He depressed his recorder as a sense of lightness filled him. Liz would be safe.
“We can’t just let him go.” Liz moaned. She tapped her head on the floor. Blood seeped through her fingers where they squeezed her upper arm.
The screech of the stairwell door greeted his happy ears. Reese may be gone now but possibly not for long. They needed to move. He crouched over her, wishing he could snap his fingers and take all her pain away. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m fine.” She tried to get up.
“You’re not fine. You’re bleeding.” He held her back down. “I’m not chasing after him.” He picked up the gun and shoved it beneath his waistband at his back. “For all I know, it could have been his plan all along. He’ll be taken care of, Liz. I promise you. The death certificate will be validated. But not until you’re somewhere safe.” He felt her forehead. “Do you hear me?”
“You’re right. It’s just … ouch, this really hurts.” She peeked under her fingers. “I don’t think I’m hit too bad.”
“Let me see.” Thankfully, she was barely bleeding. The bullet must have grazed her. He wasn’t sure she’d even need stitches. “We should clean you up.”
“He’s alive.”
“This is a lot to take in, but—”
“I know. We should get out of here. Help me up. I want nothing more from this place.”
Chapter Eleven
It wasn’t until Liz let herself collapse on Sam’s couch, back in Aidan’s security office, that the severity of the situation hit her. She’d been shot by the very husband she thought was dead. It wasn’t the assassin lover who shot her. No, it was the husband.
“My life is seriously fucked up.”
“Let me give you something for the pain.” Aidan sat next to her and opened a black satchel on the side table. He pulled out a needle.
“Is that a shot? You’re not sticking me with a needle.”
; “I can make the pain go away. It will only pinch for a second.”
“No way. No needles.” She hated the buggers. Her shoulders tightened and she shook all over.
“You do realize you were shot and this is just a tiny little needle.”
“I know but I don’t like needles.” She had no idea how it would make her feel and she wanted to be completely aware of her surroundings. “Besides, I don’t want to be numb right now.”
“Are you sure?” He rubbed her knee.
“Yes.” She nodded. “I could use a beer though.” She lifted her eyebrows.
“That sounds good.” A little smile raised the corners of his mouth.
“It’s a date then.” She was falling fast for this mysterious man. He’d saved her life more than once and she feared he’d have to save it again before this mess was over. “And don’t forget you promised to take me back to your charming little dungeon.”
He stopped fussing with his supplies and his gaze met hers. His expression softened and she felt her heart growing. “Charming.” He chuckled. “You’re one of a kind, Liz.” He picked up a handful of gauze and a clear bottle with “wound rinse” written on it in marker. “This is just saline.”
For the next couple of minutes, Aidan cleaned her wound. The cut wasn’t too deep. She felt much better once the antibiotic ointment and bandage were in place. The dirt and germs could no longer get in. Too bad the rest of her life wasn’t so easy to clean up. “You must have a lot of practice with this kind of thing.”
“I can handle a few different kinds of lacerations.”
“Don’t think I’ll ever want to hear those stories.”
“Understood.” He squeezed her knee. “Relax. I’ll get an update from Sam and then I’ll get you somewhere safe, far from here, and we’ll have that beer.”
“Sounds too good to be true.” She held her breath. “We can really leave?”
“We can.” He sat beside her and caressed her face. “I need to follow-up on what we’ve learned and then we’re done.”
“And.”
He shook his head. “And we’ll make a trip to the dungeon when you’re healed.”
“We.” She reached for him.
“I like the sound of that too.” He slipped his hand around hers and brought her knuckles to his lips for a quick kiss.
The moment didn’t last nearly long enough. As he stood, a tight smile claimed his expression. The worst may be behind them but could they truly move on from here?
He gave her chin a tap before he walked away. “Sam, please tell me you caught Reese’s exit,” Aidan said.
“I did and it’s not even the best news.” Sam pulled up a map on the biggest screen. “My tracker gel is still intermittently working. I’m getting a signal from them every twenty to thirty minutes and I spotted Reese entering the building where they last sent a signal. It’s about ten miles south of here.”
“Excellent. Please relay all your findings to Gavin. He’s in contact with Clair. Her team’s on standby. With any luck, Viktor will be there too.” Aidan checked his phone. “Did Max call?”
“He did. One contract is complete and he’s on his way to execute the second.”
Aidan lowered his head, took a deep breath, and then looked back at Sam. “I’m taking Liz to my place to pack a few things and then we’re leaving town until this mess is over. I’ll let you know when we get settled.”
“Will do, boss. I’ll update Nadia and ask her to keep filling positions.”
“Fine. Let me know if Reese leaves the building or if you get another ping from those two thugs.” Aidan took off his watch and handed it to Sam. “Take the recording and send it to Gavin.” He pulled the gun from this waistband. “This too, it’s the gun Reese had.”
Liz stood and joined Aidan. “Where are we going?”
He pulled her to his side. “I’m taking you to my little paradise.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Do they have beer there?”
“There is and there’s a large dungeon too.” He stroked her ass and pressed his body to hers.
“Oh boy. Be careful what you wish for, right?” She giggled.
“We’ll take care of one wish at a time.” He kissed the top of her nose and then pulled her arms from his neck. After retrieving his medical bag, Aidan handed her a pair of gloves. “Put these on. I still want to minimize your prints. We don’t know all we’re running from and who’s talking. I’d rather not leave a trace of you for anyone to find once we’re gone.”
“Okay.” She followed along after him and put on the gloves.
The second they were inside his apartment, his phone buzzed. “It’s a text from Sam.” He held the phone up for her.
They’re in the stairwell.
Cold dread washed over her. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move.
“You need to get in my closet.” The solid even tone of his voice shook her from her panic.
“You want me to hide?”
“Yes, it’s right back here behind the bathroom.” He pulled her around the corner. A worn punching bag hung from the ceiling. “Get inside and don’t make a sound.” He opened the closet door. “I don’t care what you hear. Shut your eyes. I’ll come get you when it’s over. Do you hear me?”
“Okay.” Leaving it all to Aidan sounded like a good plan, but she hated getting separated from him and didn’t like him handling the thugs alone.
He grabbed her shoulders and squeezed. “You stay alive by not coming out.”
“Okay, I get it.” She caressed his cheek. “You too. Aidan, you need to stay alive.”
He hauled her close and claimed her mouth. His tongue brushed across her lower lip and then he pulled back. “Now get inside.”
She climbed in and he pushed the door closed. Between the slats she could see a sliver of the room and she watched him walk away. Her leg muscles were already cramping. A quick change in position allowed her to cross her legs. The different angle positioned her to see more of the room through the gaps. She didn’t want to get too close to the door though. Being seen wasn’t an option. She couldn’t have the wrong man spotting her. The last thing she wanted was to make it harder on Aidan.
Seconds ticked by and only silence greeted her. She couldn’t even hear Aidan in the room. An eerie suspicion that something was watching her had her squeezing her eyes shut. A sharp metallic tang drifted to her and her stomach rolled. As slow as she could, she took a shallow breath.
Then there was a knock on the door. “Aidan, you in there? We met this morning at the Martin place. We know your reputation and just want to talk strategy.”
She hoped to God he wasn’t going to open the door. A sharp tingle raced down her legs. She shifted and uncrossed her legs, giving them a tight hug. The creak of the door hinge had her tensing. She hung her head and prayed Aidan knew what he was doing.
“Hi, come on in.” Aidan’s confident voice filled the room. “Can’t say I’m familiar with your work.”
“Yeah, well, you Clerys always have been righteous pricks.”
“Sorry for knocking you two out earlier.”
“Whatever. I’ll let it pass since you didn’t break anything.” It was the same ugly mean voice from this morning. The one calling her to come out of the safe room. “Can you believe these fucks hired two assassins? I can’t imagine what’s so important about one girl that they need to have two contracts on her.”
“Agreed. I got mine through the auction,” Aidan said. “Where did they buy your contract?”
“Not so fast. We’re more than happy to work together, especially since we’ll both get paid, but we’re not letting you get anywhere near our contract.” The man’s voice sounded like something was rotting inside him.
“All right. I get it. So, you are willing to work together?” Aidan’s voice came from somewhere in the kitchen.
“Sure. I almost thought you were working with the target.” Ugly voice man seemed to be walking around as he talked. “Could hav
e sworn I heard you leading her out of her place this morning.”
“I wish. I searched the place from one end to the other once you both went down and found nothing.”
“We should have known this wasn’t going to be as easy as they said.” His grating voice sounded like it was coming closer.
“As who said?” Aidan asked.
“The jerk off who hired us is business partners with the husband. He told us about a half built safe room. Said if she was in the apartment, we’d find her in there.”
“I’m starting to think the bitch left town.” Aidan’s tone shifted. She heard the strain.
“Yeah. Well, I was hoping to find her here. Thought maybe you were going to hit that a few times before you took her out.”
“I don’t play with my kills.” Through the slats she spotted Aidan step around the corner and block most of her view of the visitor.
“Hey, I don’t either but I wouldn’t blame you. Did you see the tits in the picture? Very nice.”
“Definitely a couple of handfuls,” finally the second man, the different and creepy one spoke. “The husband says she’s into that submission shit. We could hold her down and she’d get off on it.”
“Not how it works.” The venom in Aidan’s voice had her guessing it was taking all his will power not to attack these asshats.
“I have to tell you, man. We were in here earlier and we scanned for prints,” ugly man said.
“Oh really?”
Aidan certainly knew his business. He’d predicted someone would look for her prints. It had hurt watching him wash her out of his life and here it might be the very thing to save her.
“Only found your prints. Doesn’t appear you get too much action.”
“Not here anyways.”
Laughter filled the room like nails on a chalkboard. She shook her head and a shadow over her right shoulder caught her eye. Something big sat in the opposite corner of the closet. She leaned over and tried to figure out what it was.
“I have to tell you, after the safe room didn’t work out, our boss paid us to take out his partner. Easiest hit I’ve had in a long time. Guy came right to us.”