Chapter 72 Everett
SEVENTY-TWO
EVERETT
“I’m going to meet up with Janice and Elli. They invited me over this evening.” I smile at Kashton while I stand in his bathroom.
It’s been a week since I went all crazy on the girl at Blackout and he fucked me in the cemetery.
We had my birthday party last night and it was actually really fun.
I had a great time hanging out with friends and eating cake.
I think I told Janice twenty times how amazing it was.
I’d never eaten anything that tasted so good in my life. She really did outdo herself.
He steps inside and leans against the countertop. “Want me to come? I can drive you.”
“No.” I turn to give him a smile. “I don’t think it’ll take long. I’ll only be gone for a few hours. Tops. Plus the drive will take up most of that.”
“Okay.” He nods, and I let out a sigh of relief that he’s not tagging along.
I can’t do a job if he’s with me. “I want to stay at your house tonight.” Moving to stand before him, I wrap my arms around his neck.
“I want to talk to you about that.” He places his hands on my hips.
I frown. “About your house? Are you selling it? We can stay at mine if you’d prefer.” There’s no reason for us to have two houses.
Shaking his head, he gives me a soft smile. “How about we get a place that’s ours?”
I tilt my head. “Somewhere new?”
“Yeah. Something that we build. Together.”
I lean up and kiss his lips. “I love it.” My place has too many memories of Evan just popping in whenever he wants.
Carnage is the last place I ever want to be, but for Kashton, I’d do it.
His house is too close to mine. Somewhere new sounds amazing.
New beginnings and making new memories. Just me and him.
I swallow the lump that forms in my throat at that thought.
It’ll just be the two of us for the rest of our lives.
What will I do if something happens to him?
How will I live without him now that I’ve had a life with him?
One of the hardest things to comprehend for someone who was once suicidal is when they decide to live, how scary the thought of death really is.
He slaps my ass, and I push my hips into his.
“Later,” he promises.
I step back, and he reaches into his pocket. “Here. Take my car.” He hands me his keys.
“You sure?”
“Of course.” He kisses me on the forehead. “Yours needs fuel. I’ll stop and fill it up tomorrow for you.”
There’s a knock on his bedroom door, and he steps away to answer it.
I peek my head out of the bathroom to see its Haidyn. I smile at him, and he returns it. It’s weird, going from no one in my life to a group of people who make me feel welcome.
“Saint wants us down in the basement,” he tells Kashton.
I pick up my cell as they carry on with their conversation, and I see I have to go. I’m going to be late.
Pulling up to the motel, I park in front of room 111.
When I started working at the bar and motel—taking out bastards—I chose this room.
It’s sentimental to me. It’s labeled with the same numbers that Evan carved into my hip, so I ripped the three ones off the door and carved them into the wood instead.
It made me feel good at first. Now it serves as a reminder of my past. I want a different future with Kashton.
I’m going to have to walk away from this life, and for him, I will.
But it can’t hurt to take out one more bastard.
I get out and drop my bag off inside before I walk over to the bar.
My heels clap on the uneven ground before I enter the bar. It’s only eight o’clock, so it’s not very busy. The place never is to begin with. It’s next to a highway outside of town. You have to know about it to end up here.
No one driving by says, Hey, let’s stop there and have a drink.
I sit down and Missy spots me. She frowns, confused as to why I’m here, and it makes the hairs on the back of my neck rise.
“What can I get you, miss?” She’s got her dark hair up in a high pony and her makeup on the lighter side with nude gloss.
She looks good. Better than last time I saw her with a bruised face.
“Whiskey. Please.”
“Coming right up.” She taps the bar and pours me a glass.
“Thank you,” I say, dropping some cash onto the bar top and picking up my drink, exiting the bar and returning to the room.
I’m doing this one differently. I instructed him to meet me here.
Fuck the bar tonight. I don’t have time for small talk.
I’m going to kill the bastard, run to my house, and get back to my husband.
I have plans to spend all night on my knees for him.
Limbs tied and mouth open. Just like the good girl I am for him.
A knock comes on the door, and I smile. How gentlemanly of him.
Getting up, I open it to see a young man standing before me. His eyes drop to my high heels and run up over my skinny jeans and tube top.
I wasn’t in the mood for a dress. They always seem to tear it off or pull it down. The tube top probably wasn’t the best choice, but it’s not like I can wear an overly large T-shirt and sweatpants.
“Hi.” I pop my hip out and give him a fake smile.
“Hey.” He rubs his jaw and surveys my left hand.
I took my ring off and left it in Kashton’s car. Stepping to the side, I gesture for him to enter.
He enters the room, and I shut the door, locking it. I don’t want someone slipping in without me knowing. If he’s got friends coming, they’re going to have to kick it in.
My cell lights up on the dresser by the TV, Fuckface flashing across the screen. I press Ignore. Interesting. He knows I’m working.
“So…” The man turns to face me. “How does all this work?”
“You pay me, and I fuck you.” I twirl my hair around my finger. I wore it down, knowing it wasn’t the best idea.
“Yeah. Yeah.” He nods, reaching into his back pocket and removing his wallet. He grabs a twenty and tosses it onto the dresser. The guy seems nervous. Definitely younger than my usual fifty-year-old and older married bastards.
I arch a brow. “What do you have in mind?”
He licks his lips. “I…uh, I’m an ass man.”
Cheap bastard.
Twenty bucks to fuck my ass? It’s usually the ones who pay the least that expect the most from you. But then again, women are out there doing it for free.
“I didn’t prep for that,” I say honestly. “Does that bother you?”
He pulls his lip back with disgust, and I want to laugh. Kashton doesn’t give a fuck.
His cell beeps, and I look at his front pocket. “Do you need to get that?”
He waves it off. “They can wait.”
Red flags are going off, but I’m here for a reason. I got the text for a job, and I have never missed one. Fuckface lights my cell up once more, and I huff. “Remove your pants,” I order.
His face reddens. “I, uh—”
I kick him in the dick as hard as I can, and he drops to his knees, doubling over. He screams like a little bitch, and I kick him in the face.
Falling onto his back, I open the top drawer to the dresser and stand over him with my gun pointed at his head. “Who the fuck are you?” I demand.
I knew this would happen. That my luck would run out. That they’d put two and two together and find out what I’m doing. My first sign should have been Missy confused to see me. They always know when I’m doing a job. She must have called Adam, and that’s why he was calling me.
“Speak, motherfucker.” I stomp my red-bottomed heel between his legs, pressing down on his balls.
“Fuucckkkk.” He arches his back and spit flies from his mouth. “I…I wasn’t going to hurt you,” he cries.
“Then what the fuck are you doing here?” I demand, adding a twisting motion to the pressure.
He fists his hands and gasps in a breath. “Delivering you…”
“Delivering me to where?”
“Cathedral.”
Fuck. I remove my heel, crouch down, and yank his cell from his pocket. I go to his texts, and my stomach drops at what I read.
I fall down onto the bench at the end of the bed. Pointing the gun at his head, I pull the trigger.
KASHTON
I stand down in the basement with my brothers and Hooke. The sorry bastard we took from Blackout—Maxwell—lies naked and curled up in a ball on the floor. A couple of days with no food or water has given him time to reflect on his life choices.
“Where the fuck is she?” Hooke asks, running a hand down his face.
I’ve never been one of the guys who tortures others.
I leave that to Saint and Haidyn. I have a problem when it comes to getting information out of people.
I end up just killing them. Like this fucker.
If I was Hooke, I’d shoot him right between the eyes, but that defeats the purpose of getting the information he needs.
“She’s…gone,” he chokes out.
“Is she dead?” Haidyn demands.
“I don’t know.” The guy sits up, cradling his broken arm to his chest. “I did my job—”
“Which is?” Hooke interrupts him.
“Clients send me information on potential dolls, and I investigate.”
“Investigate?” Saint snorts.
“You stalk them,” I clarify. “Learn their routine. See who they are and who they know. You decide if they’re worth taking.”
I learned so much about Eve when I was following her. It told me everything I needed to know—she was alone and vulnerable. That thought makes me smile. My angel is a lot of things, but she’s not helpless.
“So you chose Hailey to be a doll?” Hooke begins to pace. “Who wanted her?”
“You don’t understand,” the guy wails. “She was never taken. She was in on it.”
Hooke rushes over to him and kicks the guy in the face. It knocks him to the ground, and Hooke shouts, “Quit fucking lying. She would never help you.”
He cries and rolls over to his side. “She…was a recruiter.”
“I don’t believe you.” Hooke spits at him. “She has a younger sister.”
Haidyn looks at me, and I rub the back of my neck when he starts walking my way. I know exactly what he’s going to say. “Evan was going to make Eve a recruiter.”
I nod.
“It’s not like this is the first time we’ve heard of this,” Saint adds. “Ashtyn’s mother and Luke were helping recruit for Isabella while framing Adam. We just didn’t find this out until recently.”
“Your point?” Hooke barks.
“His point is maybe they were brainwashed,” I answer, thinking of my wife. Hooke opens his mouth, but I raise my hand to stop him. “You said it yourself. Hailey has a younger sister. What if they were using her to get to Hailey?”
Hooke frowns.
“Have you spoken to her sister?” Saint asks Hooke.
He shakes his head. “No. All I know is that she lives in Las Vegas. Hailey visited her often.”
“That makes sense as to why Hailey went there and was with Hudson. Call the Mason brothers and have them do a search on the cameras for the sister.” I shrug. “It can’t hurt.”