Epilogue
The screen of my laptop illuminates the darkened room as I step out of the bathroom. Steam billows from behind me, fading away into the chilled air of the bedroom.
Grabbing the computer, I click the volume button to bring the sound of the feed online.
“Goodnight, Kaz.” She wiggles her fingers at her phone, then hits the screen to end her video call.
She drops her phone onto the nightstand beside the full-sized bed of her apartment, then leans back against her headboard.
At the same time, my phone pings from where I left it before heading into the shower.
Where the fuck are you?
I shoot back a single word.
Busy. And imagine Kaz’s frustration growing at my non-answer.
“Fuck.” Her voice comes through the computer, and I push my thoughts about job security with the Volkov family from my mind. There’s only one job I’m concerned with right now.
Sinking onto the edge of the bed, I watch on screen as Elana shakes her hand, then sticks her middle finger into her mouth, sucking on the tip. She’s pricked herself again working on her needlepoint.
It’s the same thing every night. She changes into her pajamas— a pair of cotton shorts and an oversized T-shirt— then climbs into bed with her new hobby. She’ll be at it for an hour before she turns off the lights and goes to sleep.
I leave the surveillance feed going while I dig through my duffel to find the last pair of clean jeans.
“Hey.” Her voice wafts through the silence of my bedroom. I glance at the clock. It’s past ten.
“Yeah, I know the place. Give me twenty?”
My spine tingles, and I snatch up the laptop to watch the feed. She’s pushed her needlework to the side. She scribbles on a notepad she keeps on the nightstand while nodding along with the caller on her phone.
“I got it…I understand. No, no one will be with me.” She rolls her eyes. “I understand. Like I said, I’ll be alone.”
“Come on. Say where you’re going, say it, baby.” I urge through the screen. She can’t hear me, I’ve turned off the two-way communication with the cameras I set up around her apartment.
“And he’ll be there?” She hops off the bed and scoops up the jeans draped over a chair in the corner.
Who the hell is she talking to?
“Fine. Twenty minutes. I’ll be there.” She hangs up and tosses the phone onto the bed. “Shit, where’d I put that envelope.”
She pushes aside a pile of clothes off the foot of the bed, then bends down to pick something up. When she stands up again, there’s a thick envelope in her grip. She opens the top and thumbs through the contents.
What the fuck is she up to?
While she continues changing into a sweater, I finish putting clothes on.
The past two weeks she’s been keeping to her normal routine—something she shouldn’t be doing, as her brothers and I have told her dozens of times to vary her schedules—so when did she meet this person and what is she meeting them for?
I switch the feed over to my phone as I grab my leather jacket and head out of the apartment I’ve been renting while watching over her. She has a coat on when she returns to the bedroom.
“Almost forgot,” she mutters to herself before sliding the top drawer of her nightstand open.
From the drawer, she pulls out a Glock. She checks the magazine, then slams it back in place, double checks the safety and stuffs it into the back holster she has hooked to her jeans.
My blood boils. When the fuck did she get that thing?
“Okay. I’m ready.”
I cut the feed once she’s out of her apartment, and I lose visual of her, switching over to the tracker on her phone.
Whatever the fuck she thinks she’s ready for, she damn well isn’t. I stayed in the shadows while she settled in. I kept from making my presence known so she could find her own way, but that ends tonight.
She has a fucking gun and is meeting a stranger with an envelope full of cash.
No, Babygirl. Your free time is over.
Daddy’s coming.
Vicious Sinners continues with book six, Devious Obsession…