CHAPTER EIGHT
NOAH
“You didn’t have to give them that information. Morgan Teller is our job. Who gives a fuck if the Kings want to do business with him?” Damon’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Bitterness stole over his face, taking over his expression.
Reclining my seat a little, I shrugged off his irritation. “It’s not a big deal. If Morgan Teller does business with the Kings, then he won’t be going very far. We’ll grab him.”
“I know why you caved. It’s that goddamn Dom. What is it about that asshole anyway? I thought you hated him.” He glanced over at me for my reaction.
If only I knew the answer to that question. I continued to ask myself that very same thing every damn day.
“I do hate him. He’s a cocky son of a bitch that needs a good ass kicking.” I didn’t volunteer anything further.
Damon wasn’t content with that. He eased the car to a stop at a red light before pinning me with a fierce stare. “Don’t give me that shit. You like him. Or at the very least, you want to fuck him.”
“Since when do I have to like someone in order to fuck them?” I laughed. “Not that I’ll be fucking him. Don’t worry about it. Dom won’t be a problem. Let’s just focus on what we’re here to do.”
We were in the neighboring city of Camden. Headed to a job. An unhappy wife had hired us to get rid of her husband. A local politician. Most likely a ploy for the life insurance money. Not that we gave a shit either way. We didn’t care why someone hired us. We just did the job.
Since there were upcoming elections, the wife had decided this would be a good time to get rid of him. She wanted us to make it look like a rival. We made no promises, but we always did our best.
While Damon drove us to the address we’d been given in his black Escalade, I made myself comfortable in the passenger seat.
I kept catching myself reaching for my phone.
Since we were on a job, our phones were turned off.
I’d stuck it in the glove box. Finding my pocket empty, I shook my head. Terrible habit.
Knowing better than to pull up in front of the house, we circled around to the alley behind, parking at the end for an easy getaway.
It was getting late now. Past midnight. Ruby Harmon, our client, had given us the passcode to get into the back door.
We were to find her husband upstairs in his office and put a bullet in his head. Simple enough.
Once we entered Camden, it didn’t take us long to find the address. A nice neighborhood with newly built homes all less than ten years old. A few lights were on in the house when we drove by.
We got out of the Escalade, tugging on black ski masks as we made our way down the alley to the house. My pulse began to pound as adrenaline trickled through me. I loved that. I still got excited every time.
We let ourselves into the backyard through the gate, following a small stone sidewalk to the back door.
I punched the code into the keypad and the door clicked open.
We entered into a small porch off the kitchen.
Following the layout she’d given us, we crossed through the kitchen and down the hall to the front entryway where the staircase was located.
Moving quietly, we ascended the stairs, not making a noise. In one hand I held a semi-automatic handgun with a silencer. Third door on the left. That’s where Ruby said we would find her husband up working at this time of night.
A soft glow came from beneath the door. Music played faintly from within the room.
Some kind of easy listening bullshit. My heart began to pound.
I fucking loved this part. I only wished it would last longer.
Like an orgasm, it was over seconds after the high hit.
Yet I could ride that wave for hours after.
I paused, glancing back at Damon to make sure he was ready.
He nodded, motioning for me to go ahead and open the door.
Jobs like this didn’t really require two of us.
Since our numbers had been reduced to only two, we didn’t do much alone anymore.
Preferring to have one another’s backs all the time.
Placing a hand on the door knob, I silently counted to three and pushed the door open. We burst into the room with guns raised. Harmon glanced up from his computer, his eyes wide.
“Who the hell are you?” He barely got the words out before I fired.
A pretty damn good shot, I nailed him between the eyes from the doorway. Blood sprayed, coating his desk and computer. Harmon pitched forward, his face slamming into the keyboard.
“I think I prefer torture jobs,” Damon said. “They last so much longer.”
I had to agree with him there. Even though it was safer to get in and get out, it wasn’t always as satisfying.
“Let’s find Ruby. She owes us.” I turned around and left the office, descending back down the stairs to the main floor.
Ruby emerged from a small library off the entryway. Wrapped in a bathrobe, her hair pinned up, she smelled like she’d recently showered.
“It’s done?” She glanced nervously toward the stairs.
“Yes. Now we have a few things to take care of before we leave.” I kept the gun in one hand, making sure she didn’t try to fuck us out of the money.
“I have the money. It’s in my gym bag upstairs.” She motioned for us to follow her.
We went back up to the top floor, following her past Harmon’s office to the primary bedroom. She paused outside the office. For a moment, I thought she would look inside to confirm the kill. Instead, she continued on.
“If you want to sell your story to the cops, we’re going to have to rough you up a little,” Damon said. “Maybe even tie you up.”
She brought us into the bedroom where she pulled a gym bag from under the bed. “I guess that’s true. I don’t want them to link me to this in any way.”
She pulled out several stacks of cash from the bag, handing them over to us. Damon counted the money, making sure the twenty grand we agreed on was all there. With a nod, he pulled out the tote bag that had been folded up inside his jacket, stuffing the money inside.
Ruby sucked in a deep breath. “Okay, let’s get this over with. Please don’t knock my teeth out or anything like that.”
Since I didn’t trust Damon not to be too aggressive, I stepped forward to handle it myself.
I didn’t enjoy hurting women. I didn’t really enjoy much about women at all.
Not that I disliked them. I had no problem with women.
They simply didn’t play much of a role in my life.
Aside from my mom, I had no genuine relationships with them at all.
I waited for Ruby to brace herself before using the back of my hand to smack her across the face. She let out a yelp, her hand going to her cheek. I gave her a moment to gather herself before hitting her again.
This was all part of the job. If she wanted to sell her story to the cops, then she needed to be believable. Telling them someone had broken in and attacked her before killing her husband needed to appear authentic.
Doing my best not to hit her too hard, I popped her one in the nose, making it bleed. Good enough.
“We’re going to tie your hands and feet with that lamp cord.” I pointed to a tall lamp in the corner of the bedroom.
She nodded, sniffling from the pain of her aching nose.
Ruby was the real deal, proving it when she allowed us to bind her wrists and ankles with the lamp cord.
We’d been smart enough not to give her our real names.
If she got busted for this, she wouldn’t be able to point the authorities in our direction.
We weren’t from this town, and the guy who referred her to us didn’t know our real identities either.
Unfortunately, some people did know our real identities.
Those we attended WU with. There wasn’t much to be done about that.
Still, we did a great job at covering our tracks and doing our best to work anonymously.
Wearing gloves. Leaving no prints or DNA behind. I never worried about getting caught.
After we left Ruby on the floor of her bedroom, we made sure to kick in the back door before we left. It needed to look like a real break-in. Then we were gone. Returning to the Escalade with our cash and the rush of a recent hit.
I fucking loved this part. There was nothing quite like the afterglow. My mind strayed to Dom.
What would it feel like to kill him? Should I drag it out or make it quick? How good would that feel? I could hardly wait to find out.