38. Covered in a Dead Person
Chapter 38
Covered in a Dead Person
Taz
What kind of bullshit operation was the CIA Director running here? They needed to re-evaluate the fuck out of their security plan.
Heath Carlin, dressed in the cheap suit of a waiter, came rushing in. The barrel of his gun pointed right at me.
I pushed Sierra away, knowing that I was his target. Sierra crashed into the wall, as she let out a Ukrainian expletive that was long, jumbled, and I was guessing also a bit hilarious.
“Good to see you again, sweetheart.” Heath said, the endearment made me clench my fist.
I stared down his pistol, knowing that the smallest flinch and it would be lights out for me, Trinity Guerro. Killed before my wedding by my abusive ex-husband. Killed in front of the upper class set that I didn’t belong with. Tragic. Sad.
The stereotypical battered woman that I had not wanted to be.
Heath came at me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder, and pushing the gun into my temple.
I found myself a hostage once again.
But… I could work with this. I could get out of this okay.
“Let her go,” Kai stood in front of us, his hand out, like he was trying to calm a skittish horse.
“Kai!” Kamilla said from under a table. “Get back here!”
“This your little rich boy, huh?” Heath said into my ear.
“Just let her go,” Kai said again, his hand still in the space between us. “You want money? I’ve got money. You want to send a message? I can do that for you. But if you harm her, any offer goes out the window.”
“Where’s daddy, little rich boy?” Heath said.
“Protocol. He’s probably in the safe room.” Griff shook his head. “You won’t be able to get to him.”
Heath started laughing. It was long, psychotic, and shiver-inducing. Like Hannibal Lecter, but weirder. I’d almost laugh, if it wasn’t for the look in Kai’s eyes. A look that didn’t spread to the rest of his closed off face. Fear. He was afraid of losing me.
“Kai!” His mother said through clenched teeth, fear etched in every letter of his name.
“I’ll kill everyone on this stupid boat!” Heath said.
“Then who's gonna drive it back to the dock, smart guy?” I asked, annoyed that he wasn’t a better villain.
How had I married this guy? Was he always insane? Or did it happen later in life? I wasn’t sure.
Or was I so blinded and young, that I clung to the first man who paid attention to me like he was some kind of life raft?
“Let her go,” Griff said calmly, his expression distant from the situation.
But I knew him. I knew what tempest was brewing inside his body, and he was ready to snap, and the consequences would be deadly.
“Kai, get back here,” his mother said again, more insistent this time.
I had to handle this. I had to. Before my fiancé lost his cool.
But then something happened - something snapped in his head, and he calmed.
“I remember you,” Kai said, his eyes narrowing.
Heath looked at him with a sudden sense of recognition.
The two assessed each other, and I had my opening. I flipped my leg up, like a calf stretch, grabbed my high heel and slammed the stiletto over my head into Heath’s temple.
True to her word, Daria’s special shoes broke apart, leaving a needle-sharp blade that sliced through his temple like butter, embedding behind his eye socket.
Heath’s arms loosened, as I felt the squirt of blood on my hair, and the side of my face. I collapsed to the ground, completely going limp, as three shots rang. Secret service men in their black suits, guns out, robotically spoke into their headsets as they closed in.
Heath crumpled beside me. His face was inches from mine, his mouth open, but his eyes… Bloodshot and still.
His face was paralyzed in an expression of shock - a look he’d take to the grave, forever.
“I’ve almost watched you die for the fourth time now.” Kai came to his knees beside me, hauling me up and onto his lap.
His hands wiped the warm blood from my face.
“I’d be pissed, but you…” he shook his head. “I’m just so fucking relieved.”
He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to his chest.
“Marry me.”
“I already said yes.” I murmured against his throat, putting a kiss there.
“Tomorrow.”
“Why the rush?” I asked almost laughing.
“I want to do it now.”
“Are you pregnant?” I asked, slapping him on the chest.
“Tomorrow?” Daria said, shoving at Griff and snapping her fingers in front of his face. “Are you crazy?”
“Yes,” Kai said, coming to his feet, and taking me up with him, carrying me bridal style.
“Put me down!” I said, even as I put my arms around his neck.
“You have no shoes,” Kai answered, as if I had asked a question.
“I have one shoe,” I corrected.
“And you have two feet,” he retorted. “I’ll carry you.”
Daria let out an annoyed sigh. “Okay, compromise. One week. I can plan your wedding in a week.”
I laughed, because she was being dead serious.
“You’ll need to wait anyway, because you have to file paperwork!” Daria crossed her arms, planting her feet, in a stance that said she meant business. “One week, and I will give you the perfect wedding.”
“Fine,” I said, with a laugh. “One week.”
Kai smiled down at me; his eyes bright. “One week?”
“Yes, one week.”
“Are you changing your name?”
“Do you want me to?”
“I don’t know. I’ve gotten so used to calling you Guerro,” he said with a laugh. “I guess that’s about to change, huh?”
“I guess so.”
“You look beautiful, by the way.” His eyes softened immensely as he looked into my face. “I didn’t get to tell you that, yet. The dress is perfect.”
“Covered in a dead person?”
“Yes,” he laughed. “You’re you, and you’re still breathing. That’s beautiful.”