Chapter 24
Ipick one of the rooms upstairs at random, seeing the suits in the immaculate walk-in closet.
It has to belong to one of the brothers, and from the style, I’m guessing Zayn.
Feeling extremely petty yet happy, I hide all his ties and underwear before heading to his bathroom and making a mess of it.
I use his shower, scrubbing every inch of my skin with his fancy loofah and shower gel until I smell better than I ever have, and my hair is silky and falling over my shoulders in wet waves from their fancy shampoo.
Wrapped in one of his extremely fluffy towels, I stare at the bottles of skincare on his counter and decide to pick them at random, then I start slapping them on my face.
They must cost thousands of dollars, but I use them like they are water—again, petty happiness.
All the while, I try not to think about what happened tonight.
Butcher is really dead this time. It’s over.
I should feel relieved, and I do, but there’s this sense of bleakness at the same time, as if everything I endured now means nothing.
It’s bullshit, though, so I stroll into the dressing room again and rifle through Zayn’s extremely organized drawers.
Grabbing a designer T-shirt, I slip it on.
It drowns me, the hem falling to my knees, then I find some sweatpants and tie them tightly to stop them from falling.
I even take his socks, since I have no shoes, and grab a particularly fancy leather jacket from the back of the dressing room.
The leather is supple and rich, and there are patches up the arms and a skull on the back.
It’s epic, and I plan to keep it as a part of my payment.
Once I’m done messing up his room, I head out to the landing and follow the voices downstairs, leaning against the doorway in a formal sitting room.
There’s a fire burning at the back, casting the room in a warm hue.
The overhead lights are off, but I see floor-to-ceiling windows and a set of leather couches facing a coffee table.
Perched on one is Kane, who is shirtless and has wet hair.
A man wearing a suit kneels in front of him with a bright light aimed towards Kane as he patches him up.
That must be a doctor. Of course Kane has his own private physician.
“Hey, that jacket is custom!” Zayn complains. “It looks so much better on you though. Could you take everything else off and leave it on so I can take a picture?”
I give him the bird, ignoring Neo and his battered face as he leans into the fire, watching me.
Kane’s eyes lock on me, dark and cold, as if he’s waiting for me to speak.
He assesses me, no doubt coming up with plan after plan on how to deal with me, his fingers dancing across his knee in a strange rhythm, one I saw him doing a few times before.
“Dodge, everyone, leave us,” he orders, and a man I didn’t even notice in the back corner steps forward.
“Yes, sir.” He hustles the guards out so the room is empty, bar us and the doctor.
“They really did a number on you here, maybe even worse than the ear,” the doc grumbles, interrupting the silence as he cleans Kane’s shoulder wound. I can’t contain my smile.
“Oh no, that one was me. Make sure to leave a pretty scar on him,” I tell him as I walk farther into the room and grab a tumbler from the bar. I fill it to the brim with whatever fancy ass liquor they have.
“There will be no scar, sir,” the doctor says, shooting me a scared look.
I simply watch Kane, and his lips twitch. “It’s fine, let it scar. That way I’ll always remember the way the hellion here likes to play.”
Touché.
He’s laying it on thick. I thought his flirting game would be over when we got back, but evidently not.
Even his brothers seem surprised, though they control their facial expressions well.
“My payment.” I nod at Neo. “Wire it. I also want extra. I had to haul his big ass outside, and I broke a nail.” I hold it up to show him. “My nail girl is going to kill me.”
“How much did you agree on?” Kane asks casually.
“Five mil.” I shrug. “Pocket change for you, but me? I’m going to buy a boat.”
“A boat?” Zayn scoffs. “Where will you keep it? Do you even like boats?”
“No, but all rich bastards have boats. I want a boat to say I have one.” I smirk. “So make it seven mil.”
“Seven?” Neo groans. “Bexley, we agreed—”
“Seven is fine,” Kane interrupts, still eyeing me. “Give her whatever she wants.”
“Brother,” Neo hisses, “what has gotten into you? Did she do something to you?”
“Yeah, I stabbed him,” I drawl as I take a sip. “Apparently, for him that is considered flirting. Who knew?”
“You didn’t kill me, so I’d call it flirting.” He rolls his shoulder as the doctor finishes. “Check her wounds.”
“No,” I snap as I drain my drink.
“Hellion,” Kane starts, and I narrow my eyes, but I know he won’t back down, so I have no choice but to explain why, even if it feels like eating glass.
“No,” I state tightly. “Butcher’s doctors were as bad as he was. No one but someone I trust touches me.”
His face tightens, but he nods. I sense Zayn’s and Neo’s confusion, but they don’t speak until Neo breaks the silence.
“Wired,” he murmurs softly.
“I’ll check it once I’m home. It better all be there, or I’ll come back here and kidnap your brother myself,” I warn, pointing at him.
“I’m starting to think he’d like it.” Zayn chuckles as he throws himself onto the couch. “Feel free to kidnap me any day. I’m not into stabbing though. Oh, and my safeword is apples.”
Walking closer, I lean over the back so I’m in his face.
His eyes widen, and all that bravado fades as he glances at my lips.
“I don’t do safewords, little boy,” I tease before I stand up, leaving him staring at me.
“Now, this was lovely and all, but I’m going home. I never want to see your faces again.”
Kane stands and steps into my path. “What about the issue regarding the others thinking we are linked together? All our enemies will come for you.”
“Let them. I can take care of myself.” I sidestep him, but he moves into my path again, and I bite back my irritated sigh. “Move, Sai.”
“What about the insider?” he asks, and my eyes narrow. “To get to me like that, someone on the inside had to help. That means your contract isn’t finished yet.”
“I was only asked to rescue you,” I remind him as I pull out a gun I stole from Zayn’s room and press it to his chin. His brothers freeze, and the temperature in the room drops. “So either move or I’ll drop you and step over your dead body. I just showered, don’t make me have to take another one.”
“Neo, what was her contract?” he asks, not backing down despite the gun aimed at him.
“To rescue you and eliminate those behind it,” he replies, and my nostrils flare as Kane smirks victoriously.
“That means Butcher and anyone who helped him. Your contact is still in play, and from what I know, Karma, you always complete a contact.” His smile is smug. “I’ll arrange a bedroom for you. You’ll have to be close and part of our organization to figure out who the mole is.”
“I’ll kill them, you know that, and anyone else who gets in my way,” I growl, annoyed that he’s right, but I’m bound by my duty and contract as much as I’d like to be far away from Kane and his lustful eyes that do things to me.
He presses his lips to the barrel of my stolen gun, kissing it. We both know he wants it to be me instead. “Then kill them. Anyone who dared to betray my family deserves worse. You have free rein.”
“You’ll regret saying that,” I warn him as I pull my gun away and step back. “Fine, I’ll find your mole, and when I do, we are done forever, understand?” I glance at them. “You’ll stay away from my life and business. Don’t make me your enemy, Sai. You have enough already.”
As I move past him and walk out the door, I feel them fall into step next to me. “Where are you going? Starting now?” Zayn asks excitedly, and I throw him a glare.
“No, I’m going to eat, I’m fucking starving, then I’m going to sleep and probably ruin one of your fancy as shit guest rooms.”
“I’m hungry too.” He skips at my side. “Kitchen’s this way.”
I’m going to end up killing them. I can tell.
I had to take a fucking elevator to their kitchen. It spans half of the bottom floor. The industrial space is big enough to feed an army, but I suppose they have one. Sitting opposite Neo, I continue my sullen glare as Zayn bustles around. Kane is sitting at my side on his phone.
“Can you even cook?” I ask Zayn.
“Of course. I took some lessons from a Michelin-star chef,” he boasts as he ties an apron around his waist.
“Why?” I ask curiously.
“She was hot.” He winks. “Unluckily for me, she liked playing with food more than me, so I stopped the lessons, but it means I can cook something, so don’t worry.”
“Of course she was.” I shake my head. “You’re a scoundrel, just like they say.”
“What else do they say?” he asks, looking at me. “That I have a big dick? I can show you if you want to prove the rumors right.”
“If you get your meat and tackle out before I get food, I will chop it off,” I warn.
“So after.” He nods before he turns and gets back to cooking. Yep, I’m definitely going to end up killing them before I find the mole.
Shuffling in the chair, I try to get comfortable, but my feet ache, and it makes me cranky, plus I’m tired.
After a bit of killing and torture, I like to be alone, not surrounded by hot idiots.
At least with their mouths shut, they are something to look at.
It’s when they start talking that I want to commit another murder.
“Why are you moving so much?” Kane asks, and I glance at him, realizing he was paying more attention than I thought.
“My legs ache,” I grumble, shooting him a glare. “I told you I hate walking.”
Without warning, he scoops up my legs and lays them across his lap, spinning me in my chair, and his hands cover my feet and start to massage.
“I’ll kill you later,” I say around a moan as he digs his fingers in.
“So Butcher is dead?” Neo asks, and my mood sours. I glare at him, and his eyes widen.
“Your face is really pretty, but I enjoyed hitting it. Remember that,” I growl.
“Fuck, feed her. She’s even worse when she’s hungry,” Neo tells Zayn, who moves swiftly around the kitchen like he does it a lot, which is surprising. I expected he’d have staff to cook and wait on his every need, even with his skills. Hell, I bet he doesn’t even bathe himself, the spoiled fucker.
Kane hits a particularly sore spot, and I swear I nearly come. “Do you make these noises during sex?” he asks.
“You’ll never know,” I retort, and Neo and Zayn laugh.
“Want to bet, hellion?” he flirts as he makes me moan again. “Because I’d risk it all to find out.”
“It would be the last thing you do,” I whisper as my eyes close in bliss.
“I’d die happy,” he scoffs, and I refrain from flipping him off since he’s working my feet and legs so well. There’s a bang, and I open my eyes to see a grinning Zayn staring at me and a plate in front of me. It’s a sandwich, but it has shit on top, and I raise my eyebrows.
“The quickest thing I could think of—croque monsieur—but I can make more,” he tells me happily . . . too happily.
“Are you on drugs?” I ask. “No one smiles that much. It’s weird.”
His smile dims for a moment before he perks up. “Try it.”
He looks so hopeful that I pick up the fork and knife, cut off a bite, and shove it in my mouth so he’ll stop.
“It’s like you’ve adopted a kitten or some shit with the way you’re all watching and fussing,” I grumble around a mouthful. Flavors explode in my mouth, and I swear I do orgasm. “Fuck me, that’s good.”
Zayn looks ecstatic as he hurries back into the kitchen as I start to devour the plate of food.
“A spicy kitten maybe,” Neo scoffs, “who dislikes people.”
“Only men,” I correct as I swallow and cut another bite.
“Only men?” Neo asks, tilting his head.
“I hate men,” I say.
“So you prefer women?” Neo asks.
“No, I like to fuck men, but do I like men? No. You’re all idiots and annoying as hell. Just because I like dick doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.” I turn my head to eye Kane, who’s on his phone. “Did I say you could stop rubbing my feet?”
His crooked smile makes my heart flutter as he puts his phone down and carries on. “Sorry, hellion.”
“Fuck me, what magic do you have? I once had to physically pry his phone from his hand.” Neo gapes. “Brother, you’re under a spell!”
“So?” Kane replies. “Finish your sandwich.” He nods at me. “You need to sleep. We’ll start work tomorrow.”
I shovel the rest in my mouth, and when Zayn appears with another plate, I grab it and stand, still chewing. “I’m out of here. Peace out, motherfuckers.” I head to the elevator to find a room before I become too comfortable in their midst.
I remind myself that I hate them and they are trouble.
Yet . . . Fuck.
They are fun.