Karma

Chapter 30

Islept well last night, probably due to multiple orgasms, so when I come downstairs, I expect the Sais to be busy doing whatever evil overlords do, but I find them seated at the dining table, their plates set but empty.

I slide into my seat and look around, ignoring Kane’s lust-filled gaze. “Have you guys eaten already?”

“I know I did late last night,” Kane quips, and I narrow my eyes in warning. “We were waiting for you. You can serve breakfast now.”

They waited for me to eat? Why?

“What are everyone’s plans today?” Kane asks as he leans back in his seat, his open laptop to the side as he focuses on his brothers.

“I have a site walkaround today for the new hotel,” Neo replies. “I might need to head upstate after for a few meetings. We’ll see how it goes.”

“Make sure to get that new contract signed if you do. Take Mr. Henderson out, wine and dine him, and compliment his wife. It will do the trick,” Kane suggests, and Neo nods, pulling his phone out and making notes.

It’s strange watching their dynamic. Kane is their brother, but sometimes he acts like their boss, which I guess he technically is, and it’s clear they defer to him a lot and look to him for approval and guidance. It’s almost cute.

“Zayn?” Kane asks as he takes another sip.

Zayn blinks, chewing and wiping his mouth before he speaks. “I have marathon training this morning. I need to up my speed if we want to come in first.”

“Wait . . . marathon training?” I ask incredulously.

Like . . . running? No murder, mayhem, or torture, but running?

“Even criminals need hobbies, Bexy,” Zayn mutters, and I glare at him even though he’s right. “It’s for charity. One of us competes every year. It’s tradition. This year is my turn.”

“Oh,” is all I say, and then I lean back as breakfast is served. Once the staff leaves, I add some sauce to my plate as Zayn leans across and grins at me.

“Want to join me on my run?” He looks so hopeful, so happy, it’s almost too much fun to ruin his joy.

Sometimes you just need to remind a man of his place and dash all his hopes and dreams.

It’s my favorite hobby.

“I’m going to stop you right there. That sounds horrendous, and it isn’t something I want to do at all. Why are you running? Who’s chasing you?” I chew as I watch him. “I could help you keep your time if you want?” I manage to hide my evil smile . . . but only just.

“Sure, that would be great. We’ll go after breakfast.” He nods, smiling.

Oh, this will be so much fun.

“This juice is nasty,” Neo comments, oblivious as he sniffs it and makes a face.

“I don’t know. I think it’s delicious and sweet,” Kane says as he eyes me, licking his lips, and I roll my eyes.

Subtle.

I hurry to finish my breakfast, and then I get to my feet since I need to prepare. “I’m going to get dressed. I’ll meet you outside.” I skip away as I giggle.

“Why is she so excited?” Neo asks curiously.

“Maybe she’s just happy,” Kane replies with masculine pride in his voice.

“It scares me when she’s happy,” Neo admits.

I always knew he was the clever one. It should scare him. It really should.

As I roll the car down the driveway, Zayn stops stretching and lifts his hand to cover his forehead as he peers at me. He looks fucking good in his shorts, but I’m practically giggling with glee as I lower the window and grin at him.

“This is Kane’s, right?” It’s nice, a Bugatti Centodieci, if I’m not mistaken. I’ve only ever seen them in magazines back in Auto’s shop. “I’ll follow you and keep time.”

“Oh.” He looks at me. “Uh, sure, but be careful. That’s his pride and joy.”

“I’ll be very, very careful. Go on then, get running, hottie.” He grins at me as he steps back and flexes.

“You like this outfit? I could take the shorts off if you want, and we could try a very different workout.” He gapes when I blare the horn and ruin his flirting. I see all the guards staring, but I ignore them.

“Sorry, I was cutting you off before I threw up in my mouth. Start running before I get bored.” I rev the engine.

Sparing me a frown, he turns and starts to jog.

I follow him out of the gates and onto the private street.

Once there, he speeds up, and I do as well.

He keeps looking at me then forward before he’s forced to swerve onto the road when his footpath ends.

I speed up, and he glances back, his eyes widening as he has to run faster to avoid being hit by me. Grinning, I settle into the leather seat and hit the radio, singing along to Chappell Roan.

Taking a donut out of the bag the cook handed to me, I nibble on it. Sheila is a lovely lady. She has three kids. Who knew? We bonded over our annoyance of men after she caught me running from Kane’s guards with his keys in hand.

Eight miles in, Zayn is slowing down and clearly needs some motivation.

“Speed up!” I yell out of the window, still eating donuts. “You need to beat your time. Hurry your ass up or I’ll hit you with the car.”

“I’m trying,” he wheezes, glancing back at me. He is covered in sweat and glistens in the sun, and I consider appreciating his pretty body, but when he slows again, I have no choice.

I don’t make idle threats.

I rev the engine and tap him with the bumper. It’s a little love tap, really, but he flies forward, rolls, and jumps back to his feet. At least I didn’t break anything. It would be a shame for all those muscles to go to waste.

Gasping, he turns to me where I wait. “You hit me!” he yells.

Leaning out of the window, I push my shades up and wink. “A threat is only a threat if you’re willing to follow through, and I always am. You should have run faster. Now move.”

His eyes widen as he rubs his ass, and I rev, creeping forward until he spins and starts to sprint away from me.

By the time he’s on the home stretch, he’s sprinting and screaming as I laugh manically, and when we reach the driveway, he collapses into a guard’s arms. Turning the engine off, I wipe my sticky hands and climb out, whistling at the dent in the bumper.

“You must have a hard ass. You dented his car,” I remark as I lean into the hood.

“You hit me with it four times!” he yells as he shakes off his guard and glares at me.

“Did you not beat your time?” I retort, and he glances at his watch before gawking at me. “See? I helped. You’re welcome.” Turning away, I head toward the front door, and he follows me into the foyer.

“You’re so mean, but I still want to fuck the shit out of you. I have issues,” he grumbles, and with another glare, he limps to the stairs, rubbing his ass and legs.

I watch him go as Kane stops by my side. “Do I want to know?” he asks curiously.

“Motivation and positive reinforcement.” I shrug as I hold up his keys. “Your car is nice. I hope you don’t mind crumbs everywhere. Oh, and your bumper is dented.” I head to the elevator and grin at him as he holds his keys, his eyes snapping to me.

“Hellion!” he roars, shaking the house, and I burst into laughter.

Oh, it was so worth it.

Mole hunting is surprisingly boring. I took two naps this afternoon while Dodge scanned personnel files. Honestly, I just want to round them all up and beat the truth out of them.

Wait, not a bad idea.

Leaping to my feet, I ignore Dodge, who calls my name, and head to the main area where the off-duty guards hang out. If Butcher can turn them with fear, then I can get the truth with it.

Clapping my hands, I climb up onto one of the tables, kicking glasses aside as I prop my hands on my hips.

“Listen up, minions. Everyone is to meet me at the pool. Five minutes. No longer.” Pointing my finger, I scan the crowd before I land on someone.

“You, get me coffee.” I turn and go to leave before stopping. “Wait, remind me where the pool is.”

A commotion of voices respond, and I wave at them, ignoring their grousing. Some of them don’t like me being here, some are scared of me, and others are following orders. I simply don’t care.

When I get to the pool after a small diversion, I find them gathered, and all eyes turn to me as I glance around. There are a bunch of lounges and beds, and the pool is Olympic sized. Bulletproof glass lines one wall, looking into the garden.

“Okay, here is how it’s going to go. I’m going to line you up in front of the pool and ask you questions.

If you lie to me, you’ll die. You all know by now what I’m searching for, but if you don’t, let me make it clear.

There is an informant in your ranks who betrayed your employer, and it’s my job to find you.

I will do just that, so let’s begin. One line. Go.”

“You can’t be fucking serious. If they suspect us, then they should ask us!” one yells. There’s some agreement, and my eyes narrow as I pull the stolen crossbow around for them to see. Their armory really does have everything.

“You can’t do this!” a man shouts as he steps forward, going toe-to-toe with me. “Who are you to question us? I’ve been with this family for two years—”

“And yet you’re still stupid,” I retort. “No one is irreplaceable, not even you. Someone betrayed their employers. You should want to help me find them, unless it’s you?” I tilt my head as I watch him. “Is it?”

“You’re a crazy bitch. I’ll show you who’s stupid here!” He advances on me. Rolling my eyes, I lift the bow and fire.

I didn’t aim, and honestly, I’ve never really used one of these since I’m not in Mad Max, so when the bolt slams into his eye and he hits the ground, my eyes widen. Oops, I just meant it to be a warning shot, but the others’ fear can only help my cause.

“He had kids!” one of his friends yells from the side of the fresh corpse.

“Why does everyone always say that like it’s a reason for me not to kill you? I just did them a favor. He was a total ass.” I shrug. “Now, line your asses up!”

Some of them glare at me, but most fall into line, and I wait. Those who linger stand before me.

Lifting the bow to my eye, I grin. “Make sure not to move too much. I don’t have much practice with this, so I’d hate to miss.” They fall into line, and I drop the crossbow and pace. At least forty men, all in their telltale black suits with the Sai logo on the crests.

One of these men betrayed them.

“Okay then, let’s start here.” I pick a guard at random and step closer. “Have you ever cheated on your partner?”

He gapes at me and looks around for help. “I thought this was business.”

“Fine, ruin my fun,” I grumble. “Did you betray the brothers?”

“No. Never,” he spits vehemently. I watch his eyes as they tighten slightly—nerves. A bead of sweat rolls down his forehead, but I know he’s telling the truth. Taylor always said I was a truth machine, amongst other not so nice things. “Do you know who did?” I ask.

“No,” he says, fisting his hands as he looks straight ahead.

Truth.

Stepping to the next man, I repeat the process, watching his shifty eyes before moving on to the next. This one simply looks pissed off as I ask, “I said, do you know who did?”

“No,” he responds, but he looks left, his body tightening.

He’s lying to me.

Stepping closer, I press the sharp bolt tip to his chin. “You’re lying to me. Last chance. Who betrayed the brothers?”

“I don’t know,” he grits out, “and if I did, I would never tell you, so do your worst.”

Stepping back, I take aim and fire. He plunges backwards into the pool with a huge splash. The water quickly turns red. “Make no mistake, I’m not here to be your friend. I don’t care if you live or die. If I have to kill all of you to find the mole, I will, so do not test me.”

“You think whoever it is will just admit it?” someone snaps, and I search the line until he steps forward, nodding at me. “With all due respect, no one would admit it.”

“Very true,” I agree. “It was worth a shot. I hate paperwork. Fine, let’s try something else.”

They might as well entertain me as I think through another idea since he’s right. “Suits off, shirts off, get in the water.”

“With the body?” a younger guy asks.

“It’s just a dead guy. He isn’t going to bite.

Get in,” I tell him as I turn and lie on the lounger, crossbow still in hand.

I can tell they don’t want to, but they’ve been ordered to listen to me.

Ignoring my command would mean ignoring the Sais’ orders.

I watch as they strip, exposing so many chests that I sit back happily.

They splash into the pool, standing stiffly as they wait for further instructions, but I just check them out, enjoying my view while I think.

It’s always good to have something pretty to stare at while contemplating how best to torture people.

I could follow the paperwork, but like I told the Sais, whoever betrayed them wouldn’t do it because of money. My bet is fear or love, but how do you track that? Trace their entire family? Too tedious. I prefer torture. Unless . . . What if we set a trap?

“Hellion, what are you doing?” I glance up to see Kane there. His eyebrows are raised, and two men in suits stand behind him. I’ve never seen them before, but I ignore them and focus on Kane.

“Well, it started as a murder and answer session, but I got distracted, so now I’m just watching them swim and glare while I check them out,” I admit. “I’m weak, and there are so many muscles. I’ll get back to killing them soon.”

“Alright, everyone back to their posts.” He turns to me as I lean around him to watch them get out.

Why is it always slower in Baywatch? I don’t have enough time to look at all of them.

Kane’s eyes narrow as he moves close to block the view until I slump back.

“I lost all of my guards, leaving us unprotected. If you need something beautiful to look at, hellion, then you just need to find me.”

“You think too highly of yourself,” I scoff as his hand grips my chin, forcing me to look at him.

“You didn’t think so last night when you were screaming for me.” That makes my eyes narrow. “How about I remind you?”

Standing, I leave the crossbow behind, otherwise I might use it on him, as I poke his chest. “Don’t test me, Kane.”

“Why, hellion?” He captures my finger. “It’s so much fun to play with you.”

I kick out, my foot hitting the center of his chest, and I watch as he hits the water and goes under before surfacing and gasping.

His guards dive in after him as he drips in his fancy ass suit.

“Serves you right. That’s the only wet thing you’ll be getting today,” I warn before picking up my crossbow and heading back to Dodge, since apparently I can’t just torture his entire staff.

How boring.