Chapter 46
FORTY-SIX
LANA
I enter the cottage, my knife gripped tightly in my hand at my side. As soon as I climbed out of the car, I had a bad feeling.
I just knew deep down that something was wrong.
And I really wish I wasn’t right about it.
The house is silent as I make my way through it, barring Cole’s footsteps behind me. I learned a long time ago how to walk on silent feet, but it seems he’s never been taught that lesson.
I’ll have to change that.
I also need to give him weapons training.
And he’ll need to work on his fighting more. He’s good, but there’s always room for improvement.
I check each room as I pass, only for them to come up empty, and I’m beginning to think that whoever broke in has already been and gone.
That is, until we make it to Cole’s room, and I see a guy looking through the dresser. I don’t even think about what I’m doing when I throw my knife, landing it in his neck. It hits his carotid dead on, and he drops to the floor, blood pooling around him.
Rage simmers in my veins from seeing him in Cole’s space, from seeing him somewhere that feels too close. Too comfortable. This was a safe space, and now it’ll always be haunted by his presence.
I glance around the room, waiting for someone else to jump out at me, only nothing happens.
“Stay here,” I murmur to Cole and go to leave the room, but he pulls on my arm, shaking his head.
“You stay here; I’ll check the rest of the house.”
“But—”
“No buts. I can handle myself, and you’re gonna have to start trusting that. You see what you can find out about him,” he mutters, pointing towards the guy on the floor before disappearing from the room.
I sigh and head towards him. He’s lying on his front, but I didn’t get a good look at his face before I threw my blade, so I have no idea what he looks like. I kick him, and he rolls onto his back.
His lifeless eyes stare up at me, and it takes me a moment for everything to click into place.
I know him.
Anyone from the underworld would.
He’s known as The Shadow, one of the best mercenaries that money can buy. He usually works alone and has a reputation of dealing in favors rather than money a lot of the time. This doesn’t make sense, though, because he’d never be stupid enough to get caught, never mind get himself killed.
He was… sloppy.
And from everything I’ve heard about him, he was the opposite of sloppy. He was the best of the best, so for us to find him like we did just doesn’t add up. It’s almost as though he wanted to get caught.
But why on earth would he want that?
So many unanswered questions swarm my mind, but there’s only one thing I know for sure—the Richardson family won’t stop until I’m dead. They’ll just keep sending more guys. They know I’m living here, which means the guys are in danger, too, and I can’t let them get mixed up in my shit.
I won’t.
“There’s no one else here,” Cole says, telling me what I already know.
“I know,” I say and point down to the guy known as The Shadow. “He always works alone.”
“You know him?”
I shake my head. “Not personally,” I mutter and take in the blood covering the floor.
This is gonna be a bitch to clean up.
“We need to get him out of here before the guys get home,” I murmur, and knowing what he’s about to say next, I add, “Dare’s out of town, so I guess we’re gonna have to take care of it ourselves.”
It’s not a lie, but it’s also not the truth.
He has been out of town for the last couple of days, but he should be arriving back on campus any minute, I just don’t want him to know about this. Because he’ll know what I’m planning, and he’ll try and stop me.
I don’t have time to argue with him.
C ole and I cleaned up the mess and buried The Shadow out in the woods behind the cottage.
He stayed mostly silent, as though he knew I had a lot on my mind, and I just needed the quiet.
He’s good at that—knowing what I need and when I need it.
“You’re planning something,” he states once we make it back to his room. The guys trickled in around an hour ago, and we stayed to catch up with them in an attempt to show that everything is normal and that I did not, in fact, kill someone in their home just a few hours ago.
I bite my lip, wondering how much I should tell him.
He wants me to trust him, but I’ve never done this before, and this being open thing is hard to get used to.
“They’re not gonna stop, Cole.”
He nods and sits on the edge of the bed, his eyes never leaving mine.
“So, you plan on stopping them .”
He knows me too well. I don’t like it.
“I do,” I whisper.
And that is my plan, except I don’t plan on coming back from it.
I know the Richardson family. I’ve studied them for years, and I know there’s no way in hell I’ll make it out alive after taking the fight to them, but at least I can take down as many as I can before they inevitably get the drop on me.
He leans forward, his eyes pleading with me. “Then let me come with you. Wait for Dare to get back. We can put a plan in place and deal with it together.”
From the tightness in his shoulders to the way his jaw is set, I can see how determined he is—he’s not going to let this go .
And I honestly don’t have the energy to fight him on it.
I sigh, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.
“Okay,” I agree, and he lets out a relieved sigh.
“Thank you, little menace.”
He won’t be thanking me tomorrow.