Chapter 34
The hot coffee soothes my soul as I swallow, thoughts of last night run its course through my head as I sit in the afternoon sun. Aaron left an hour ago to go work at his shop, Cea’s still sound asleep in his bed. Last night was wild and fun, exactly what we needed before tonight's job.
Grabbing the duffel bag I found in my trunk when we got home last night, I set it on the table. I begin unzipping it when two arms come from behind, wrapping around my body. Cea nuzzles her face into my side, then looks up giving me a sleepy smile.
“Good morning, Mi Cielo,”
I say, placing a kiss on her lips.
“Good morning, what are you up to?”
she asks, snatching my cup of coffee.
I shake my head, a low chuckle leaving me as I continue to open up the bag.
“Seeing what all we have to work with tonight.”
This bag is much larger than the others and when I open it to find out what’s inside, I know exactly why. There’s two different bags inside with our names on them, underneath are tons of weapons. The same delivered to us on our last mission.
I hand Cea hers then rest mine on the table. She sets the coffee down, hanging the bag over the side of the chair to open it. A long red dress falls out, a matching red mask with gold accents hooked at the top to go with it.
“What exactly is the plan tonight?”
Cea asks, eyeing the dress skeptically.
“Masquerade party. Nobody leaves alive.”
“What about Aaron? Did you tell him what we were doing?”
I begin unzipping my own bag, before answering her. “Only that we were working…which works out since he’s working at his shop today.”
I can feel her eyes burn into me as I study the fancy black tuxedo I’m being forced to wear. A black mask sitting atop it.
“Are you ever going to tell him what you actually do?”
the words come out as a whisper.
“No sense in putting him in danger if I don’t have to.”
I glance over to see her thumbing the material, not saying a word.
“What is it?”
I ask, grabbing her and pulling her into my arms.
“I just don’t think we should be lying to him.”
“Is it lying if we’re just not saying anything?”
She tries to remove herself from my hold, but I tighten my grip on her.
“Hey, talk to me,”
I command, grabbing her chin between my forefinger and thumb, forcing her to look at me.
“I just don’t think we should be keeping this from him.”
That fire I love fills her eyes, but I refuse to let her have her way this time.
“Look, tonight's our last job and it’ll be done. We’ll do what we have to do, come back home, and we’ll all be happy. He’ll never have to know. Everyone’s okay and safe.”
I study her face, waiting on an answer that’s not coming. “Okay?”
“Okay,”
she mumbles, looking away.
“We need to start getting everything ready, including us. I’ll meet you back down here at five. We have and hour and a half drive tonight.”
“Okay,”
she says, grabbing her bag and making her way toward the guest room.
After showering, attempting to make myself look picture perfect, I fix my tie in the mirror when there’s a knock at my door.
“Come in,”
my deep voice fills the room.
Cea slowly opens the door, peeking her head inside.
“I was wondering if you could help me zip the back?”
I nod, giving her a come-hither motion with my hand.
She walks into the room in the red satin dress, a split all the way to her hip. The dress is almost completely glued to her body, except for where it flares out toward the bottom. I hear Cea clear her throat when I catch myself in a trance staring at her ass.
“See something you like?”
she teases.
“Oh baby, not just something I like…something I love.”
She lets out a giggle and I grab the zipper pulling it all the way up.
Turning around to face me, she takes my cheek in her hand, staring intently into my eyes, a nervous breath leaving her before she speaks.
“I’m really nervous about tonight.”
I scrunch my eyebrows, “There’s nothing to worry about Mamas. I’ll be right there with you. Easy peasy.”
I give her my dimple grin, trying to ease her anxiety.
“Something feels off…I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel like something bad is going to happen.”
Pulling her into my arms, I kiss the top of her head.
“Everything’s going to be fine, Mi Cielo. If you’re that nervous, you can stay here and I’ll take care of the job by myself.”
Cea jerks back in my arms, looking at me like I've lost my head.
“You’re out of your damn mind if you think I’m letting you go alone Blaze Valentino. We’re in this together and we will be coming back home together. Understood?”
“Yes ma’am”
“Good. Let’s get this over with.”
We walk outside, the duffel bag in one hand, my keys to the Jeep in the other. Cea strides next to me, placing her gun into her thigh holster, heat rushing my body at the sight of my woman decorated in weapons, but now is not the time. I get to the driver’s side door, unlocking it so we can both hop in. As soon as I crank it, Cea immediately messes with my radio, hooking her phone up to the Bluetooth. “No Sleep Til Brooklyn”
starts pouring through the speakers.
“Are you serious right now?”
I ask her, debating her choice in music.
“What?”
She shrugs. “It’s my get pumped playlist.”
A smirk covers her face and the look on mine causes her to giggle.
“Either get with it or don’t. Either way, this is what we’re listening to.”
She kicks her feet onto my dash, the dress falling down her hips, as her head bops to the music.
“Whatever you say Mamas,”
I mumble, putting the Jeep in reverse and backing out of the driveway.
Thirty minutes into our drive, Cea turns the radio down, turning her focus on me. She has that worried look on her face again and I don’t like it. She should never have to be stressed or worried when I’m around.
“We need to discuss the plan,” she says.
“Okay.”
She looks at me bewildered, “Well…out with it jackass.”
I chuckle, “You sure have a way with words.”
“I’m serious. I want to be prepared for what we’re walking into.”
I let my thoughts process, then decide to give her the rundown.
“We show up as one of the guests. Elijah hijacked two tickets, which I have on me. Hide as many weapons as you can on you. We’ll go in until we can locate the big boss and take him down. Elijah says to take out everyone, but I’d rather make sure there's no more victims on the premises.”
My hands tighten around the steering wheel. I glance over to see . “We will have to be careful with extra guards, but I’m sure he has more women down in the basement. We’ll rescue them, kill the man in charge, then blow the joint to oblivion.”
Cea scrunches her eyebrows. “We might be better off splitting up.”
I look over at her, “Are you fucking crazy? Absolutely not. We stay together.”
“Blaze, I'm just saying. We could get a lot more done if we do different tasks.”
“We could also get captured. So. No. Grab the layout map out of the bag and study before we get there,”
I suggest, praying she will drop the subject.
I’ll be damned if I let her out of my sight.
“We’ll talk about it when we get there,”
she snarks, grabbing the map then sitting back into her seat and turning the radio back up.
“We will absolutely not talk about it, because there’s nothing else to discuss,”
I say over the radio.
“Yeah. Okay. Big boy.”
Dear God, please give me strength, I internally pray, taking a deep breath, focusing back on the road. Everything’s going to be fine.