7. A New Recruit
7
A New Recruit
Jessica
I stop just inside the doorway, eyes wide, to find they’ve all turned to gawk at me.
The room is quiet for a moment, and then Antoinette smiles broadly, walking toward me excitedly. “Oh, it’s the Bobby killer!”
I frown, a bit taken aback by her excited statement, but then, from what I’ve heard about Antoinette from Issa, it isn’t overly surprising. Apparently, it’s a well-known fact that Antoinette is a little out there .
My brain registers that she’s not going to stop within a reasonable distance of me right before she wraps her arms around me. That’s another thing I learned from Issa. Antoinette is a hugger.
I stand there rather stiffly, mostly because I can’t do anything with my arms pinned to my sides. A voice pipes up from across the room, “Come now, Antoinette. Release the poor woman.”
She does the opposite of that and instead squeezes me a bit tighter, and then her voice is in my ear, “Super jealous that you got to take out that douchebag. But good job.”
A choked laugh falls from my mouth, and I shrug as I reply, “Thank you?”
Antoinette laughs, and I’m immediately enveloped in this warmth that has no real definition. I suppose that’s just Antoinette.
After another moment, Antoinette releases me and steps back. She grabs my hand and gives me a yank, so I follow her across the room, none too gracefully. We stop in front of the two men, and Darius shakes his head at her, but Tony just grins, obviously entertained by her antics.
The blonde woman walks toward me, stops in front of me and asks, “Who the fuck are you?”
I stand up straight, reaching my hand out in offering as I reply, “Jessica.”
She stares at my hand warily and looks back up at my face with her eyebrows raised as she says, “That doesn’t fucking tell me anything.”
Darius interrupts, “Lilith, give her a fucking break.”
Lilith turns and looks at Darius over her shoulder as she says, “Give who a break? Why give her a break?”
“Jessica is Issa’s manager and long-time friend,” he explains. “She’s the one who notified us that something was wrong. She’s one of the good guys.”
Lilith turns, eying me again, and finally, she asks, “Like, what kind of good? Like, goody two shoes, gonna fuck with our shit, good? Or will fuck some shit up if put into a corner, good?”
I smirk, a small laugh escaping. “I’ll smash some skulls if I have to, though I prefer not to.”
“Ever got your hands dirty?”
I snort. “My hands, my arms, pretty much all of me that blood spatter can reach when you’re bashing somebody’s head in with a giant doorstopper.”
Her eyebrows raise again, but this time, her eyes light up excitedly, and then she turns back to Dare and retorts, “Oh, yes. I like her.”
Another blonde woman enters the room, Declan right behind her. Declan heads toward his brother, not giving me a glance or even attempting to make an introduction.
Smiling rather sheepishly, the woman walks directly to me and holds her hand out, which I take easily. She steps close and places a kiss against my cheek, a move I’ve always considered to be quite posh. I just manage to hide my smile when she pulls back and says, “Carolina Andersen. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Now I do smile, gripping her hand firmly in both of mine as I say, “Likewise. I’ve heard quite a bit about all of you.”
A snort comes from Tony as he says, “Well, depending on who that’s from, it’s not necessarily a good thing.”
Shrugging, I laugh and reply, “A little good, a little bad. Depends on your perspective.”
Tony nods in agreement. “I already know you know how to fuck around, so I have a feeling you’ll fit in just fine here.”
Heat rushes up my neck into my cheeks, and I feel a bit uncomfortable at the second reminder of the man I killed.
I never considered myself to be the murdering kind until I was put into a situation where it was kill or be killed. Most of the time, I don’t think anything of it, and half of the time that I do, I still think, ‘ fuck that guy. ’
But there’s always that tiny part of me that wonders who I would be if that had never happened. If I’d never been forced to get blood on my hands and was still going about my days, pretending to be innocent of the darker sides of the world.
Innocent. That’s laughable, considering the industry I’ve been in for more than half of my life. Sometimes, those who don’t shed blood are even worse than those that do.
“That was a one-off,” I answer dismissively. “I don’t think I have any type of long-term career in the mercenary business.”
The look Tony gives me can only be described as assessing. He stares at my face, his eyes boring into mine, and I’m just bordering on squirming under his gaze when he says matter-of-factly, “If I’m betting against you or the snake, I’m going to pick the snake. I have a feeling you’ll do what you have to do.”
I cock my head at him, squinting, then lift a shoulder dismissively. “I have no qualms about doing what needs to be done when it shows up on my doorstep, but that doesn’t mean I’m keen on going out looking for it.”
“She can do it,” Lilith interrupts almost happily.
Tony gives her a bland look. “Do what?”
“She can be the one to go find Matt.”
I scowl, shaking my head in denial. “I don’t think that would work out very well for Matt.”
Lilith frowns at me. “Why the hell not? No one knows you. You’re perfect!”
“No, I’m not at all perfect. I’m exceedingly uncomfortable with the idea of inserting myself into possible danger with Matt’s life on the line.”
“Oh, it’s not ‘possible’ danger. It’s most definitely danger danger.”
“Exactly my point. I don’t want to bring more danger down on Matt since we have no idea what he’s doing there in the first place.”
“I don’t know, Lils,” Tony retorts flippantly. “She may not have what it takes to get the job done, and right now, we need someone with guts.”
I bristle, turning my scowl on Tony as I mutter, “I’ve got guts.”
He raises his brows, his look a touch condescending as he shrugs. “No, it’s okay. We totally understand if you’re scared to walk into the lion’s den. It’s not for everyone.”
My scowl turns into a glare, knowing he’s baiting me yet unable to stop myself from rising to meet his challenge. So, I cross my arms over my chest, lifting my chin obstinately. “I’ll fucking do it.”
Tony quirks a brow at me mockingly. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
That fucking bastard.
I take a step toward him, jabbing him in the chest with my index finger. “Let me be clear here, bucko. I do what I want, and if you don’t like it, you can get the fuck out of my way and go fuck yourself.”
I open my mouth with another biting retort, but Antoinette clears her throat, effectively interrupting our exchange. I turn my gaze to her amused one as she says, “If you really want to find Matt, you’re going to have to be prepared to do anything.”
I straighten, taking a calming breath and then exhaling it before saying firmly, “I’ll do what has to be done. Matt would do the same for me.”
“Yes,” Darius interjects. “But Matt has been in this life for a long time. He’s been trained and conditioned to do what has to be done.”
I lift a shoulder dismissively as I reply, “Then teach me. Condition whatever you gotta condition in the short time we have available. Because I’m going to go get him.”
Darius gives me the same assessing look Tony did a few moments ago, and somehow, I manage not to squirm under his stern assessment. After a few moments, he says, “You won’t be able to go in with any weapons.”
I snort and roll my eyes a bit as I snark, “Didn’t have one last time, either.”
Antoinette laughs, moving closer to me and putting an arm over my shoulder as she says, “That’s right. Bludgeoned that motherfucker to death. It must have been beautiful.”
Carolina joins in with her giggles and adds, “That must have been a sight to see. I bet you he was still running his fucking mouth, too, and then you shut it up.”
I can’t help but laugh a bit, though I’m sure it comes out rather awkward. If anybody deserved the violent end they got, it was Bobby Schmidt. I know without a doubt that I’d do it again if I had to.
“We don’t have a lot of time to prepare, so we better get our shit together. We don’t really have any idea what’s going on. He may be there of his own free will, he may be there under duress, he may be a prisoner. We won’t have any of those answers until you set eyes on him.”
“And what do I do when I find him?”
Now, Tony shrugs. “That will depend on how you find him. If he’s a prisoner, you’ll have to try to find a way to get him out.”
I nod but then ask, “And if he’s not a prisoner? If he’s in that place of his own volition?”
They all look between each other for a few moments, uncertainty written on all their faces, and then finally, Darius looks at me and replies, “I guess you’ll have to cross that path when you get to it.”
I frown as I say, “And if he’s turned into the enemy? Is that a possibility?”
Again, they all look at each other, the uncertainty even sharper on their features, and then Tony walks closer to me and stops in front of me, stooping over a bit so he can meet my eyes. “Then you get the fuck out of there, and you leave it to me.”
He doesn’t wait for me to answer; he just turns on his heel and stalks across the room, slamming the door on the other side of the room.
Carolina sighs, giving me a reassuring smile. She pats me on the arm and then follows him out of the room.
I look at Dare and then Antoinette nervously, and it’s Darius who replies, “If you get in there and you find out that Matt has switched teams—if he truly is the enemy—we will have to deal with it.”
Antoinette smiles sadly, walking over to Darius and resting her hand on his arm as she says, “You know that isn’t going to happen. Matt wouldn’t do that.”
Dare sighs and shakes his head as he says quietly, “I don’t know fucking anything anymore.”
She steps in even closer to him, forcing him to meet her gaze as she says firmly, “No. No .”
Declan, who has remained silent this entire time, interjects, “If somehow hell has frozen over and Matt has switched sides, then we will all come together and deal with it. But I’m with Antoinette on this. There’s no way.”
Dare gives a curt nod, and then Antoinette steps back, turns to me, and asks, “Are you ready to do this?”
I nod. It’s not like I really have any choice otherwise.
She smiles, and I know what she’s going to say before it even leaves her mouth. “Fuck around time.”