Chapter 35
Levi
After hearing Tessa’s heartfelt, sleepy confession, Lucas excitedly handed her the package he’d brought from the kitchen the moment she woke up. He couldn’t wait for her to open it, and honestly, neither could I.
Inside, among all the crumpled wads of cream tissue paper, was a small black velvet box. A dead giveaway for the reasoning behind the delivery being under her new and legal name.
Her wedding ring.
A custom-designed white gold double infinity eternity band with a braided twist. The center stone was an emerald-cut raw obsidian, a standard among all rings in the MUR, and enhanced with a total of six nude diamonds framing both sides.
The outer box was excessive for its contents, but we didn’t want to risk the ring getting lost or misplaced, so we requested that it be sent in a larger box instead. While it looked fucking ridiculous, it made the surprise even better because she had absolutely no clue what it was at first glance.
And now that everything was out in the open, the last item on our to-do list was to ensure that our bride was prepared for her test, which was fast approaching.
Time flew past us like a bullet train, and a month of anticipation quickly turned into days of anxiety.
“We need to do it now. Just rip the fucking band-aid off. She’s already accepted the marriage.
What’s the worst that could happen at this point?
” Lucas stepped into the kitchen, rapping a knuckle along the counter as he leisurely skirted around the corner to where I was sitting on one of the barstools.
“What if she runs?” I sighed, dragging my hands through my bed-messed hair, having just woken up a few hours ago.
Any day now, I’d be receiving a text from Dustin regarding Tessa’s assignment, and already it was making me restless. While she may have accepted the ring, that didn’t mean she would take the rest of the details in stride.
“What if she runs—that’s your immediate concern? Not, what if she fucking fails?” My brother leaned against the opposite counter, crossing his arms over his chest, waiting to hear a good answer.
“She won’t. Tessa can handle herself just fine as long as we do everything we can to guarantee her safety in the process.”
“How can you be so sure?” Lucas questioned, dropping his hands to grip the edge of the marble as he pursed his lips in thought.
“There’s something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?
What have you been hiding, Levi? We promised when we left California that we’d never keep secrets from each other and—”
“And I haven’t.” I rushed out before he escalated into anger. “I just… didn’t want to get your hopes up too soon, and with everything that’s happened, honestly… I forgot.”
“Forgot what?”
A deep sigh had my jaw tightening as I laced my fingers behind my neck and pulled my palms down. How do I say this without making her sound like a psycho? Although, unless she was fucking around with another man—that wasn’t me, I don’t think Lucas could see her as anything less than flawless.
“Tessa has a proclivity for murder. I caught her just as she was about to stab a man in the back alley of Pulse—with her heel.”
“Tessa? Our Tessa? Tessa… who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and grew up having everything handed to her the second she stopped smiling or appeared unhappy?” My brother’s eyes widened, his expression confused.
I could read his disbelief from a mile away.
“I don’t buy that. There is no fucking way—”
“I saw her, Luke.” And I couldn’t wait to watch her go through with the act.
“Believe what you want, but I was there, and it’s just another reason why she’s so damn perfect for us.
We’ll never find another woman like her, someone who is even open to the idea.
Tessa, on the other hand, would kill for us. ”
“If you’re so sure, then why are you concerned that she’d run?”
“Because… Because I’m in love with her. And I know that if she left, I’d tear myself and the world apart to chase her down and bring her home...”
The Castiel brothers were at her fucking mercy…
“Fuck…” Lucas sighed into his palms as he dragged them up and down his face after unloading everything onto him, and I stared directly at the counter between my arms, wondering where the fuck we were supposed to go from here.
“You can say that again…”
“What the fuck happened to us? We’ve turned soft for her… haven’t we?”
“Only for her. I’ll still fuck anyone up who crosses mine or the MURs’ path without hesitation.”
“What’s with the grim faces?” Tessa. I looked up to find my girl wearing nothing but one of our white T-shirts. She had on no make-up and her hair was a tangled mess, yet she still managed to look fucking radiant. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Fuck…
“No, babygirl…” I leaned back on the barstool and patted my thigh, hoping she’d take the hint and come to me so I could hold her, needing the comfort. “Actually, we need to talk.”
“I already told you, Levi...” Tessa didn’t waste any time accepting my invitation, brushing a hand along the back of my brother’s arm and hand before stopping between my thighs, caressing my cheeks in her hands.
“I want this. You. Both of you.” She warmly confirmed, leaning into me as I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her in close.
“It’s not that simple. There’s more to this marriage than just signing the papers.”
“Oh?”
I bit my lip, arguing with myself over how to explain our predicament, how to tell this gorgeous woman who we truly were and what we did to afford everything we had.
“Fuck sake.” Lucas interrupted. “What Levi is trying to say is that you have a test coming up—very fucking soon, I might add.”
“A test?” Her face scrunched as if this were a joke, and we were trying to get another rise out of her.
“O-kay…” Tessa pouted, her brows knitting before rolling her lips together in thought.
“Care to elaborate a little further? Because this doesn’t sound as devastating as the look on your faces when I entered the kitchen… ”
Alright, here we fucking go…
“Luke and I are, essentially, contract killers. We’re members of a secret society that owns and runs this city.
Similar to what you’d imagine the mafia would do, except that isn’t what we are.
Now and again, we’re assigned tasks to take the lives of those who get in the organization’s way or are deemed…
problematic, and can’t be allowed to roam free on the streets.
” I spoke faster than usual, anxious and unsure of what to say next.
To no fucking surprise, Tessa’s jaw fell to the floor, gaping at the two of us. She’d fallen completely silent from the overload of information, and I couldn’t blame her. I had a similar reaction when Lucas brought it up over six years ago.
“ I-uh… You—You’re—You do—Mother of fucking god…” She stammered before muttering the last few words to herself. “Is there more that you haven’t told me?”
“No… That’s pretty much it.” I winced, looking for additional assistance from Lucas, who just sighed and palmed his forehead as if I were a total idiot.
I may be the oldest, I may be more mature, but for the fucking life of me I couldn’t figure out the best way to tell Tessa everything she needed to know.
“Okay, fine, so when’s my test?”
“That’s it? ‘Okay, fine?’ That’s all you have to say after hearing that terrible half-assed explanation from Levi?” Lucas mocked, laughing like he had just lost his damn mind. We were so fucked.
“Well, by the sound of it, I only have one option, right? I have to go through with my test, because I’m assuming the only alternative is death?
Why would I want to choose the latter?” She was so calm and unbothered after learning that her husbands were, well, murderers.
Maybe the devil does wear Prada, and occasionally a pink fucking wig.
“Let me just make sure we are all on the same fucking page here… None of what I just said puts you off? Scares you?” I was questioning my own damn sanity at this point.
“I grew up in Hollywood… I’ve seen and experienced far worse than any secret society could throw at me.
And if it means staying alive and keeping both of you, then…
I guess I’m all in.” Tessa was so perky about all of this.
She made it seem so fucking easy. “And now that we’ve cleared the air and you’re both aware of my stance on the matter, are you going to answer my question? When is it?”
“We don’t know.” Lucas and I echoed.
“Tasks are assigned through text message or email roughly twenty-four hours prior—”
“And based on a tentative timeline we had initially been given, I’d expect to have the information within the next day or so…”
Tessa shook her head and rolled her eyes, treating this as no more than a minor inconvenience.
“You two sure know how to leave something important until the very last minute, don’t you?”
“We didn’t want to scare you off, princess…”
“You’re too important to us, now more than ever…” I added after my brother, taking her left hand in mine, I rolled her ring between my fingers—the symbol of our eternal love and unbreakable vow to her.
Tessa was everything and more.
The sun, the moon, the stars—the entire fucking galaxy…
She was ours.