Chapter 37
Lucas
My brother wasn’t lying when he said Tessa had a murderous side to her. And holy fuck was it hot. I’m almost disappointed that I missed catching her the first time, but attacking Brandi? Someone lit a fucking fire under my girl tonight, and I sure hope she drags my ass to hell right along with her.
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I-I don’t know what came ov—”
“Hey, hey, hey, enough with that.” I gripped Tessa’s shoulders and held her in front of me upon entering our office. “Why are you sorry?” My brows knitted as I searched her hazy eyes, all ashamed and confused.
“I’m not supposed to act like that. That isn’t—”
“Normal? True to who you are?” I lifted her chin with my knuckle, wiping away a stray tear with my thumb as I cupped her cheek with my free hand.
“News flash, princess. Levi and I aren’t fucking saints, and if you think what you did in there was wrong, then you still don’t understand who we are, even after accepting us into your heart.
” Taking her left hand, I held it high enough for her to get a good look at the ring my brother and I crafted, specifically for her.
“Lean into your darkness, Tessa. We’ll hold your hand the whole way through, and once you’ve reached the other side, there will be nothing and no one left for you to fear. Just you and us.”
“You make redirecting the needle on a moral compass sound so simple…”
“Because it is. But only if you embrace the direction for what it is instead of fighting to change it into something else—”
“Luke.” Levi interrupted, his voice sharp, concerned as he stepped into the room and quickly shut the door behind him. Before uttering another word, he held up his phone displaying a text message that he’d received only a few minutes ago.
“Her test. It’s been assigned.”
“And a shotgun one at that,” Levi added, turning his gaze to Tessa, who looked up at us in dumbstruck confusion. Fuck.
“When?” She croaked, wrapping her arms around herself, and I pulled her body to mine. This may very well be what frees her mind from the chains she continues to fight against, breaking them completely.
Maybe after going through with killing someone, she’ll realize that everything will be okay, and she can finally move past all the guilt and the unwarranted apologies.
“Tonight…” We answered as my brother and I stared at his phone, at the text that contained the information for her test.
Our time to prepare had run out.
Now it was up to our girl to complete her final step.
And I sure as fuck hoped she would make the right choice by pulling the trigger.
Driving separately, Levi and I pulled up to the Luminary entertainment center. A newly constructed hemisphere complex designed to host Vegas’s hottest concerts and shows in a unique, state-of-the-art experience.
Inside, the dome ceiling was lined from end to end with screens, allowing for an entirely immersive atmosphere. Seating was dependent on the occasion, and when more floor space was required, the stadium-style rows retracted into the outer edges of the space.
Luckily for us, this evening in particular, the event being held required an open space, a form of gala for whatever the fuck was being sponsored this week. Meaning that Levi and I wouldn’t have to skirt through rows of chairs to secure Tessa’s target.
“Wait in the car,” I ordered, pressing my palm against the passenger door, preventing her from opening it.
“Why? I don’t—”
“I said, wait in the car, princess.” A cool seriousness in my tone, emphasizing that this was for her own good.
“Levi and I need to sort a few things out before bringing you inside. We didn’t get enough time to plan, and know absolutely nothing about your target.
First and foremost, we need to ensure your safety. ”
After hearing about Dallas’ wife nearly being strangled to death during her test, we wanted to take additional measures to guarantee that no target would have the ability to harm, even lay a finger on ours.
Tessa crossed her arms over her chest, huffing her disapproval, and that was fine. The decision regarding her safety wasn’t hers to make. Too many women have lost their lives in the MUR, and it’s just another reason why most members choose to never marry.
Who would want to gamble on losing someone they love?
Who would want the responsibility of putting a bullet in their woman’s head?
Rules were rules, and we’ve broken so many over the course of our lives. Except this one in particular, we couldn’t avoid or escape. So instead, we’d try our fucking hardest to skirt the edges the best we knew how.
As long as our girl is the one to make the kill, we are home fucking free…
“Alright, what are we looking for?” I asked as we started making our way toward the main entrance before deviating to the left, pulling on our matching black blazers like a couple of secret agents.
“Who. Who are we looking for… Are you—you know what, no, not right now. I’ll ridicule you for that one later.”
“Oh, like you trying to explain—badly, I might add—to Tessa what the fuck we—”
“Not. Now. Lucas.”
“Right… Only when it serves you and your fucking ego…” I grumbled, rolling my eyes as I swiped the MUR’s white, all-access key card across the security panel to unlock the side entrance that led directly into the main observatory, and then swimming through the sea of elegantly dressed individuals like a pair of sharks on the hunt.
“Just—There.” Levi urgently gestured to a man dressed in a deep navy suit who was crossing the center of the massive room, just as he disappeared into another swarm of attending guests. “That’s him. Let’s move.” Well, that was faster than I anticipated.
“Levi.” I hissed as I kept up with his long strides. We didn’t run to avoid suspicion, but our pace was quick as we navigated through the crowd in search of a single man wearing dark blue. At least it wasn’t black.
We had made a quick pit stop at home before heading to Luminary for Tessa’s assignment. Changing into sharp, all-black suits that would allow us to imitate someone in security or of a high-ranking status, so that we could lure our target somewhere secluded with no suspicion.
The goal was to isolate, restrain, and leave no room for error. All our girl would have to do in turn was aim and pull the trigger at the sorry asshole’s head. Thank fucking god for the ability to assist in her test, just as Dane did with ours.
“Mister Henderson.” My brother called, and the target stopped in his tracks before pivoting to face us.
“Yes? What now?” He exhaled, tilting his head with an agitated tick of his jaw as if this wasn’t the first interruption he’d had this evening, and most likely he expected that this wasn’t going to be the last. Who was this guy?
“Juniper Conrad is requesting your presence in the Taylor suite upstairs. She sent us to escort you.” Damn, Levi coming in clutch with the information overload on this one. How did he manage to figure out all these moving pieces before arriving?
“For fuck sake, Juni…” He spoke with a gravelly tone. “Can’t it wait? I could swear I just spoke to her no more than fifteen minutes ago.”
Oh shit.
“I understand, and I apologize for the inconvenience, but she said it can’t wait; the matter needs to be discussed in person.”
And this is why my brother always handles business matters instead of me. I don’t know how the hell he manages to successfully bait these idiots every single time. He doesn’t even have to get creative with it anymore. It’s always the same blanket fucking apology. Morons…
“Fine, fine. Let’s get this over with before the next interruption presents itself to fuck up the rest of my evening.”
My brother bowed his head, gesturing a hand to guide the man toward the main exit, and we followed closely behind.
Luminary had three levels, with the suites located on the second. I pulled Levi back gently by his arm, giving a little more distance between us and the target as he cut around the corner, heading straight toward the escalators.
“What the fuck was all that about?” I hissed under my breath, still dumbstruck from what had just unfolded before my eyes, like a scene from a spy movie.
“Malik Henderson. Known for insider trading, corporate fraud, and as of most recently, antitrust violations. Juniper Conrad is a well-known business partner of his and also, apparently, his current Mistress.”
“And you know all of this within a matter of hours… how, exactly?”
“Running Pulse, I’ve heard Malik’s name thrown out a couple of times. It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together once Dustin named him. Juniper, on the other hand, took a little more digging, but we only needed her name for association.”
“The way your mind works…” I muttered, more to myself than him.
“Eh, I wouldn’t think too hard on it, little brother.” He slapped me on the back of the shoulder as we rounded the final corner that led to the suite, still tailing a couple of paces behind Malik. “Now come on, we’ve got a man to tie up for our girl.”
“In any other context that wouldn’t sound right…”
“Shut up.” Levi laughed playfully as he pulled a black taser from his back pocket and pressed the button a couple of times to ensure it was functioning properly. “Let the fun begin.”