Chapter 20
CHAPTER
TWENTY
Kieran
I was going soft. Looking at me now, no one would ever believe I was the most sought-after hitman in this entire country.
Letting Haz give out my number, holding the phone to his ear so he could use it when pain haunted his expression. There were plants in my sink for chrissakes. They mocked me with their dirt the entire time I made breakfast.
He called me a bad plant daddy. I didn’t know what that was, but I felt insulted.
Fucking soft.
And to make it worse, Ghost was there to witness all of it. I’d never hear the end of it. I could change the locks, but that wouldn’t keep him out. No, I’d have to be blunt and tell him to get out and never come back.
“Is there anything else you didn’t tell me about yesterday? Even if it seems like nothing, I want to know,” I asked, fighting past the disgust I had with myself to focus on what was important.
Keeping Hazard alive.
Being soft would not accomplish that, and so it had to go.
“That’s all they took,” he said. “At least that I noticed. I didn’t get to check everything because they came back.”
“And you’re sure you never saw them before?” I pushed.
“I already told you I didn’t.”
“Be sure, Haz. Be very sure.”
“You don’t believe me.”
His words hit me like a rock, and it stung. The urge to coddle him, to gather him up and whisper sweet, soothing words, was strong.
But then I remembered. I didn’t know any sweet words, and coddled men ended up with bullet holes the bugs crawled through when they were tossed six feet under.
The vivid vision was disturbing, and I straightened from the bed to try and dislodge it from the forefront of my mind.
“It isn’t that I don’t believe you,” I told him. “I need you to think. People don’t just try and kill other people for no reason at all. There has to be a reason. Think.”
“Sometimes people kill other people for no reason. Haven’t you ever seen the news?”
I let out a frustrated sound. “That’s not the case here,” I snapped.
He fell quiet, and I felt like scum. Expelling my frustration, I turned. “Baby doll.”
“How do you know?”
My brows furrowed. I was acutely aware of them now because, apparently, they acted like fools right there on my face. “What?”
“How do you know they didn’t just pick my apartment randomly. Maybe they just felt like being violent and I was an easy target.”
Hadn’t I been saying that from the moment I laid eyes on him? A walking hazard. A damn miracle he’d made it this long, especially considering where he lived. Even still… “This time is different. There’s a reason,” I insisted, walking over to swipe my cell off the bed and jam it into my pocket.
“How do you know?” he pressed.
Because the mob put a hit out on you. They hired me to do it. Apparently, your death is worth ten million dollars. It is utterly suspicious you know nothing.
Yet, I believed him.
Soft. You’re fucking soft, Vaughn.
I didn’t say any of that, though. How could I? He said he trusted me. He shouldn’t, and this was why. If I told him, his misplaced trust would be broken and he’d run. If he ran, he’d be dead by dinner.
He was safest here with me, with the man hired to take him out.
“Because they came back,” I answered. “If they had only wanted to rob you, they wouldn’t have.”
Haz nodded. “I remembered the name.” His rounded, multi-colored eyes were full of hope.
He doesn’t want to disappoint me.
I was also, apparently, a glutton for punishment because that expectant look had me going to him, tangling my fingers in the wild hair at his crown. “That’s good, doll, real good. Tell me.”
“Cross.”
I searched through my mind, hoping to make some connection, but there wasn’t one.
“Is that a first name or a last name?” I asked gently, rubbing my fingers into his scalp.
His shoulders slumped. “I’m not sure. I guess that’s not very helpful.”
“It’s more than we had before,” I offered.
He perked up. “Really?”
I was fucking gone for him. So gone I felt myself smile. Probably wouldn’t even recognize my reflection in the mirror if I saw it.
I nodded. “It’s a good place to start.”
“It’s the name of the guy I bit,” he said, shuddering a little.
My hand slid down to cup the back of his neck.
“Right after I bit him, his friend yelled, For shit’s sake, Cross, just shoot him.”
I was going to enjoy killing these assholes. Every last one of them.
The bedroom door opened, Ghost standing in the frame. “Doc wants to know how much longer.”
“He can come in now,” I said.
Doc appeared beside Ghost immediately, bag in hand.
“I’m going out in the other room to talk to Ghost. Be good for the doctor.”
Haz rolled his eyes. “I’m not five.”
“There’s nothing else you remember?” I asked one last time.
“No. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, love,” I said, both of us freezing a fraction of a second at the new term of endearment.
My spine is now made of marshmallows.
I recovered first, acting like the path from my brain to my tongue wasn’t a Slip ‘N Slide, and pulled my hand away.
He caught it, wrapping both of his around it, clinging as though me going into the other room was more distance between us than he could bear.
“You’re not leaving, right?” he asked.
“No. I’ll be in the other room.”
“How are you doing this afternoon, Haz?” Doc said, stepping into the room. “It’s nice to see you awake.”
Still holding my hand, Haz smiled. “Thank you for coming to take care of me. I’ve never met a doctor who does house calls.”
“Yes, well, it was an emergency.”
“That’s polite talk for he won’t say no to a pile of cash,” Ghost said.
Haz’s fingers tightened on mine and tugged. I glanced down. “Did this cost you a lot of money?”
I’d have paid more. “Yes,” I said out loud. “So pay me back by listening to him and doing what he says.”
Haz nodded.
Resisting the urge to kiss him, I pulled away and went across the room.
Behind me, Haz spoke, “Even if you did get lots of money, I appreciate you being here.”
The doctor laughed beneath his breath. “Well, aren’t you a sweet patient?”
“He’s mine,” I snapped, glaring over my shoulder at the older man.
“Yes, that’s obvious.” Doc was amused.
“Oh, are you gay?” Haz asked.
“Why do you care?” I barked.
Ghost whistled beneath his breath. “Jealous.”
“Fuck off,” I growled.
“I’ve been married fifty years. To the same woman. She’s just as beautiful now as she was when we met,” Doc told Haz.
“You think that proves anything?” I scoffed. “Those eyes are enough to turn anyone.”
If they could show me life after being consumed by death, they could do anything.
I glanced at Ghost. “I’m staying in here. We can talk after.” I motioned to Doc to get on with it. This man clearly needed supervision.
“This is why I don’t answer the phone when you call,” Doc lamented.
Was that supposed to hurt my feelings? Make me feel contrite?
Please.
“You’re embarrassing yourself,” Ghost said, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me out of the room. “I admit it’s fun as hell to watch, but enough is enough.”
My eyes lingered on the hallway and the bedroom door as Ghost towed me into the kitchen to help himself to my fridge. Moments later, a cold brown bottle was pressed into my midsection. I jerked at the temperature and looked down.
Before I could scoff at the idea of day drinking, Ghost shook his head. “You need it.”
I took the beer and used my teeth to rip off the top, then spit it into the trash can under the sink. I spared a glance at Hazard’s plants and then took a healthy swig of the dark brew.
“I’m assuming, since he’s awake, you got some information to spill,” Ghost said, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms over his chest. When he brought the doc over last night after my call, I’d filled him in on what happened and what I knew, which was nothing.
He was annoying as hell but the only person besides myself that I trusted.
“He doesn’t know anything,” I said, irritated.
“You believe him?” he deadpanned.
I wasn’t offended. It was a valid question.
My tongue slid over my teeth. “Yeah.”
“Fuck,” Ghost swore. “So if you still got nothing, why’d you call?”
I took another sip of the beer and set aside the bottle. “Yesterday afternoon, I was attacked in the locker room at the gym.”
His face jerked up. “What?”
“I was in the shower. Had to fight with my dick hanging out.”
“Serving looks and a beatdown,” Ghost quipped. “Should have charged admission.”
I couldn’t help it. I smiled.
“How many were there? And why didn’t you mention this last night?” Ghost asked, getting right to it. He knew how to be serious when it mattered.
“Three.”
“You cleaned house?”
“I handled it.”
He nodded. “So?”
“So what happened didn’t have anything to do with last night,” I told him.
We both lived dangerous lives. We both did illegal things. We didn’t get involved in each other’s jobs unless it was necessary because we handled our own business just fine. But now this wasn’t just about me. Hazard was at risk. And this was a risk I wasn’t willing to take.
“But now it does,” Ghost surmised.
“The men were sent by Nicholas Grimaldi.”
Ghost straightened, recognizing the name instantly. “You messing with the mob?”
“Fuck no. He couldn’t get me on the phone, so he sent his men.”
“And?”
I lowered my voice, eyes darting toward the hall. “And he offered me a job.”
“You told him to find another puppet, didn’t you?”
“Of course,” I snarled. “You know once you get mixed up in that world, you never get out.”
“He wasn’t too happy being told no, was he?”
“According to him, the word no doesn’t exist.”
Ghost turned grim.
“He offered me ten million.”
He made a humming sound. “Desperate, is he?”
“Yeah, and I told him exactly what he could do with his offer.”
“Now he’s pissed.” Ghost turned thoughtful, hitching his thumb over his shoulder toward the bedroom. “You think he took it out on half-pint?”
I gave him a look, letting him know what I thought of his little nickname, and he smirked. Then I shook my head. “He refused to take no for an answer and told me he’d text an address.”