Chapter Twenty-Four
“I want to run something by you.”
Rebel frowned at Crow. Oh, it wasn’t the words per se, but more the tone in which they were spoken.
It was as if Crow had something to say and Rebel suspected he wouldn’t like it.
Was Crow worried about taking him to the ranch?
The water churned and bubbled around them, sending steam upward.
“If you’re talking about going to Nevada, I already said I would.”
Rebel smiled and ran his wet hand over Crow’s shoulder and down the man’s arm.
“No, it’s about something else.”
Strong hands caught his waist and sat him upright.
Okay, this sounded serious and Rebel was starting to worry. Did Crow not want to be friends with benefits? Did the man not want him to go to the ranch? Was that what this was?
The only reason he’d suggested friends with benefits in the first place was because he didn’t want to crowd Crow. He didn’t want his neediness to chase the man away.
Rebel didn’t know what he’d do if Crow turned him down, so he held his breath and nodded, steeling himself against the hurt that was coming.
“I want you to consider giving up assassin work.”
Rebel felt stupefied.
His brain couldn’t process for a moment, so he croaked, sounding like a frog, “What?”
“Listen, you have your whole life ahead of you. I just think it might benefit you to explore other things.” Crow said and the words were spoken hurriedly.
“What about you?” Rebel snapped, his sarcasm thick. “Have you explored other things?”
“It’s different for me than you,” Crow said.
“How so?” Rebel bit the words out.
“I had a choice about what I became. I went to college, I joined the Army. I became a Special Ops military assassin. It was my decision and not forced upon me by some sick individual.”
“Well way to fucking go for you,” Rebel said, his voice filled with anger and hurt. “So, you’re saying you don’t want me to go with you to Nevada?”
“What I’m trying to tell you is… you may not have had choices before, but now you do. You can become anything in this world.”
“What if I don’t want anything more than what I am right now?” Rebel glared at him, his eyes spitting fire. “What would you say to that?”
“I’d say you need to spend some time away from being an assassin to really think about your life choices.” Crow kept his voice calm. The last thing he wanted was to push Rebel away, but maybe that was for the best.
“What about us?”
Crow clenched his teeth for a moment and released a quiet breath. “There is no us.”
“You agreed to friends with benefits. Was that just blowing smoke up my ass?” Rebel asked in a very tight voice.
Crow looked away.
“You fuck.” Rebel lunged from the water and was out of the tub in a heartbeat.
Crow thunked his head against the back of the tub.
Way to go, dumbass , he silently scolded himself.
In the very next moment, the beep of the hotel door was the only warning Crow got.
Armed men swarmed into the room.
There were too many to count along with guns aimed at the room, bed, and the Jacuzzi.
Crow lunged up and rolled out of the heated water, going for the gun that was lying on the dresser. Water cascaded over the floor with a splash, making it slick and Crow’s feet slipped on the wet tile.
Rebel raced to grab anything he could get his hands on, which turned out to be the back of the toilet tank.
Several men attacked Crow before the assassin could get to his weapon and the butt of a semi-automatic rifle cracked against the side of Crow’s head, sending the man to the ground.
Crow rolled and leaped to his feet, a knife appearing in one hand. He took out the two nearest men. They fell screaming.
A soft snick fired and red bloomed on Crow’s upper right arm, but the man was fast and the bullet only grazed him.
Crow launched at the gunman, stabbing in three quick successions before he was on the move.
One big fucker rammed the side of brass knuckles into Crow’s head, but Crow dove and came up, the knife embedded in the man’s crotch. The fucker went down and stayed down.
With methodical precision, Crow continued cleaving his way through the men in his way.
Rebel swung the toilet tank lid and cracked one guy on his gun arm and the guy yowled, leaping away.
Frantically, Rebel tossed a glance in Crow’s direction.
The men attacking were making a dent. Crow seemed godly as he fought, but Rebel knew it was only a matter of time before Crow ran out of strength.
One of the attackers lunged, swiping a knife that opened up a slice down Crow’s chest. Blood poured out.
“No!” Rebel cried and he saw the rage fill Crow’s eyes. In the next moment, Crow was lost to his view as several men started attacking at once.
Rebel lost it. There were so many men that it was a sea of black figures all wearing masks.
Rebel didn’t give a fuck.
He went for the closest man, who was holding a gun aimed at the sea of black attacking Crow.
“If you’re going to use a gun, then you better be ready to shoot, you motherfucker,” he said from between his clenched teeth. That was the only warning the fucker got before he crashed the porcelain cover against the man’s head. The guy fell back sideways, yelling, and scrambled away as Rebel kept on swinging
Rebel advanced toward the men attacking Crow. He swung and hit, first one and then another on the back of the head.
Until Rebel was caught from behind.
A sound of rage and anguish welled out of him when he lost sight of Crow.
The arms holding him were not letting go and Rebel freaked. He fought like a mad thing until someone stepped up and delivered a shot with a needle in his thigh.
“Calm down,” Jimmy whispered against his ear and grabbed a robe from the bed and wrapped it around him.
“I’ll go with you if you don’t kill him. If you kill him, I will kill you,” Rebel said, the words coming through his raw throat as Jimmy yanked the robe closed and tied the sash.
“Dennis,” Jimmy turned to his second in command. “Don’t kill him, but make it hurt.”
“You got it, Boss,” Dennis said, advancing into the fray.
“Nooooooo,” Rebel screamed and struggled, but he was growing foggy from the shot he’d been given.
Jimmy carried him to the door and away from the one man who had ever kept him safe.
He couldn’t even be sure that Jimmy would keep his promise.
His last thoughts were of Crow.
Was he dead?
If so, Rebel would kill them all.