Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
BELLATRIX
“The job’s off.” Vee waved a dismissive hand as soon as I dropped into the chair across from her. I’d barely had time to run a comb through my hair, adjust my pump, and throw on a change of clothes before I heard the slamming of her office door. Our cue to get our asses in gear.
I was five minutes late while Gabby was already in her usual spot when I’d strolled in. Half a dozen questions bouncing around that pretty little head of hers, I was sure.
I could feel her eyes burning a hole through the side of my skull. I pretended I didn’t. “What do you mean the job’s off?” I hissed.
“I mean, it’s off.”
“No.” Vee cocked her head to the side, and I added, “You heard me. I refuse to accept that. You can’t just call it off because you—”
“Because I what, Bellatrix? And I suggest you choose your next words very, very carefully.”
Yeah, that was never gonna happen. I had no filter. “Because you’ve gone soft, Veera. Because you care more about the dick that came out of you than you do the asshole who shoulda put it in your asshole.”
Gabby gasped. Vee didn’t. She just leaned back in her chair, steepled her fingers, and gave that look.
The one all mothers seemed to know how to do as soon as we exited the womb.
My own mother had given it to me a lot over the years.
But none of hers were nearly as effective as the one staring me down right now.
It didn’t matter though. I was in too deep. “You heard me. He may be your son but that doesn’t mean—”
“Aren’t you even going to ask about the girl?” Vee cut me off a second time.
“Girl?” I parroted before I could stop myself.
A disappointed tsk of a tongue, and Miss Veera Vaughn was reaching into her desk drawer and plopping a stack of files between us. “The girl you were so concerned about a few hours ago.”
I dropped my grin, swallowed, and nodded. “Right. Of course. We need to help her.”
“And if she doesn’t want to be helped?” Vee flipped the top file to the first page until the picture of a woman who appeared to be in her early thirties stared back at me.
“Who is she?”
“Emily Michaels.” Vee opened another file and flipped to another picture. “His wife.”
I jumped back as soon as she shifted her finger to the side so I could see the guy’s face—or what was left of it. I scrunched my nose up. I know it wasn’t polite to judge a book by its cover. But that was one jacked-up cover.
“Willingly?” I asked.
Vee shrugged. “Seems so.”
“Let me see…” Gabby leaned forward in her seat before jumping back herself. “Pass.”
“I don’t believe it.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I think we should dig into this more. Make sure she isn’t being held against her will or something. No way a pretty girl like that willingly stays with a guy like… that.” I gestured between the two photos.
“It’s not up for debate.” Vee snapped the files closed and shoved them to the other side of her desk. “Unless there’s another reason you’re so adamant we take this job on?”
I rolled my eyes. “Like what?”
“You tell me, Tr—”
I held up a hand before she used that ridiculous nickname that made me sound like something out of a cereal commercial. Vee smirked, and I huffed. “Fine. We can’t call it off… because it’s too late.”
“Too late?”
I clenched my teeth into a mix between a grin and a grimace. “The thing is, heh, I may have already killed one of them.”
Vee’s expression immediately stiffened, which was hard to do, seeing as it was already stiff to begin with. She pulled the files back over and spread them all out in front of me. “Which one?”
I pointed to the only fucker smiling in what were meant to be candid photos. Like he was mocking me from the grave. “Him.”
Vee plucked the photo up, lowering her glasses to the brim of her nose, and then passed it back to me. “No, you didn’t. I just saw him.”
“When?”
“Not even thirty minutes ago.”
I shook my head. “Impossible. Unless he was dead when you saw him?”
“Nope. Very alive… and very annoying.” Accurate.
“Motherfucker, nine lives,” I mumbled under my breath.
“What?” Vee asked.
“Nothing.” I pushed my chair back from her desk and stood. I didn’t make it two steps before Vee was grabbing my arm and spinning me around. For a middle-aged woman, she was awfully spry when she wanted to be.
“I already told you not to touch this. You will not disobey me again, girl.”
I yanked my arm free. “Why? Afraid I’ll hurt your boy, Mommy?”
I definitely hurt her. I could see it in Vee’s eyes. Not many people would notice. Because not many people knew this woman like I did. She knew me just as well too. Which was why it was both easier and harder to hurt each other.
Gabby was standing between us in seconds. She looked from me to Vee. “Okay, I think we all need to take a breather. This isn’t like us. It’s not supposed to be like this.”
Vee nodded once. “Your sister’s right.”
“Not my sister,” I grunted, and Gabby and Vee broke out into matching grins.
Why? Because it didn’t matter how many times we said it. We all knew it wasn’t true. Blood wasn’t thicker than water. But it sure as hell was a lot more fun to swim in.
“He spiked my drink.” I sighed. “I can’t let that go.”
Vee swallowed hard before offering me another quick nod. “If he did it to you, he’s done it to someone else.”
“Exactly.”
“We won’t get paid for target adjacent,” she added.
“This one’s on the house.”