Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Sver
My hands clench the steering wheel as I press the accelerator. I’m banking on my car escaping notice as I move in closer.
“Where the fuck are they going?” Rock spits from the seat next to me.
“To Killian’s apartment.” The words burn in my throat. I saw Chloe at Angel’s wedding. A sweet-looking blonde, she had an angelic smile and a beautiful baby bump.
I know why Killian is coming at me hard.
Chloe is his entire world and he sees me, after what I did to Rebecca, as one of his greatest threats.
I know why he thinks it, but he’s wrong.
“Who’s Rebecca?” Rock asks.
I grit my teeth. “She is the one woman I killed in my tenure as an assassin.”
“Fuck.” Rock turns to me. “That’s…”
“It was the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life.
Women are fragile. Too easily hurt. It made me feel…
” Like I deserved hell. Like an eternity burning wasn’t enough.
“The right woman will make every part of your life softer, warmer, better in every way. Rebecca was beautiful and vibrant. And I took that light. Imagine knowing that because of you, the world is worse.”
Rock is silent.
“Men can justify their actions when they hurt people who are weaker. They had it coming. I was doing what I had to do. It wasn’t that bad.
She was being dramatic. Blah, blah, bullshit.
But if you strip away your own justifications…
” I turn the car onto Claremont, more certain than ever of where we’re going.
“And if you’re honest with yourself, you know that you are just a selfish bastard and that you have taken from someone else, from the world, for your own momentary gain.
That’s the man I never want to be again. ”
“Why’d you do it? Why kill her?”
“My boss held a knife over my daughters. And it’s a good reason. I told myself I had to do it. But when you justify real darkness…” I swallow. “I like the shadows. It hides the dark spots on my soul.”
I watch as Vinnie pulls his SUV into the alley next to Killian’s building. I have no idea how he found this location. Killian is careful.
Then again, Killian hasn’t been acting like himself.
I pass by the street and pull into the next. “Rock…you sneak across the street. Take a sniper position. You kill a man before?”
“Yep.”
“If Vinnie has Chloe you take the shot, but only if it’s clean. She doesn’t get hurt.”
“Got it.”
I step out of the car too, working my way around the building, which takes way too long. But I can’t give away my position now. Surprise is my best element considering Vinnie has three other men with him.
I clear the side of the building, staying in its shadow as I pull my hat low and peer around the corner.
People can sense the whites of your eyes, you have to keep them hidden even in the shadows.
The only thing I see is the chauffeur standing by a side entrance to the building.
I hardly feel the dread as I cross the alley and press myself to the next building. I’ve learned to move silently, and the chauffeur doesn’t even look my way as I place myself against the other building, moving toward where the Escalade is parked.
That’s when the door bangs open, Vinnie and another of his goons coming out with Chloe between them.
They’ve each got a hand around one of her biceps, pulling her along, even as she tries to fight, her cheeks stained with tears.
I don’t feel like I did when I saw a man’s hands around Candy’s throat, but I don’t like it either as I crouch down, rolling myself under Vinnie’s SUV.
“Please,” I hear Chloe beg. “Please.”
“Shut up.” Vinnie slaps her, I hear it echo off the buildings as my teeth clench. “You’ll be fine as long as you do exactly what I say.”
What he’s saying is complete bullshit, of course.
But he’s not leaving here with her, so it doesn’t matter. Where I’m poised, they’ll never even make it inside the car.
I hear Chloe whimper as their feet come into view. I’ve already got my small pistol in my hand, but I pull a second from my belt, pointing them both.
They move around the back of the car, a man in the front, Vinnie and another man, and the chauffeur bringing up the rear with Chloe in the middle.
I take a slow breath as they move around the back of the car.
“We need to have a chat with your husband,” Vinnie is saying to Chloe. “You’re going to help us.”
“I…” Chloe’s voice breaks. “I’m not sure…”
He smacks her again and my molars grind together.
Then, opening the car door, he shoves her into the backseat.
Perfect.
I aim the guns. I can’t kill from here, but taking out knees will make two of the men useless.
But in the second I try to choose which two men are going down first, a shot rings out, hitting the brick wall of the building.
Fuck.
I already know that it was Rock and he missed.
I shoot, taking out a knee in each of the guards.
Their screams echo through the alley as they fall. Without waiting to see where, I push out from under the car, aiming up at Vinnie to go for the kill.
But just as I appear, he yanks Chloe from the car, her head in the way of my shot.
Slowly he brings his own gun to her temple. “How do you like fucking Candy? She’s a good lay, isn’t she? I think it’s the daddy issues, but you might understand that better than me.”
If he thinks that he’s baiting me, he’s dead wrong. I don’t give a shit what Candy did before me.
One of my hands is still under the car, the tire blocking the view of my second pistol. I slowly ease the first one back. “How about you put Chloe back in the car and then I’ll get Killian on the phone. He’s the man you really want to talk to.”
“Oh. I want to talk with you too. He was just easier to track.”
I don’t look at Chloe. Instead, I keep my gaze focused on Vinnie. “And why did you wish to speak with one of us?”
“Someone has got to help me with big Vin.”
What a stupid motherfucker. Doesn’t he understand what Killian is going to do to him after today? “Put Chloe back in the car and then we’ll talk.”
“Fuck you,” he spits, yanking her hair to pull her tighter to his body.
“I’ll make a deal with you. I will take care of your big Vin problem, if you let Chloe return upstairs.”
His lip curls. “How can I trust that? As soon as she goes inside, you’re just going to—”
But the sound of a car engine screaming down the street stops his words. He whips his head around to see who is coming and I seize my moment, kicking out at his knee with so much force, I hear the bone crack, and then he and Chloe are falling.
Vinnie goes back and to the side, crashing into the car, as Chloe falls forward. I already know what I need to do. I drop the gun and shoot out my arm, softening her fall as I catch her with my body.
A second before it happens, I watch as Vinnie raises the gun and I roll, putting myself between Vinnie and Chloe.
The shot rings out and I feel the burn as the bullet rips through my side.
But a second later, I hear another pop followed by the screech of the tires.
But I can’t attend to what else has happened as pain radiates through my body.
“Chloe!” I hear Killian roar.
Lifting my head, I see Vinnie lying dead.
Killian flies from the car, a pistol in hand.
Three quick pops and the chauffeur joins Vinnie on the ground, the two wounded men now dead as well.
I raise my hand. “Don’t shoot. I mean no harm.”
“I already fucking know you saved her. I had to watch.” Killian reaches me and pulls Chloe from my grasp, wrapping her in his arms. “I’m so sorry, baby. I fucked up.”
Chloe bursts into hysterical sobs as she burrows into Killian.
I let my head relax back. “Killian?”
He stops babbling to Chloe long enough to give me a quick, “Yeah?”
“Is your plan to let me bleed out?”
Silence meets my words.
“I’m going to need someone to take care of Candy.”
“Angel already settled my hash over Candy today, he’s on it. As for your death”—he lets out a long sigh just as Rock trots toward us—“I’ve got a doctor who makes house calls.”
I look down at the pool of blood collecting on the pavement. “Hurry.”