Chapter 39
M“We are en route to the park and will be staking out the territory.”
“Copy. I’ll be in my apartment after I drop off Lana. See you two soon,” I tell Oliver as I hang up the phone. In about five minutes, I’m going to pick up Lana from her shitty apartment and drive her to her gig at the hotel.
Today is also the day for the big calamity—Marco’s downfall.
It’s a misconception that an assassination of someone could be carried out in one week.
Those things are only realistic in movies, but in real life?
Please don’t count on it. If you don’t want any blood on your hands and the law on your fucking ass, you do it as stealthily as you can.
And that means planning, calculating, and the most infuriating thing of all: waiting.
I have taught myself that good things come to those who are patient.
After I kill the bastard, I can finally close off this hit and tell the fucker who sent me the request that I succeeded.
The reason I took this on was, first of all, the money: twenty-five million euros.
Yet there is another, more sinister reason—I want to be the one to take this pedophile down.
I want to be able to look him in the eye and murder him.
It will be prolonged, which is odd for me. Usually, stealth would define me as a sick bastard, but not this time. Besides his illegal proclivities and devious desires, he made another crucial mistake.
He made my little hummingbird uncomfortable, and from what I have seen, he threatened her. Even though Lana had denied it. But I know better.
And no amount of wealth could balance a transgression carved that deep.
Thinking of Lana, I am off to drop her off at the hotel.
***
“Hi, little hummingbird,” I tell her as I kiss her while my thumb is underneath her chin. She looks up at me with those big, beautiful eyes, and I immediately melt.
“Hi, handsome.” Her voice is intoxicating, as always. We get into my car and drive to the hotel.
“When will you be done today?” I ask her as I put my hand on her left leg.
“I start work at two and will be done at around six. Do you want to come pick me up?”
“I thought that was a given?”
“Obviously.” She laughs, and I wish I could bottle up her laugh and take it with me everywhere I go. We arrive at the hotel, and she wants to open her door, but I stop her.
“If you ever open your door while I’m in the car.” I take a gun with a silencer on it from my glove compartment and put it against my forehead. “I want you to shoot me right here.” Lana’s eyes widen, and she starts laughing nervously.
“You seriously don’t expect me to shoot you?” I take her left hand and make her hold the weapon. Very surprisingly, she is holding on to the gun a little too well. It’s like she has held a gun before. I brush my concern off for now because I’m getting lost in her gaze.
“Right. Here.” My words are final, and she exhales through her nose.
She nods at me and lowers the gun, handing it right back to me.
I put it back into the compartment and step out of the car so I can open her door.
Once she is out, I press her against my door and slam my mouth onto hers.
We come up for breath, and I trace my fingers over her shoulder, the place where the tracker used to be.
“Getting nostalgic about the tracker?” she asks me with a raised eyebrow.
“Not really,” I answer honestly. It was fun tracking her around, but after our night in the maze, I became obsessed with chasing her. To earn what I want. I give Lana one last kiss before I see her again later tonight.
“Have fun, Lana.”
“Thank you. See you tonight.” She goes into the hotel, and I start driving to my penthouse. Once I am there, I exercise my patience. To kill time, I call Hana.
“How is my favorite cousin?” I ask her while sipping coffee.
“I’m actually fucking fantastic.” And I don’t think that she is kidding, Hana actually sounds cheerful.
“Really?” I ask her.
“Yes. I passed my exam from that fucking asshole professor!” Fucking finally.
“Fuck yes! How much school have you got left?”
“This semester and then I’m done. In June, I will finally have my degree.
” Hana’s joy is palpable, and I love that for her.
I have always valued education, and will for the rest of my life, because it’s rebellion.
A part of my rebellion, especially against my father in the past. He always dictated how I should live my life, but my education?
That was all fucking me. I fucking did that.
And that’s why I ask every single one of my employees to have a degree. It’s a big-ass fuck-you to my father and a great backup plan if somebody wants to stop working in our line of work.
“I’m so proud of you, Hana. I truly am.”
“Don’t get all sappy, M.” My cousin, ladies and gentlemen. “Listen, I have a question.”
“Shoot.”
“I had a stressful couple of months, and I want to decompress. Will it be okay for you if I go on vacation with my friends in less than two weeks?” Her request catches me off guard, and not because I don’t want her to go. It’s because I do.
“Yeah, of course. Why would I say no to that?”
“I thought that you might need me to do a job.”
“Hana, please go on vacation. How long will you be gone?”
“For about three weeks. I’m going to go to Bali with some friends.”
“Amazing. I’ll call an acquaintance and get you situated in his hotel.”
“Thank you. When will I see you?”
“Next Saturday, I want you all to get to know Lana.”
“I’m there! Good luck today.” We hang up, and I wait for Oliver’s phone call.