Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
KILLIAN
“This is not going according to plan," Lily hisses.
“Keep moving,” I order her.
“I’m not a hostage, you know?”
I grunt a response. As I worried, Lily couldn't get out the front door. I’d gone in through the service elevator and slipped through the back.
"Is he dead?" Lily asks as we pass one of the four men I'd knocked out.
"No."
"Would you tell me if he was?" I grunt a response. Normally I wouldn't have lied if he was dead. I would have told her, but that might upset Teddy, so I’d lie.
"I don't think those grunts are as sexy as Teddy told me." I grunt again. I want to get out of this building. Teddy should be headed out now too, but she hasn't messaged me.
"This way," I tell Lily, entering the parking garage. I call Teddy when we get into the car while I pull around, but it only rings and goes to voicemail.
A pit of worry forms in my stomach at not being able to contact her. It’s uncomfortable and not a reaction I’m used to having. This time when I call her, it goes straight to voicemail, alerting me to either it being turned off or she’s somewhere she doesn’t have a signal.
I pause, my mind shuffling through the possibilities. “How did you know Tristan had a meeting today?”
“He told me. Why?" Lily glances back toward the door we exited out of. “Shouldn’t we—"
“Was it on his calendar?" I ask. Teddy once told me that Lily checks his calendar for events coming up to determine when she could try to slip away from him.
“No.” Lily shakes her head.
“Fuck,” I say, the realization hitting me that we walked right into Tristan’s trap. “We’re going back in,” I tell her.
“What?! No.” Lily backs up a few steps from me, and I reach out and take hold of her forearm. She wraps her hand around to grab me right back. Not sure what she thinks she’s going to do.
“Now you’re a hostage." Lily slightly pales, but I don’t give a flying fuck. I won’t let anything stand in the way of getting Teddy back. She’s the only one that matters in all of this. I start leading Lily back toward the exit door. I don’t believe Tristan really went anywhere.
The second I feel Lily’s hand tighten, I instantly know why she grabbed my forearm. I move before she can. I could have let her try to reverse the hold so she realizes it couldn’t work on me. I’m too fucking big. She can throw all of her weight at me, and it won’t do shit.
Instead, I yank her, spinning her around, and lock her in a hold. “Holy fucking shit, asshole.” Now that’s the Lily Teddy has told me about.
“Tristan has my Zolotse. Let me be perfectly clear with you.” I look her in the eyes. “There is nothing or no one I won’t sacrifice to get her back.”
“What?” Lily’s whole body relaxes, and she stops fighting my hold. “Why didn’t you just say that? I’m not leaving Teddy behind.” I release my hold on her, spinning her back around to face me.
“Next time, don’t hesitate. I felt you prepare for your strike,” I inform her, in case she’s ever in a situation like this again. The rate she and Teddy are going, it wouldn’t surprise me.
“Thanks,” Lily says dryly.
“Follow me, no questions,” I order, heading back through the door. I pull out both of my guns.
“Oh shit,” Lily hisses as I go ahead and take out the camera. I programmed them to glitch, but it only lasts so long, and I don’t have time to play around. “It was quiet.”
“Silencer,” I tell her as I point the other gun at the security guard on the ground.
“Don’t kill him.” I shoot the dart into his thigh to make sure he stays out. I do this all the way back up the stairs. My phone starts to go off, and I motion for Lily to turn around so we can go back down one floor.
“You’re playing a deadly game, Tristan.”
“The way I see it, we’re even at the moment," Tristan counters. He’s trying to keep his tone level, but there is a small hitch. He’s just as worried about me having Lily as I am about him holding my Teddy.
“Your Lily isn’t worth anything compared to Teddy,” I growl through the phone.
Lily throws her hands up and mouths, I’m right here.
“I don’t care whether you think she’s worth it or not. We trade.” I’ll agree to a trade, and then I’ll kill him are my thoughts. Until I realize that Teddy wouldn't care for this plan, nor would she be okay with an exchange.
“How do I know you have her?” I ask to kill time. I motion for Lily to follow me.
“She tased me.” That answers that question. I bite back a chuckle. I’m too pissed to find any of this funny. I don’t believe he'll hurt Teddy, but people get desperate.
Tristan has more of a moral compass than I do. However, I won’t be taking that chance. I’d kill Lily and every other person in the building to save Teddy. Tristan might feel the same way. He’s not the same man I once knew.
"You kidnapped me! Of course I tased you, you, you—" Teddy stumbles to find her words. "Giant jerk face! Not even the good kind of giant, like Killian."
"You think there are good things about Killian?" Tristan scoffs like she’s lost her mind. "The man who is paid to kill people?"
"You know what? I'm way richer than you, buddy, so maybe I'll hire him to kill you."
"It appears you already have hired him. You're just not paying with cash." My vision momentarily goes red. I'll kill him. I have to take a few deep breaths to pull my rage back.
"Don't get all judgy about our situation," Teddy fires back. "Glass houses over there and all. Just so you know, I’ve got lots of rocks, and I don't mean diamonds, but I'll use them too if need be." I could see her throwing diamonds. Probably got a stash in her safe back home.
They continue to bicker, and I don't cut in, being quiet as I make my way back into Tristan’s condo through the service entry.
I follow the sound of them fighting. When I come around the corner from the kitchen, I spot them both in the living room area through a giant mirror on the wall. I raise my gun and point it right at Tristan as I come fully around the wall, catching him off guard.
"Don't move, and maybe you'll live." Tristan ignores me but doesn't move, his eyes moving past me to Lily.
"It worked. I was keeping him distracted!" Teddy pops up from the couch.
"Lily, come here," Tristan orders her.
"No. I'm an adult, and I'm leaving." The two of them start to go at it. I watch Tristan lose his shit, which is a fucking first. I’m surprised that he’s even engaging in these arguments.
Teddy looks at me in question. Then she runs her finger across her neck in one long slashing movement. She's going to let me kill him. That thought is quickly snuffed out when she follows it up with a no and narrowed eyes. Fine, I won't kill him today.
We need to get the hell out of here. Tristan might have called for backup. I’m not sure. He tried to keep shit about Lily close to his chest. It’s why he’d hired me. That didn’t go as planned.
“Are you two done?” I interrupt their bickering. It’s rather annoying. Teddy and I don’t fight, but I’m not sure I’d hate it. I enjoy when she rambles on about things. It’s soothing.
"Killian, you can't take her." He tries to reason with me. "You know I'll track all of you down."
"It's no secret where we'll be," I tell him. We're not jetting off around the world. My Teddy Bear wants to go home.
"No." He takes a step toward me.
"You need to be real careful. The only person keeping you alive right now is Teddy," I let him know so we're real clear. "I planned to kill you after you insulted her."
"You insulted Teddy?" Lily tries to wiggle her ass back into this fight.
"I didn't mean that she's a prostitute." Tristan runs a hand through his hair, frustrated.
"Sex worker," both Lily and Teddy say at the same time.
"And that shit is work. Even when I'm on the bottom, I get worn out," Teddy adds.
“Zolotse." I don't want her speaking of sex. Then they might try to visualize it.
"What?" Teddy shrugs. "I might be one of those pillow princesses." Lily snorts a laugh. I don't know what a pillow princess is, but she is a princess, crown and all. She needs a scepter to go with it.
"Killian—" Tristan starts again, but I'm out of time.
"Fix it and don't make it worse," I tell him before I pull the trigger. Both girls scream as he drops to his knees. Lily rushes forward so that he doesn't fall on his face. He blinks a few times, and I see his mouth move, but I cannot hear what he is saying before his eyes close.
Lily makes us move him to the couch before she steals his phone. Normally I'd shut it down, but he knows where we're going. I only want to be in the air before he wakes up.
"Come," I order them, heading back down. No one speaks until we hit the highway.
"Oh my God! I forgot my taser." Teddy groans. "Turn around; we have to go back."
"I'll buy you another one." Need one with better safety features, but I don't think that will help. This defect is a user issue.
"Yeah, I probably need a new one. It didn't work on you, but it made Tristan grab the elevator railing and go mute for a minute. I was trying to take him all the way down." She holds up her hand like she's got it in her hold. "Zap, zap." Teddy makes her evil face expression and then giggles.
My girl and I might be more alike than I ever knew. I'll get her a scepter for a wedding gift and then have Tristan tied to a chair for our honeymoon. Then she can zap away. I'll even let her do me once.
Now that makes me smile.