Chapter 5
five
CALDER
Standing over the body of my target, I can’t help but think about how ironic it was that he was now dead when he’d been in the process of fucking a corpse of a woman. She’d been wearing some Santa Claus type outfit.
The weird shit people do when no one is around. The woman looked to have been dead for a good few hours. Rigor hadn’t set in just yet, so I’m guessing he was still fucking a warm body. Though it had to have been cooling.
I don’t know what people are thinking when it comes to shit like this, and I don’t want to know.
My mind was on the beauty I left in my house. I didn’t want to leave her, but I still have a job to do, and I won’t disappoint the bossman by not doing it. I’ve never not been able to handle my kill list in a timely manner, and it’s not about to change.
Not even for my beauty waiting for me.
I shake the thought away. She might be mine, but she’s not at the same time.
Only in name are we connected. I married her to get her out from under her father’s thumb, though I also did it for Grant.
Maybe I shouldn’t have given her the days I did with us alone, but I did, and now, there’s no going back.
Sneering down at the two dead bodies, I shake my head and turn away from them.
I don’t feel for the woman, for all I know, she was just a prostitute he hired.
It’s something this man is known to do a lot of times.
That or it’s a woman he bought from one of the sex trade rings he’s been known to toy within.
I make my way out of the house through the shadows, down the street, around the block, then another.
I came in on foot to this one because even though he’s not very bright in a lot of ways, hence fucking a corpse, he’s smart in others.
Getting to my car, I climb in behind the wheel and press the button, turning the car on.
Got to love modern technology.
If you gotta do a quick getaway, you don’t have to worry about keys, just put your foot on the brake and press a damn button.
I put the car in gear while also pulling my phone out to check the tracker on the car I figured Emerie would take. Of course, she would take the SUV and not the sporty car. She didn’t seem to like the fact my place wasn’t decorated for Christmas. I didn’t give a damn if it was or not.
I take a look at the location of the car and find she’s at the Home Depot store. What the hell is she doing there?
Sighing, I point the car in the direction of the store instead of going to take on the next target. I intended to get one more dealt with tonight, then go home to Emerie.
Damnit.
Maybe I shouldn’t have told her where the keys were. At least not yet. Not when I had things to do that needed my undivided attention. Taking the days I did with her away from town has definitely pushed back my plans for something I need to handle, and I don’t like being behind schedule.
Regardless, I wouldn’t change the time with her. I got to know a bit about Emerie, and I like what I now know. The fact that she volunteers at the children’s hospital is sweet.
Emerie shared with me that she prefers to spend her time volunteering since her father always refused to allow her to be able to work full time and help where she could with those who needed someone to lean on and support.
She wasn’t one for spending money on luxurious things, and I guess I couldn’t blame her.
The ride to the Home Depot isn’t long, and it’s filled with thoughts of her.
How I wanted to get inside her sweet body.
It had been a struggle to keep my hands off her while we’d been in the hotel.
Sleeping next to her, my cock ached and strained with need.
The only release I allowed myself was when I palmed my cock in the shower, imagining it was her mouth.
Even now, just thinking about her, my cock comes to life, bulging against the zipper of my slacks.
I pull into the lot, spotting the SUV, and the back hatch was open where Emerie was loading in bags and a huge ass box by herself.
What the fuck?
I park in the spot right next to her, her eyes coming to me as I open the door and get out.
“Hey,” she calls, one brow cocked.
“What are you doing?” I demand, rounding the back of my car.
Emerie rolls her eyes and goes back to loading the back of the SUV. “What’s it look like I’m doing?”
Spotting the large ass box, I see it’s a fucking Christmas tree.
“We don’t need all this shit at the house,” I tell her, gritting my teeth.
“Ugh, you might not,” she says, rolling her eyes, “but I do.”
Looking in the back of the SUV, I see there are other boxes in there already. I grit my teeth at the sight of outside decorations. There are a lot of them.
“If I’m going to live in your house, I’m going to decorate for Christmas. I love Christmas. Everything about it. But I love seeing homes lit up at night. So, I want to be able to do it where I now live as well.”
I let out a heavy breath and shake my head. I fucking hate Christmas and everything it entails.
“How did you pay for it all?” I demand.
Again, she rolls her eyes. “I used my money.”
Shaking my head, I take the tree box and shove it in the back of the SUV.
“Hey,” Emerie whisper-shouts. “Be careful with that.”
Now, it’s me who wants to roll my eyes.
Once I have the box fully in with the rest, I close the back hatch, turn to Emerie, and pull her flush in my space. “Next time you want to go on some spending spree, you don’t use Daddy’s money.” I let her go. “You going home now?”
“I was going to go get something for dinner.”
Nodding, I straighten. I want her at home, especially while I’m dealing with work, but I don’t like the idea of her eating alone either. “I’ll join you.”
Emerie’s eyes narrow, and she cocks her head. “How did you find me?”
I shrug, allowing the lie to spill from my tongue easily. “Was passing through and saw you.”
“That’s a lie and you know it,” she snaps, calling my bullshit. “You found I was here somehow, and it wasn’t by passing by the flipping hardware store. So, what? You have someone watching me? Tracker in my phone?”
I did have a tracker in her phone, but I wasn’t telling her that. It’d be easier to tell her about the car.
“All of my cars have a tracking device on them,” I clarify. “I finished with one of the things I had to do for Grant and was getting ready to head for the next when I checked to see where you were and decided to see what the fuck you’re doing coming here.”
“Well, as you can see, I was getting decorations. Now, I’m going to get food, then going home to start.”
“Right.” I nod. “Let’s go eat then. I’ll follow you.”
“You don’t have to. If you have things to do, then go get them done. I don’t need a babysitter.” She huffs, takes the handle of the cart, and walks it across the lot to one of the holders you put those damn things in.
I don’t move from my spot, keeping my eyes on her the whole time.
I don’t like the idea of her being out without someone on her.
Married to her, it’s my responsibility, and knowing the asshole who birthed her all but sold her to get an alliance with the Devore family I don’t want to take any chances.
Though what that man doesn’t know is that he doesn’t have the alliance he thinks he does. He won’t be getting anything of the sort. I intend to find out exactly what he’s playing at with this whole ordeal.
Once Emerie is back, I stay standing at the back of the cars until she gets in the driver’s seat. Only then do I move to my own car door. I wait for her to take off before following after her out of the parking lot onto the street.
Emerie takes a left, goes three blocks down, and makes a right, then pulls into the parking lot for Marcos, surprising me. It’s a restaurant that the Devore family is silent partners in.
When she parks and gets out, her eyes slash in my direction as she cocks a hip, hand planting on either side.
Fuck, I wanna fuck the hell out of her.
I park next to her and get out.
“You like Marcos?” I ask.
“I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t. They have the best seafood Alfredo.”
“The seafood Alfredo is good, but I’m partial to their lasagna and pizzas.” Anything Italian food-wise, I could eat and enjoy.
Emerie gives me a slight smile before rolling her eyes.
The way she keeps rolling her eyes is going to get her pretty ass in trouble if she keeps it up.
It’s bad enough I’ve kept my hands to myself regarding her after spending days with her.
All I want to do is shove her against the side of the damn SUV and fuck her, but I’m trying to do the gentlemanly thing by her at the same time.