Chapter 32
HAYES
Walking the covered archways of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum with Collins on my arm, I feel the kind of calm that only arrives after a terrible storm. A serenity washes over me and keeps me buoyed, knowing the long mayhem has passed and I’m finally safe.
Ducking through the corridors, I marvel at the crafted pillars as the gravel walkway crunches under our feet. The atmosphere is sophisticated and lush as couples mingle and laugh over simple conversation. Champagne glasses clink, and the ruffles of suits and ballgowns float through the air.
I am wholly out of my element, in a rented tux and smelling like expensive pine. But this night is about Collins. Now that she’s mine—no longer fake, but truly mine—I’ll wear a loincloth to the Garden and recite poetry if it makes her happy.
She shifts next to me, pulling at her top. A sweet princess ballgown, black with studded gems along the skirt, she’s the night sky in physical form. I can’t stop staring at her—amazed after years this is all real.
The rest of the museum thinks so too. Men break their necks to look at the woman in her black dress, matching glasses and cascading curls. Women openly envy her.
“Do you see him?”
Tucking a strand behind her ear, I let my fingers caress her jaw.
She’s here to give a speech, to present an award to a doctor who mentored her during her first year of medical school.
Dillion was asked to attend as well. She’s been nervous all afternoon, that not even my tongue between her creamy thighs was enough of a distraction to keep him away for long.
Luckily, she has nothing to fear.
After Collins needed a break in the morgue, I called in a favor from Briar O’Brien—Collins and Maeve’s little brother.
Ostracized from the family after a disagreement with Ferguson when he was barely fifteen, Briar has been kept out of the family for years.
Sloane and Collins didn’t know where he was—only Maeve did.
But she gave him his space, providing for Briar from afar while he grew-up.
Now, having just turned twenty, he was a big shot in the computer information world—more importantly, a black market hacker.
Highly sought after, he was on retainer with his sister’s organization.
He wanted no part of the clan—the death, the guns, it never sat right with him. So, he lived his life, pitching in when we asked for favors. Last I heard, he was on the West Coast, helping some hot-shot with a security leak.
With his skills, I was able to find out Dillion’s address, his work schedule, fuck, I knew his mother’s address or when he took a piss. And used it to make good on my threat.
Eventually, they’ll find his body in the harbor—or they won’t. The currents are weird this time of year.
No one touches her without her consent. I made sure he knew that.
Adjusting my coat, I place my hand on the small of her back as we move into the courtyard. Everything smells like heavy florals and old dust. I’m not much of an art guy, but to Collins, this is where she’s happiest. Therefore, it’s where I’m happiest.
Running a hand over a few falling fern stems, she asks,“What if he shows up?”
I shrug, accepting a glass of champagne. “He won’t.”
She twists the ring—my ring—on her finger. It was for show, but now, it’s a promise. One day, she’ll be my wife and nothing will stop it. “You don’t know that.”
“Oh, but I do.”
My tone stops her. Scanning my face, she pouts, putting pieces together like a seasoned detective. She shoves me into the alcove by the stairs, brows pinched, eyes narrowed. A nice couple passes us, and she smiles, hiding how she’s pulled my knife and holds it right where my liver sits.
Nice. I love when she’s like this.
“Tell me you didn’t.”
“Didn’t, what?” I smirk, hands high. My knife pricks my skin and she groans, cursing me under her breath.
“For the love of…” Looking over her shoulder, she drops the blade. For someone who was never taught tactics, she’s good. “Am I going to find him on my table in a few days?”
Shrugging, I smile wide. “Possibly. I’m not sure he’d be intact. The tides are fickle and there are lots of creatures in the waters who like human meat.”
“You’re incorrigible.” She puts a hand to her forehead. “Do you always do this? Kill anyone you don’t like?”
Shrugging, I relax my shoulders, taking back my blade. “Pretty much. Don’t like the housekeeper? Harbor. That cashier looked at you wrong? Say the word and I’ll dump him in the Berkshires.”
“How have you done this for so long and not been caught?”
Cocking an eyebrow, I wave toward her body. “You do realize who your family is, right?”
“Yeah, but—” She shakes her head. “You know what? Never mind.”
“Don’t act like you hate it,” I tease. “We both know you get hot and bothered when I let out my inner psycho.” Grabbing her close, our bodies fuse together. “Your inner psycho feeds off of it. Steady hand with a blade too. If you promise to kiss it after, you can slice into me all night.”
She sighs, exasperated with me. “What about my rotation? Dillion was the only senior resident in my clinics. It’s my last one, Hayes. They might reschedule me if they can’t find someone to replace him.”
“They won’t.” I covered my tracks. Briar sent in his resignation, offered up two replacements and I got rid of his car.
The new resident, a black woman with credentials a mile long, starts next week.
Chewing on her lip, I tilt her chin up. “Admit it, Collins. You love it when I do this kind of shit.”
“Love it?” She snorts. “I’m dripping right now.” My cock jerks at her admission. “But I’m not supposed to enjoy it. You’re not supposed to enjoy killing me for me. What happens when we’re old and gray? Keep killing me to spice up the bedroom?”
Just the fact she mentions still being with me when we’re old, fills my heart to the brim.
Tugging her by the back of the neck, I look down into her emerald eyes and smile wide.
“I’ve never been a good man, baby. Ever.
You want me to slaughter hundreds of men, give me the word.
But when you talk about our future together, I want to drop to my knees right now and take you until you see all the galaxies. ”
The smile she gives me could melt glaciers centuries old. “Don’t change the subject. We have to be smart. We can’t just keep disposing of bodies.”
“Understood.” She’s right, of course. It was impulsive. I’m usually better at this. “From now on, I’ll only kill after we talk about it.”
She rolls her eyes but the smile grows. She likes me at my worst—just like I love her at her most deranged.
“Collins?” someone calls to the left and I clamp a hand to keep her still.
Some pretty blond guy, with a very punchable face and broad shoulders stands there, perplexed. Dressed in a tailored tux, his hazel eyes look at me but drink in my fiancée, licking his bottom lip in want.
My promise to Collins goes out the window. If he doesn’t avert his eyes, he’ll be in pieces all over Boston.
“Mark, hi,” she says, smiling slightly. Her voice turns sugary sweet—docile even. I hate it.
That’s not my viper. That’s the mask of a perfect daughter and I won’t have it.
“Remember,” I murmur into her ear. “No more masks. No more hiding. Own that darkness, viper.”
She seems to hear, as she stands taller, spine straight, shoulders back. Dropping the perfect daughter, she becomes the real her.
“I haven’t seen you around,” he comments, swinging his glass. “I thought maybe you transferred.”
“In my last term?” she asks, brow quirking. Now she sounds like the woman who owns my heart. “No.”
I’ve seen kids like him. Perfect parents, perfect houses, handed everything in life. He doesn’t know what it’s like to plead for the pain to stop.
This is the type of guy Collins liked? I look him over again. Not much to admire.
“Then where have you been?”
She frowns. “Clinicals.”
“No study sessions?”
My arms turn hard like iron, locking Collins in close.
This is one of her library fucks?
I’m ready to snap his neck, but I place my lips on her temple and ask, “Friend?” I should get a damn prize for my control.
The douche holds out his hand. Like I’m going to shake it. “Mark Cooligan.”
“That’s nice.”
A pause. “And you are?”
“Not Mark Cooligan.” It’s looking better and better for his death. But I made her a promise—so I’ll be good. For once.
Looking down at Collins, I kiss her forehead. “Why don’t you grab us two more glasses of champagne and I’ll see how much longer until you present?”
Her brows furrow and there’s a nasty retort on her tongue, but I silence it with a hard, wet kiss. Against her lips, I whisper, “I love when you fight me, but not right now, viper. Go.”
Pushing her gently, the woman rolls her eyes, finger raised. “We’re going to have words.”
“I can’t wait.” Dodging eager partygoers, she steps on to the white and grey stenciled tile, giving me an insufferable look as the fragrant blue flowers swing behind her.
Once she’s far enough away, I grab the idiot by his throat, tossing him into the nearby staff bathroom. The lights flicker on and I stand at the door and pin him with a glare.
Smart boy. He doesn’t move.
“What the fuck, man?”
“Don’t talk,” I demand. A smile stays on my lips but I’m itching to throw my fist through his mouth.
I adjust my cuffs. “Just listen. You don’t know Collins.
You don’t know who she is, what she sounds like.
In fact, you’ve never heard the name Collins O’Brien a day in your life.
And you sure as fuck, haven’t screwed her in a library study room either. ”
His face pales, eyes wide. “How did you—”
“Eh, eh,” I wave my finger, pulling out the Glock from my side holster, hidden under my jacket, “you’re still talking. I said no talking.”
He gulps loudly.
“You don’t know her,” I repeat, stepping close, holding the gun to his throat.
A bead of sweat rolls down his cheek, wetting the barrel.
“And you’re going to tell all the other fuckers who were her study friends too.
No one talks, knows, thinks about Collins O’Brien.
Because if you do,” I say, clicking the safety off, “you’ll end up burning in a pit in the middle of the woods, a charred body.
And I’ll sleep like a damn baby for putting you there. Got it?”
Mark nods, stuttering, “Y-yes, sir. I don’t know her. Not at all.”
“Good. Spread the word.” Just for fun, I slam him into the wall before he scurries away. Before he gets to the exit, I call out. “Oh, and Mark? Don’t tell anyone about me, or you might find out the hard way if I’m serious or not.”
He fumbles with the door handle, throwing himself to the safety of a crowd, without a backwards glance.
Was that over the top? Maybe. But fuck, does it make me feel better. I take out my phone. I’ll shoot Briar a text just in case. If Collins gives me the approval, then Mark won’t see his next birthday.
Exiting the bathroom, I stop dead, locking eyes with Collin’s wide green gaze, her mouth parted, eyebrows high. It takes a moment for it to sink in—fear and outrage painting her cheeks rosy. I turn toward the man at her side, and my fists clench in anger.
Roman.