Chapter Seven
TYLER
I toy with a knife in my hands as I sit in front of a bloodied, terrified man. I always prefer to use a knife. A gun is too easy. A knife is more precise.
Fear has his body trembling. My first warning clearly wasn’t enough, and that was me being nice. It’s his own fault that he’s landed himself here.
“Listen, man. I’m sorry, okay? I’ll do anything to make it up to her.” He pleads shakily. It’s the same words every time. I’m sorry. I’ll do anything.
It’s the one thing I can applaud Mitchell for. He never once apologized, because he meant everything he was doing, and knew he’d do it again.
My smile only makes him tremble harder, because he knows he isn’t going to leave this room alive.
In these moments, I don’t have to shut my humanity off to complete my task. The world needs to be rid of people like him — men who hurt women. Consider it my penance to balance all the bad that I do.
Cole stands next to me with his arms crossed, his jaw flexing, clearly upset over what he did. If he’s so okay to do it to her, someone he claims to love, who else has he done it to or will do it to?
I’m going to watch the blood drain from his body slowly. He’s going to feel the pain he caused — and he’s never going to cause it again.
“You’ll never go near her again.” The smile fades from my face.
“You’ll never go near another woman again,” Cole says, looking up from under his brows.
The man thrashes in his chair, scooting it this way and that way, but never really going anywhere. He’s wasting his energy, because he isn’t going to be able to run from this. Run from me.
“I didn’t think it would end up that way! I was just trying to get her attention. I love her!” He yells.
I laugh. “If that’s how you love a woman, then I surely can’t let you continue.” I lean back in my chair, crossing my arms.
“No! No, I swear I’ll do better. I’m only human! I made a mistake,” he pleas.
“Finish him up.” I stand, handing the knife to Cole. Something tells me he needs to be the one to do this.
“No! Please! Please! I’ll do better. I’ll do anything you want! I can give you any information. Seriously, you name it and I’ll do it!” he cries, thrashing more in his chair.
I kneel down to meet his face. “You really think someone like you could give someone like me useful information? Anything I need to find, I find. How do you think I found out about you and what you’ve done?
” I give his face a gentle tap and get to my feet.
“Meet at the gym upstairs before the opening?” I ask Cole.
“Absolutely.” He stares at the sorry bastard tied to the chair.
“Sounds good. I have things I have to do. Have at it.” I walk out of the room.
His screams follow me out, and I smile.
SUNNY
Standing on the rooftop on a cool September night, I rub my arms, wishing I brought a coat or scarf. The days have been deceptive by being warm, only to create chilly nights once the sun disappears to give the moon his glow.
The city buildings surround me in a sparkling array of heights and widths, lights and bustling sounds, speaking something magical.
I spent the last few weeks in the commotion of work and haven’t truly taken in the magic that surrounds me here, especially from this angle. Boston truly is something else.
This place is magic.
I glance around the hotel’s rooftop, looking for the color of Sam among the black suits and cocktail dresses. One person’s outfit is a few paychecks of mine at least.
Music lightly plays in the background while people stand and talk or lounge in the chairs and couches surrounding the fire pits and pools.
Waiters and waitresses dance around the venue, serving drinks and appetizers, making me feel like I don’t belong in such a fancy place.
It’s hard to believe this is considered a small event.
I finally catch Sam mid-stride, hustling around as she greets the guests. All people who I don’t know names to or their involvement to make all this happen.
Oddly enough, she’s good at this, despite her parents’ ideas of her. People like Sam. They feel comfortable with her, and they seem to enjoy their conversation with her. She makes people feel seen.
“My parents aren’t here. Those bastards,” She scowls as she scans the venue. She snatches a drink from a waiter tray and downs the flute of champagne.
“Nervous?”
“Preparing.” She shimmies her shoulders.
I scan the venue too, unsure of what I’m looking for. I know it’s something. There’s an energy in the air, something that only Boston can claim.
That’s when I feel it. I’m being watched.
I snap my head and see a tall man wearing a suit that matches his emerald eyes.
No fucking way.
Boston doesn’t seem so big after all.
Standing there just a few meters away, he watches me with his head cocked to the side, hands in his pockets and a small smile curved on his full lips. Mirth dances behind those wild eyes, and I’m not sure if I should be flattered or afraid or both.
I grab Sam’s arm, stopping her in her tracks. “Sam! That is the guy who spilled coffee all over my scrubs the second day I was here!” I look back at him, not being able to trust what I’m seeing. “Do you know who he is?”
Sam’s eyes trace my path of vision, landing on the tall figure now approaching us. This man is all the same but so different from the one I saw in the coffee shop.
As he walks towards us with ease, it’s no doubt he’s important, considering the people vying for his attention. A simple glance their way exudes an authority that has them essentially bowing down. He serves a purpose, and he knows exactly what it is.
He is no longer just a man in a coffee shop. But I am still just the girl in the coffee shop.
Sam laughs. “Sunny, that’s my brother.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes! Was the coffee shop Betty’s Beans?” Sam asks, watching her brother saunter towards us while my heart races faster.
“Yes! I wasn’t necessarily nice to him,” I admit.
“What a small fucking world.” She grabs another champagne as her eyes bounce between the two of us, ignited with anticipation.
His hair isn’t the sweaty brown I saw in the coffee shop. Instead, it’s groomed back, creating a more angular look to his sharp features. Each step he gets closer my heart bangs against my chest, its echoes bouncing off my ribs and making it hard to breathe.
Slinging an arm around his sister, he eyes me up and down as a smile curves the side of his mouth, bending the scar that slices through it. The only imperfection to appear on his face, and yet it still just somehow adds to him.
“Hello, Sister.” He presses a kiss to her head and shifts his gaze back to me. “Why am I not shocked to see you here?”
All at once, my chaotic heart halts.
And I realize, for some reason, I’m somehow not shocked to see him here, either.
“Hello Brother!” Sam chirps a little too enthusiastically.
Her brother’s grin widens as he looks at me, making whatever that energy I feel inside me kickstart and hold me hostage. A fire starts to kindle inside me, coursing into my veins and lighting me up.
I take a deep breath in, because this will be the first direct contact I have with a man since Ryan.
“Well, clearly you two have met already at Betty’s Beans.
But without the mess of splattered coffee and high tensions, let me formally introduce you two.
Sunny, this is my not twin, twin brother, but I’m the more attractive of us, Tyler.
Tyler, this is Sunny, my newfound best friend of two weeks now. ”
They look so much alike from the straight nose to the full lips and sharp features.
Their smiles even bend the same way. Both with the same shade of brown hair, save for Sams streaked in pink.
Even though her eyes are amber and his are emerald, they both share the same sparkle. Sam’s are brilliant, Tyler’s are wild.
Reaching out a hand, Tyler looks at me as if he finally got an answer to something I’m not aware of. My eyes fall to the scars peeking from his suit jacket.
“It’s nice to formally meet you, Sunny. My sister has kept you quite the secret the last few weeks.”
“Um duh, can you blame me? Look at her. She is a masterpiece,” Sam says.
Tyler’s eyes roll over me, as if agreeing with his sister.
My face heats. Two for two. I still got it. Somehow, I’ve managed both twins' attention. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to entertain such a thing, noticing who notices me and not being afraid of it.
I give my hand to him, but instead of shaking it, he brings it to his full lips, kissing the skin on the back of my hand gently.
My initial reaction is to pull away, but it’s quickly replaced with the warmth of his lips on my chilled skin.
The fire that I thought was put out and dwindled to smoke, somehow turns into a small kindle inside me.
And before I can even pull away, he uses my hand to gently and slowly spin me around, giving him a full three-sixty of my outfit. Before I can even comment on the action, he is already speaking.
“Stunning.” His eyes fall to my body then flick back up to me. “Well, maybe I can finally pay you back for the scrubs and coffee.”
Despite the aura of authority, there’s a softness in his eyes when he watches me. Like his human demeanor peaks out from the predator.
Maybe that’s the whole point.
“So, how did you and my sister meet, Sunny?” Tyler asks, my name rolling off his tongue as if it were made for that very purpose.
“Sunny is new to the city. She is a travel nurse here on assignment. She came into my paint studio and basically, I tried to hit on her, but you know, she is still deciding whether she plays both fields. I’ll change her mind of course, but since we are such besties it can only be a now time thing.
So yeah, she is this badass, gorgeous, trauma nurse exploring the best years of her life. ” Sam speaks for me.
“Wow, Sam,” I laugh.
I’m the worst version of myself right now.
“Well, the scrubs make sense then. I hope I didn’t leave permanent damage,” Tyler says, swiping a drink from a tray.