Chapter Twenty
Vik
Two Days Later
Clarity.
What a beautiful thing. I almost stumbled at the finish line without it. I almost watched years of hard work come crashing down around me. For a time, I believed Hannah was the cause.
I know differently now. She’s the cure. The last piece I need to see this mission through to the end so we can finally move on together.
“Wasn’t easy pulling this together.” Brian Harris stands at the edge of a pier overlooking a calm, black ocean. Smoke drifts past him from a cigarette burned almost to the filter.
“Old dogs don’t like new tricks.”
We meet in a shipping yard. It’s late, dark, and the cameras in this section have been broken for years. One of my favorite spots. Barring the lone security guard who passes through every couple of hours, it’s about as private as anywhere in the city.
“Which is why I’m paying you handsomely.” I hand him a briefcase stuffed with cash.
“And they can rest easy. It’s the same old trick, just a different master.”
My end goal hasn’t changed. The men who killed my mother will die. Only my reason has changed. What began as vengeance has become something far more selfish.
A future with Hannah. A life free from the weight of the past.
Brian flicks the cigarette into the murky water before turning slightly towards me. He lifts the briefcase in one hand, testing its weight.
“I’d agree, if the bag wasn’t so damn light.”
“Half now. Half when the meeting’s over.”
I’ve faced too many dead ends over the years to take Brian at his word. The money means little to me, but there’s an order to these things. If he tries to cheat me, he dies. Men like him only stay honest when there’s something left to lose.
“Fair’s fair.” He extends his free hand.
We shake. When he lets go, I notice the folded note resting in my palm. I hadn’t felt him slip it there through my gloves.
“All the details I’ve got... everything you need... is on that sheet.”
“Will you be joining us?” I want him there.
He’s done me a great service by arranging this meeting, but I don’t like loose ends. It would be far easier if Brian ended the night alongside the other three than if I had to send one of my men after him.
I have better things to do. Like Hannah.
“Nah. Not my scene.” He slips another cigarette from his pocket. “Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”
Disappointing.
But there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
“Then it’s been a pleasure.” I tuck the note into my pocket.
“We won’t meet again.”
Driving home, the reality of it all finally settles over me. Everything I’ve worked towards is almost within reach. For better or worse, life as I know it is about to change forever. And I couldn’t be happier.
What once felt like a noble attempt to right the past has become a burden. Not the killing. Not the men I’ve hurt. Those things have become so ingrained in who I am that my conscience filters them out like spam emails.
No... It’s the thought of closing the door on the life that’s defined me for so long.
There is a bright side. When one door closes, another opens. And Hannah is waiting on the other side of mine. Soon, I’ll be able to give her every part of myself. Without the past weighing us down. Without anything standing between us.
It won’t be long now.
By the time I arrive home, it’s later than I intended. I expect the house to be dark and silent. At this hour, Hannah’s usually curled up in bed with Muffin. I slip inside quietly and tuck my mask and gloves into my back pocket in case she sees me.
When I reach the hallway outside my bedroom, I see a soft blue glow spilling through the gap beneath the door. A sign of life. It stirs something inside me I thought I’d lost long ago.
Happiness. Excitement. The foolish belief that things can only get better from here.
I ease the door open and look inside.
Hannah’s lying on her stomach, watching a romantic comedy with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Half my pillows are piled around her like a soft little fortress while she chuckles at something on the television. I love the sight.
The room is no longer the immaculate space I leave every morning. It’s comfortable. Lived in. No longer just mine.
It’s ours.
I don’t realize I’m smiling until my cheeks begin to ache.
She doesn’t notice me. The television has her full attention, giving me the perfect opportunity to slip quietly into the room.
Muffin scurries from one side of the bed to the other, pouncing on invisible prey and meowing ferociously. He looks up at me.
I raise a finger to my lips, silently asking him not to give me away. And, as if he actually understands me, the kitten returns to hunting invisible ghosts.
“What do we have here?” I ask, reaching the edge of the bed. Hannah jumps, yelping at my sudden appearance.
“Jeez, Vik, you nearly scared the pants off me,” she says, pressing a hand to her chest.
“Good. I wasn’t planning on letting them stay on.”
Having her here reaffirms how much I want this. An end to the constant tug-of-war between my two obsessions. A chance to focus on the one that’ll stay with me for the rest of my life.
Hannah giggles and tries to roll onto her back. I grab her ankles before she gets too far. She doesn’t resist, settling back onto her stomach.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I crawl over her, my hands working their way up her calves and over her back. When I reach her shoulders, I press my lips to her neck, greeting her the best way I know how.
“Nowhere, as long as you keep rubbing my back,” she murmurs, relaxing beneath my touch.
“Good thing I’m only getting started then,” I whisper against her skin.
Deep down, if I were a smarter man, I’d stop. I’d focus on the task ahead. In a few days, this could be our normal. No more sneaking home late. No more lying about where I’ve been. But I can’t stop when it comes to Hannah.
My body is drawn to her.
“Busy day?”
Her question catches me off guard. Did something in my voice give me away? My late arrival? Or is this simply what normal people do when the person they love comes home?
Hannah notices my lips have gone still. She gathers her ponytail into one fist and pulls it aside.
“Yes, but it’s better now,” I say, pushing my concerns aside.
“Is that so?” she asks coyly. “Please, do tell me why.”
“You were waiting for me.”
My lips brush her skin, grazing her earlobe as I whisper. “Having you in my bed is the best part of my day.”
I trail kisses along her cheek before finally finding her lips. Kissing her is still so new. So exhilarating. It steals the breath from my lungs every time.
As our lips meet, I catch Hannah’s satisfied groan in my mouth.
“I could get used to this.”