Page 76 of Sins and Secrets

“I knew bringing her along was a bad idea. You should have left her at home. She’s nothing but bad luck.” Christian glowers at Billie as she takes off her helmet and puts it on the seat of the motorcycle.

Billie shrugs. “I could say the same about you.”

“Behave, both of you. I do not have the patience to deal with children today. Billie, wait out here with Christian and make sure that nobody tries to sneak up on me.”

She nods once and flicks the safety off the gun. “Okay.”

I heft the bag higher on my shoulder and head toward the building. As I get closer, I pull my gun out of my holster. Something about this drop does feel wrong, even though I was assured that I could trust the man I’m meeting with.

As I walk into the warehouse, gunshots ring out. I drop to the ground and hurry to get behind a stack of crates. Another gunshot cracks through the warehouse. I peer out from around the corner of the crate and see a man in all black moving along the opposite wall.

I stand up quickly and aim before pulling the trigger. The man drops to the ground. Footsteps echo through the warehouse as I spin and shoot two more men running toward me.

The door to the warehouse bursts open and Billie comes racing in like an avenging angel. She points the gun at me and for a moment, time seems to stand still. My blood rushes in my ears and my heart pounds against my chest.

She squeezes the trigger and there is a thud behind me. I turn to see a man lying a pool of his own blood, a hole in his forehead.

“I told you that you shouldn’t go in alone,” Billie says as she looks around at the bodies.

“Stay here,” I say, pointing to a spot behind the crates. As she gets closer, I hand her the bag of guns. “Keep these close. If anything happens to me, get out of here.”

“Drama queen,” she says, her tone teasing as she does what I ask.

The corner of my mouth twitches even though I’m less than amused. This is the last thing that I want to be dealing with right now, but her teasing eases the mood a little. I pull out my phone and send a message to Davide.

“The cleaning crew will be here in a couple hours. Until then, we need to camp out here and make sure nobody finds the bodies. I’m going to make sure that there’s nobody else in here and then open the doors for Christian to drive in.”

“You know he doesn’t like me much,” she says, though there is amusement in her voice. “I don’t think he likes most women, though, so I’m trying not to take it personally.”

“He’s had a lot happen in his life.” While I may not know the whole story, I do know that Christian has been betrayed by nearly everyone he’s ever trusted. “I didn’t like him much when we first met years ago either. Some days I still don’t know how to feel about him, but he grows on you. At least, that’s what Jovan likes to say.”

Billie nods and shrugs. “It is what it is.”

I take off into the warehouse as she settles in behind the crates. Though I haven’t heard or seen anyone else since she walked into the warehouse, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t lying low.

I shouldn’t have gotten distracted by talking to her. Maybe Christian is right and she is going to be a problem for me.

Once I make sure that we’re alone in the warehouse, I open the doors and head out to grab the motorcycle. Christian follows me inside and we shut the doors again. Nobody needs to know that we’re here.

“Paolo is likely watching us right now,” I say as I take the guns from Billie and put them back in the car. “This was all an elaborate set up. I’m going to have to get in contact with the man who recommended this buyer and see what he knows.”

“And by get in contact, I hope you mean kill,” Christian says, arching an eyebrow as he gets out of the car and lights a cigarette.

“Yes. I’m going to kill him. He’s an old business partner that I’ve had on the west coast for years, but it seems as if Paolo got to him too. There is no room for treason among the Marchettis.” I look over at Billie as she pulls herself up to sit on the hood of the car.

“So, Christian,” Billie says, a mischievous look in her eyes. “Do you want to sit here and talk about the problem you clearly have with women? I’ve been told that I give good advice. And I am a woman. I could help.”

“Billie,” I say, a warning in my tone as I look at her. I don’t need her prying into Christian’s love life, even if I’m curious myself. “Now is not the time or place to start shit.”

Christian shrugs and takes a long drag of his cigarette. “She’s not starting shit. She’s prying, yes. But it’s entertaining. I’m not going to be talking about whatever may or may not be happening in my love life with you.”

Billie shrugs and leans back, bracing herself on her forearms as she looks back up at the ceiling. “I could tell you about my emotional damage. We could turn this into sharing hour while we wait for the cleaners.”

I sigh, already seeing that the two of them are going to go back and forth with each other regardless of what I think. On one hand, I think it’s attractive that Billie is confident enough to poke and prod at Christian. He is an intimidating man and if she crosses a line with him, I’ll do everything I can to save her, but I don’t know if it would be enough.

If it came down to it, I would give my life for her, though. Hell, I would ruin an alliance just to protect her.

I can’t imagine life without her.

---