Page 6 of Lethal

So much for keeping things silent. The real fun is about to start. Not one to wait for someone to come around the corner, I grasp another Glock in my empty hand. This one has a silencer already screwed onto it. As much fun as it would be, I can’t go around shooting this place up for anyone on the street to hear. Although now there’s a timer on when the authorities will show up. That is, if anyone in this hell hole would call them. More than likely whatever slime is running this place will send their henchmen.

“Did you turn on a cell blocker?” Vander asks from behind me.

Goddamnit. I should’ve thought of that. “No,” I snap, instantly regretting the oversight.

“Want to cut me free now?” he goads. “My help will speed things up.”

No, I don’t. And now I’m wishing I gagged him. Or better yet, hogtied him and left him in the trunk. His help isn’t needed nor wanted. This is my revenge. Nobody can take it from me.

I storm around the corner with my guns held up. Shot after shot leaves the chamber as the filth who comes here falls to the ground. Men and women come flowing out of rooms down another hallway. My movements become a blur, my focus narrowing in as I take out target after target, downing anyone who crosses my path on my way to the dungeon.

By the time I make it to the door I want, I finally snap out of the haze that came over me. A glance over my shoulder shows a path of bodies and blood spray. That and Vander standing behind me. His hands unbound and filled with discarded magazines. I shoot him a glare. If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll keep his mouth shut, or the next bullet I use will go through him.

Somehow he has a gun in his hand too, which I assume is loaded. I can’t decide if I’m angry he was placating me by staying restrained, or if I’m glad he talked me into bringing him. Either way, the fucker better not rub this in my face later. If he breathes a word that he really was needed to help clean up after me…

Not wasting any more time, I push open the door to the staircase leading to the dungeon.

Chapter 4

Raven

Even with all our connections—well, more my brother’s and the guys than mine—it took way longer than I wanted to charter a jet and follow Cole’s path. With each passing minute I’m stuck sitting here doing nothing, my anger increases. Texting him got me nowhere, the only response coming from Jasper.

With a sigh, I try to calm myself. I can feel my blood pressure increasing as I seethe over the turn of events. Not that Cole got a lead on his dead sister, but the audacity he has to leave me behind. To exclude me from the fun he’s having. What could strengthen a relationship more than bonding over a manhunt and tearing down every mother fucker who gets in our way?

I close my eyes and lean my head back, concentrating on taking deep breaths. How will I find Cole? Faking my death has demolished most of the contacts I had. I can’t keep relying on my brother. The instant connection of sibling affection will only take me so far before it feels like I’m taking advantage.

Grayson is in the same boat as me with faking his death, which means Jasper is my only hope of finding Cole. That or holding my breath for Vander being able to contact us. But the chances of that seem slim to none. Not if Cole doesn’t want to be found.

An announcement comes from the cockpit. We’re in the final descent, only a short time before we’re on the ground, and I still don’t have a good plan on how to track Cole. Agitation flows through me, intensifying even as I try to calm it. My finger taps repeatedly on my knee, until suddenly, a hand covers it.

The seat next to me depresses as my side heats with the warmth coming from whoever it is. His thumb runs over my knuckles in a soothing motion. I expect to hear Grayson’s voice, but when he speaks, it’s Jasper’s rumbling tone. “I can’t believe you stole my fun of getting to shoot him. I was seconds behind you on pulling the trigger.”

He lifts my hand and brushes a kiss on the back of it. The sweet gesture has my eyes popping open to make sure it’s really Jasper sitting there. A panty melting smirk pulls at his lips the moment my gaze lands on him. Jasper enjoys taking me out of my comfort zone far too much, which is what he’s doing right now.

It’s taken me a while to get used to Grayson being the one to bring out my humanity. His sweetness strangely grounds me. Although, I suppose Jasper has always seen through my masks and forces me to accept exactly what I need in any given moment.

“You were going to shoot him?” I ask, narrowing my gaze as if the thought upsets me.

“Of course I was. What else did you think my clarification questions meant before we left to hunt him down?” He wraps his arm around me and presses me closer to his side, getting more comfortable. “I bet Cole fell more in love with you. Fucking psycho will be all over you once he pulls his head from his ass. Obsessed bastard.”

For some reason, his words distract me from my bad mood. Jasper once again pulls off the impossible. He sees through the layers I wrap myself in, or perhaps he snuck his way through them. Navigating past as if he watched me construct them and knew every weak point. Either way, Jasper is the one who finds my inner self and nurtures her. Even if I balk at it.

A scoff bursts free. “Cole, in love with me? Yeah. Okay.”

I can feel Jasper’s burning gaze on me. It heats the side of my face, and even though I can’t see the expression he wears, it becomes clear in his voice. “Are you kidding me right now? Do you really not realize how we all feel about you?”

“Obsession and love aren’t the same thing, Jasper,” I respond, turning to look at him.

“For us it is,” he growls, grasping my chin and holding me in place. His gaze holds mine, trapping me in an endless ice bath of his cold, blue eyes. He slowly leans in, brushing a soft kiss on my lips. The sweetness of it sends a lightning bolt straight through me, shocking me with how explosive it is.

By now, anything he does shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. Is it because I’ve mislabeled him? The man who claimed me from our first meeting…

“Did you know who I was the day we met?” He cocks his head to the side, searching my face as he thinks over his answer. Or perhaps he’s trying to decide how much he wants to share.

After a moment, he answers me. “You know I was an employee of the company, so of course I knew who you were. But I’m assuming that’s not exactly what you’re asking.” He rearranges us, pulling my legs onto his lap. “By the time we met at the shooting range, I had done extensive research on you. You weren’t only someone who worked for the same company, but someone I was contracted through The Guild to take out.”

His soft touch on my legs suddenly tenses as he waits for me to respond. Jasper, the man who claimed me as his own from the very moment we met, was sent to kill me. I’m not sure if I should distrust him for wanting to murder me, or trust him all the more because he didn’t.

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