Page 128 of Three to Fall

Scythe clapped me on the shoulder. “Super generous of you. But like I said, I’m retired.”

“Mmm-hmm. If you say so.”

“Gimme five and I’ll meet you in the car.”

I hummed beneath my breath as I jogged back to my car and slid behind the steering wheel. While I waited, I pulled out the list of names Gray and Whip had authorized as targets.

Scythe got in beside me a second later, a glint of joy in his eyes. “That the list? Got anyone good in mind?”

I trailed my finger along the page. “Murderer, murderer, rapist, murderer…ooh! Serial murderer! Don’t get too many of those in Saint View.” I sniggered to myself. “Well, apart from me. And you. And Whip. Torch. Trigger. Ace. That guy I met in prison…shit, what was his name again?”

“Furlowe? You ever meet him?”

“Short with glasses?”

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“Good guy. I should tell him about Gray’s group when he gets out.”

“Pretty sure he’s doing five consecutive life sentences.”

“Oh. Right. Well, you snooze you lose.”

Scythe nodded and sat back in his seat. “So how do you like to work? It’s been a long time since I went out with anyone like this.”

“You normally work alone?”

He shrugged. “Used to work with my sister sometimes, before she shacked up with a guy.”

I crinkled my nose. “Got married and had kids?”

He shook his head. “Nah. I’m the one with all the ankle biters.”

“What’s that like?”

He grinned. “Pretty fucking sweet. You should try it.”

I winked at him. “More of a love ’em and leave ’em type.”

Even as I said the words, they didn’t quite sit right on my tongue. But I didn’t have much choice in the matter. I wasn’t like Scythe. I couldn’t just give this up. He might have gotten into this life because of some family thing he seemed to have going on.

I’d gotten into it because I had no other choice.

I couldn’t ignore the urges inside me. There was no negotiating with them. Only placating them with violence.

But Grayson’s group had shown me how to channel it in better ways. He hadn’t tried to make me stop. We all knew I couldn’t.

For that reason alone, I would never date a woman. Never let one sleep in my bed. I didn’t want to kill innocent people, especially women, but that meant keeping my distance from them.

Never being alone with one.

I could fuck one in the middle of Psychos. I wasn’t going to slit someone’s throat while they were riding my cock in a room full of people. But getting one alone? No. The temptation would be too great.

I thrust the list at Scythe, trying to keep a grip on the bloodlust that had crept up on me earlier in the day and hadn’t eased up. “I don’t care which one we go for. You’re the guest. Your choice. Just no women.”

He nodded slowly, his gaze wandering down the page. “Okay. Any other rules I need to know about?”

I shook my head, concentrating on the road. “Nope. Oh wait. No killing innocents. And no witnesses. It’s Gray’s one rule. If weget there, and there’s someone else in the house, then we leave and come back some other time.”

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