Page 28 of Rugger: The Huntress

Oh good God

Let me give you my life

On the first floor, I stepped off the elevator. My finger pressed a single digit on my phone in my hand.

“Project 183.Messy.” I warned Royce as I ended the call.

I’d complicated her job for personal pleasure. Messy was my way of admitting I’d left DNA all over the body of my victim. I didn’t have to spell it out for her to know I’d been fucked. Neither did I have to explain it was worth it.

In my profession, personal relationships were prohibited and pointless. That wasn’t the rule, but it was my rule. I didn’t trust myself around a man long enough to not end him. The first heavy breath, sign of infidelity, chomp with an open mouth, or lifted toilet seat would land him six feet under.

I strolled through the lobby with my heart set on the door. However, an unknown force silently petitioned for my attention. My irises explored the grandeur lobby until they landed on a pair of black designer frames. In my tracks, I halted.

Sonnie.

His rounds stalked me like prey. My temperature rose. Rapidly, behind my shades, I blinked. In an attempt to regulate my racing heart, I inhaled with as much force as I exhaled with.

Fuck.

I’d lost control of my thoughts momentarily.

Gather yourself, Rugger.

I fought to regain ownership of my mind and body. The battle was swift. I won the rights while silently promising to never lose them again. Not for a second. And, especially not for a stranger.

Snap. Snap.

My stride continued, effortlessly. As I exited the hotel, I opened the phone once again and began typing a message to Royce, hoping her line was still connected.

Psal–

I flipped the phone and stuffed it in the pocket of my coat without sending it. There was no need to inquire about someone of little to no importance. He was of no concern. His presence was the same as everyone else I’d bumped into more than once tonight—pointless.

The good time he was in search of, I wasn’t capable of. I’d had my fun tonight. There wouldn’t be anymore.

Soft music greeted me as I walked into my home an hour and a half later. I’d started it from the only useful application on the smartphone I could do life without.

“Ummm.”

Closing my eyes, I pressed my back against the door. A yawn ripped through my face. Insomnia had been hot on my heels, but it seemed as if exhaustion would secure a win for once.

Good dick will do that, Roulette’s voice played in my head.

I loosened my limbs by stretching one arm across the other and pulling as far to the right as it would go. I switched arms and stretched the other as far to the left as I could manage. Opening up my pelvis, I leaned down and touched my right foot with my left hand and then followed up with the left foot and right hand.

Already, the tension from the day’s activities was fading. I made my way into the kitchen, still working out the kinks in my neck. The lone flower on the counter confiscated my attention. It could only mean one of two things. I wasn’t alone or I’d just missed my special guest.

I placed the full-sized M9A4 on the counter and unlocked the cellular device that had been attached to my hip since I’d wrapped up my night. One clip at a time, I replayed the clips from the last thirty-minutes of every camera in my home.

Each one of them were clear. However, the smell circulating the air and the lone rose on the counter made them out to be liars. I rested the phone on its screen. There was no use for it right now.

Good. Damn good.I smiled, turning on my heels.

I pressed the rectangular button to pop open the microwave. Garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed broccolini, and lamb greeted me. I grabbed my helping, my gun, and the phone before heading to the dining room table.

One fork.

One spoon.

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