Page 7 of The Bloke

“Same as the first. Do you need a reason?” He inquired, arching a brow before pulling the white card out again.

With a smirk in acceptance, I shook my head. “Not at all. I got it.”

“Good, then take this and take care of them.” He handed me a knife, and I took it without any further question. “You’ve got five.” Nick held the card to the NFC reader, and the light turned green with an audible click.

“I can do it in two,” I whispered with a grin as I pressed my palm down on the handle and opened the door, sliding swiftly into the room.

All the lights were off, and I could hear light snoring around the corner where the king-sized bed sat centered along the wall. Since my target for the evening was asleep, this test will be even easier than the first.

Stepping further into the room, I turned the corner and saw a petite body under the sheets. They were lying on their side, facing the open window, moonlight filtering through the sheer curtains.

I approached the bed and attempted to get a better look at who I was tasked to kill. I frowned, realizing that it was a woman.

Maybe I misjudged just how easy these tests would be.

Men I had no issue taking out, especially if I had no fucking clue who they were, but a woman? What would be next? I knew I shouldn’t question the motives of the society. She clearly pissed off the wrong person, overstepped her boundaries, and they were now sending me in here to take what they were owed—her life.

The woman stirred in her sleep, rolling to face the wall opposite the window. I needed to do this fast.No hesitation, just fucking do it, Colby.

I sucked in a deep breath before freeing my mind of any doubt and second thoughts, coming up to her side and gripping the knife firmly in my hand.

With her back to me, I pulled my arm back, adjusting for the right angle, and without pause, I plunged the knife into her back and straight through her heart. An audible gasp passed her lips before I covered her mouth with my hand to muffle any scream she could manage to get out before the knife did its job.

Counting down the seconds, her breathing slowed, and eventually, her body went limp, and I removed my hand.

I pulled the knife from her back, wiped the blade on the sheets, and turned to leave the room. For a second, I stopped and glanced back at the silhouette of her body in the moonlight before straightening myself and opening the door.Fuck sake, what am I doing?

Closing the door behind me, I came face-to-face with Nick, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his face.

“Done already?” He looked down at his phone to check the time.

I nodded in response, handing him the knife and releasing a held breath.

“Yeah. Who was she?”

“That information doesn’t matter. But if you must know, that woman in there was no angel. Far from it.” Nick pointed his phone at the closed door as his eyes met mine. “She’s been on our radar for months. Taking advantage of older men in the Sugar Daddy game, and her last client showed up dead just under a week ago.”

Chewing on my cheek, I let his facts sink in.

So what we do isn’t all that bad then, right? Sure, we murder people, but from what it sounded like, they deserved what's coming to them, breaking some rule or committing an offensethat required handling off the table. I could live with that. Make poor fucking choices, get stuck with the consequences.

“And what now?” I couldn’t imagine leaving a dead and bloody body in the room for housekeeping to find after checkout.

“Now, we leave this on the door.” He attached a sticker to the number plate beside the door. “And when housekeeping stops by, they know what to do with this room.” He added before giving me a hard pat on the back. “Good on ya, mate. One more test to go.”

With a frown, I took a closer look at the sticker. It was a green circle with a metallic gold kangaroo in the center.

“Seriously?” I scoffed. “How fucking cliche can you get?”

“All three revues have their respective symbols. This one is ours. It fits the brand and is inconspicuous, yet obvious to those who need to know who left it behind.” Nick shrugged, uncaring, before turning on his heel to head back to the elevator bay. “Let’s go, Colby. We’re done here.”

I shook my head, taking one last look at the stupid fucking sticker before turning to follow Nick around the corner.

Chapter 4

Colby

INITIATION: TEST THREE.

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