Page 7 of Hitman

“Not at all,” the woman said. “I’m his wife.” Well, that made sense. “Can I ask who’s calling?”

“Solace. Please let him know Solace is calling.”

“Sure.” A moment later, I heard low murmurs, and then, the phone was clearly passed off.

“Little early for phone calls,” Alex drawled. “What can I help you with, Solace?” I heard a kid yelling in the background, and then another kid yelled back. Alex sighed. “Make it quick. My kids are re-enacting the world war.”

I snorted. “I need Julian’s number.”

“For?” A kid screamed, and he growled. “Goddammit. Never mind. I don’t care. I’ll text it to you.”

With that, he hung up the phone. A moment later, my phone pinged with Julian’s contact information. After saving it to my contacts, I called him. He answered on the fourth ring sounding more asleep than he was awake, and the sound was sexy enough that my belly clenched.

Christ. Not only was he the finest man to walk the earth, but he also had to sound like pure sex? It wasn’t fair.

Fuck knew I’d bang him like a screen door the first opportunity I got.

“This better be life or death,” he growled.

“Julian?” He grunted. “It’s Solace. I… I have a favor to ask of you.”

He groaned overdramatically. “This couldn’t wait? It’s not even seven in the fucking morning yet, and I got bitched out for two hours last night because of you. Let a man get some sleep, doll.”

“You should have been on your Ps and Qs,” I retorted. He snorted, not even the least bit offended. “My mom would like to meet you. Stewart’s death has hit the news, and she saw it this morning.”

He made a small noise, something akin to a grunt but not quite. “Why me? Shouldn’t she hate me?”

“No,” I said quietly. “She’d like to thank you.”

He huffed a laugh. “That’s a fucking first.” My lips twitched. I knew as well as he did that in this business, we usually weren’t thanked for what we did. “But yeah, doll. I’ll meet her. Just shoot me a text with the time and your address, since I assume dinner will be at your place. And for the love of God,” he added before I could say anything in response, “donotcall me before ten A.M. again unless you or someone else is dying, ‘kay?”

I scoffed. “You can be a real douchebag. You know that?”

He hummed. “One of a kind, doll.”

He hung up the phone before I could even open my mouth. I glared down at the screen.

“Asshole,” I muttered. But at least he’d agreed. That was about the only thing Julian Fine-as-Fuck-Asshole McKenzie had working in his favor.

CHAPTER 7

Julian

“Where are you headed?” Grave asked from where he was lounging back against the bar. Bones, his wife, was pouring two fingers of whiskey into a glass. Their daughter and her dog were MIA, probably somewhere playing with the other kids. School was out for the day for some random student holiday, so the clubhouse was a bustle of wives and children, a stark contrast to how calm it usually was when the kids were in school.

“Yeah—thought you were on punishment,” Bones teased.

I flipped her the middle finger. She pretended to catch it and shove it down between her tits where she tended to store everything else because God forbid she carry a purse. I rolled my eyes. “I’m going to Solace’s.”

“Oooh,” Grave said, drawing out the sound as he stood a little straighter, his interest definitely more piqued that it’d been a moment before. “Spill the beans. Because from what I heard, that girl walked out of here hating your fucking guts last night.”

“Christ, you all gossip like old women,” I griped. “She called and asked me to dinner with her mom because her mom wanted to thank me.” I smirked. “Somepeople in this world appreciate the hard work I do.”

“Hard work.” Bones snorted. “Get the fuck out of here, man. Your job isnothard.”

Once upon a time, Bones used to do the same kind of work, except the streets had trained her, just like they had Grim. She’d been a lone wolf and the person people called when they wanted someone taken out. She’d earned the club’s favor when she rescued Grim and Scab’s wife, Katyushka, from being buried alive. But she hadn’t been fully trusted until she decided to give up that life and settle down here, taking a job in Grave’s garage. And from there, the two of them had been inseparable.

I gave a dramatic gasp and pressed my hand over my chest. “I beg your finest pardon?” I asked in the poshest voice I could manage. “Howdareyou insult my job like that?

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