Page 54 of Reckless Pawn

"I'm going to kill them both. Whatever it takes, however long it takes. I will kill them."

The cold pit in my stomach grew heavier. The bloodthirsty warrior in front of me was being driven by revenge. I could say that because I felt it too.

Thanks to Patty I did my best to work through the physical pain of what I endured and even some of the emotional fallout. But the betrayal of my own flesh and blood still festered.

"Trust me, I understand that. I really do. But what you're talking about will not be easy. You'll need my help."

Houston shook his head. "I know enough of his routines to do it now."

"You won’t be able to get close enough—"

"I don't need to be close. I've been taking out targets long distance for a very long time. This one doesn't have to be different."

"Houston, you can't. You can't be a sniper in this situation. There’s more at stake here than a couple of shitty lives, you said so yourself. There is an innocent young woman to consider."

He scrubbed his face and blew out a heavy breath. "I hate this feeling. I need to do something."

"We will. But we're going to have to do this a different way."

"You mean the club way," he hissed.

"Yeah, I do. Is that a problem? I thought you were with the club now?" Some of my unease was beginning to return.

"I am for this."

"What does that mean? You're wearing that vest. I thought it meant something when that happened."

He lifted his shoulders. "Exactly as it sounds. I agreed to come back to the club to help them with this case. Anything beyond that is undecided."

"You're going to leave when this is over?" Familiar fear crept through my veins. He would leave me again.

He stared down at me, the blue of his eyes getting darker with each question. "It means I don't know. In case you haven't noticed, I'm still carrying around some baggage from the past that I have to deal with. Although I'm not going to worry about it right now. I've got to keep my focus."

"And what about me?" I couldn't resist asking even though I shouldn't have. "When you leave the club are you planning to leave me there too? Is that still part of your deal?"

Chapter Nineteen

Houston

Izzy's question stabbed into him. He'd barely been able to focus on getting anything done because he needed to get back to her and now she was asking him if he was going to leave her with the club.

Fuck no.

But maybe he didn't need to say those exact words out loud. She was already looking skittish.

"There’s no deal beyond this mission for either of us. The club agreed to help me find you and get you out in exchange for me helping them find those missing girls. Once the last one is located I'm done. Period."

"I've been stuck there for months. I need freedom too." Her face flushed red, deepening the already alluring color of her lips. "You do not get to leave me there, Houston Reed. Do you hear me?"

He heard her all right. With every damned cell in his body. The same ones that relentlessly demanded he claim her forever despite barely knowing her. It was damned annoying.

"You stay on the compound for your own protection. Do you really not see that? Your father is a mob boss. His organization is spread wide enough that on your own you'd be screwed. You don't want to be out here without club protection. Trust me on that."

Her chest heaved as she barely kept her mouth shut listening to him. A variety of emotions crossed her face as she stewed and all he could think about was kissing her.

Half of every minute of every day was filled with memories of what she tasted like. And the other half were him calculating how much time before he could be inside her again.

It was an obsession he had no idea how to let go of and most of the time he didn't want to.

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