Page 62 of Mr. Kelly

“You were a beautiful bride,” some man says from a few feet in front of me.

I can’t quite see his face but can hear a Spanish accent. I’m stuck between wanting to run and scream, but he speaks before I can do either.

“I’m on the way to my meeting with Andrea and your husband.” He passes me a box. “A wedding gift.”

I look down at the giftbox in my hand, then back up, but he’s no longer there. Backing into my bedroom, I close and lock the door. There wasn’t anything threatening about the interaction, but I know a dangerous man when I see one. It wasn’t about his face since I didn’t really see it. It’s the eerie calm in which he spoke and the fact that he could move without making noise.That small interaction told me everything I needed to know.Sit your black ass down and stay away.

When I send Teddy and Andrea a group text about their guest, Teddy’s phone vibrates on the nightstand. I’ll just have to wait until he comes back to the room. I snuggle under the covers like a child trying to hide from the boogeyman.

“River?” Teddy says, waking me up.

I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep waiting for him. “Hey,” I tell him with a smile, but as I become more alert, I realize that he looks worried. “What’s wrong?”

“You had the door locked.” He looks at the box next to me. “And where did that come from?”

“Your guest.”

“My guest?”

Fearful, I sit up to see him properly. “Yeah, he said I was a beautiful bride and that was our wedding gift. He told me he was on the way to a meeting with you and Andrea. Spanish accent. I didn’t really see his face, though. It’s like he knew how to find a shadow.”

“The fucking Reaper.”

Teddy's face is pinched with annoyance, but there is a certain respect that shines in his eyes like he’s impressed, even if he doesn’t want to be. I stand and walk into his arms. “That’s an interesting name. Should I be concerned?”

Teddy sighs, but since my run-in with Surly, we promised not to keep anything from each other.

“No, he says he has no interest in harming you. It’s a warning. I guess he just needed to prove he could get here if he wanted.”

Holding on tighter, I bury my head in Teddy’s chest. “That’s not exactly comforting.”

“Yeah, that’s how assassins work.”

“I’m terrified and intrigued.”

“Andrea has been looking into Surly’s operation. We knew he didn’t have the reach or intelligence to start a trafficking ring. Andrea worked his way up the chain to find out who’s at the top running and financing the entire operation. There are a few high-profile people between Surly and the top. Andrea hasn’t identified everyone, but he did find the leader. The guy you just met was the personal assassin for the man at the top of all of this. He’s damn good at what he does but, according to him, he’s not prone to go after innocent women or children so a pregnant woman is not for him. He still wanted me to know how good he is at what he does.”

“Was?” I prompt.

“Huh?”

“You said he was the personal assassin.”

“Yeah, Andrea had uncovered that Father—the code name for the man behind all of this—kidnapped The Reaper when he was a child and raised him to be a loyal assassin. He thought Father saved him, but he just found out that Father killed his parents.”

“Oh, poor man. I should have hugged him.”

Teddy chuckles and rubs my back as he holds me. “You, my wife, just might be as crazy as the rest of us. Assassins don’t want hugs.”

“Theodore,” Andrea says before he appears at our door with Delaney in tow. She’s holding a box similar to mine.

“Let me guess,” I tell her. “A wedding gift.”

She nods. “That’s what the man with the accent said from the darkness.”

“Give me your box, River,” Andrea orders. I hand it to him as his phone rings. He looks at the screen, confused, then answers the phone on speaker.

“Have a little trust,” The Reaper says as his voice floats through his speakers. “Let the ladies open their gifts.”

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