Page 93 of Passion and Payback

He blinked. “They could be ambushed.”

That required us to subdue them quickly without making much noise or letting them get to their communications. It wasn’t something I was skilled in, but I wasn’ttotallyuseless physically, and I could only hope Kai would be able to make up for my deficiencies. “I think we can manage two of them on our own.”

I could see the inner turmoil as he argued with himself and probably an imaginary version of me as he watched me for almost a minute. Then he sighed. “Okay, but we need something to draw them in without them feeling the need to alert everyone with a gun.”

I smirked. “I might have just the thing, c’mere.”

His brow rose as I pulled him down the stairs to the next landing, just out of sight of the doorway. His eyes widened when I pulled him toward me sharply and began kissing him fiercely. At first, he went rigid with surprise but then made a soft noise when I gave a low groan of pleasure and a giggle, both noises sounding ten times louder in the echoing stairwell. I didn’t need him to tell him what needed to happen next as he wrapped me up in a fierce grip, his hand coming to rest on my lower back, the other gripping the back of my head tightly.

It took only thirty seconds of performance that belonged more in a porn studio than Hollywood before we heard the door open. I opened my eyes enough to peer over his shoulder, raising two fingers to tap twice against Kai’s chest to make sure he knew what I was trying to convey. When he squeezed the back of my head twice, I had to assume he understood.

“Oh Jesus,” a voice muttered, sounding annoyed and disappointed. “Nothing worth seeing.”

“Aw fuck, I was hoping for two chicks,” another said in a louder voice as the door thumped closed behind them. “Alright, you two, get the fuck out of here and put on a show for someone who actually wants to see that shit.”

If only they knew how much their employer would probably have enjoyed it.

Kai pulled away long enough to look the guys over and snort. “Yeah, give us a minute, you two. We just want some privacy.”

If he hadn’t immediately turned around to kiss me again, the surprise at the sheer arrogance and haughtiness you might expect from a guest at the party would have shown on my face. The two men glanced at one another, one sneering and the other rolling his eyes before nodding. They came down the stairs, one approaching us while the other stood on the step above the landing we were on.

The first put his hand on Kai’s upper arm and yanked him back. “C’mon, no one’s allowed up here.”

“Last I checked, the whole building was up for grabs,” I said with a sloppy smile that I hoped made me look slightly drunk. “We’re just having a good time. You two are free to join us if you want.”

Anger clouded the first man’s face as he gave Kai another yank. “I said let’s go, you fucking fr…”

The only warning any of us got was when Kai’s hand clenched against my lower back. Moving with the next yank of the first guard’s hand, he brought his elbow up and slammed it into the man’s temple. The guard grunted, stumbling away, but never had the chance to catch himself as Kai spun around and drove his foot into his gut, doubling him over and bringing him to his knees. The second tried to rush forward, but Kai was faster, lashing out with a speed that scared me and, for some reason, aroused me at the same time as he slammed the palm of his hand into the second’s chest.

The second could only stumble, clutching his chest as his knees wobbled. The first fought to get to his feet, but Kai was preoccupied with the second guard. It looked like either Kai’s aim had been slightly off or the guy was wearing something that softened the blow as he reached for the object in his ear. Kai surged forward, slamming the guy into the wall and grunting when he was met with a jab to his side.

Alarm ran through me like a shriek when I realized the first guard was already recovering from the initial attack, his hand flashing to his hip. Knowing what he was about to do, I rushed forward and flung myself onto his back, trying to get my arms around his neck, desperation born out of fear for Kai’s life and, to a lesser degree, a gunshot being heard by everyone on the floor making me completely forget any defense training I had.

The man thrashed, trying to get hold of me while I tried to tighten my grip. I felt my grip slip slightly, sending another trickle of fear through me before he grunted, flinging himself backward and slamming me into the wall. Stars erupted in my vision, and darkness threatened to close in as I tried desperately to make sense of what was happening. I found myself sitting on the floor, staring up at the man’s back and feeling something digging into my back painfully as he moved forward to help his friend, drawing his gun.

In the back of my mind, I remembered it was the knife I’d taken from the dealer, planning to use it on Mitchell and eventually Callum. Whether it was strictly for them became irrelevant the moment I saw the gun swing toward Kai’s back. It seemed to teleport into my hand, and I leaped forward again with the knife raised high.

There was a flash of the blade in the light before I brought it down, the sharpened point sliding in smoothly somewhere in the juncture of the guard’s neck and shoulder. Shock, more than anything, made me yank the knife back, sending blood spurting into the air as the man stumbled forward before twisting. The gun was still in his hand, and it was coming around to face me. It wasnothow things were supposed to go, and for a moment, familiar rage burst from inside my chest as I slammed the knife into his chest once, twice, three times.

The gun fell to the ground with a clatter, its owner staring at me with wide eyes before pitching to the side and collapsing onto the stairs. Before I could register what I’d just done, a sickening, thick noise brought my attention back to Kai and the man he’d been fighting. I shouldn’t have been concerned; the second guard was on the ground, wrapped in Kai’s tight grip. The man’s eyes were unknowing and sightless as Kai released him, the guard’s head lolling loosely to the side as his body collapsed.

“I...” There was nothing I could say as I looked from Kai to the man I had killed. It had been as thoughtless and easy as it had been to kill the dealer and Damon, except now I could feel nausea rolling through my gut as I looked between the blood, the knife, and the body. “Oh.”

Kai stared at me for a moment longer before stepping forward and taking the knife. With seemingly no care in the world, he bent down and wiped the blade clean on the shirt of the man whose neck he’d snapped before turning and holding the weapon out to me again, handle first. I reached out to wrap my hand around it, feeling the grip against my palm. That sensation had been almost comforting before, a reminder of the revenge I had promised myself and Lucas. Now, all I could see was an unfeeling weapon without a trace of the coldest, bloodiest sentiment attached to it.

“Fuck,” I whispered as I closed my fingers around the handle and brought the weapon close. “Fuck, fuck.”

“I didn’t want to say it because it wouldn’t have mattered,” he said softly. “But not every outside person in this plan of yours is going to be dealt with as easily as that escort. And removing them wasn’t always going to be pretty.”

“I know.”

“You do now.”

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. “You said The Company hires terrible people.”

“As far as I could tell, yeah. The Geneva Convention would be more of a checklist for these people, especially when they’re operating in parts of the world that don’t have strict human rights laws.”

I forced my eyes open and stared down at the man I’d killed, wondering what kind of fucked up things he might have been responsible for...if anything. It was clear to me that killing wasn’t something he had struggled with. He had been more than readyto shoot Kai in the back. Then again, I had killed him without hesitation, so I wondered just what separated us save for the fact that I was alive and he wasn’t.

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