Page 63 of Lust

I give her chin a little shake, bringing her attention back to, then I nod. “Fine. I promise to answer them. But…after we find your father and JC is dealt with. Can you wait? Can you trust that Blake and I aren’t a threat to you, that what we do isn’t as bad as it looks, as bad as you think?”

Her eyes search mine, looking for something to convince her my words are true and she can trust them. There’s fear, confusion but also curiosity.

“Okay,” she says, and it’s almost a whisper.

“Okay?” I repeat, questioning the validity of her acquiescence.

“Okay, I can wait. Okay, I trust you both. And okay, I’ll keep an open mind.” She sighs. “I know you think I see the world in black and white, Roman, but I don’t. What Pa has done goes against God, but I wouldn’t be who I am today if he hadn’t. I’m prepared to look past the surface and see the depths below.”

“Fuck me,” I say.

“As much as the idea appeals to me, now isn’t the time,” she says, reaching up to kiss me quick. “Come on, let’s go see Robert, and hopefully, he’ll know where Pa is.”

I release her and step back. As I turn around, I adjust myself. She’s right, now isn’t the time. But I make another promise, a silent vow, to fuck her into oblivion later.

I grab two small handguns, bullet proof vests and a couple of weapons belts. Putting one of the belts on, I load it with ammo and a blade, plus two throwing knives. I lay the same on the table for Blake. Sydney watches me silently for a while before she moves around the room, inspecting the array of weapons.

“Sydney, come here,” I call to her once I’ve collected everything we’ll need.

She walks over and stops in front of me, scanning me from head to toe. I see the approval and lust in her eyes. She likes this. Not what I was expecting, and I doubt she did either. But it pleases me while easing some of my concern over what comes next. But her next words seal the deal.

“Brings a whole new meaning to dressed to kill, huh?” As soon as the words leave her, she slaps a hand over her mouth and her eyes grow wide.

I laugh and pull her hand from her face. “Nice, and yes, it does.”

She’s shaking her head, trying to deny the words came from her. “Oh, Lord, have mercy on me,” she pleads.

Footsteps come from the stairs, and a second later, Blake appears.

“We ready to roll?” he asks, taking in my smiling face and Sydney’s bright red one. “What’d I miss?”

“Sydney’s cracking jokes,” I tell him with a raised brow, knowing he’ll be as pleased and surprised as me at how well she’s taking this.

“Let me guess, dressed to kill?”

“How did you know that?” she asks around a laugh.

“Because I said the same to him the first time I saw him all kitted out. It’s hot, right?”

She shuffles awkwardly, folding her arms as her face flushes even more and nods. Blake steps to the table, pulling on his vest and attaching his belt as I put the smallest vest I could find on Sydney.

Once we are done, we head back upstairs to where Oz is waiting for us. He tosses a burner phone to me and one to Blake.

“Just in case,” he says. “I did a trace on Kincaid’s cell again, but it’s still off. And I’ve still got nothing on the other phone, but I’ll let you know if anything pops up.”

“Thanks, man,” Blake says, tucking the burner into a chest pocket on his vest.

We head to the garage, and I collect the keys for the black BMW. It’s one we use for jobs like this. Basic and less conspicuous. The plates are fake and are switched out after each use so the cops can’t trace it. I open the boot and pull out three plain black jumpers.

“Put this on,” I tell Sydney as I hand her one as Blake and I do the same.

Fifteen minutes later, we pull up outside Robert’s address. It’s a small semi-detached house in a relatively good neighbourhood. There’s a car parked on the drive, but it looks like it hasn’t moved in a while. At this time of day most people will be at work, so we should avoid any curtain twitchers.

Turning in my seat, I face Sydney. “You stay behind me, and do as we say, understand?” She nods. “I mean it, Sydney. We have no idea what’s inside or whether he’s friend or foe.”

“I got it, Roman. Stay behind you and be a good girl,” she says sarcastically.

Blake sniggers, and I send him a glare before getting out of the car.

---