Page 14 of Sweet Touch of Venom

Her head shakes, but a faint smile forms.

“I have the papers. Kyra, is the getaway secured?” Scarlette speaks through the earpiece.

“Secured,” she responds.

Eve and I look at each other, nodding. We speed toward the window, pulling the drapes away. Kyra sits far away on top the building in front of us, and aims the zip line gun at the window. Then, she shoots it, connecting right above the roof.

“Ladies, we have an incoming. Frances must’ve tipped off his security team,” Kyra says with ease, although the news is anything but that.

My eyes widen frantically, and I run to the now dead body, yanking up his arm. Fuck. His cuff link. A small button resides between the silver button and the shirt. “Shit! How did I miss that?” I scowl, slamming his hand back down.

The door swings open. Eve raises her gun, and I pull out my knives.

“Hello ladies,” Scarlette says, rushing in stuffing the papers into her purse. “We have to leave now.”

We rush to the window, and before we can make it past the desk, the door flies open. Five armed men stand there with their guns cocked, ready to blow us away. My heart pounds in my chest, and I look at Eve. Until a red dot appears on one of the men’s heads. Here we go. I grin, pressing my dagger to my thigh.

“Bye, Bye,” I say, waving my hand, and the other men look at him. Before they can do anything, glass cracks behind us and a bullet plunges hits him in the head. I toss my knife at one of the other men as he yells, raising his gun. Eve shoots, and the two other men drop to the floor. I take the chance to run at the man by the door, aiming his gun. I kick it away before jumping onto him and wrapping my legs around his waist. I lift my dagger and stab him in the eye with a twist. With my dagger still in his flesh, he falls down, screaming in pain, until I snap his neck. Scarlette goes into her purse, shooting the last man in the chest, and another bullet comes through the window, hitting him in the head.

Scarlette snaps to the window. “I had it!” she yells, but we know Kyra can’t hear her. She then spins back around, her long hair swinging with her.

“Okay girls, let’s go. We have to leave,” Scarlette says smoothly.

We follow suit heading toward the bay window, my heels clicking on the tile floor. I grab a statue off the desk, breaking the rest of the glass on the window. Scarlette reaches in her bag and grabs her lipstick, and then tossing it to the front of the entrance with a wicked smile on her face. The footsteps grow louder and louder. A devious smile spreads across my face as I face her, and then I turn back around to the window.

“Ladies first,” Eve says, stepping to the side. I blow her a kiss, stepping onto the frame of the window, placing my hands on one of the zip line handles. Not wasting any more precious time, I push off, the cool air crushing my face, but it feels…?glorious. I zoom in on Kyra who stands at the end of the wire, still kneeling, her sniper raised as she looks through the scope. I brace myself for the incoming end of the zip line and jump off, landing on my tip toes then flattening my heels to the gravel roof.

Men yell, and echoes swarm down below. I glance over. Other security guards rush into the building, pushing guests out of the way. Seconds later, Scarlette and Eve follow suit, landing on the roof. We look ahead to the building we escaped from, and loud voices ring from the building and then…?BOOM!

The entire top-level blows up, now engulfed in fire and smoke; the gush of debris shoots out the window. That lipstick bomb is one hell of a weapon.

Each of us all leer, satisfied with that outcome, before turning and rushing off. We don’t talk; we keep moving until we are down below and the limo behind two buildings is over. We hop in, then and only then we all finally breathe. My heart racing from the adrenaline and the thrill of it all. The part I do love.

We don’t speak on our way back to the hotel—which is normal for us. Nobody wants to boast about all the kills they’ve had—we don’t, at least.

No shame in ones that do.

I do take a chance to look around the group, a quick stab pierces my heart. Very subtle but noticeable. This will be the last night I see them again.

I look back down rolling my thumbs around ignoring those pestering sensations again.

Finally, we are at the hotel, and I’m ready to wash off and change into the clothes I feel most myself in. After a shower and washing the ick out of my hair, I slip on my forest green combat pants and black hoodie. I tie my thick curls in a high bun, wincing at the pain in my shoulder from earlier.

I already have my car packed and ready. I packed the night before, so I won’t feel the need to divert from my plan. I’ve waited this long, trained since I was sixteen, and worked under Popov for eight years. Now it’s time to seek revenge for my brother’s death.

To say it was easy convincing Popov to release me would be an understatement. I had to complete several tasks and missions before he handed me back to the world. This mission was the last.

I stroll out of the bathroom, a little sting resting in the pits of my belly as it all comes to that realization. They all sit in the front room. Eve laid back in the love seat flipping her knife, Scarlette legs crossed, reviewing the documents, and Kyra meditating. When they hear me shuffling with my bags, they all look at me as I stand in the middle of the room.

Scarlette’s shoulders slump slightly, and her brow furrow in. “I guess this is it, yeah?”

I ignore that squeeze in my gut. “It is.”

Eve stands walking toward me, her icy blue eyes drilling into my face. “You know you can always stay right?”

I dig my thumb into the fabric of my pants. “I can’t. I’ve held it off long enough”

She lets out a breath, her eyes darting down. Her lip twitches slightly before she straightens her back. Her hand sticks out to shake it. “It was nice working with you.”

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