Page 39 of Assassin's Prey
“Why?” I choked out. “That money could’ve set you up for life.”
Abby shrugged and handed me the black socks to go with the dress shoes she’d gotten me. “I’m already set for life with the inheritance. I didn’t need it. If they could help someone else like they helped my mom…”
“So what you’re saying is, all the focus will be on you as their special guest, and I just have to smile and look pretty?” Thank God.
Abby smirked like I’d known she would. “Your relief at that fact doesn’t become you as a hit man.”
“Are you kidding?” I shot her a sexy look from under my brows. “That’s what us hit men do, fade into the background.”
“You couldn’t fade into the background if you tried. Get you into a roomful of women, especially in a tux”—a hungry growl left her—“and we’re likely to have a stampede.”
The strangest sense of pride hit me. I’d never given a fuck if I looked good unless I needed to for a job; all that mattered most of the time was being strong and capable. But Abby’s gaze on me, her craving for me… Jesus, how did other men do this?
As I put on the stiff shoes, Abby moved to the emerald-green dress hanging on the door of the closet. When she dropped her robe, a visceral punch hit my stomach.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” I said absently, my gaze on the side view of her breast as she reached for the dress.
“Why not just kill Chadwick?”
It was the simple solution, right? Get rid of him and our problem went away. He’d already killed two men that we knew of.
“Because he isn’t the only one involved.”
“So we follow him up the food chain?” She stepped into the circle of material spilling over the floor and pulled it slowly up her body.
“We have a good chance of doing that tonight, in fact.” It was the second reason I’d agreed to do this, the first being to safeguard those around me.
“Will you kill him after?” She clutched the bodice to her generous breasts, small spaghetti straps tethering it at her shoulders.
I stomped my pants legs down as I stood, moving to stand behind Abby, reaching for the zipper of her dress. “Would it bother you if I did?” I finally asked, but it felt more likecould you accept who I am if I did?
She raised her head, staring straight at me in the reflection of the mirror, and a savage light burned in her eyes. “It wouldn’t bother me a damn bit.”
My cock tightened all over again, at the sight of her, fierce with the need for vengeance, and at my own satisfaction. This was the woman for me, no doubt about it. The woman who, if I allowed her to, would accept me exactly as I was. All I had to do was let her in.
“Good,” I said, letting the need for her roughen my voice. “You won’t be disappointed then.”
OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Seventeen
Why did it take so much more discipline not to tug at the tight bow tie around my throat than it did to wait patiently for a mark to walk into your trap? Because seriously, this fucking thing felt like it was strangling me.
“You look like someone has you in a choke hold,” Abby whispered, her amusement plain.
“Feels like it too,” I growled.
She reached up to smooth my collar. Oh yeah, she was definitely amused. I’d have to remind her of that later, when I punished her.
“Just remember to tell Charlotte thank you when we see her. She pulled off a miracle, whether you know it or not.”
The mysterious Charlotte would be here tonight? “I’ll definitely say something,” I promised, just not what, exactly.
Abby snickered. She knew me too well—and accepted my rough edges better than I ever could the glamour. She was the miracle, not a tux.
How the hell had I found myself here in the first place? Following Abby up the marble steps of the city’s largest museum as dozens of couples dressed just like us, only with far more diamonds, walked the same direction. It was surreal, nothing like the grit and grime I’d spent the last nineteen years immersed in.
