Page 5 of Coup De Grâce
The typical credit cards and driver’s license were in place, but it was the keycard I was most interested in. Snatching my phone. I took a picture of the front and back, then the same of his license. After uploading it to my cloud file, I deleted all evidence of it on my phone, knowing that when I fell asleep, he would search through my phone just as I was going through his things.
It was a game we played, one that I just happened to excel at. After putting everything back as it was, I made sure his pants were as he left them and crept back to bed. I had no desire to sleep next to the man, and even though he was fairly decent in bed, he was still nothing compared to Rafe.
Sleeping with him felt like a betrayal, but my husband was dead. The only thing I was hurting was his memory. And even then, I wasn’t sure whether what I was doing was actually hurtful. Rafe had left me, after all.
For too long, I let Rafe get away with his secrets. I believed that he would eventually let me in and tell me what he was actually doing. I never believed for one minute that things would end the way they had.
I found myself resenting Isabelle. Even though she had been kept on that island for thirteen years and was his sister, I still couldn’t find it in my heart to think of her pain. My husband had turned on me. He had lied to everyone. And while I knew he was capable of that, I never really thought I would be on the receiving end of such a big lie.
I rolled to my side and closed my eyes, trying to block out what had just happened. It wasn’t cheating. I was a widow. Yet…I let out a sigh and tried to clear my thoughts. Sleep didn’t come easily for me anymore, no matter how many sleeping pills, how much alcohol, or how many times I counted sheep. Nothing worked.
Would it be like this forever? Would there ever be a time when I could lay my head down at night and drift off into a peaceful sleep? Somehow, I doubted it. When another half hour went by and I still couldn’t find peace, I got up from bed and walked over to the window, looking out at the city.
There were so many nights that Rafe and I spent just like this. Then again, there were so many nights we were apart. The things I had done for him…I’d infiltrated a fucking trafficking ring. I’d put myself in danger for him, and he’d allowed it. It was all to save his sister, to gain intel on her whereabouts.
And he let me.
What did that say about our relationship? How could a man who claimed to love me do that to me? The things that happened to me…I’d allowed them. I would have gotten out on my own. I was perfectly capable, but I was doing it for him.
Before I realized it, tears were streaming down my face and warm arms were wrapping around me, holding me close. I hadn’t even heard him get up, and that was a dangerous way to live.
“It’s okay,” he murmured in my ear.
“It’s not,” I admitted, keeping it real. “He broke something inside me. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fix it.”
His warm breath caressed my skin, and for tonight, I leaned into it, allowing another man to comfort me, even if there was an ulterior motive. I’d forgotten what it was like to have a man care for me, to hold me and tell me everything would be alright. I missed this so much.
“You know, it won’t always hurt this much.”
I swiped the tears from my cheeks, but refused to look up at him. “How can you be sure?”
“Because I’ve been there. People like us…we don’t get where we are because we choose to be this way. We’re shaped by the circumstances around us. You can either choose to let it keep you down, or you can move past it and let it shape you.”
“I don’t think I have anything left,” I whispered brokenly.
His arms tightened around me as I continued to stare out the window. “You’d be surprised what you can come back from.” He pressed a soft kiss to my head and tugged me back to bed, wrapping me up in his arms.
It was wrong on every level, but as I laid there in the dark, I found the warmth of his body and the strong hold he kept around my chest lulled me to sleep.
And for the first time since Rafe died, I slept more than three hours.
3
CASH
I took a steadyingbreath and lined up my target. The wind kicked up just a little and I adjusted one click, checking the anemometer again. The target was perfectly in my sights. All I had to do was pull the trigger.
But I hesitated.
Another kill. Another life taken at the hands of Sally 4. Or was this 5? I was losing track rapidly. I had to abandon the last Sally at my previous location due to a hasty retreat, but this one…I loved this one so much. Sally was going to get me home. I could feel it in my bones. I just had to finish the job.
And the many other jobs that would come my way.
“What are you waiting for?” the voice crackled in my ear, reminding me I was under constant supervision.
I chuckled under my breath. If I slid my rifle ninety degrees, I could take out the fucker on the other end of my comms without him ever knowing there was a bullet with his name on it. Leaving the military didn’t do shit to rid me of my training.
I would always be a Hunter of Gunmen.
