Page 33 of Mine to Keep
I shake the thought off. I have a mission right now. When I’m finished, I can figure out what the fuck is going on in my head.
Instead of taking a taxi to his address, I jog. It’s only about fifteen minutes away, and it’s an easy way to get a workout in.
I check my phone once more to make sure I have the proper building for Cole, and walk up to his second-floor apartment. I knock on the door, keeping my head down so he can’t see me through the peephole.
“Who is it?” a deep voice asks from the other side of the door.
Adopting a British accent, I say, “Cole? It’s Cliff. From History. Listen, I got?—”
Cole pulls the door open with a clueless look on his face. “I don’t take history this?—”
Before he can finish his sentence, I punch him in the nose, breaking it immediately.
“Fuck, man!” he shouts as he falls to the floor. “What the fuck?”
I give him no more time to ask questions. I’m on him, delivering punches to his face and body, anywhere I can reach. He tucks himself into a ball, but I don’t stop until he’s a crying mess on the floor.
Grabbing him by the front of his shirt, I bring his nose close to mine and say, “The next time you think about fucking over Isla, think again.” Then I punch him again, knocking him unconscious.
I figured it would be best to blame his girlfriend so no one would come after Talon for Cole’s bullshit. Now he’ll think one of her friends saw the now-deleted video and came to fight for her.
I didn’t like how miserable Talon looked because of Cole’s bullshit. I didn’t like the tears streaking his face. I didn’t like how he felt like he had to sightsee in another part of the country to avoid a dickhead that decided to cheat on him instead of telling him their relationship was over.
Now he has someone that would defend him.
Even if he doesn’t know it.
eleven
the others
Martha’shigh heels clicked on the floor of the lobby as she and Skylar walked to the check-in desk of the hotel The Void booked for them. It wasn’t the best hotel, but she’d slept in worse.
She looked around, a frown marring her face. She really didn’t want to be here. Yeah, she agreed to do the job with her husband, but something about this job didn’t seem like it’s on the up and up.
They’d retired assets for The Void before, but none with a track record like Viper’s. No one as adept at eliminating targets or who had as much training.
She hated to think it, but this felt like a suicide mission.
But no matter how much she told Skylar they needed to drop it, he’d found a way to convince her that it would all go off without a hitch. Sometimes with sex, sometimes with showing her their bank balance for this job, half of the contract already transferred to them. It was enough to build their vacation house and go to Antigua, Barbados, and Jamaica without breaking the bank.
She could go shopping while they were here as well. As they were passing some stores, she’d seen a few outfits that she could wear while on one of those vacations.
After they’d checked in, they headed to their room. Twenty minutes later, a knock sounded at the door and when Martha opened it, she saw a briefcase waiting there.
She grabbed it and brought it inside and plopped it on the bed.
“They should have my knives,” she murmured after popping the top and only seeing the gun with the silencer, Skylar’s favorite. Usually, he liked long-range weapons, but this hit was short notice, and The Void probably couldn’t get something that large without a bit of a heads-up.
Skylar reached around her, pulling back the insulation of the briefcase and showed her the collection of sharp knives. “They got you, baby.” He kissed her neck then pulled the gun and clips from the eggcrate foam. “We already read the intel from The Void. You wanna go ahead and get this done now, and shop later?”
Martha smiled at him, excitement dancing in her belly. That’s exactly what she wanted to do.
On the flight over, both Martha and Skylar had looked over the notes from The Void. Not only the information about Viper they’d been pouring over since they‘d decided to take the job, but also the hotel that he was staying in. According to the intel, he had the room for a few more days, until his flight back to California. They could wait until tomorrow to kill him, but if they could shop instead of plot a kill, she’d rather do that.
“You know me so well,” Martha told her husband, kissing him long and deep. When they finished this job, she planned to ride him like a fucking bronco. She was always horny after a kill.
Before they go, Skylar took a holster from his bag and pulled the machete from the case and strapped it on. They’d need it to cut off Viper’s head before they sent the confirmation of the kill.
