Page 72 of Mine to Keep
She nodded and finished cleaning her gun.
Fifteen minutes later, Talon and Javier came trudging into the room, eyes puffy and red-faced. Javier tried to hide it, but his eyes were just as red as Talon’s.
My heart clenched as I stood from the couch. “My boys,” I breathed, wrapping my arms around them both. “You’ll be safeand I’ll come for you. Then I’ll never let you go. You’ll both get sick of me.”
“Never,” Javier croaked, hugging me tight. Talon’s small arms joined in, cocooning me in so much love that I almost choked on it.
I can still feel the ghost of their arms around me as I sit in the safe house alone. My heart hurts, each thump reminding me of how much I miss my boys. But I need to end this. As soon as I do, I’m holding them tight and never letting them go.
Pulling in a deep breath and blowing it out slowly, I pluck my phone from the table and dial the number Peggy found for me.
It rings twice before a deep voice says, “Who the fuck is this?”
A growl percolates up my throat, hearing his voice pissing me off more because he’s the reason I had to send my boys away. “Skylar. You’re still alive. Thought I plugged you with at least two rounds.”
I can practically hear the tension rolling through the phone. “Viper.”
“The one and only.”
“Where are you?”
I bark a humorless laugh. “You’d like to know huh, bitch?” He snarls. “We need to meet. There’s a place?—”
“How do I know it’s not a trick?” he asks.
“Don’t fucking interrupt me.” I say in a deadly quiet voice. “Let’s meet so we can finish this. You and me, one on one. You want to kill me for killing your clumsy-ass wife, and you shot at my boys, so I want you six feet under.”
“After I kill you,” he says in a hard voice, “I’m going to kill them. I want you to know that now. I want you to know that you couldn’t keep them safe.”
I chuckle, though my blood boils. “Like you couldn’t keep your bitch safe?”
“Do not disrespect my wife like that!”
“Fuck you and your wife. I’ll send you the coordinates to meet me. Come alone, Skylar. Let’s finish this, you and me. Tomorrow night. Understand?”
“I’ll see you there.”
After I hang up, I send him the coordinates. Then I smash the phone, tossing it across the room into the garbage can.
Between now and tomorrow, I need to come up with a plan. I know I won’t come out of our fight completely unscathed, but I’ll put Skylar in the fucking ground.
twenty-five
the others
Skylar’s bloodsang in his veins as he hung up the phone. His heavy breathing was the only sound in the room, even though there were three other occupants.
The men his handler found weren’t part of The Void’s team—they were simply some guys that were down for whatever, willing to follow orders and kill if the price was right. Just what Skylar needed. Anyone that was attached to The Void would want the Viper contract for themselves. But they couldn’t have Viper. That kill was Skylar’s, and Skylar’s alone.
Skylar peered down at his phone, checking the coordinates. He didn’t recognize where it was, so he called his handler.
“What’s up?” his handler said.
Skylar rattled off the coordinates quickly. “How far is that from where I am now?”
His handler paused for a moment, his fingers typing along the keys quickly. After a brief moment, he said, “It’s an hour and a half from your current location. Maps are in your email. It looks like an empty field in the middle of nowhere. Lots of tree coverage.”
Skylar smiled, though it’s more of a grimace. “Good. I have your assets. They’ll work for what I need done. Get me anything else you can so I can study this location. It could be a trap.”
