Page 91 of Twisted Revelations

42

Beverly

Along hot bubble bath was all I needed. Propped against the thick, fluffy pillows, I attempted to relax with a soppy romance book, but my mind had other ideas. I’d paid enough attention to the men to have an idea of what Luke was down there doing to those bodies.

My hand clutched at my chest when Laura busted open the door and scampered into the room, appearing to be hopped up on drugs. The front edges of her hair poked up and her high ponytail was a bird’s nest of curls. Her eyes were wide, as her body buzzed with what I believed was excitement.

“Beverly, Beverly,” she repeated in a breathless whisper like one of those gossiping bitties who’d eavesdropped juicy news.

“What girl? What’s wrong? Is everything okay? Are the guys okay?” She’d shot my jittery nerves from zero to a hundred in a second flat.

“Bev, it’s been confirmed. If we didn’t believe it before, we need to believe it now. They are professional fucking killers! All of them!” She shot her words out in a mixture of excitement and what I assumed was astonishment. My face fell into a deep wrinkle as I glared at her. “I’m convinced that those damn men will be okay, no matter what they face,” she added.

A deep sigh followed. Her expression had lost its excitement, and a hint of worry had climbed onto her face. “What I need to talk to you about is that big one.” She was starting to scare me now.

“Is he okay? Is Luke okay?” I questioned, losing my breath as my heart started to swim toward my throat. It had taken me a while after the car chase to settle my nerves, only to have Laura rev them up again.

“I just watched that big motherfucker cut up two bodies like a chef cutting up chickens. Do you know his friends call him The Magician? And now I know why. He literally made two bodies disappear.”

I sat up higher, not missing the excitement in her tone. My eyes followed her hands when she lifted and waved them to express her words.

“I mean, he knew exactly where to place that blade, right between the bones where the sockets turned and rotated. When he lifted and turned that leg, the damn blade slid between those bone joints like butter—”

“Please,” I begged, cutting her off. “I don’t need, nor do I care to know the details.”

“Yes, you do need to know this shit because I don’t want to wake up one day and find out that you’re gone. Poof!” She mimicked a magician waving his magic wand over me. “Watching him cut those bodies up was some freakish shit. And, he also knows how to mix a blend of chemicals that melted those bodies down to nothing but liquid.” She paused and shook her head with closed eyes for dramatic effect. “Do you hear the words coming outta my mouth, Bev?” She gripped my arm and gave it a shake to get my attention. “That man turned those people into nothing but a green substance you can pour down the fucking drain. Dax let it out that Luke had taught Megan’s husband how to do it. Now, Dax is down there taking lessons.”

I shook my head at her and fought a smile. Laura didn’t want me alone with Luke, but she was excited about what she’d witnessed, so shutting her up wasn’t going to be easy.

“Dax put you together with him in this room. I think he was attempting to play matchmaker, but if Andre the Giant comes up in here, don’t you let him stay with you,” she continued, ordering me around like she’d birthed me. “This place has five other rooms. He can pull the plastic off one of those beds,” she pointed over her shoulder in no particular direction.

“His name’s Luke, and what are you now? My mother? He already said he’d be sleeping downstairs on the couch, but I’m not turning him away if he comes up here. He scared the hell out of me doing it, but he saved my life again.”

Wait a minute. Where were she and Dax sleeping? Before I could spit the question out, she was right back at it.

“Bev, you better shake off that damn glimmer he’s put in your eyes. You get out of line with him, and he can cut your ass up and make you disappear. Not to mention he’s about ten-foot-five and appears to have super-human strength. Did you see his feet? He can probably make Mr. Ed jealous. Dick’s probably the size of an elephant’s trunk. You don’t have all that extra cushion you used to have when you were in your teens. He looks like he could do some major damage,” she warned, causing me to choke on the laugh I’d failed to hold in.

“You hear that?” she questioned, her eyes peering up as her head jerked up at a sound I didn’t hear.

“What?” My face squinted in curiosity.

“It’s your fucking uterus trying to convince me to talk some sense into you,” she joked, biting back a smile.

I knew her well enough to know she was far from done.

I loved this woman. I truly did, but she was about as crazy as crazy could be. My stomach quaked as I stifled a laugh. I loved Luke’s size. There weren’t many men who were interested in me who made me feel small and pretty at the same time.

“Why don’t you come clean about you and Dax the Assassin?” I asked her, stopping my runaway ideas and finding a subject that would put an end to her rant about Luke. “I’ve caught bits and pieces about Dax’s activities. He’s like one of the highest paid assassins in the country and probably in the world for all we know. So, maybe you should be worried about who’s going to make who disappear,” I warned, making her go quiet for the first time.

However, it wasn’t fear that laced her thinking gaze, aimed at the bedside table all of a sudden. She liked the fact Dax was considered one of the most dangerous men in the country. It intrigued her, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d put in a request for him to teach her a thing or two.

“I’m just saying,” she finally replied, unwilling to talk about what I suspected was happening between her and Dax. As a matter of fact, she’d grown almost uncomfortably quiet and started chewing on her bottom lip. That lip chewing was a dead giveaway. Laura was keeping secrets.

“I knew it!” I yelled, causing her to jerk her head up at me. “I knew that something was going on between the two of you!” I shouted in a controlled whisper, pointing an accusing finger at her. “You’ve never kept anything from me before, so I refused to believe what was so clearly in front of me.”

“It’s nothing—the excitement of this mission and what’s going on with this DG6 mess. After this is over, he’ll be back to assassinating people, and I’ll be back at the center keeping the kids from getting locked up or pregnant.”

I smiled. “I miss being at the center too. Miss the kids, even though they drive me nuts sometimes.”