Page 43 of To Keep

“You should buy us dinner after this,” one of them said. “There’s nothing to eat here.”

“Focus, Kensington,” Galen said.

The other guy tossed something to Galen. He put it on his head. It looked like some high-tech night-vision goggles. A few minutes later, everything was silent. They’d all left the house, hunting for the last man outside. She wasn’t supposed to go close to the windows, so she behaved and sat on the edge of the bed. Her heart raced. She reminded herself how capable Galen was. He’d made it this far in life and he killed for a living. That lone man was no match for three trained assassins.

Skye fidgeted with her hands, her foot tapping the floor. When the floor creaked outside the room, it seemed odd, but she ignored it. After a second creak followed, she tensed up. A shadow appeared in the doorway.

It wasn’t Galen.

Someone was right outside the bedroom door.

This was it, the end of Skye Lewis. She’d never made much of her life, but she didn’t want to die. There was a happily ever after just out of reach.

The stranger made his appearance in the doorway. He slipped his balaclava up to his forehead, revealing his face. She’d never seen him before.

“Thought you’d want to see the face of the man who will kill you.”

“Not really.”

He shrugged. “Your boys made this too easy. Amateurs at best.” He pulled out a garrote and she began to hyperventilate. She was hoping for a bullet to the head, something quick and painless. Being violently choked to death sounded like a really shitty way to go.

The sick bastard enjoyed this, chuckling as he stepped toward her. She was still sitting on the edge of the bed in the spare room, frozen in place.

He’d only taken two steps, not yet within reach, when a dark shadow swallowed him whole. A thick arm came around him from behind, slicing this throat completely open in one quick, clean stroke. The body slumped to the floor, falling to the side.

“You okay, baby?”

Galen took her hand, helping her up to her feet. She was robotic, shaky, still unsure what was real or fiction.

“Everything’s safe now,” he said. “Are you hungry?”

She looked up at him to see if he was being serious. He was.

“Galen, I thought I was about to die. The last thing I’m thinking about is food.”

“Skye, I told you I’d never let anything happen to you.” He pulled her against his hard body, the leather of his jacket smelled faintly of his cologne. Somehow, he calmed her down just with his presence. Then she realized there was a body between them.

“What are we going to do about this? The police—”

“Already taken care of. The place will be good as new by the end of the night.”

She was going to ask how, but kept her mouth shut. This lifestyle was foreign to her, but she trusted Galen with her life and her heart.

They went downstairs and she was glad all the windows were intact. The two men were in the kitchen, peeling off gun vests and lining up their weapons on the kitchen island as if they did this every day of the week. Maybe they did.

“I ordered pizza,” Kensington said. “I couldn’t wait any longer.”

Galen ran a hand through his hair and exhaled his irritation. “You’ve only been inside a few minutes.”

The other guy began carefully putting gun pieces into a case. “We’ll hang around for a bit. I’m waiting to hear back from Viko.”

“This isn’t a sleepover party, Slash. Mission complete.”

“He should call back soon. Besides, Kensington ordered an extra-large. It would go to waste.”

“Fine. Let the cleaning crew in when they show up. I’m taking a shower.”

Galen took her hand, leading them upstairs to the master suite. It seemed like a lifetime since they’d had sex on the bed, but it hadn’t been that long ago. He closed the door and locked it behind him.

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