Page 22 of Tainted Sinners

And, lest I forget, Norman Long could crash my party. He has the potential to derail my plans. Heather may be warming up to it all, but his presence will quickly frighten her. I'll have to put in some time and effort on that as well.

“Despite the schedule changes, I’m confident,” I speak up into the silence, and Jimmy grunts in acknowledgment. This’ll be Heather’s test, the most morally ambiguous and public job I’ve got for her. “Where’s Robert?”

“Fretting somewhere, I’m sure,” Jimmy replies nonchalantly. “You know how he gets.”

Heather appears in the doorway, her gaze immediately drawn to the spread of breakfast food on the table. Her damp hair clings to her shoulders and neck, and she shuffles to the nearest chair, plopping down heavily. When Jimmy opens his mouth, I shake my head sharply, and he frowns at me, slouching to grumble illegibly to himself.

“Here,” I say suddenly, and Heather stills, reaching for the plate of blueberry muffins. Tossing the file at her, I set my fork down to lean back in my seat. Interest furrows her brows, and I smirk at how tired she looks.Tiredbut not exhausted.Is there a difference?Tentatively grabbing the file, Heather frowns, puffing out her lips. “Your first target.”

“Target?” Heather echoes, popping open the file to stiffen. “The mayor? Is this a joke? You want me to kill the mayor of Boston?”

“I put her in power, and she’s been deviating,” I answer firmly, and Heather stares at me with wide, surprised eyes. “Before you talk about innocence or whatever, she’s the one that came to me to help put her in the mayor’s seat, and I did. Fran Shaw agreed to be my puppet, but what good is a puppet that cuts her own strings?”

“Uh- uh... I thought she was doing good. I mean, I voted for her,” Heather trails off uncertainly. “She’s delivered on her campaign promises. Why kill her if she’s doing a good job?”

“That’s the problem, isn’t it?” I muse. “Shaw’s starting to believe her own bullshit lies. Her being a good mayor and keeping the promises of collaboration she made to me is a wide tightrope she can walk. Make no mistake, Heather. I was happy to keep her around because of her popularity as long as she continued funneling money and projects to my companies.”

“Not to mention,” Jimmy says, drawing Heather’s gaze sharply. “This is the best time to nip that shit in the bud. The next election’s in two years. There will not be a better time to prime someone new.”

“You can tell yourself whatever you want, Heather, but Shaw’s corrupt to her bones. She made a deal with me, after all. No matter what you think of her policies, she won the last election through voter fraud, intimidation, and dirty money,” I continue, observing her. I want her to agree to this independently, no matter her reservations. Threatening her now might backfire on me. She frowns, chin jutting out under tightly knit brows that shadow her eyes.

“Tomorrow evening, she will hold a press conference outside a rec center. That’ll be your opening— the only opening you’ll have, considering she’ll be leaving in an armored car. We’ll have missed our shot, literally.”

“Tomorrow?” A sparkle in Heather’s eye brightens in realization, and her glare cuts through me. Hurt twists her features before standing up and leaving the dining room. I fight a sigh of irritation but get up to follow her.

I expected this; of course, I had hoped Heather wouldn’t go in this direction, but...

“Heather,” I call after her, catching up to her at the bottom of the curving stairway.

She only pauses to spin around and slap my cheek, her eyes filled with tears. Heather stiffens, and the echo of her palm on my skin intensifies in the stunned silence. She hugs herself tightly as she turns away, and I roll my jaw and rub the tingling away. Her ragged breaths pierce my ears as she stomps up the stairs, and I follow her.

When I got to her room, which was close to mine, I shut the door behind us. Heather leaps onto the bed, yanking and wriggling to hide beneath the blankets and sheets. I can only guess what she’s thinking; surely, Heather knows I’m using her. I had said as much, as plainly as possible, when we first met.

But I suppose it's different when sex is involved. She emerges from beneath the crumpled heap, her eyes bright even as she conceals the rest of her face. “You’re a piece of shit, Jack.” Heather rasps, her vile tone muffled by the blanket, but I clearly hear her. My chest tightens, and my mouth dries as she covers her face once more.

I walk over to the edge of the bed, rubbing my lips, chin, and the back of my neck nervously. I pull the sheets back, gripping them, and she struggles. As I lean back, a sigh of frustration fills my chest, and I run my hand through my hair.

“I’ve told you several times,” My words dry on my tongue when I suddenly realize... she’s not breathing. Staring at the big mound of fabric, I pinch the bridge of my nose and clear my throat. “You have a job to do, Heather. I’m not going to let little emotions cloud the reason I approached you. And that’s the truth.”

“Liar,” Heather croaks, flinging back the blankets protecting her to launch an assault on me. I don’t fight back, letting her push me back, climb on top of me, ball her fists into my shirt and shake me. Her tears bounce off my cheeks, and mighty discomfort worms between my shoulder blades in the face of her hurt. “I’m not some whore you— you can butter up and sp—”

“You think I care?” I ask, and she freezes, her eyes widening. The damp strands cling to my fingertips as I reach tentatively to push back her hair, which is flying wild around her, haphazard and disheveled. Her chin twitches, and she grimaces but does not withdraw. “I already told you, Heather, that I don’t want to put you in that category. I think there is so much more to you than even you realize. You know I do. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have put this off for so long to make sure you were ready.”

“Y— you can’t just spring this on me,” Heather whispers hoarsely, sinking into me to hang her head. Surprise lodges in my throat; that’s not what I expected her to say. Hell, I don’t know what to expect with Heather. “You can’t dictate my life, Jack. I won’t let you. I can’t let you ruineverythingI’ve worked for... for so long.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, stunned. So, this isn’t about the sex? Once again, she catches me off guard. She’s got a knack for it, apparently. Sliding off my abdomen, she lays down on her side as I sit up.

“On Friday, I was asked to take over a tutoring session tomorrow for the classroom I’ll be taking over next year,” Heather says, her voice raw and hoarse, and I frown. “I agreed. You said this was temporary, Jack. I can’t let you take control over my entire life because you made a bad financial decision. Honestly, that’s not my problem. You’re the one that should’ve known better than to deal with a degenerate gambler.”

“Are... you saying ‘no’?” I can barely get the words out. Heather, saying ‘no’... to me? Sluggishly, she sits up, sweeping her damp hair back and straightening her shoulders. My heart doesn’t beat, my blood doesn’t run, and I hold my breath in petrified anticipation. She’s not upset about being fucked into complacency, but about her time and effort being considered?

“I’m saying,” Heather pauses to pull her knee up, half-hiding her face. “You need to respect my life. You say you’re putting all this effort and time into me, but if you’re going to treat me like this... I know it’s hard for you to understand, but I’m a person with worth. I don’t need you, and really, you don’t need me, either. You wanna force this on me? You can try, but you won’t get anywhere unless I allow it, and threatening me is only gonna get you so far. I’m not sacrificing myself or my future for you.”

Heather stares dead at me, unflinching, face grave. My heart throbs, my lungs crying for fresh air as she frowns at me. “Say it, Jack. Say you’ll shoot me, throw me in a hole, or whatever you say when you want someone to do what you want.”

She’s got me backed into a corner here. Shit.

“I would appreciate it,” I say, my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth. “If you’d come up with a way to accommodate me.”

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