Page 20 of Witness Protection

Chapter Five

The next morning, Cayden turned on the coffee maker, then took a cold shower. He should have woken up in his own bed, but he’d fucked up once again. This was supposed to be simple. Kidnap the girl, bring her to the room he’d rented, then finish the job.

He never hesitated when killing.

Numbing his emotions came easy for him during hits, no different than turning a light switch on and off. It was a safety mechanism he’d learned as a kid to survive being tossed from one shitty foster home to another. Some much worse than others.

He expected Sophia to cry and beg for her life. In fact, he’d been envisioning it all week. Instead, she challenged him. What was it about her that kept toying with his head? She was an innocent, but she was also Vasily Morenov’s daughter. She was a complete contradiction.

Time wasn’t on his side. Eventually her men would track him down, so he needed to deal with his problem. A problem of his own making. He pulled a smoke from his pack and lit up, taking a deep drag.

It didn’t matter how cute and feisty she was, the girl had to go. He knew that. It was bullshit that he was second guessing himself this late in the game. He’d envisioned pulling the trigger, and it was pure satisfaction. The reality was nothing like the fantasy. Sophia wasn’t what he expected of a mobster’s daughter.

His cell vibrated. It was Randy.

“Your line secure?” Cayden asked.

“Yeah. You never called yesterday.”

“There were no issues with our friend. He gave me what I wanted.”

“Is it already done?” Randy asked.

He didn’t answer at first. It was fucking embarrassing. “Not yet. It will be in about two minutes.”

“I’d hold off. We have a bit of a complication.”

Cayden leaned against the wall, exhaling clouds of smoke as he tried to ease his nerves. “What’s the problem?”

“There’s a hit out on you. Hot off the press.”

He stood straight. “What the fuck? Who?”

“Antonio Baretti. The Morenov family probably paid him to get the girl back and make you disappear permanently.”

“So they know who I am…” He said it more to himself, wondering where he’d fucked up. Vasily was dead, so who was pulling the strings now? He hadn’t left any breadcrumbs behind. “Where did I screw up?”

Randy scoffed. “You’re losing it, buddy. I’m just suggesting keeping the Russian princess alive so you can use her as a bargaining chip. Or not. That spoiled rich bitch wouldn’t think twice about ordering your death.”

It pissed him off that things had turned down a new, more inconvenient, path.

“Check out my place, will you? I want to know what they know.”

“I’ll head there now.” The line went dead.

After tossing his phone on the bed, he went to the second bathroom off the living room. He stood in front of the door for the longest time, wondering what he was going to do with a hostage. Cayden rarely took people for ransom. He preferred find and eliminate contracts. Playing babysitter didn’t suit him, but he also felt a sense of relief after Randy suggested he keep her breathing. Nothing made sense lately.

When he finally opened the door, he expected to find her curled up on the floor asleep. Instead, he had to duck to avoid being hit with a chunk of porcelain.

She screamed, rushing out toward him like a miniature gladiator. The pedestal sink was in pieces, blood specks splattered on the white tiles.

There goes my security deposit.

His body didn’t even budge when she tried to strong-arm him. Cayden easily subdued her around the waist, hoisting her off her feet and smacking the porcelain from her hand. She thrashed, throwing up her legs to try and unbalance him, kicking against the walls. He forced her onto the sofa and pressed her face down, his knee on her back.

“Settle down.”

“Get off me!”

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