25. DEAN

“You’re acting weird.”

I keep my sight fixed on the gates across the street, ignoring Bones’s comment, as we wait for our opening. He could be staking out the place from his own car but he insisted it would be more fun to hang out in my car. ”It’ll be like a sleepover. No, a stakeover!”

Tonight’s job with Bones is the big one, the one that means I can stay at home with Willow for a few months.

At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

I’ve already got enough money to not need to take on as many contracts as I do, but I know once the other half of the pay for this one comes through there’ll be a very nice financial cushion afterwards.

There will be no reason for me to need to kill anyone.

Why does that make me nervous?

Inflicting pain on others has been the only outlet I’ve known. Sometimes when everything feels too much it’s good to get it all out by ending a life. That way I can feel in control again.

The need has been there less since I’ve been with Willow but a part of me worries that I’ll take things too far with her again if I don’t have this outlet.

She’s only just coming out of the dark hole I made her spiral into, I can’t lose her to her own mind like that again.

I’m hoping that dealing with Willow’s father in front of her will help her to see who I really am and the lengths I’m willing to go to for her. Once I set that plan in motion there’s no going back for either of us.

I’ve not forgotten any of the things she’s told me about him, about what he did and I’m just waiting for the right time to enact my plan and give her the revenge she deserves.

Once he’s dead then there really will be no need to kill.

My fingers twitch over the switchblade in my pocket and a chill runs across my skin.

For the past ten years all I’ve known is death. I welcomed it and embraced giving others the pain I would never feel for myself. I can’t stop that now. It’s a part of me just as much as Willow is. I know she doesn’t like what I do but I can’t just stop for her.

“Dean,” Bones says, nudging my shoulder.

“What?” I groan, turning to face him.

“Something’s off with you. You’ve been weird all night.” He flips the passenger mirror down and starts gathering his long hair in his hands to fix with the hair tie around his wrist.

“I’m just keeping lookout. Since you don’t seem to be paying any attention, one of us has to.”

“Is it your girl?” He narrows his eyes at me like he’s trying to read my mind. “Things not going okay?”

“It’s fine. We’re fine. I think...I don’t know, it’s hard to tell. I’m not exactly used to needing to know how someone else is feeling.”

“You actually care about her then? I know you said you loved her before but I thought you were exaggerating how good the sex was. Speaking of, how is it? I’m still thinking about finding my own personal slave. Just the thought of coming home to some sweet pussy and not having to ask her how her day was or worry if I’m going to catch something sounds amazing. Makes my balls ache already.” Bones adjusts himself and I swear he really is hard just thinking about it.

“I doubt you’ll find anyone good enough for your standards, Bones.”

“True,” he sighs. “You want to talk about your problems then?”

“Not a chance,” I say bluntly.

Bones scoffs a laugh then nods towards the window. “Look, that’s our cue.” The large iron gates out front of the estate we”ve been staking out are nudged open and a torch flashes twice.

Grabbing our weapons and doing a final check of the street we pull black ski masks over our faces, then get out of the car and head over to the gates that lead up to a large brownstone house.

“How did you manage that?” I ask and the mask moves around Bones’s eyes as he wiggles his eyebrows at me, telling me everything I need to know.

Tonight’s kill has taken a while to plan out. The target is Tommaso Abato, a local politician, who’s going to start his run for mayor soon.

Whoever took the hit out remains anonymous but from the amount they’re paying they’re either another candidate or someone involved with the mob. Usually gangsters like to deal with things in house so my bets are on another candidate with a lot of money at their disposal.

It’s a risky job to take considering the level of security on the property but both Bones and I have turned in a few favors and we’ve managed to get the number of guards on the property down to just one on the front gate and two on the grounds.

It was up to Bones to sort out our access into the property and it seems his extracurricular activities have paid off.

A breeze makes the gate creak ominously and I push it open just enough for the two of us to slip through.

As soon as we’re through, a guard emerges from the shadows to our left. I raise my gun, immediately rounding on him. He’s young, barely in his twenties with glasses and a head of messy blonde curls. He looks like he belongs in a college library rather than freezing his ass off protecting someone like Abato. The guy’s involved in a lot of shady business and has his fingers in enough pies that I know to keep my nose well out of it. Until tonight that is, where my nose is going to be directly in the shit.

Opting for a quieter kill this close to the street, I swap my gun for my blade but Bones grabs my shoulder and pulls me back. “Not him. He's our inside guy.”

“Why is he still here?” I hiss through my teeth not taking my eyes off the guard, he’s not even reaching for his gun. He just stands there with his hands up looking at Bones like he’s actually going to help him.

“He’ll keep our exit clear. Don’t worry, he's good for it. Aren’t you, Donny?”

“Uh, it’s Danny. But yes I’m good. I swear. I’ll keep a lookout like you told me to and keep the gate unlocked for you.”

“See? All good.” Bones shoots the guy a grin before tapping me on the shoulder and we make our way up to the house, keeping to the shadows.

I don’t like that I have to trust a stranger with our main exit route but I do trust Bones.

During my research, I found the original blueprints from when the house was first built and ones for the recent renovations so we know exactly what route we need to take.

There’s a servants entrance around the back which I wouldn’t be surprised if Abato uses to sneak in his many mistresses past his wife.

Tonight, she's at a function across town and they don’t have any children so Abato will be home alone, save for the two security guards patrolling somewhere on the property.

I tap Bones on the chest when I see the red dot of a cigarette up ahead. We pause and wait for our chance to move. The guy takes another long drag then drops the butt stomping it out under his heel, as his back turns to head inside we advance on him.

Bones grabs his arms pulling them tight behind his back as I come to the man’s front placing my palm over his mouth before he can scream. Then I drag my knife across his throat and we wait for him to stop struggling before dragging his body into the shadows behind an obnoxiously large plant pot.

“That was easy,” Bones muses and I nod. Considering Abato usually has double the amount of security that’s on tonight I would have thought he’d have the few men here be on high alert.

The man’s probably so far up his own ass he didn’t even notice the change in protocol.

The door’s already unlocked and we sneak through. There’s no cameras inside the property, that was one of the first things I checked when it came down to deciding to do the kill here away from the public eye. The only camera is on the front gate but I disabled that ahead of time.

There’s no sign of the remaining guard as we make our way upstairs. The house is silent and dark, perfect for sneaking around but then I start to worry that Abato might not even be home and this whole night has been a waste of time, until I see a faint light coming from under a bedroom door up ahead.

I give Bones a nod as I grab the door handle and slowly turn it. Bones rushes in first with his gun drawn.

We both stop short as we see two people in the room. Abato is asleep in bed, having not even stirred from our stealthy entrance and on the floor at the foot of the bed is a woman, naked and chained to the bedpost.

Her pitch black hair obscures her face but I can see the bruises that litter her body. As we step closer she doesn’t move, I can only just see her chest moving from here so she’s alive at least. Right now, I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.

Bones shoots me a look but I shrug. I haven’t a fucking clue who she is or why she’s here. She wasn’t part of the plan. I leave Bones to deal with her as I go to Abato.

“She’s drugged,” Bones whispers, sounding way too angry about the situation than he should.

“You know her or something?” I ask and Bones shakes his head. “Why do you care then? She’s probably some whore. Either kill her or leave her.”

I hold my knife to Abato’s throat, surprised that he’s still not woken up and Bones suddenly snaps, “wait!”

“What the hell?” I hiss quietly.

“We should question him. Find out who she is.”

Is he fucking serious?

I shake my head and turn back to Abato but Bones rushes over, yanking me away from the man and inadvertently waking him up.

“What the—,” Abato says, his breath stinking of stale booze. I press my hand to his mouth before he can call for help but it’s too late. He’s already managed to reach for the security button on his nightstand.

“Fuck. We have about ten minutes to get out of here. We don’t have time to fucking talk.”

“Where’s the key?” Bones asks as he ignores me. Abato starts to panic and begins to flail as he tries to fight me off.

He’s a burly man, in his late fifties. Using his size against me he manages to land a few hits, knocking me back enough for him to be able to make a run for the door.

“Shit!” I chase after him down the hall and propel myself forward on the balls of my feet so I can stab my knife into his back. I manage to get him just below the shoulder and he cries out as I steer him towards the wall.

As he howls in pain the elusive security guard finally shows his face from down the hall. He shouts out a warning for me to move away and when I don’t he fires off a few rounds, I manage to maneuver Abato in front of me as a shield and one of the bullets hits him in the stomach.

What sort of shit show security is he hiring that they”d open fire like that?

“No, stop!” he shouts to the guard as we’re both knocked back by the force. My side connects with a corner of a small table, throwing me off balance and I lose my grip on Abato. He lands with a loud grunt and doesn’t stop groaning as he rolls onto his side clutching at his stomach.

Bones finally joins me in the fight and sneaks up behind the guard, planting his palms either side of his head and twisting sharply to the side. He tries to fight Bones off but his own struggles only aid in Bones”s manoeuvre and his neck snaps, his body dropping to the floor. “Shit, Carver, did he get you?”

I give myself a quick feel over. There’s an odd feeling in my side, I assume from knocking into the table, but I don’t have time for a thorough check right this second. We’ve only got a few more minutes to get out of here. “I think I’m good.”

Bones goes back into the bedroom and returns with the girl in his arms. “What are you doing with her?”

“I can’t just leave her,” Bones says with unease in his voice. I shake my head as I get to my feet, then I roll Abato over with the tip of my boot and pull my knife from his back.

“Please! Please, don’t! I have money, you can keep the girl and I’ll give you whatever you want!” he begs me but his pleas fall on uncaring ears.

This whole night has gone to shit and I didn’t even get to enjoy myself. I had the whole image of how I was going to flay Abato ready in my head.

With a sigh I plunge my knife into his heart and hold it there until he goes limp. After pulling it out I wipe it off on his cheek and snap a photo of his corpse.

“If any of this gets connected back to us, I’m blaming it all on you,” I say, pointing my knife at Bones.

He doesn’t take his eyes off the girl in his arms. I know that look all too well.

Whoever she is, she doesn’t look good and I’m sure Abato has put her through a lot of shit if he felt the need to have her chained naked to the end of his bed. I crinkle my nose in disgust at his corpse.

My heart sinks as I think of Willow. Is this what she felt like with me? That I was just a monster keeping her chained up as I abused her.

There’s an all too familiar tug in my chest and I push it aside so I can just focus on getting the hell out of here.

I’m not sure what Bones plans on doing with the girl but that’s not my problem. He’s my friend so I’ll help him get her out of here if that’s really what he wants.

“Come on, the cops will be close by now,” I say and Bones nods following me out.

I swap my knife out for my gun as we leave the way we came in. By some miracle we manage to leave unseen until we reach the gate. The guard stares at Bones, wide eyed and pale. “Shit,” he squeaks out.

“Got something to say?” Bones asks his tone cold and sinister.

“No—she—,” he stammers, panic clear on his face.

“You knew she was in there?” I ask and he looks between Bones and I then slowly nods.

“Usually she’s in the basement so I didn’t think you’d see her.”

Guess kidnapping and sexual slavery is becoming the norm in this city.

This is way too many loose ends for a job this high profile and I’m ready to gut this guy and leave but he’s Bones’s problem to deal with. “Bones we have to leave. This is your call.”

He knows exactly what I mean. If this girl is tied to anyone or anything else and word gets out that Bones or I were involved then we’ll have our own targets on our backs. I know for a fact that the list of people willing to take that job on is endless. You don’t make a name for yourself in this world without making plenty of enemies.

“Did you touch her?” Bones asks his voice flat and cold. The guard doesn’t say anything but we both see the guilty way he swallows the lump in his throat. Then he starts to move his hand, most likely to reach for a weapon.

Bones doesn’t hesitate as he puts a bullet between his eyes. He doesn’t even have a chance to blink let alone scream.

I lower my own gun and my hand starts to shake as I feel my palms get slick with sweat. What the hell?

I ignore whatever signal my body’s trying to give me, I can deal with whatever it is later. I’m so close to getting home to Willow, I’m not about to risk getting arrested first.

“Come on,” I say. We both head to our own cars and I watch from behind my steering wheel as Bones puts the girl on his back seat before speeding off.

I shake my head not sure what the hell he’s doing but then I remember the night I took Willow and the urge I felt. I had to have her and nothing would have stopped me.

My eyelids start to get heavy as exhaustion creeps in. This isn’t like me, bloodshed always has the opposite effect but then again tonight was hardly like my usual work and seeing that girl has stirred up so many feelings about Willow.

I drive home ignoring the speed limit so I can get to her as quickly as possible.

When I left it felt like I had managed to repair some of what I broke between us but I can’t help but feel she’s going to keep pulling away.

I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to stop myself from taking things too far again. The last thing I want to do is break her but a dark part of me still feels the need to.

It’s the only way to make her know she’s mine.