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PRESENT
“So what happened to the Mick? Get a little handsy before ya had your morning coffee?” Casper quirked a brow while leaning a little too close for comfort. Worst part of it all? The guy liked to imply we had a long history of fucking. Which I wouldn’t have had a problem withifit were true.
It wasn’t.
Don’t get me wrong, Cas was good looking and all. A jawline that could cut glass and lips that were made for sucking clit. But something about him unnerved me. And there weren’t a lot of people who could do that. Nope, Casper hadn’t been my flavor of choice back in the day—much to his displeasure.
Then again, I think the guy liked the chase more than anything else. If I were to give in, I had no doubt he’d run for the hills with his cock tucked between his legs.
“Nope, took a knife meant for my gut,” I grunted in reply. Connor had been back with the Surgeon for the last hour and for all I knew the sick fuck could be saving his life or butchering him up like Sunday’s roast. None of them would tell me either, notuntil someone revealed pretty boy’s head to me under a serving dish and waited to see my reaction.
Like I said, we were out of options. These psychos or a shallow hole in the woods.
“Aw, so Danica Rossi went and got herself a Prince Charming?”
“Wouldn’t say that either.” I shrugged a single shoulder, my eyes flicking towards the door without me even meaning to do it. The not knowing was irking me. Almost as much as Casper’s incessant chattering. “Guy’s got a nice dick. You should know better than anyone else how hard those are to come by.” I left my tone dry, sarcastic, while Cas barked out a laugh.
It wasn’t true. It only took a glance south of his hard-pressed zipper to know Casper the not-so-friendly ghost was more than packing. But like I said, the kid got bored easy. He enjoyed a little dig now and then, seeing as most people were too afraid to try.
“Ah, sweetheart, we have missed ya 'round here. Frankie’s got a stick up his ass half the time, holed up in that dungeon of his, and Surge wouldn’t know fun if it bit him in the left nut. You should think about staying a while. Earn some real cash.” Casper reached out a hand to tuck the loose strand of hair back behind my ear, and a chill traveled down my spine. And not the good kind. There was something dark beneath those light eyes. “Promise I’ll make it worth your while.” He winked, and I slid off the counter and onto my feet, watching his boots kick back and forth while dangling over the ledge. The fucker had this thing about appearing far more youthful than the deranged thoughts I had no doubt were festering in that twisted little brain of his.
“Thanks but no thanks. I like being a free agent. Some of us just don’t work well with others. I’m sure someone like you can respect that, am I right?”
“Suit yourself.” He sighed before jumping down to stand in front of me. “I got shit to do anyway. Catch ya on the other side of the law, Danica Lynn Rossi,” he threw over his shoulder before stalking out the door in search of trouble. I was certain he’d find it too.
Boredom was dangerous with a man like that. Because there was no telling what he’d do to satisfy it.
Some unknown amount of time later, I could describe the shape of each crack in the drywall, point out every corner that needed dusting, and give ya a full rundown of how often and at what intervals the pipes creaked above my head. I didn’t have a phone to pass the time—the guys would have confiscated it the moment I walked through the door anyway. The bare room was intended to drive you nuts, to make seconds feel like minutes. Minutes, hours.
Might as well have thrown me in a padded cell and called it a day. Being alone with nothing but your thoughts was slow torture for anyone. But especially for me.
“Danica,” the Surgeon’s deep baritone was startling after so much silence, his boots deliberately squeaking as he took a single step over the threshold to pin me with a set of near-black eyes. “It’s been too long.” He grinned, though that seemed too simple a word to describe the look he was giving me.
It was sinister. Calculated. Measured so that each slow curl of his lips held a hidden meaning. Leaving you feeling like you needed to pluck his words from the air and turn them over to fully understand what he was really saying.
“Has it? I hadn’t noticed.” I kept my own voice even. Level. The slightest hint of fear and these fuckers would eat it up untilthere was nothing left of you. Then they’d use your bones like a fucking toothpick.
He was wearing the usual light-blue surgical scrubs and a pair of black latex gloves, looking like he just stepped off the set ofGrey’s Anatomy. Though he was more prone to taking life than he was to saving it. He was also an expert in torture, knowing how and where to inflict the most pain while keeping someone alive enough to feel it. Each of the boys had a specialty and the human body was his.
“He still breathing?” I asked the question I knew Surge would refuse to answer until he got something out of me first. So why not get straight to the point?
“What’s the guy mean to you, Danica?” He repeated my name on purpose. It was an interrogation tactic, meant to both unnerve and put you at ease. It was familiar and intimate, suggesting they knew you better than you knew yourself.
“I already told Ghostface at the door. One job, no questions asked. No favors in return. You won’t get a better offer from me, Surge. You know that.”
“Two,” he countered, and I met his stone glare with one of my own.
“One.”
He didn’t reply, just snapped his gloves off and tossed them into the wastebasket to his left. Then he wiped a smearing of blood from his cheek and waited. He wanted me to agree before I even knew the outcome. Either way, I was stuck. In their debt for God only knew how long. Because they wouldn’t call on me straightaway. No, that would be no fun. They liked the idea of having me on a short leash until the job was, for the lack of a better word,interesting.
I hesitated for a beat, the pounding of my heart growing louder in my ears the longer I stood my ground. I couldn’t make it easy on them. Or they would see it as a sign of weakness. Useit to their advantage. And I meant what I said. I liked working on my own. I was no team player, especially when that team was made up of a buncha mask-wearing, gun-toting sociopaths.
“Two. Within two years or the deal is null and void.” I crossed my arms over my chest—wrong move. It was defensive posturing but the air was intentionally running full blast and I’d raised them without thinking. “That’s more than enough time for ya’ll to cash in.”
Surge nodded once. Then that grin of his reappeared. “Sure hope the boy’s worth the trouble, Danica.”
Yeah, you and me both.
