By nightfall, I’ve made a roundabout way to his villa. The light pollution here is nearly nonexistent, and I have the darkness on my side to sneak into the place. I easily disarm any alarms he has installed. They certainly didn’t come from Malta, Italy.
The house is quiet, but I know he didn’t leave. The man was too worried about getting sniped outside to ever leave his house; even in a country as beautiful as this. I don’t find him on the top level. I pull my gun out. There’s always a chance he’s still alive and I miscalculated.
I have all my gear on: gloves, shoe covers, my hair is up under a hat. Josie will hate it, but I had to shave my new beard as well. On a job like this, I can’t risk anything if they decide to sweep the place. The chance of that happening is low. He’s a fat man, they’ll see his heart seized and I doubt they’ll look further, but my Dad has always taught me never say the thing that has a one-percent chance of happening won’t ever happen. You should always be ready for all scenarios no matter how unlikely.
The first floor is quiet as well. No labored breathing. No lights on.
I turn a corner and still. A body sits in the dark at a table near the kitchen. With my night vision goggles, I can make him out just fine without alerting neighbors with a flashlight that someone is in the house. I move to take out the camera that can take pictures in the dark as well. His eyes are wide and his body slumped back as if he’d tried to get up from the table and died in the same second.
Another piece of human garbage taken out. He has people who work under him who will take over for his circle of women. One by one we’ll work on taking them down until the circle disbands.
I grab the wine bottle next to him and take the glass as well. They’re dry, he drank every last drop. I hadn’t expected him to get that far before it hit him, but maybe it was his size that kept him going for so long. It took longer to hit him. At least it looks like his heart when it happened. Not nearly as much pain as he deserved for the women he’s hurt.
The porter house-sized steak and a bowl of pasta in front of him should be more than enough evidence of what killed him. The man did my job for me. I don’t even have to dress the scene.
I leave his place the way I came in and change in an alley where I stashed a bag and some clothes before I pull out my phone. It’s late, but I air-drop the pictures from the camera to my encrypted phone. Beckett has assured me it’s safe from any average hacker, even some government systems and send them off to Michail for confirmation.
He sends back aGood Job.
I take the moment to send him a text asking to have a meeting with him at his offices when I return. I don’t tell him what for, but I plan to bring Josie with me. I’m going, to be honest with him and whatever happens, happens.
I do know one thing, I’m not giving her up. He’s going to have to kill me and make her hate him if he truly can’t stand us being together. As soon as I get back, I’m stopping by her bakery. It’s been two weeks, it won’t seem odd. I go there every morning when I’m in the city.
God, I hope she’s doing okay. I miss her so much and not being able to talk to her in fifteen days has nearly killed me. Soon, however, we’ll be able to be together, date, eventually get married. Maybe even start a family.
Chapter Eighteen
Josie
I frostcupcakes in the back, as Katie, one of my new hires, runs the front with Shannon. I can’t be around the coffee. The smell of it makes me sick right now, and I can’t figure out why. Maybe I’m missing Cason so hard that his dislike of coffee has suddenly become something I’ve taken on. It’s been over two weeks since he left. And every morning when I don’t see him for his usual order, I get so sad.
I wish I could reach out to him, but we don’t want to let on that anything strange is going on between us. Before everything happened. I hardly ever reach out to him via phone, and he only did it if it was a holiday or my birthday and we hadn’t seen each other. I think even with him saving my life, my father would see that as strange, and I know he’s monitoring the crap out of me. He now has two guards at the shop. I had to beg them to wear civilian clothes and not suits. That made them stand out when they weren’t working on laptops or consuming anything. I guess they’re ex-secret service or something who hate the government. I don’t know. He said he’s worked with them for a decade and their records go back a long time unlike Sacha. I’ll never understand how that man got so close to my father, whatever pull he had over him didn’t work on me.
My father wanted me to move back home, but I refused. Stating I like living with Ensley. She cried for half an hour when I got home. I felt bad I couldn’t tell her the truth, but I’m not sure how she would take the news my family is made up of criminals.
“Ma’am.”
I look up to find Nell, who does a lot of my prepping and making large batches of the things that sell out well. I stand up and put my piping bag to the side. She looks like she doesn’t feel well at all. “Yeah? What is it? You look pale.”
She nods her blonde head. “I got my period this morning and my cramps are so bad it hurts to stand. Can I leave a few hours early? I’ll come in early tomorrow and help you in the morning.”
I nod. Understanding entirely what she’s going through. I’ve been there. “No worries. You can come in at your normal time. I won’t dock your pay for it. Go home and get some rest.”
She smiles at me. “You’re so kind. The best boss I’ve ever worked for. Thank you.” She takes off her apron and heads for the exit out the back.
I frown. I was due for my period a week ago. I’m not typically late, but maybe the stress of everything set it back. Pulling out my new phone I pull up the period app I’ve been using for years. It has me down to a T at this point.
Eight days late. I frown. There’s no way, right? I can’t be pregnant. I think about all the sex I had with Cason. We didn’t use condoms. It’s not like we had them there. I’m sure if he had them on hand he would’ve used them.
All the blood runs out of my face as I realize what that means. “Oh shit. I wasn’t expecting this to happen, but I should’ve. Getting pregnant never even crossed my mind once. I doubt it did his. It just felt good to have sex.
I need to get a test, now. I can’t go through the rest of the day without knowing for sure. I peer out at the front. It’s busy, and my two henchmen are watching the front and not paying me any mind. There’s a convenience store a block or two down from here. They should have something in the form of tests.
While they’re not looking, I hurry out the back and scurry past the area where I know Sacha was killed for real. There’s no evidence of that night, but I’ll be forever reminded of it any time I come back here.
Free from it, I sprint down the sidewalk weaving in and out of people before I get to the store. I open the door and make a beeline for the small personal hygiene section. They have one pregnancy test, the kind you pee on. At least I won’t have to worry about peeing into a cup.
I feel around my apron for my wallet and pull it out. I don’t want to pay with my phone. My father might see the transaction and wonder why his daughter is getting a pregnancy test.
