Page 153 of XO Karma

“Where are you going?”

He waves a hand, gesturing to follow him, and I oblige.

Immediate regret fills me when I walk through the door to six guns pointed my way. “So much for a civilized conversation.”

“Forgive me.” He waves them off as he walks past, and I trail after him. The guards follow behind like a damn militia, not calming my nerves. But they haven’t taken my weapons from me at least.

A minute later, we’re in his study. I force away the memories of Lily and me in this space to reduce distraction. This is also the same room where Karolyn Heinzel died. Is this going to be a full circle moment? Does he want to kill me here next?

My eyes fall to the floor. The green Persian carpet has been replaced with a red one. A fire rumbles in the corner, and a woman comes in carrying a tray with a teapot and cups. She sets it on a table, then pours boiling water over the teabags before retreating through the door where Lily and I witnessed the murder.

Lily.

I can hardly think of her name without a gnawing ache in my chest. That overwhelming, all-consuming, drag-me-to-the-depths ache. The last time I felt it, years passed before I resurfaced for air. This time, I know I won’t survive it.

Jude passes me the tea and heads to a drink cart. He pours himself a tall glass of amber liquid from a decanter. “I’d ask why you have Frederick Vetrel’s gun, but I’ve seen the footage.”

My blood runs cold as I set the mug on a table, unwilling to drink a drop. “What footage?”

He huffs a laugh. “Did you really think you could just go to his place of business and murder him without a trace?”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

He rolls his eyes. “Do you want to get information or not? Lying to me, that’s not going to do shit.”

This is what happens when I kill out of vengeance. I’m reckless. Fuck. “He deserved what happened to him.”

“You know,” Jude says between sips, “while I don’t doubt that, it does leave us in a bit of a pickle.”

“Us?”

“My business associate and me. Without Vetrel, we have a hole in our command.”

“I struggle to see what this has to do with Lily, or me.”

He smiles. “Well, you see, you want information about your little girlfriend. And we need someone with a unique set of skills willing to do whatever it takes. Or whatever he’s told, I should say.”

A unique set of skills. Alarm bells ring in my head. “You think I’m going to be your little puppet for a bit of information about where to find her body?” His shit-eating grin is so wide, I consider blowing his face off and being done with this conversation. And this is why I can’t have a gun. Anger thrums through me. “If I went down to your basement, would I find a 5’8 female skeleton on the table?”

He laughs. “A body doesn’t land in the studio for less than two million, and I can’t imagine someone wasting their money hiring us for a hit on her. She’s not worth it.”

Fury courses through me that this buffoon insinuates my girlfriend isn’t worth two million dollars for a hit, and I realize that’s insane, because the possibility of her being on a hit list also enrages me. “Hire you?”

“You didn’t think Isla just makes those pieces for fun?”

“I mean… yeah, I kind of did.”

“Well, they’re not. And business is booming, which is why we could use someone with your skills.”

“What would I even be doing for you?”

“The same as you’re doing now. Get in, kill who we ask, and get out. And you’ll get a check here and there for your troubles.” Is that why Jackson had a check? Is he one of their killers?

“You want me to be a contract killer?”

He shrugs. “Something like that.”

“You’re insane.”