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“Yes.” I challenged him with my gaze, warning him not to cross the line.
“First, you were going to kill her. Then, you were just keeping her. But now, she’s off-limits. The only women who are off-limits are wives and families. So, which one is she? I know she’s not family…”
One of the guys in our crew had a wife. Wives were safe from trash talk and our general perverseness. And we also had a protocol. If the wife was ever captured along with the crew member, she took priority. The man could die—as long as she lived. When I said Vanessa was off-limits, that wasn’t how I meant it. I just didn’t want him to talk about her pussy like he had the right to.
Only I did.
“Do you know anything else about Joe?”
Max let it go, probably because he could feel my rage. “I’m pretty sure it was him. I’ve gathered enough evidence to prove he was in the neighborhood on the night of the murder. That’s an odd coincidence.”
“Too much of a coincidence.”
“So, I think it was him. But you really should take some time to think about this. If you don’t pull it off right, all the Tyrants will be after you. If you really want to kill him, do it without leaving a trace back to you.”
“I do that for a living, so it shouldn’t be hard.”
Max glanced around the bar, making sure there was no one around who was eavesdropping. “You’re putting the rest of us at risk here. And none of us believe avenging your mother is worth our lives, our livelihood. I’m sorry you’re still angry about it, and I don’t blame you for being upset, but you should let it go.”
Letting it go was easier said than done. “What if it were your mother?”
He held his silence.
“You wouldn’t let it go,” I said coldly. “And if you did, what kind of son would you be?”
“And what kind of mother would want her son to risk his life when she’s already dead?” he countered.
We stared at each other while the music played overhead. The bass was loud as the women worked the poles in their heels. Most of them were just in thongs, their plump asses firm. The lights were low, and their faces were barely distinguishable. Like the other men here, I enjoyed watching them dance and move.
But now that Vanessa was waiting for me, I didn’t find them appealing.
Because Vanessa put these women to shame.
Max ended the silence by pushing the folder toward me. “I’ve got a hit for you.”
“Where?”
“Russia.”
I hated going to Russia. It was cold as fuck, even colder than it was here. And it was enormous. It was three times as big as all of Europe combined. “When?”
“Immediately.”
That meant I was leaving tonight. “How much?”
“Twenty million.”
“Wow. This guy has a big bounty on his head.”
“He raped our client’s daughter. He’s paying extra because he wants you to torture the guy before you kill him.”
So it was personal. “Consider it done.”
When I returned to my place, Vanessa was in bed. She wasn’t asleep, but she was playing a game on her phone. Her eyes followed me as I walked inside, and she set the phone on the nightstand. She looked at me but didn’t say anything, obviously angry by the way I spoke to her when I left.
I grabbed my bag and tossed my clothes inside.
She couldn’t hold her silence anymore, not when she realized what I was doing. “Where are you going?”
“I have a job. I’m leaving for Russia.”
“Right now?” she asked incredulously.
“Yes. Right now. I’ll be gone for a few days. I’ll leave my key, so you can come and go as you please.”
She sat up in bed, her hair pulled over one shoulder. She looked sexy making herself at home in my bed, lying on the side of the bed that I usually took. “You’re off to kill someone?”
I stuffed the last of my things in the black leather bag and zipped it up. “Yes.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, turning judgmental.
“My target raped my client’s daughter.” I didn’t have to explain myself. I didn’t have to justify what I was doing. But I wanted her to know that, to know she shouldn’t feel bad for my victim.
He deserved to be my victim.
Her arms returned to her sides. “Oh…”
“I expect that painting to be done by the time I get back.”
“You can’t rush art.”
“But I can rush you.” I pulled the strap over my shoulder then approached her at the bedside. My guns were on the second floor, away from my living quarters, so Vanessa wouldn’t have access to them. I stared at her slender neckline, wanting to sprinkle kisses everywhere before I left, but I knew I should leave. I had a plane to catch. “Don’t call me. I won’t answer.”
