Page 36 of Play With Fire


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“Since when has that been an issue for you?” The suspicion in his voice is clear as day. I open my mouth to try to cover my own ass, when the door to the restaurant we were watching opens suddenly.

“That him?” Tanner snaps his head to the restaurant and quickly nods.

“Yeah, that’s him. Let’s go.” His voice is sharp and commanding and he’s officially switched to the Tanner we don’t see that often. Usually he’s a laid-back genius. But when he’s on a job like this, he’s deadly.

We walk toward the parking garage because we know that’s where he’ll be heading. As soon as we’re off the main part of the street, I dig my gloves out of my pocket and slide them on.

“Just your average mugging?” I ask and his response is a quick nod.

“There aren’t any cameras.”

These are the kinds of jobs I like. The ones that I feel like I’m not only made for, but I’ve trained for. I’m not a tech wizard like Tanner and Wyatt. I’m not an expert sniper like Alec and Jax. I’m not precision military trained like Cole and Gunnar. I can’t even slit someone’s throat before they even have a chance to blink. I can hold my own with a gun and with a knife. But it’s nothing compared to my friends. But this -beating the absolute-fucking-shit out of someone until they’re on the brink of their last breath- this I can do.

We make our way to the garage and I follow Tanner’s lead because he already knows where the guy parked. Once we make it to the right level and section, and just in time to see our target pulling out his keys. I do a cursory glance around, but I don’t worry too much because I know Tanner will take care of that part.

I step up in front of the guy, blocking his way to his car. “Give me your wallet.” His eyes practically pop out of his head as he looks me up and down before he scrambles to obey my command. At least he’s not a total fucking moron. Then again, it might make it a bit easier if he did try to fight me. “And your watch.” He quickly hands over his wallet and expensive ass watch and if I didn’t know this guy was a total crook, I might feel a little bad for what I’m about to do.

“Thanks.” He lets out a relieved sigh as I start to turn away and hand everything to Tanner. Before my back is fully to our target though, I snap back around and launch my fist at his jaw. He instantly crumbles to the ground and I’m almost disappointed with how damn easy this is. I start to go to town on the guy, kicking and hitting, leaving nothing untouched.

I let out all of my frustrations on this guy. I use this as an opportunity to figure out how the fuck my life got so complicated. I’ve worked my ass off to keep things simple for me. But in just a few fucking months, Anya has turned it completely upside down. But the thing about it that gets to me is the fact that I’m okay with it.

“Finish it.” Tanner’s words break through my haze, and I give one last kick to the guy's gut before stepping back. He’s nothing but a pile of bones on the ground.

“Too much?” I ask Tanner but he shakes his head.

“Look at the car this guy drives. Anyone who carjacks or mugs someone in this area is going to be pissed about these rich fuckers flaunting their shit. I bob my head a couple of times in agreement because he’s right. This guy isn’t just rich, he’s entitled and obnoxious too.

“Are we taking the car?”

“Yeah,” Jax says as he opens his laptop bag and pulls out the unmarked gun he brought for this job. “We’ll take it downtown and just leave it open. Someone will grab it.”

He walks over to the barely conscious guy and leans over his body. He doesn’t say anything as he puts the gun to his head and pulls the trigger.

* * *

It didn’t take us long to dispose of the car and everything else. We pulled the cash from the wallet, then dumped it. Tanner took the watch apart so it wouldn’t be traceable. As far as anyone will think, the guy was mugged and car jacked. And since he was wearing a forty-thousand-dollar suit and driving a hundred-thousand-dollar car, he’s the ideal target.

Now we’re on our way back to HQ and Tanner’s mood is back to what it was before we completed the job. He keeps glancing at me but doesn’t say anything. It’s almost two in the morning, so the roads are pretty empty and where I’d usually enjoy the silence, it feels fucking deafening right now.

I’m about to say something, to ask what’s going on with him, but before I can he pulls the car off the highway and into a gas station parking lot.

“We need to talk.” Immediately the nerves inside of me are buzzing but I stay silent because I really don’t know what he needs to talk about.

Tanner doesn’t actually say anything as he pulls his laptop out and starts pressing some buttons. I don’t pay attention to what he’s doing because my mind is swimming with possibilities. Did he find out who’s been stalking Anya? Does he want to go after him before Alec gets the chance? Suddenly, his screen goes back, then a video begins playing and my entire body turns to stone. Right there, clear as day on his screen, is Anya and I in her office. She’s laid out on her desk and I’m on my knees. There’s no hiding what I’m doing to her, and my blood begins to boil. I snap to Tanner but he’s not looking at the screen, he seems to be avoiding looking at it at all. Knowing that he’s not looking at my woman like this, my anger calms and the reality of what’s happening hit’s my like a fucking two-by-four.

“Who else has seen this?” My throat feels like I just swallowed down a bowl of gravel and everything becomes like tunnel vision. I can’t focus. Hell, I really can’t think at all.

“No one.” Tanner’s reply is quick. “I was coursing through the footage, and this came up. I didn’t think I needed to warn that I put cameras inside the office too.”

“I-”Fuck.I really don’t have a fucking excuse for this. What the hell am I supposed to say? I didn’t mean to? That sounds worse than the actual truth. “It’s not what you think.”

“And what exactly is it, Hunter? Because it looks to me like you’re fucking around with Alec’s sister.”

“No.” I say sharply. “We’re not fucking around.” He lifts a single brow and gives me a skeptical look that clearly states he’s not buying it.

“Then what are you doing, man? Because this shit is dangerous.”

“We’re-” I run my hands over my head, feeling the frustration of this entire situation hit me. I can’t give up Anya. But if I give up everything else, then what the hell will be left of me? Nothing. The answer is nothing. At this point in my life, I’m nothing without DMS. But I don’t even want to contemplate what I would be without Anya. “We’re in love.”

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