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“It was all Jessup. I didn’t have a choice. He threatened my wife, my kids, my…”
“Side bitch, yeah I know. I know everything about you and guess what, none of it fucking matters. You had a choice, you chose wrong…”
“Please—”
Carter pulled the trigger. One clean shot pierced his skull. Gerald Browning dropped. Carter lowered his gun, removed the bullet from his pocket, then kneeled beside him.
He placed the bullet on Gerald’s chest, then was out the suite, walking with a relaxed gait to the elevator and stopping on the floor below. He stepped off, entered the stairwell, and jogged down the remaining ten flights, then walked out the side entrance.
The hour was late, just after eleven. Darkness cloaked him as he traveled two blocks, hit the locks on a black Accord, and settled behind the steering wheel. As he pulled out of the parking spot, his mind drifted to her.
One name closer.
Forty minutes later, Carter pulled up to his temporary residence, parked the stolen vehicle at the unit to the left of the one he rented, removed the plates, and walked away. He never handled the vehicle without gloves so there was nothing left behind to tie it to him.
By the time he climbed the stairs and made it to his unit, his mind was already on a long hot shower, which was how he planned to end his night. But those plans ended the minute he noticed a package propped against the door.
He paused momentarily and his eyes moved around slowly while he removed his phone. After a few swipes he pulled up the surveillance camera app. He’d installed a camera in the corner, beneath the stairs that led to the floor above him. It focused on his door and was hidden enough to go unnoticed, which worked in his favor.
Carter was granted a visual of a male figure he wasn’t familiar with. He was young, no more than late teens or early twenties. Based on what Carter could tell, this was some random person paid to do a job, deliver a package. He navigated through the rest of the footage and realized the kid hadn’t attempted to enter the apartment, only dropped the package and left. So Carter moved to the door, lifted the bubble-lined envelope, and ripped it open.
His world temporarily went silent until his pulse began to beat rapidly when he realized what was inside. A phone. One he was very familiar with. One he’d used two days prior as he stood outside of McKenna’s house while she told him not to call again.
He agreed with no intention of keeping the promise. Three names were all he had left before he could claim his woman. The woman who thought she would escape a life with him. After Carter lied to McKenna, he smashed the phone with his heel and walked away.
Now that shattered device was in his hand, delivered to the door of an apartment he’d rented under an alias. He had gotten too comfortable. Someone had followed him. Someone knew about McKenna and now she was at risk. He no longer had time. No one was going to touch the one person Carter was willing to risk it all for.
Chapter
Two
“Hey…” McKenna flinched when she felt the warmth of Tevin’s palm on her thigh. “What’s on your mind?”
“Nothing, I’m just tired. It’s been a long day.”
Technically she responded with the truth. She worked at the hospital, managed to get off an hour early, rushed home to shower and dress to be ready by seven to meet Tevin for a formal function sponsored by the hospital.
The silent auction, which they missed, began at seven but they arrived in time for an elegant dinner at eight. The after party lasted until eleven and they spent another half hour hanging around while Tevin made a point of making sure every one of his coworkers who attended knew they were dating.
Now, all she wanted was to peel out of her dress, throw on a comfy t-shirt, and bury her day beneath the cozy bedding that lined her bed. The night had been exhausting. Being pulled from person to person and shoved in front of Tevin’s peers as his prized possession hadn’t been how she’d expected to spend the evening.
“Judging by your behavior, the past two days have been long. What’s going on with you? Everything was fine and now, I have no clue where your head is. It’s like you’ve disconnected from me, from us.”
Because I have.
Tevin pulled into the small driveway alongside McKenna’s house and she turned to face him. The shadows that concealed half his handsome features made him appear more agitated.
She moved her fingers over the satin material of her dress, contemplating whether or not now was the time to end things. After a long moment of thoughtful consideration, she decided there was no perfect time to disappoint someone.
“You’re right,” she said softly, watching as Tevin’s features tensed more.
“I’m right?”
She nodded in confirmation. “Well about part of what you said. Everything wasn’t fine, Tevin. At least not for me. I thought if we gave this another chance things would be different, that they would feel different…”
That I could forget the man who truly owned my heart.
“Things are different, McKenna. I changed my entire life for you. I’m no longer traveling as much as I used to because you said I wasn’t making you a priority?—”
