Oh, but I was certainly a goner. Nothing else mattered when it came to Poppy Fairchild besides maybe her younger sister.
But none of that was even the tip of the iceberg on the worst part of it all… The worst part of it all was that she would be marrying that piece of shit, and unless I killed him, there was nothing I could do about it. I wasn’t so sure I was ready to kill him just yet, either. I wanted him to suffer for the things he’d done to Poppy. I wanted him to feel my wrath, but that would take careful planning and time, both of which I didn’t exactly have.
So instead, I splashed water on my face for probably the fifth time and stared at my reflection like it had all the answers I was seeking.
Today, she would be going to see Donovan again, this time without me. A driver would be picking her up and dropping her off , but thankfully, I could still be an eyein the sky, and of course, I would be in an unmarked car nearby. They were only going for a rescheduled brunch.
My hand hovered over the doorknob as I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. I hadn’t seen her since everything happened in the kitchen and then in the hall outside of her bedroom. I hadn’t spoken to her; it felt like we were miles apart, rather than across the hall. We were in a different kind of war now.
“Bye, Jane! I’m going out for brunch, the driver is here! I’ll see you tonight!”
My shoulders deflated. Guess I wasn’t going to be a bird in the sky after all, since I would be watching Jane. That didn’t mean I had to stay in the house, though.
When I finally got up the courage to open my door, Jane was waiting on the other side. “So it’s just you and me, eh?”
She had on a jean jumper with a long-sleeve black shirt under it and Doc Martins. Her hair was curled around her shoulders, and I wondered if this was what Poppy looked like when she was younger. She crossed her arms over her chest and watched me with an unreadable expression.
“Wanna go for pizza and ice cream?” I asked. I needed to get as close to where Donovan and Poppy would be, but I also didn’t want to leave Jane bored and forgotten.
Both of her eyebrows went up. “Isn’t Poppy going to brunch? Isn’t it a bit early for pizza?”
I rolled my eyes dramatically, and she let out a small giggle. “This is New York City, it’s never too early for pizza.”
Her lips twisted in a half smile, as if she was fighting it. “Iguess you’re right.”
“You’ve never had pizza for breakfast?”
She narrowed her dark eyes and shook her head. “Why would I ever eat pizza for breakfast?”
I laughed. “I forgot you’re a teenager. Pizza for breakfast will come with late nights and sneaking in.”
Her eyes twinkled with mischief as she realized everything I wasn’t saying. “I can’t wait.”
Jane and I spent the day gorging ourselves on pizza and shopping. When she asked how I was going to pay for the bill she was racking up, I told her that Poppy gave me an allowance to spend on her. It wasn’t a lie I wanted to tell, but I didn’t think she would feel comfortable with me spending my own money on her. A large pepperoni pizza, two massive waffle cones, and eight shopping bags later, and I wondered how anyone could survive having girls. It was a good distraction, especially since there were no pizza joints anywhere near the brunch location Poppy was at. I needed a long list of responsibilities to keep my mind busy, or I was going to go insane.
It wasn’t until the elevators dinged open into the penthouse that everything came crashing down around me. My heart dropped, and my stomach felt like it was full of lead as I looked at the chaos that erupted while we were gone. The entire home was trashed. Jane dropped her half of the shopping bags on the floor while her lips opened in shock.
“What happened?”
I shoved her back into the elevator and pulled my gunfree. “You go down to the lobby, call Don. Do not come back up here unless I say otherwise, do you understand?”
She nodded as she punched the button, and I watched cautiously as she disappeared behind the golden doors. Carefully, I tiptoed around the ransacked place. I kept my gun pointed low but at the ready as I went through each room. I swept through the kitchen and the pantry first. Cabinets were ripped from the hinges, glass was shattered all over the floor, and random kitchen utensils were strewn about the floor.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I had no doubt it was Don wondering what was happening now that Jane had gotten in contact with him. My heart pounded inside my chest. I didn’t have any kind of formal training for this. I wasn’t a cop. I wasn’t swat. I didn’t sweep buildings or rooms.
I was a killer. A hunter. None of this made me feel secure or even remotely validated in my job. I was supposed to protect Poppy, and here I was playing dress up and pretending. This was stupid. I wasn’t Don. He should be up here; he was the one with the formalmilitarytraining.
Regardless, whoever was here was now long gone. Everything was destroyed, and the only things left untouched were my guns because I’d moved them to Dimitri’s home the previous week when I worried Poppy would get snoopy and figure me all out. After the big fight we’d had, I figured she knew. The only reason I knew she didn’t know was because she wanted to pretend just as much as I did. I could see it inher eyes. She wouldn’t be able to figure it out on her own because she wouldn’t be able to accept it.
Fuck. I could hardly accept it.
My eyes scanned over my bedroom one last time before I walked across the hall to Poppy’s. My eyes skipped over the sex toys on the floor and the lingerie that was hanging out of one of her dresser drawers. I couldn’t afford to get fixated on those things. I had a job to do, even if I wasn’t the best one for it.
What the fuck did I do now?Thank God she hadn’t been here when they’d broken in.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I yanked it free. There was nothing I could do here. Whoever did this was long gone.
Don
