“I’m not a reckless driver,” I inform him. I wasn’t. I tried to be as careful as I could be.
“Right,” Calder murmurs, the edge of one side of his lips twitches like he finds my comment comical. “If you need me, my cell is already programmed into your phone.”
I knew this too. He didn’t need to remind me. He made sure I had all of his numbers, including Grant Devore’s and his brothers, along with a woman named Rebel. I don’t know who she is or how she factors into all of this, but I knew next to her name he put LAWYER.
“I’ll be fine,” I tell him.
“Maybe so, but regardless, if something comes up, you call me. Got it?”
I nod, not really sure what could happen.
Calder pulls me into his arms and reaches up to tangle his fingers in my hair. It’s the first time he’s touched me like this since we got back from Lanche. His eyes meet mine for all of a second before he lowers his lips to mine. The kiss is no more than a simple brush of his over mine, but it was still heavenly.
I don’t get it. What is it about Calder Blanche that compels me to want him as I do?
“I’ll be back later.” Calder lets me go and steps back.
“Okay,” I whisper, not taking my eyes off him.
I know there’s so much still that we have to talk about, but with him gone, I was also going to go out. It was December, and there was no way I was going to be able to be in such a beautiful house without having it decorated for Christmas.
five
CALDER
Standing over the body of my target, I can’t help but think about how ironic it was that he was now dead when he’d been in the process of fucking a corpse of a woman. She’d been wearing some Santa Claus type outfit.
The weird shit people do when no one is around. The woman looked to have been dead for a good few hours. Rigor hadn’t set in just yet, so I’m guessing he was still fucking a warm body. Though it had to have been cooling.
I don’t know what people are thinking when it comes to shit like this, and I don’t want to know.
My mind was on the beauty I left in my house. I didn’t want to leave her, but I still have a job to do, and I won’t disappoint the bossman by not doing it. I’ve never not been able to handle my kill list in a timely manner, and it’s not about to change.
Not even for my beauty waiting for me.
I shake the thought away. She might be mine, but she’s not at the same time. Only in name are we connected. I married her to get her out from under her father’s thumb, though I also did it for Grant. Maybe I shouldn’t have given her the days I did with us alone, but I did, and now, there’s no going back.
Sneering down at the two dead bodies, I shake my head and turn away from them. I don’t feel for the woman, for all I know, she was just a prostitute he hired. It’s something this man is known to do a lot of times. That or it’s a woman he bought from one of the sex trade rings he’s been known to toy within.
I make my way out of the house through the shadows, down the street, around the block, then another. I came in on foot to this one because even though he’s not very bright in a lot of ways, hence fucking a corpse, he’s smart in others. Getting to my car, I climb in behind the wheel and press the button, turning the car on.
Got to love modern technology.
If you gotta do a quick getaway, you don’t have to worry about keys, just put your foot on the brake and press a damn button.
I put the car in gear while also pulling my phone out to check the tracker on the car I figured Emerie would take. Of course, she would take the SUV and not the sporty car. She didn’t seem to like the fact my place wasn’t decorated for Christmas. I didn’t give a damn if it was or not.
I take a look at the location of the car and find she’s at the Home Depot store. What the hell is she doing there?
Sighing, I point the car in the direction of the store instead of going to take on the next target. I intended to get one more dealt with tonight, then go home to Emerie.
Damnit.
Maybe I shouldn’t have told her where the keys were. At least not yet. Not when I had things to do that needed my undivided attention. Taking the days I did with her away from town has definitely pushed back my plans for something I need to handle, and I don’t like being behind schedule.
Regardless, I wouldn’t change the time with her. I got to know a bit about Emerie, and I like what I now know. The fact that she volunteers at the children’s hospital is sweet.
Emerie shared with me that she prefers to spend her time volunteering since her father always refused to allow her to be able to work full time and help where she could with those who needed someone to lean on and support. She wasn’t one for spending money on luxurious things, and I guess I couldn’t blame her.
