“Who the hell are you?” He barely got the words out before I fired.
A pretty damn good shot, I nailed him between the eyes from the doorway. Blood sprayed, coating his desk and computer. Harmon pitched forward, his face slamming into the keyboard.
“I think I prefer torture jobs,” Damon said. “They last so much longer.”
I had to agree with him there. Even though it was safer to get in and get out, it wasn’t always as satisfying.
“Let’s find Ruby. She owes us.” I turned around and left the office, descending back down the stairs to the main floor.
Ruby emerged from a small library off the entryway. Wrapped in a bathrobe, her hair pinned up, she smelled like she’d recently showered.
“It’s done?” She glanced nervously toward the stairs.
“Yes. Now we have a few things to take care of before we leave.” I kept the gun in one hand, making sure she didn’t try to fuck us out of the money.
“I have the money. It’s in my gym bag upstairs.” She motioned for us to follow her.
We went back up to the top floor, following her past Harmon’s office to the primary bedroom. She paused outside the office. For a moment, I thought she would look inside to confirm the kill. Instead, she continued on.
“If you want to sell your story to the cops, we’re going to have to rough you up a little,” Damon said. “Maybe even tie you up.”
She brought us into the bedroom where she pulled a gym bag from under the bed. “I guess that’s true. I don’t want them to link me to this in any way.”
She pulled out several stacks of cash from the bag, handing them over to us. Damon counted the money, making sure the twenty grand we agreed on was all there. With a nod, he pulled out the tote bag that had been folded up inside his jacket, stuffing the money inside.
Ruby sucked in a deep breath. “Okay, let’s get this over with. Please don’t knock my teeth out or anything like that.”
Since I didn’t trust Damon not to be too aggressive, I stepped forward to handle it myself. I didn’t enjoy hurting women. I didn’t really enjoy much about women at all. Not that I disliked them. I had no problem with women. They simply didn’tplay much of a role in my life. Aside from my mom, I had no genuine relationships with them at all.
I waited for Ruby to brace herself before using the back of my hand to smack her across the face. She let out a yelp, her hand going to her cheek. I gave her a moment to gather herself before hitting her again.
This was all part of the job. If she wanted to sell her story to the cops, then she needed to be believable. Telling them someone had broken in and attacked her before killing her husband needed to appear authentic.
Doing my best not to hit her too hard, I popped her one in the nose, making it bleed. Good enough.
“We’re going to tie your hands and feet with that lamp cord.” I pointed to a tall lamp in the corner of the bedroom.
She nodded, sniffling from the pain of her aching nose. Ruby was the real deal, proving it when she allowed us to bind her wrists and ankles with the lamp cord. We’d been smart enough not to give her our real names. If she got busted for this, she wouldn’t be able to point the authorities in our direction. We weren’t from this town, and the guy who referred her to us didn’t know our real identities either.
Unfortunately, some people did know our real identities. Those we attended WU with. There wasn’t much to be done about that. Still, we did a great job at covering our tracks and doing our best to work anonymously. Wearing gloves. Leaving no prints or DNA behind. I never worried about getting caught.
After we left Ruby on the floor of her bedroom, we made sure to kick in the back door before we left. It needed to look like a real break-in. Then we were gone. Returning to the Escalade with our cash and the rush of a recent hit.
I fucking loved this part. There was nothing quite like the afterglow. My mind strayed to Dom.
What would it feel like to kill him? Should I drag it out or make it quick? How good would that feel? I could hardly wait to find out.
CHAPTER NINE
NOAH
Scrolling through Dominik’s social media profiles made me hate myself a little. I’d been fighting the urge for days now. Finally, I gave in.
Lying on the couch in the living room of the four-level split I shared with Damon, I surfed through Dom’s Instagram. He wasn’t the type to post much. Most of his photos were party pictures from the graveyard parties the Kings liked to throw.
I studied a photo of Dom and Casper doing shots together. Dom had his head tipped back, bringing the small glass to his lips. A slight smile on his face. That motherfucker didn’t deserve to be so goddamn hot.
Since receiving the request to take him out, it’s all I’d been able to think about. I started watching him more on campus. When he didn’t know I was around. Sneaking peeks at him on his way to class. Following him through the parking lot.
