“Aren’t you? Aren’t you choosing to hurt the people who hurt you? The men who dare to lay a hand on your family?”
“That’s personal.” Disdain drips into my voice, “I’m not a thug for hire.”
She waves off my comment, “What you need to think about is your life outside of a jail cell. Do you really want to throw away a promising future to rot within these four walls?”
Her words land in the empty space inside my chest.
There is no promising future for me. Hasn’t been since the day I set myself on this path.
“You need a purpose, Vector. And I just so happen to have one for you.” Her eyes flit over my t-shirt, lingering on the swell of my biceps, “An opportunity like this does not come around very often.”
An employment contract gets slid across the table. Legislation and numbers jump out at me, formalities and nondisclosure agreements woven meticulously throughout.
There’s a name at the bottom of the contract. A scrawled slant of handwriting that offers me this stranger’s name.
Calista Drache.
“Accommodations are included, of course, and you will be allocated time to visit your family on the weekends I do not require your services.” A red fingernail taps the fine print, “Your food budget takes into account your... passion project, shall we say.”
She means the steroids. The substance I’ve yet to learn how to live without.
“What about the assault charges?”
“All will be taken care of.” A click of her tongue draws my attention back to the woman across from me, “You will have two weeks to relocate to Wolf Hollow and get yourself settled. Any transportation will be covered by my dime.”
I nod slowly, casting my eyes over the hourly wage one more time.
“I’m good.” Pushing the contract back into her painted talons, I give her a mocking smile, “Find someone else to do your dirty work.”
She tilts her head, studying me silently. A beat passes before her lips start to curve, the pink stretch of her lips far too beautiful for such a malicious smile.
“Do you know what the most heartbreaking thing about jailtime is? What happens to the people on theoutside.” She leans back in her chair, letting the flaps of her jacket fall flat against her chest.
Her bare chest.
I hadn’t noticed the outline of her tits before, but I sure as shit am noticing them now. Small and round with sharp nipples pressed against the fabric, this woman is wearing nothing but skin under her leather jacket.
“You see, Vector, there’s a new predator in Wolf Hollow and I need yourhelp to catch him.” She chuckles softly, running a painted nail over the curve of her breast, “And I really don’t care who I have to hurt to secure that reality.”
It takes a moment for my brain to catch up.
“Did you know your brother is putting in extra hours at the tattoo shop, hoping to make enough money to post your bail?” Leather gets pushed to the side so I can see the red markings of irritated flesh, “Such a darling boy, your Skylar. And so talented too.”
My heart fucking stops when I recognize the swirl of ink dancing along the woman’s torso. Dark and twisted, the creature snarls back at me with a ferocity that can only come from the rage of a Vin brother.
“If you so much as touch him-
“You will get to watch from behind the bars of a prison cell.” Shaking her head, she lets out a sigh, “Wondering whether you dideverythingyou could to protect him. Wondering whether the few morals you chose to save were worth breaking the only promise you’ve ever made.”
Green flames swirl around her pupils, the colour so bright and fierce it’s only a matter of time before it burns out of control.
“We’re the bad guys, Vector. Without us, there would be no one to keep the heroes in line.”
She had me. She had me before I even walked in the fucking room.
By the time Calista Drache leaves the visitor room, there’s a pit of dread growing in my stomach. A slight shake to my hands, a dryness to my throat, an inkling of fear bleeding through every vessel.
“I think I just signed a deal with the devil.”
