“Why?” He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“Go get a shirt on, Fallon.” I shook my head and glanced at Vail, who pouted again. “I’m sorry, baby, but I need to steal him. It’ll only take us another half an hour, I promise.”
Vail grumbled and fell back onto the couch as Fallon headed to the bedroom, probably to do as I’d ordered. Vail raised the dildo high above his head and shook it. “You better keep that promise, or I’m using this on myself tonight and the rest of you can sleep on the floor out here.”
I chuckled and went over to him, laying a kiss on his lips. He grabbed my face and held me there, enjoying the slow move of my mouth over his until I regrettably drew away.
“Love you,” he murmured.
“You, too.” I straightened as Fallon came back out, this time with a white T-shirt covering his delectable nipples and his hair up in a bun. I gestured for him to follow me, and like a good boy, he let me lead him out of the suite and down the stairs, before we headed along the hallway. We went left down a corridor that ran between the outside wall and Sloan’s personal gym, then came to a door that was already hanging open. We stepped around a mop bucket and cleaning supplies. Fallon hummed in interest as we went down the stairs into a basement room with no windows.
Luís was already tied up by his wrists, hanging from a beam above, begging through a gag that had been shoved into his mouth. He twisted and turned, struggling, eyes pleading. Blood marred the skin on his face and around his mouth, and his chest had been cut up as well. It looked like Cillian was having a good time with him, and as we watched he slumped, dangling from his arms.
Rowen and Cillian were sitting on a couple of chairs against one of the brick walls. Cillian wiped his bloody hands off on a towel, but he would need a shower. He nodded when he saw us.
Fallon slowed his pace, staring at Luís curiously. “What is this?”
I turned to look at him and held out my hand. He slid his fingers into mine, and I dragged him closer. “This is a lesson.”
“For me or him?” he whispered, tongue swiping across his bottom lip. He touched his head, but with his long hair up in a bun he couldn’t run his fingers through it.
“Both.” I drew him closer and curled my arm around his shoulders, guiding him toward Luís. “He’s one of the men we were sent to kill.”
“Then why is he here?” Fallon stopped in front of Luís and stared.
“Because.” I lifted the back of my shirt and drew out my Glock from the holster attached to my pants while holding my other hand out to Rowen. He raised his eyebrows and fished a booster and silencer out of a bag he had tucked near his chair, which he then handed to me. Fallon watched intently as I screwed the equipment onto the barrel. I opened his fingers and rested the handgun in his palm. “You’re going to kill him for me.”
Fallon turned wide eyes on me. “Why?”
I laid a kiss on the skin beside his mouth, and he closed his eyes, inhaling. “Because your first is the hardest, but after the second it gets easier.” I cupped his cheek and slanted my lips over his in a gentle kiss that had him moaning and leaning into me. “I’m right here, boy. I have your back. Always.” I slid behind him and ran my palms down along his arms, and as he held the gun in the right position, I laid my hands over his. “We’ll do this together.”
18
FALLON
Aspen wantedme to kill this man.
The comfort of his body surrounding mine and steadying me didn’t completely settle the slight tremble of my hands, though. The fear from last time reared its ugly head in me, but that had been so different. I’d been alone and feeling like there wasn’t another soul in the world other than me, Ilya, and his goons. I’d been scared I was going to die.
Then I’d killed a man.
Luís was horribly still already—blood dripped from his body to plop on the floor beneath him and his skin was pale. The penny tang of violence hung in the air, offset by Aspen’s cologne teasing my nose. The zombie line of white eyeball underneath Luís’s lids where they were cracked open was creepy. Everything about this was fuckingterrible, though I didn’t usually care as much if it wasn’t me expected to dish out the bullets. If Cillian, Aspen, and Rowen were torturing someone, I could distance myself from it. It was okay when all I had to do was punch a guy—not kill him.
The brush of Aspen’s warm lips on my temple had me planting my feet and taking a better stance. His support made my insides melt in a strange way. I’d never really gotten much personal attention from anyone before Vail... and now I had this quiet, caring man at my back, holding on to me... and I loved him. Rowen paced nearby, running a hand through his brilliant red hair, and for once Cillian didn’t look irritated and wasn’t flapping his gums to make fun of me, simply watching us with interest. Rowen caught my eye and sent me a small, friendly smile. My insides twisted into excited, anxious knots and I firmed up my grip on the cool metal in my hands.
“There you go,” Aspen murmured.
I held my breath but didn’t squeeze the trigger, even though I knew the longer I took, the more likely it was that Cillian would snap, or Aspen would take the gun and do it himself, or Rowen would give me a sad little disappointed look. I wanted themallto be proud of me, and I wasn’t sure when that happened. My chest ached as I finally acknowledged it. I loved Aspen and Vail, but I wanted Rowen and Cillian to at least be happy with me—to maybe someday be more than fuck buddies. That was probably stupid and dangerous, but what could I do about it?
“I love you.” I murmured the words, hoping Aspen heard me. He squeezed his arms against me, just enough to make me feel good and not cause anything to ache. “This is... hard,” I finally admitted, letting the truth steal some of my strength. I leaned back against Aspen. “Look at that dummy. How can I shoot that?”
“This is different from the bullshit with Ilya,” Aspen said, quiet and steady. “When you’re in a fight, that’s easier. You’re in the heat of the moment, it feels right to pull a trigger when fists and bullets are already flying. You feel justified.”
Cillian let out a laugh that was more of a purr and paced toward Luís. “Aye, he’s right. This is far more deliberate.” His brown eyes twinkled when his gaze landed on me, and I held my breath as he scanned my body with a look so scorching it had my gut heating to the boiling point. I’d caught him glaring at me when I was with Aspen in the past, but this sexy perusal was new. He walked over to Luís and slapped him, then reared back and did it again until Luís’s head snapped all the way to the side. Cillian removed the gag from his mouth and there was a moan from the man. He groaned and sputtered, then a low babbling that didn’t make sense began. His eyes fluttered but didn’t open, and Cillian seemed proud of himself as he paced back over to my side.
“Ye need to see his eyes when ye do it.” Cillian leaned forward and his breath tickled my ear. “Let him know who won.”
Rowen snorted. “Ye don’t, but aye, ye need this today.”
