I slip into his classroom when he leaves, and then I check out his office. He has more books in there, and I take in every single one, adding a few more to my list. I don’t want to overwhelm him, but I want him to know I’m here.
I flick through all his drawers, and I find some old photos of him at the bottom of one, so I take a couple. I’m sure he won’t miss just one or two. I notice a picture on one of the shelves, and it’s him with his arm around another woman. I don’t like it! I don’t like how it makes me feel! It makes my skin crawl. It might be innocent. I kind of zoned out when he was on his date talking about his family. I was trying to talk myself out of shanking his date. My gut isn’t sure, so I lay it face down and snarl at it before stepping out and heading home.
I’m antsy when I get back. My shoulders are tight, my jaw’s ticking, and I don’t know why. When I push into the apartment, he’s here, Father. I realise that’s why I feel on edge. I must have smelt his cologne as I came through the building.
“Father,” I snipe out as I sit at the table opposite him. Xav is in the kitchen, and I flick him a glare that says,thanks for the warning, dickhead.He just shrugs at me.
I look back to Father. “I like what you’ve done with the place.” He gestures towards the bedroom door.
“Thanks,” I deadpan.I think it adds character, and it’s either that or your fucking face,is what my smile says. “To what do we owe this… pleasure?” I curl my lip at him.
He rises from his chair, slamming his hands down on the table. “I will not stand for your insolence, girl. I can quite easily make your life miserable.”
“As opposed to the fucking ray of sunshine it is now?”
I see it coming, but I let him slap me across the face before I rise calmly and slowly from my chair to meet him at eye level across the table. I quirk the corner of my lip slightly as I slip my tongue out and lick the corner, tasting the blood trickle that oozes out.
Before eyeing him, I whisper out in my calmest and most reserved voice, “You get one.”
“One what?” he barks at me.
“One,” I snarl. “Touch me again, and I will fucking destroy you.”
He looks taken aback for a split second before he puffs out his chest and stands taller. “Don’t give out threats you can’t follow through on, Ten!”
“Can’t?” I grin. “You want to hope that’s true, Father.”
I spit at him before turning and walking towards the bedroom. I turn and look back over my shoulder. “Always a pleasure, Father. Don’t let the fucking door hit you on the way out.”
I punch the bedroom door open and slam it shut behind me. I rest my back against the door and try to calm my breathing before I shake my head and head to the shower.
Xav
Chapter XVI
What the fuck was that? Vic decides to poke the fucking bear seriously this late in the day. Father starts a tirade, storming back and forth in the apartment, bellowing about what an ungrateful bitch she is, and if it weren’t for him, she would be in a ditch somewhere. How he saved her, how he saved us both, and I’m left to deal with the fallout.
“Father, please don’t be rash. You know she’s the best we have. You know we need her.”
“Need her? Everyone’s replaceable, Six. Even her. Get her in line, or she will be terminated. The best we have or not, I will not be spoken to like that again. Mark my words, Six. Sort her out, or I will!”
I nod as he turns and walks out of the apartment. I sigh. “Fuck’s sake.”
I know what he means. He won't get his hands dirty. He will put a hit out on her, he will mark her against The Collective, and they will come for her. A payday’s a payday, regardless of who the hits on.
I get to work. We’ve been gathering information on The Collective. The minute we found out who we were and what we were used for, we vowed to bring them down. I have files full of jobs, crime scene photos, missing persons’ reports, all the reports I gather for Father, all the research I do, the kills, it’s all safe, hidden away on the dark web, and if I don’t log in every forty-eight hours, everything is set to forward to the police, the newspapers, but most of all to Shelley.
I suppose after the question Vic asked me the other day, I’ve thought about it. I could like her if I let myself. I really could. She’s smart, driven, funny, independent, and dirty in the bedroom. We were forced to explore our sexuality from a young age. I’ve fucked every race, every gender, every age range, and to be fair, most of it is pretty vanilla, but Shelley, she has a few kinks, a few dirty ways. She keeps it interesting, and it makes my toes curl to think that she could really like me, too. When I have sex, it’s a job. She’s supposed to be a job, but I do like fucking her. The more I think about it, I really like fucking her. I want what Vic wants. I want a life. I want someone.
I push into the room, and I hear the shower going. I strip off and climb in behind her, wrapping her in my arms and pulling her to my chest. She physically relaxes in my grasp and lets out a shaky breath. She slides one hand into my hair, and the other, she rests on my hip, pulling me closer. “Is he going to kill me?”
“Not if I can help it. We need to be smart from now on out. We need to be compliant. You need to back the fuck up, Vic, or he will send The Collective after you.”
She nods.
“What’s his name?”
“Jacob,” she whispers out.
