“You fucking cock-sucker,” I spit, saliva and blood flying from the incision on my lip. “Now I’m going to have to explain that cut to my four overly sensitive men.” My thumb wipes against my face, the blood smearing as I pull the trigger to drop him.
Retrieving my lost dagger, and holstering both my weapons once again, I make short work of stuffing Stuart into his car. Locking the doors, cleaning up, and leaving his dead ass there for someone else to find and deal with. A quick picture and confirmation has been sent to J, along with a reminder that my life debt to him has been officially repaid. I never told him I was headed to Miami, so for him to already have that information scares the shit out of me.And gives me yet another reason to get the fuck out of here, and away from them.
Heading back to meet the guys seems to be a lot longer of a walk than the first time. Maybe it’s because I know what I’m hiding from them, or maybe it’s mybrain’s way of stalling, seeing as I still don’t have an excuse for the knife wound on my face.
Making it back to the sand, the guys are sitting around a picnic table, empty containers and drink cups covering the top.Why did we bring food if they were just going to eat out?My phone says I’ve been gone for just over an hour, but at least I remembered to swipe some sunscreen. On the list of things I’ve done today, I think I get a pass for petty theft.
Kade, Zane, and Ryder all clock me as I saunter up, bottle in hand, but as usual Max is oblivious. In a split second decision, I sneak around the side of the food truck, and quietly slink up behind Max in a crouched position. The softness of the sand beneath my feet silences my approach, and before you know it, I’m right behind him. The other three look up, Zane and Ryder immediately catching my new lip accessory, but they say nothing as I clamp my hands down on Max’s shoulders. With all my strength, I violently shake him back and forth, laughter bubbling out of me the whole time.
“Earthquaaake!” I chuckle, only letting him go when he squeals like a poked pig.
With a speed I can barely catch, he jumps in fright and whirls. Hands extended and flailing as he tries to fend off his attacker. I’ve taken a couple of steps back, watching as he kung-foo-fights the air, with my hands on my hips and a smile lighting my face. He’s breathing heavily, but upon seeing my smug grin his panic subsides, annoyance replacing it.
“Not cool, Mik!” he screeches, his face red from the exertion.
“You're too easy, Babe. It’s almost acrimenot to scare you.”
He shakes his head, but has no response, which has me laughing again.
“Mik, what happened to your—” Zane tries to begin, but I’m already working to divert his attention.
I shove Max hard, knocking him back into an unsuspecting Kade, as I scream. “Last one in the water pays for dinner!”
I’m already running for the shoreline, passing our large blanketed area on the way. With a brief stop—and with a move I’m very proud to have perfected—I slide off my dress and both my holsters in one smooth motion. Everything getstossed into my large beach bag, the guys never knowing what was hidden just out of sight.
Hitting the water, I dive deep, the cold sending a refreshing shock to my system. When I surface, Kade is already beside me, having been right on my tail. Zane is barreling with intense force towards us, having ditched his shirt at the bags, whereas Max and Ryder are still fighting with their shirts and sandals. Tumbling over each other as they try to not be last.
Chapter Nineteen
Mikayla
Back at the house, we all took off to our respective rooms to shower and change. Agreeing to meet in the living room once we had all gotten cleaned up. It surprised me when I was the first to make it down, but then again, it shows the difference between living in a land of luxury, and living on the run.
As I haven’t had any time yet to really look around their place, I wander the living room to see what’s up for display. Photos cover the walls and mantle. Graduations—both high school and university—family shots and even some touristy locations with them posing. There are snaps with them celebrating one another, one of Kade’s new family additions, and one—
My body instantlyfreezes, every joint seeming to lock up at the same time as my brain goes on hiatus. Reaching out, I gently grab the frame that caused my short-ass, trained assassin mind to give up.
It’s not overly large, or heavy, but it’s clearly well taken care of with not a speck of dust on it. It’s not the frame that’s halted all thought, it’s the picture sitting inside. It’s all of us junior year, the last day of school before summer holidays. Mere hours before our lives—mostly mine—were uprooted and changed forever. I’m sitting on the top of the picnic table in our back yard. Zane and Ryder on my left, Kade and Max to my right, with my arms resting on the inner two’s shoulders. All of us with bright smiles and glints in our eyes.
My mom took it that day as we all got home from school. She wanted to memorialize the start of another summer together and celebrate Zane passing his drivers test. His Mom presented him with his Jeep that evening. Our beach day was the second outing with it, and the last for me.
Tears collect in my eyes, the memory hitting harder than I expected. At the same moment, one crests over the edge of my lower lash line, I feel the presence of one of the guys behind me.
“Do you remember that day?” Ryder asks, viewing over my shoulder. His chest pressed against my back as we both look at the distant memory. I casually raise my hand to my face, swiping away the tears that have fallen and playing it off as I’m moving strands of hair. No need for them to see how deeply little things like this can still affect me.
“Yeah,” I finally respond. “We were celebrating, and my mom wanted to remember it. But… how did you guys get the picture?” Placing the photo back on the shelf where it belongs, Ry’s hands move to rest on my shoulders. Slowly guiding me toward the couch, he sits, patting the spot beside him. His eyes regard me with a softness I’ve not seen in years, but I can see the sadness that hides behind them.
“It took a little over a week for the authorities to release your house and allow us entry. Although we were questioned as to why four young men were so adamant on getting into the house, once we explained, they let us go with an officer escort. We just wanted to be able to grab pieces of you to be able to remember,” he sighs.
“What do you mean ‘pieces of me?’”
I turn in my spot, lifting one of my legs underneath me so I can lean my elbow comfortably on the back of the couch. With this position, my back is facing the stairs, which is probably why I didn’t notice Zane approach before he spoke.
“You were just gone, Bear.” Z’s voice is quiet, a fraction of the volume he normally speaks at, but it still has me jumping in surprise. “It was like you vanished into thin air. No evidence, no signs, nothing. The four of us couldn’t function properly during that time, walking around like empty shells. We needed something tangible that we could hold onto, stare at or squeeze when everything felt like too much. So, we all went in and selected items that, to us, were something special about you.”
Moving around the couch, he places himself on the coffee table directly in front of where I am and leans forward. His arms rest on his knees as he swipes a hand through his hair. The same sadness I read in Ryder’s gaze is in Zane’s as well, like a group link.
Those damn tears have returned, my eyes stinging from trying to hold them at bay. Max creeps up to my left, my head whipping his direction when he speaks.When the fuck did he get there?
