Chapter14
Titus
Titus stared at the closed door for a few seconds, amused at being shoved into the room by a flustered Rae. He’d only known her for a few hours, and not once in that time had she looked rattled. Not when he’d almost killed her, first with his fingers, and then with the chain tightening around her delicate throat. Or even when they were running, bullets echoing around them in a chaotic storm. She’d dealt with the shit thrown at her with a tenacious smile and unyielding attitude.
Which meant he’d found something she was afraid of.
Interesting.
Her room wasn’t much to look at, a double bed, side table and a thin, screen door that barely gave the en suite any privacy. The bed was unmade, the sheets a pale blue colour with small daisies dotted, which, for some reason surprised him. Notes and pieces of paper littered the floor, and clothes were thrown without care onto the dresser at the foot of the bed. But what caught his interest were the guns and blades she’d carefully placed in the corner. Each with their own holster or sheath, except the sniper which was dismantled and set in soft foam.
Titus brushed his thumb over a few of the guns, recognising the ‘J’ mark of his brother’s work. They were expensive, the clientele usually handpicked by Jax himself. Which meant Rae likely bought them from someone else, or they were stolen.
Stepping back from the wall of weapons, he reached for the scattered papers, shuffling them into a pile before flicking through each document. His assignment was on the fifth page, and just as Rae had told him, it was basic. The pictures were taken from a distance, the first one not long after his recovery. The others were of him running, the images grainier, as if taken from a phone rather than a professional camera. She’d tracked him for at least a week, according to the amount of outfit changes he’d gone through, but each one was taken on the same route. The one thing that calmed him, had almost killed him.
Of – fucking – course.
A knock on the door, Titus flicking the pathetic excuse for a lock. He tensed in the doorway, Rae pushing past to slam the door closed behind her with a quiet curse. He stopped her before she could step away, gently tugging her back to wipe a thumb across her lip. She sucked in a pained breath, the skin split, blood dripping down her chin.
Rage, so hot and vivid it blurred her delicate features for a single heartbeat. “Who the fuck touched you?”
Rae scowled, trying to pull back, but he just curved his other hand around the back of her neck, keeping her there.
“Don’t make me repeat the question.” His thumb continued to stroke, as if soothing the sore skin better.
“It doesn’t matter, he won’t do it again,” she said, eyes bright with her own anger. “Now, are you going to let go? Or do I have to knee you in the balls too?”
Titus’s lips curved, amusement cutting through the intense rage until it was more of a simmer than an explosion.Fuck.What was wrong with him?
“So meeting with your Guildmaster went well then?” he asked, trying to ignore the dread settling on his chest. Rae meant nothing to him other than a means to an end. So why was he ready to slit the throat of whoever’d hurt her?
“She said she doesn’t know anything.”
“And you trust her?”
“Of course not.” Rae’s face screwed up, and what looked like panic flashed across her features. “Everything will be written down in her office, which we don’t have access to.” Her tongue shot out to lick across her bottom lip, her wince small when it touched the cut.
“We’ll break in then,” he said matter of factly.
“It’s not that simple.” Rae frowned at his chest. “She barely leaves her quarters. No way can we sneak in without getting caught. She controls the cameras on the entire floor, and…” Her voice drifted off.
He’d noticed the cameras, high-tech and hidden discreetly in the corners. They would have cost the Guildmaster a pretty penny.
“And what?” Titus asked.
“If we’re caught, she could sell my contract on.” She rubbed against her face, her entire body wavering as if tired. “Shit. Shit. Shit. The next person may be even worse, and I may never…” She glanced up mid-sentence, eyes narrowing under his scrutiny.
“How long do you have?” At her confusion, he continued. “How long until you have no choice but to kill me?”
Rae pursed her lips, and he knew she was debating whether to tell him the truth. “Less than forty-eight hours.”
“And then what?”
A hint of irritation hardened Rae’s reply. “And then I’m dead, okay?” She began to pick up her discarded clothes, tossing them into the corner rather than the dresser. “My guild contract would be void, and I’ll be put on the system for any contractor to hunt me down for an easy pay cheque. Then, because I still haven’t paid off the debt, Vivian will probably go after my brother. Or if not her, someone else –”
“So you’re telling me,” he interrupted. “That if you don’t kill me in the timeframe given, you’ll be killed?”
Rae pulled off her t-shirt, turning towards the small mirror on the wall. Titus dropped his gaze to the swell of her breasts peeking out from her bra, unable to stop to rush of heat down his abdomen.
