“You see, I too believed that if she lost what mattered to her, if she felt sufficiently threatened, that she would back off, but it was always a challenge with her. If I was successful, she’d be there to tear me down and remind me that I wouldn’t be there without her. If I made money, she’d spend it faster than I could make it. And at some point, she started getting physical. Not with me after I got big enough to be more threatening, but I found out that she was beating everyone else. Maids, chefs, people that worked in my company. And then I found out about the embezzlement.” He meets my eyes. “See, my mother was on the board of Fox Industries. Of course she was. And she operated as if she owned every bit of it. She would destroy small companies without thought. She was brutal, and she was running the company into the ground.” He takes a deep breath. “When she forced one of my top executives to get an abortion so she could avoid ‘losing valuable career growth,’ I knew something had to be done. When I turned eighteen, and was old enough to take over the company, I made arrangements. She couldn’t physically hurt me anymore, but I had the scars to remind me of her particular brand of love. I reached out to the infamous ghost hitman, and paid.” He leaned back. “I was sitting right here when it happened. The news reported it as an assassination. I played the distraught son well and promised to honor her memory with Fox Industries. A lie.”
“Why are you telling me all this?” I ask, my chest squeezing at the thought of a young Dagen suffering at the hands of his evil mother.
He meets my eyes. “Sometimes, we have to be a monster to defeat a monster,” he murmurs. His hand reaches up and cups my face. “I am already a monster, Ava, and if I need to continue to be that monster so that you don’t have to be, I will.”
I blink up at him. His admission strikes me in the chest, right in my heart. “That. . . doesn’t seem like just business.”
“No,” he agrees. “We’ve gone far past that.” He presses a gentle kiss against my lips. “I’m investing more in this than just money.” He grabs my hand and presses it to his chest, making his intentions clear. “And I will not lose you now that I’ve invested so much.”
Tears prick my eyes. “I don’t think you’re a monster,” I rasp.
He chuckles and pulls me against him. This time, the kiss is more sensual, deeper than the gentle kiss from before. “Good,” he breaths against my lips. “I’ll never be a monster to you or Elsie.” His large hands strokes my jaw, his eyes bright as he meets mine. “But god help whoever dares to lay a hand on either one of you.”
I’ve never seen a more beautiful “monster” than Dagen Fox.
Thirty-Eight
Wylan
I’m sitting on her couch when Dagen drops her back off at her condo. Her face is flushed when she comes in the door, either because Dagen gave her the ole razzle dazzle or from the wind. When she sees me, she doesn’t jump, likely because she expected me to be here. She’s getting good at knowing how I operate.
I like that.
And I don’t.
I’d been honest when I told her she’s the first person I ever cared enough about to stay for, but even so, that’s more reason not to stay. Anyone close to me is in danger. I’ve learned that the hard way. I’d lost a close friend when I’d first started this gig, a mercenary working for the highest paying customer. The man who practically raised me on the street. He was harmless, owned a fish and chip shop that always seemed to be in trouble with health services, but he took care of me. And in the end, because he’d cared about me, because I cared about him, he died.
I won’t make that mistake twice.
Yet here I am, playing with fire, giving my bloody heart to a single mom.
I never thought I wanted kids. . .
“I see you’re wearing Elsie’s tiara again,” Ava points out as she sets her purse and keys on the table. “It suits you.”
“I promised Elsie I’d be a pretty princess when I’m here and I’m a man of my word, crumpet,” I say, grinning. “I thought I could escort you to pick her up from school. I got the tutu ready.”
She smiles at me. “That’s not for a few more hours.”
“Yeah, well, I figured I could spend that time with you as well.” I pull out my handy dandy dry erase board where I’d written “finances,” “social standing,” and “hot bod.” I cross off the first two as she watches. “Plus, I wanted you to watch as I crossed out these categories. I considered crossing off hot bod too on account of his hair falling out, but I don’t think we’re there yet. We can do better.”
She’s laughing at me as I scribble on the board. “So, we’ve almost defeated the Plastics?”
“Almost,” I grin. “Look at us. So fetch,” I say, mimicking the movie, making her laugh even more.
Her eyes trace over my face as she laughs, but as she studies me, her smile slowly drops, and with it, so does my stomach. “So. . . when will you be leaving?”
My fingers clench into the couch, an action her eyes don’t miss. “After business is taken care of, crumpet.”
“After he’s dead, you mean,” she corrects.
“Rule number one of being a hitman, love. Don’t say out loud your business.”
She bites her lip. “This house is safer than any building in the entire city. No one is listening here.”
“You’re not wrong,” I admit. “Foxxie sure does know how to protect his assets. Except from me that is.”
I can break through any security system. There hasn’t been a single one that has stopped me. But Dagen? He’s gotten close, and this little condo in New York has the best system I’ve ever seen on it. There’s bloody lasers on the front steps, a fact that Ava doesn’t seem to be aware of. She’s too trusting. Of Dagen. Of Otto. Of me. She’s in danger just being around the three of us. But of the three of us, at least Dagen can keep her safe. Otto and I shouldn’t even be breathing the same air as her, and here we are, all lovestruck fools.
