Lying down on my bed felt amazing. Still, as tired as I was, my mind wouldn’t rest. Serenity was right. Someone was going to a lot of trouble to end my life, and I needed to figure out who it was before they succeeded.
Like she said, it had to be someone with revenge in mind. In my line of work, that added up to a lot of people. I’d kept most of that information tucked away, but now it was time to look a little closer.
Sure, I’d killed a few people, but they were all criminals who’d gotten out of control. Vanetti lived by a code, and I helped him maintain it. It’s how he’d become so successful. Hell, even the police appreciated that we could clean up things they couldn’t.
It was time to dig deep into the past. Something I should have done before now. Three people came to mind, and all of them had the guts to use explosives.
First was Needles. I’d killed his brother in a shootout, leaving Needles wounded and several members of his gang in the hospital. I’d tipped off the cops, and they’d conveniently found all the drugs and money he and his gang had been dealing. He’d gone off to prison, along withseveral members of his gang. I hadn’t thought of him for a while, but what if he’d gotten out?
There were a couple of others who came to mind as well. That gang fight last month was one. I’d stepped in to settle things between the members who didn’t want to play by Vanetti’s rules. They didn’t like that much, and I’d had to make an example of the biggest asshole of the bunch. I’d left Jangles alive, but in hindsight, maybe that had been a bad idea.
The last person I worried about was Anna. She’d tried to cheat Vanetti out of a boatload of money, and it had backfired. Her boyfriend had ended up in jail, and she’d lost her job along with her reputation. She definitely had a bone to pick with me.
Sighing, I closed my eyes, too tired to think anymore, and finally drifted off.
∞∞∞
A noise brought me awake, and it took a minute to remember where I was. I sat up and tried not to groan. Every muscle in my body had stiffened during the night, and I spent the next few minutes stretching the kinks out.
The noise sounded again, and I realized it was coming from the kitchen. I almost ran out in my boxers, but remembered my shorts just in time. I hurried out, hoping Serenity hadn’t destroyed my expensive coffee brewer.
I found her wearing the same t-shirt as last night and standing beside my coffee grinder. She glanced up, and her eyes widened. Her gaze landed on my bare chest, and her mouth dropped open. “Uh…” She swallowed. “I’m sorry if I woke you. I thought I’d make some coffee.”
“It’s fine.” I shook my head and crossed to her. “Do you know how to use that?” I motioned to the coffee grinder.
Her lips turned down. “Of course I do.” She pulled the ground coffee beans out and stepped to my precious coffee brewer. She hesitated, and it was all I needed to hurry to her side.
“Here. I’ve got it, why don’t you sit down?”
She pushed my reaching hands away. “You don’t think I know how to make coffee?” She settled the beans into the top of the machine and moved to push the button.
“Wait. Do pre-infusion. It’s this button.” I pushed the button and waited for the beeps. “There. Now you can start it up.”
Twisting her lips, she pushed the start button and glanced my way, freezing when she realized how close we were standing to each other. “I’m, uh… it’s a little chilly in here. I’m going to get dressed while it’s brewing.” Her throat bobbed as she stared at my lips.
“You sure?” My voice went husky. She wore a too-big t-shirt, and all I had on was my shorts. I could remedy that. “I could give you my shorts if you’d like.”
Her eyes widened. “No— I mean,yes.”
I grinned, wanting to step forward and run my hands under the shirt and over her bare stomach and waist. “So… no, you’re not sure about getting dressed, or yes, you’re sure you want my shorts?”
A bright red blush covered her cheeks. “I’m only sure that you’re bad news.”
She quickly turned and practically ran to her room. The sound of her door slamming brought a smile to my lips. Shaking my head, I hurried back into my room to get dressed for the day.
Chapter 11
Serenity
Iclosed the door and leaned against it to catch my breath. I was in so much trouble. Part of me had wanted to run my hands all over his perfect chest. The sane, rational part was yelling to run as far away as I could.
Letting out a sigh, I quickly made the bed and tried to figure out what to wear today. I wasn’t so sure I could handle wearing pants over my burn, but I didn’t have a skirt or dress that would work.
Needing to take a look at it, I slipped off my shirt and tugged my undies down. The burn was on my right side, high enough that I wouldn’t sit on it if I sat on the edge of my seat.
I twisted and turned, but couldn’t see it at all. If not for the mirror in the bathroom, I never would have been able to bandage it last night. I gingerly pulled the tape away on one side, but the gauze wasn’t coming off.
I tugged at it, and gasped at the sharp pain. Was it stuck to the wound? “Dammit!” I should have waited until I was in the bathroom across the hall to look at it. Now what was I going to do?
