Page 65 of No Control

His impish smile fades to something more serious. “I’ve always had to get it out of the people showing up to take care of the job. Honestly, you’re lucky this is the first time it’s happened to you in the eleven years you’ve been doing this.”

I nod, but the timing is horrible. “What were the files sent with the link?”

He taps on his computer and turns it around on the desk for me to look at. “I should’ve deleted this, but I encrypted a copy when I downloaded it. I knew you’d need it. It might get us both in trouble, but you know, you are my friend, Henry. As soon as I got it, I declined the invite and called Jude—but you know it bounces right to the next.”

I lean over the computer, scrolling through the contents of the file. It’s full of photos, but they’re all from the last twenty- four hours. Most are of the house for layout purposes. And sure enough, there’s a shot of Lydia leaving the house with Duke—and then talking on the phone as she heads down the beach. I swallow hard, wanting to murder whoever took those pictures of her. “This must have something to do with the most recent hit.”

“Someone probably didn’t like how you took care of it—or that you killed him in general.”

“Who would even know?” I look up at him, and he shrugs.

“No matter what we like to think, there’re eyes everywhere. We always want to believe we are the eyes, but we’re just one set.”

“Yeah, but now what?”

Luca meets me dead in the eye. “You pack her up and get her somewhere safe. You gotta ditch all technology. Check everything for bugs. You know the drill. You may have to separate.”

“I can’t…She has no idea what I do.”

Luca chuckles. “So dump her off and let her suffer the potential consequences, or I guess tell her the truth. I would suggest the first option, personally. There’s a reason I don’t let pussy become more than just that. Pussy.”

I’d fucking burn myself at the stake before I dumped her off. “I’ll figure her out.”

“You must like her.”

I ignore him, staring at the pictures. My stomach has that same nagging feeling, tugging at it. How could this happen? I make mostly flawless hits. Is this because of Carlson? Is it Mason? Was I that careless?

“Henry,” Luca’s voice cuts through my spiral. “You’re my only friend in this fucked up underworld. You tell me to go, and I’ll hunt this dipshit down.”

My eyes flicker up. “I’m not going to ask that of you.”

“Then let me figure out who it is, okay? Your head’s shattered. Take the woman somewhere safe, send Jude here. You lay low. When we figure it out, you and I will take care of it. Two guns are better than one.”

“I don’t like that—”

“My mentor did it for me the first time I had a target on my back. I lost him, but he saved my life. I always said I’d repay it. Let me do this for you.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “So, you are soft.”

“Fuck off,” he growls tossing a pen at me. “You’re the closest thing I have to family other than Manny.”

I chuckle, thinking of Manny, Luca’s partner. We all operate much better with eyes on the outside. “Thanks, man.”

“Outside of your head being a wreck,” Luca begins, leaning back in his chair, “you look good. You get laid?” He shoots me a grin.

“Shut up,” I snap. I pull out my phone, half-tempted to text Jude or Lydia. I expected to hear something from them already. I scroll over to the security app with my cameras.

“My new assignment is wild.”

“Yeah?” I respond blankly as the app loads, the bar reaching three-quarters of the way, but not going any further. What the hell?

“Yeah, target is a cute little writer with a major inheritance.”

I close out of the app and reload it, my frustration growing—but I didn’t miss his words. “A writer?”

“Yeah, scheduled it out, too. I’m not supposed to make a move for a few months. It’s a strange one.”

“What’s his name?”

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