Page 138 of The Villain

“Love you too,” I glare at Matthias with a sneer. “Get them the fuck out of our town and keep them out. Otherwise, I’m going to let South do what she wants to them.”

Ace starts laughing heartily. “You need to buy her more blades. I’ll get you a purse to carry them for her.”

“I would crawl over broken glass to do it too,” I assure him. He seems surprised at the comment. They know me as Daniels, a cold blooded and methodical assassin. I was trained into that behavior.

This is me. All the fucked up versions blended together to make someone worthy of Evie. If anyone thinks I’m going to shy away from it they’re dead wrong.

“Good on you,” he claps my shoulder with a serious nod of respect. “All jokes aside, you’ve got yourself a keeper.”

“Evan,” Matthias stands with a frown. Gabriel stops at my side and joins me staring at our father.

“I messed up. I wanted them to make sure you stayed safe, that’s it.”

Bullshit. All of it. He wants his pet assassin back.

“I wasn’t kidding Matthias. I quit. If you want to talk to me you’ll have to get South’s approval first.” I smirk at the thought. She’s going to love that.

Then I turn to Gabriel. I don’t know him well but I do know he’s always hated being a part of the business. He’s more of a white collar crime bloodhound. His guards are loyal only to him though, which says a lot to me. I know Ace and Mikael pretty well and they aren’t easy to win over.

“So, I’ve been hearing a few rumors that might keep you from being bored.”

He raises a brow, eyeing me in contemplation.

“You might want to think about moving here.”

“No way,” Cade protests immediately.

“Go on,” Gabriel says in his cold tone and moves with me to the door.

“The underbelly of this city is rotted through. It needs a clean sweep.”

He makes a thoughtful sound and readjusts his cufflink with a frown.

“You can also fight it out with Andi by buying the other half of town. She’ll be pissed that her complete takeover isn’t going to happen.” I smirk at the thought of the rage she’s going to throw around. It might take her years to calm down.

Ace starts laughing as we walk out, leaving the dirtier side of our lives behind without looking back.

29. We’re in This Together

South

I stop by the adult store Tera used to work at and pick up a few things. I get a few raised brows at the amount of lube I get and my choice of toys. You would think working here would desensitize them.

I hit a convenience store and get him the snack he mentioned yesterday and a soda. The coffee shop isn’t open yet. The cashier there is desensitized because he offers me a pair of flip-flops to get me home. As if he sees women wander in at almost four in the morning in pajamas without shoes all the time. This town is so odd.

When I pull into the drive Shade’s car is already there, parked off to the side instead of under the awning. I sigh as I shake my head. I’ll have to move it later and make a point of telling him that’s where his car goes.

I gather my bags and go inside.

He’s standing in the living room with his statue mode activated. This time when he sees me he doesn’t relax, his shoulders get stiff and his face freezes up. It’s like he’s barely holding it together. His hair is sticking up as if he’s been pulling it and he’s sweating. His face is pale and there are dark rings under his eyes again.

“Where the fuck have you been?”

I raise a brow at the deadly soft question. If I had woken up to find him gone there would have been questions but not this disrespectfully. I’m not the one that owes today.

“You told me to come home and I fucking did. I have your phone and I couldn’t contact you. I was afraid if I left to find you that you would be pissed. Where were you?”

The question comes out at a monstrous yell of fury. That’s enough of that.

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