Page 55 of His Coveted Obsession

“And we have adapted.”

He sat back in his seat, stretched his long legs out in front of him, and sipped on his water. “Your boy looks innocent. Too innocent. He’s going to be afraid of you when he learns the truth.”

I stared out the window again, wondering if that was true. Would he try to leave me if he found out what I did?

“You’re wrong. He loves me.”

“Your boy looks weak.”

“He is stronger than he looks.”

Why was I justifying this to him? It was none of his business who I dated.

Sully shrugged, quickly growing bored, while I opened my phone to look at the image of Thomas again. His curls were unruly,and he had taken off his glasses, revealing his pretty blue eyes beneath thick lashes. His smile was crooked as he gave the peace symbol.

No, Thomas wasn’t weak. He worshiped me, so he could take anything. I knew he’d still love me, even if he found out what I did for a living.

Afterwelanded,weheaded straight to the safehouse to drop off our bags and retrieve our weapons, which were stored in the basement.

I quickly got dressed in my black combat gear and strapped on my throwing knife holster around my thigh. Khai sat on a chair in the finished basement, honing his sword, long black bangs falling into his face. He was always honing, as if it soothed him, similar to the way I often tapped my fingers. Meanwhile, Sully flipped his own blade open and closed. We all had our ticks. Sully’s knife was a dagger Malik had given him for his birthday two decades ago, and it was still sharp enough to cut through the toughest skin.

I selected aWilson Combat SFX9 Pistolwith a suppressor, but only in case I needed it. I’d always choose my daggers over a gun.

“We go in quietly,” Khai said, who was put in charge of this assignment despite Sully being the oldest at thirty-five and the leader’s lover. He wasn’t a planner. He also toyed with his marks and broke the rules too often. “I mean it, Sully.”

Sully feigned innocence, placing a hand over his heart. “What? I’m amazing at what I do.”

“We get in, kill everyone there, rescue the boys, and drop them off at the other safehouse for the authorities to come get them and take them home. No playing with your targets. This is a stealth mission.”

“Yeah, yeah… I know the mission, Khai. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”

Khai stared at him blankly, his black, almond-shaped eyes fixed under thick black brows. He stared at Sully for so long that Sully huffed in irritation. “Fine! No playing. Can I cut them just a little?”

“Death and be done. No more.”

“This family has lost all its fun.”

Khai rolled his eyes and went back to honing his blade.

Wetookthelargeblack van stored in the garage at the safe house and drove for over an hour toward the outskirts of Joliet, a suburb of Chicago.

When we approached the small farm, which was more like a compound, we parked the van and got out into the freezing night. Mid-February in Illinois was brutal. At least there was no snow to slip on.

We pulled on black balaclavas to hide our identities.

“Layla, we’re here. Shut it down,” Khai ordered through our communication devices.

“Aaaand… done,” she said. “You’re invisible to their cameras, and their security system is off.”

Khai stood, shorter than Sully and me, facing us as he unsheathed his sword. “First, Sully… no music. I need you to focus on any sound that could get you killed.”

Sully was known to use earbuds, playing disco music as he mutilated his targets.

“You act like I haven’t been doing this for fifteen years,” Sully groused.

Khai ignored him and continued with his speech. “Sully, you and Easton approach from the back and split off. Easton, you’ll head into the barn, where the children are likely being kept. Sully, you will head into the house from the basement. I’ll approach from the front on the second floor and work my way down.”

Sully and I simply nodded.

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