Page 65 of Dark Encounter
My phone buzzed. Kane. The hit on Thomas was activated.
"Of course it is," I mumbled and turned, walking back down the stairs and out the front of the library. Grace was right to turn away from me. She needed to stay strong because I couldn't do it.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Cole, hating myself as the phone rang.
"Erik. Where are you? You need me?" He sounded on edge, as if he'd already claimed me as a brother. What was it with this fucking guy?
"Yeah. I'm going to do the hit on Thomas. I need Grace there to see it."
"Hmm... so she'll hate you?"
"Exactly. She trusts you. Get her there." I dropped the call and jogged to my bike as my insides burned in agony. I'd planned on letting her brother go and taking the hit on my own head to spare her from the loss of someone she loved, but things never quite worked out the way I planned.
My world was too much for her, and as of late, it had become almost too much for me. I drove the bike around to the other side of campus and got off, spotting Kane in the distance. I made my way over to him through the crowd of drunk college kids.
"You look like shit." He patted my shoulder. "Still suffering from your last ass beating."
I growled and looked down at him. "Say one more thing about it, and I'll cut off your dick and watch you choke to death on it."
He shivered. "I was kidding man. Shit."
"Don't. I'm not in the mood." I turned and let my eyes run across the lawn, spotting Thomas in the middle of a group of good looking girls. He was a player alright. I had no doubt that Grace knew nothing of the nasty games he played with girls, tying them up and taking his time to enjoy watching them come unglued. I'd learned a thing or two about the bastard over the last few weeks, each thing giving me more of a reason to pull the trigger.
In the past, I needed no reason at all.
Fuck Grace for making me love her.
"Alright. You doing it or am I up?" Kane moved across the yard with me as a cold wind blew past us.
"Me. I need to do it. Tell him Grace is in his bedroom and she's upset." I walked away, knowing that Kane would get the guy upstairs in no time. And if I knew anything about Cole... he would have Grace in the right spot as well.
I walked up the stairs, ignoring the odd stares I got. I was the only mother fucker in black, and everyone else was wearing a white sheet as a toga. Nothing mattered. Hell, getting caught didn't matter much either. Maybe that was another option.
After finding the right room, I walked to the window and picked up the picture of Thomas and Grace sitting on his desk. She looked so happy, so young and full of life.
"Grace?"
I turned at the sound of Thomas' voice and lifted my gun. "No, but she'll be here soon."
"Oh no." He made a run for the door, but Kane closed it and stood in front of it. "Please. I have the money coming on Tuesday next week. I promise. I'll give you anything if you can just hold off. Please."
"Why would steal from the mafia, Thomas? How fucking stupid are you?" I moved a few steps closer, wanting to beat the kid’s ass and send him home. Grace was the only woman I could see in my future, and that meant her little brother was mine too. Fuck her for being so right for me.
"I didn't know. I didn't." He stopped mid-sentence and paled. "Wait. Why is my sister coming here? She didn't do anything. She has nothing to do with this." He turned and started to swing at Kane.
I moved up behind him and locked my arms around him. "Get something from the closet, and we'll tie his hands up."
"No. Please. Not my sister. She didn't do anything. This was all me. Please." He thrashed about until Kane walked back and together we got his hands tied behind his back.
I moved back and wiped my hand down my face as I lifted my gun. "Shut the fuck up. I'm not going to hurt Grace. It's you who owes the money."
Grace burst into the room, her eyes wide, tears streaking down her face. Cole appeared in the doorway behind her.
"No! Erik. No!" She ran across the room and got on the floor in front of her brother, turning to face me and covering him as best as she could. "How dare you. You sorry bastard."
"Rules are rules, Grace. I tried to leave." I shrugged, letting a coldness settle over me that I had after Delaney's death. "Move, or I'll shoot you both."
"Erik," Cole warned and moved into the room with us.
