Page 24 of Dirty
“Just tell him we need a little more time.”
“Forty grand, Fix. We already took half. He’s getting impatient. Making noises about getting a refund and taking his money elsewhere.”
I whistled quietly through my teeth. “It doesn’t work like that. We’re not J.C. fucking Penny. He can’t just get a refund.”
“Then you’d better do the work, Fix!” Monica’s frustration travelled down the phone very clearly.
Monica and I had never discussed the fact that we shouldn’t talk about accepting money for killing people over the phone; it was just common sense. Our client’s fees were tailored to match the level of danger and risk the job entailed. Fifty grand for a low risk mark. Seventy for low rent gangbangers and criminals. Ninety for well protected, violent and hazardous individuals. Monica assessed each mark carefully and quoted a price based off the information she gathered, so for her to have assigned a forty thousand dollar price tag to my outstanding job clearly indicated how quickly she intended me to take care of it. I had the other manila envelope in the glove box, waiting to be assessed. I couldn’t do it now, though. I just couldn’t.
“I’m on the road for the next few days,” I said quietly, cracking my knuckles. “I can get to it in a week. Maybe ten days.”
“No can do, Fix. This matter’s time sensitive for the client.”
“I’m sure you’ll handle him for me, Monica. You always do. I’ll call again in twenty-four hours.”
“Fix! Twenty-four hours is—”
“Twenty-four hours is the best I can do,” I snapped, grinding the words out. Monica knew my moods. She’d witnessed first hand how quickly I could snap if pushed too far. Even I knew I was frightening to be around once the darkness grappled hold of me. I usually did whatever I could to avoid sinking into that pit of anger and turmoil, but the last day and a half had tried my patience beyond measure. “Be careful,” I warned. “Give me a day. Also, give me a fucking break. Don’t text or call me again. I need time to work this out. I’ll be in touch.”
“Fix—”
I hung up the phone, stabbing at the cell phone screen so hard I nearly knocked the damn thing out of its cradle on the dashboard. Motherfucker. Working alone would have been much, much easier than having to deal with Monica. She was hyper emotional, stubborn as an ox, and demanding as fuck. God, it would have been great never to have to argue with her again, or field her constant, prying questioning. But then again itwasbetter to keep the admin and the muscle separate. People were twitchy around me. It had nothing to do with who I was as a person, what I looked like, how I acted or behaved in front of them. Most people had a crisis of conscience when they looked the man they’d asked to murder someone in the eye. They expected judgment from me. Their own guilt convinced them that they saw it written all over me, and they couldn’t deal. When they met with Monica, they were faced with a sympathetic, understanding, kind middleman. There was a safe, reassuring code in place during all conversations. There was usually a safe, friendly place to meet. There was usually a glass or two of whiskey to calm the nerves. Monica was a disconnect between action and consequence, and that suited most folks down to the ground. Typically, they didn’t want to have any idea who would be committing the act. They just wanted to get it done and move on with their lives, while someone else, somewhere else, lost the privilege of living theirs. So Monica was a necessary, annoying evil. I was stuck with her.
Beside me, Sera’s legs tensed, locking out in front of her. Her body went rigid, her back curling away from the seat beneath her, and her fingers twitched violently. Fuck. Had she heard the phone conversation? No. No, when she whimpered, I knew she was still dreaming. Worse. By the looks of things, she was drowning in the depths of a nightmare.
It was one thing allowing her to sleep, to rest and recuperate, but letting her suffer through something harsh enough to make her body twist and contort while she was unconscious was something else entirely. I shouldn’t have cared. I shouldn’t have given a fuck, but…
I turned on the radio, swiftly adjusting the volume control so that the sound of some rocky, upbeat hipster song filled the cab of the truck. It was enough to draw her from her sleep. Her body bowed, flexing, before she blinked blearily, turning her head as she took in her surroundings, no doubt remembering where she was. Her expression was hard as flint when she pushed herself up in her seat, blowing out a long, unsteady breath down her nose.
“Where are we?” Her voice was softened by sleep, but there was an edge to her words that said she was still very unhappy to be locked in a moving vehicle with me.
“Just passed Meridian.”
“How long until we get to Fairhope?”
“Another few hours. We’ll get there just after dawn. You’ll probably have enough time to pass out for a couple of hours before your sister needs you.”
Sera’s relief was obvious. Her hair fell in soft waves around her face, framing it perfectly. I’d been with many attractive women before, but there was something different about her. Something that made my chest feel tight. Her features were fine and delicate, and at first glance gave her the look of someone who needed protecting from the world. But the sharp, intelligent, piercing way she looked at me altered all of that. She didn’t need protecting. She was capable of taking care of herself, and was ready and able to do so at a moment’s notice. Perhaps that’s why I found myself drawn to her so much; she was uncontainable, raw, and bold, and she wasn’t afraid of me in the slightest. Silly, silly girl. If she’d had any idea what was good for her, she would have been terrified.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she murmured, angling her body away from me.
“Like what?”
“Don’t play games, Fix.”
“I’m not playing anything.”
She tutted, shaking her head. “You were looking at me the same way you looked at me the other night.”
“You mean, right before I sank my cock inside you?”
Most girls would be embarrassed or annoyed at my directness. They’d shy away from the mere mention of what took place between us. I was kind of looking forward to a coy reaction from Sera, but I was shit out of luck. She eyed me fiercely, setting her jaw, her gaze unwavering. “Yeah. Right before you sank your cock inside me,” she confirmed. “Right before fucked me senseless, made me come harder than I ever have in my life, and turned my whole fucking world upside down.”
Ha. So much formebeing direct. Looked like Sera was the queen of direct. “I can’t help it,” I told her, alternating my attention between her and the road. “I was fascinated by you. I still am.”
“Well, don’t be. You lost the right to make eyes at me the moment I walked into that building and watched you kill that guy.”
“What you saw doesn’t change anything, Angel. You were attracted to me back in that motel room. I saw it on your face. I smelled it on your body. I felt it when I slid my hand down the front of your panties and discovered how wet that beautiful pussy of yours was. An attraction like that doesn’t just go away.”
