Page 38 of Nasty
“I didn’t use you,” I countered. “I hired you to perform a service, which I paid you for. That’s how business deals are carried out. Supply and demand.”
Rabbit ignored me. “And now,” he said, still addressing Sera, “he’s come back here while I’m trying to host a party, while I’m trying to spend time with my real friends, because he wants to use me again.”
Ahhh, Jesus. He was behaving like a petulant child. It’d only take a second to lean across the table, grab the little shit by the shirt, and slam his face down onto the table. I envisioned doing it in my head, and it felt good. Really fucking good. Sera cleared her throat.
“I think maybe Fix didn’t realize you’d made solid plans. I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it. And…Fix hasn’t come here tonight to use you, Rabbit. He came here because he’s trying to helpme. I’m sorry if we’ve offended you.” She gave him a winning smile, and Rabbit drummed his fingers against the table.
“I know why he came here. And I’m sorry, but I wasn’t very honest just now. I did know who you were, Sera. Monica’s been very upset with Fix recently, too. She explained his little predicament to me this afternoon.” Finally, the little fuck turned to look at me. “Not smart, Fix. Not smart at all. Falling in love with the girl you’ve been paid to kill. That’s got to be the most ironic slash tragic thing I’ve ever heard. Only you would be stupid enough to do something like that. You wanna know what I think about this whole mess?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, blasting out a loud sigh. This was fucking ridiculous. “No. Not really.”
“You’re a horrible hitman. Paid assassins are good at their jobs because, typically, they’re all sociopaths. They have no empathy. If you aren’t empathetic, you can’t feel sorry for the dumb schmuck you’re about to stab, or shoot, or poison, or however you choose to fucking do it. But you, Fix…you’renota sociopath. You have too much empathy. Too much heart. You like to put on a show, pretend you’re hardened to the world, but then along comes a beautiful flower…” He reached out, slowly tracing his fingers along the line of Sera’s jaw, teasing a lock of her hair around his finger. “And you can’t fucking help yourself. You just have to stick your nose inside that flower andsmell.”
Nope.
My blood pounded inside my ears, drowning out the thumping bass of the music.
No fucking way.
He had no right to touch her.
No right whatsoever.
I couldn’t fucking see straight.
My body was vibrating as I lunged across the table, grabbing hold of Rabbit by the wrist, wrenching his hand away from Sera. Two seconds later, the punk was face down on the table, his arm twisted high up behind his back, and I was leaning my elbow into the base of his neck, applying enough pressure to make him gasp out loud in pain. “It’s rude to try and smell someone else’s flowers,” I snarled into his ear. “You’re right. I’m not a sociopath. But I’m fucking good at my job. I can kill a man in any one of a thousand different ways, and I’ve tried them all. If you touch her again, if you so much asthinkabout touching her, I will force a fucking pipe down your throat, and I will pump you full of formaldehyde.Do. You. Fucking. Hear. Me?”
Mere seconds had passed. Enough time for the bartender to raise the alarm and summon help, though. Three huge guys with guns barreled into the room, their weapons primed and aimed directly at my head.
“Fix!” Sera’s voice rose to a shout. “Fix! Let him go. You’re going to get yourself killed.”
I’d been shot before, in the shoulder. It had sucked, hurt like a motherfucker, but I’d happily endure the pain again if it meant I was able to defend what was fuckingmine. “Do you understand?” I growled into his ear.
Rabbit thrust out a hand, halting the men who were approaching. A loud, manic sound slipped out of him, and it took me a second to realize he was laughing, gurgling like a goddamn drain. “Wait! Waitwaitwait,” Rabbit wheezed. “Don’t shoot him. It’s okay. It’s okay. Everything’s fine.”
“But boss!” I recognized the voice. It was Gary from upstairs. He must have been itching to pull the trigger after our little run-in just now.
“Stand down. Everything’s fine. Just…go back upstairs,” Rabbit panted. “Now!”
I hadn’t let him go. Wasn’t planning on it. But then Sera’s hand was on mine, pale and slender, and she squeezed. I took my eyes off Rabbit, turning to look at her instead. She was worried. A little frightened. “Please,” she whispered.
And that was it. With that one word, she doused the raging inferno that had gripped me. I reeled back, releasing Rabbit, swallowing down the remaining burning embers of my fury. Rabbit stayed down, sprawled across the table, still laughing like a fucking madman. “See,” he said. “You care about things too much. But…I like that about you, Felix. You’re a walking contradiction. The most interesting paradox I’ve come across yet. And I’ve studied quite a few.”
I sank back down into my seat, straightening my shirt. Behind me, grumbling, the guys who had burst in to help Rabbit left one at a time. “Just shut the fuck up, Rabbit. If Monica told you why we were coming here, then quit fucking around and tell me. Can you figure out where the emails came from? Can you help us find this Carver guy or not?”
Rabbit slid off the table, slouching into his own seat, a reckless, annoying smile plastered all over his freckled face. “Of course I can.”
“Great. How long will it take?”
His shit-eating grin spread even wider. “A day. Maybe two. But the cost’s gonna be much higher this time, Fix.”
Surprise, surprise. “Fine. Tell me how much. You’ll have the money in your account tomorrow morning.”
Rabbit slowly shook his head. “Not that easy, I’m afraid. I don’t want your money. I want something else.”
I gunned him down with a sharp glare. So fucking typical. Nothing was ever easy with this little shit. “What do you want?”
He splayed his fingers, holding his hands palms up. “An item was stolen from me. An extremely important item. I want it back.”
