Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“What do you have for me?” he asked upon answering the call.
There was a brief sigh before a woman’s brisk voice replied. “You are so much easier to deal with than your uncle.”
Alexei’s mouth popped open to reply that he couldn’t understand how Gabriel gave her any trouble, but he realized she was likely talking about Justin. Yes, his Uncle J was definitely a handful.
A ghost of a smile played across his lips. Justin loved to drive people crazy with his antics. While Gabriel looked scary and deadly, Justin was like an overgrown puppy. People underestimated him all the time, and Alexei had spent many years trying to replicate that same appearance of cute helplessness. It was always easier to get close to a target if they were already underestimating the danger you presented.
“He worries that you’re bored and lonely. He tries to keep you entertained.”
“I could do with less entertainment in my life,” Marilyn muttered. She then cleared her throat and got right down to business. “I trust that you saw the bank statement already.”
“I did. Thank you.”
“You might be surprised to hear that I was contacted by the same contract holder. He was very pleased with your work. He said it was very neat and tidy.”
Alexei smirked to himself. Neat and tidy were nice descriptors. To him they were adjectives that belonged to a professional. Someone who was efficient. Someone who knew what they were doing.
He pushed open the French doors leading to a small balcony overlooking his quiet street. His flat was half the size of the town house that his mother had purchased in the middle of the city, but at least he had a nice view of the rooftops while being situated in a relatively quiet neighborhood.
“Thanks. Always nice to know the customer is pleased.”
Marilyn snorted. “Yes, because we tend to get some repeat business.”
He liked her dry sarcasm. He had never met her in person, but she was the same handler his uncles used. When he’d started his apprenticeship, he’d listened in on many of the calls. Justin joked around and slung snarky comments at her, but Marilyn didn’t flinch. She tossed them right back at him, hitting a bull’s-eye more often than not.
“Oddly enough, though…” she drawled out.
“What?”
“The contract holder was curious if you were still in the area and open to take another job.”
Alexei’s smirk instantly turned into a worried frown. He wasn’t sure he liked where this was going. The first contract hadn’t been that difficult and had paid a good amount of money, but a second contract was a dicey thing. Was this guy looking for him to become his personal hit man? Hell, no. He had no intention of working exclusively for anyone. That meant all his choices were taken away.
His uncles had instilled in him a need for strict rules and boundaries. There were lines that he never, ever crossed. Gabriel had hammered him over the head with the idea. Crossing lines were a one-way ticket to losing what was left of his soul and integrity.
“I did explain to him that you had no interest in working exclusively for a single client, if you’re worried that he doesn’t understand the definition of ‘freelance,’ ” Marilyn continued when he’d remained silent for too long.
A scoffing noise escaped Alexei, and he shook his head. He should have expected Marilyn to have it handled. “What did he say?”
“He understood. Apparently, the issue is an urgent one. The target is still in Western Europe, and he thought that this might be convenient for you. He doesn’t expect to have another contract need after this one is taken care of. He did explain that he’s willing to tack on a ten percent bonus if you can get this knocked out in the next two days. However, the contract is going wide today.”
Alexei groaned and paced into the house. Wide contracts meant that the hit wasn’t going out to a single assassin. It was a free-for-all, and the payment went to the person who could get the job done first. Things could become really fucking messy and complicated when it was a race against other accomplished assassins.
When he’d started taking contracts on his own, all the contracts had been wide. It had been the only way to get a job. Those with the best reputations didn’t need to take a wide contract. They could select the highest-paying contracts because they had the skills to take on the most complicated jobs.
He’d honestly thought that he might finally be reaching that point. The Kalman job had been offered to him exclusively. He’d had only one other wide contract in the past year.
“If he wants me on the fucking job, why is it going wide? Does he think I can’t do it?”
“It’s partially an urgency issue. You’re getting a heads-up of about six hours. That’s when he said he’s issuing the contract officially.”