Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 61054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Jay is immediately aware of my actions, flattening next to me, his sidearm drawn. “This is a bad idea, Lilah.”
“So is getting our heads blown off from behind.” I ease around the corner, watching for the man in black, and the minute he’s right beside the alleyway, I point my gun. “Stop.”
He halts, going stiff, cursing under his breath.
“Step into the alleyway and I swear to God, if you reach for a weapon, I will blow your head off and then go have a cup of coffee and a slice of pie.”
Chapter Nine
The man in black raises his hands and steps into the alleyway. “Against the wall,” I order.
Jay instinctively moves to the front of the alleyway, blocking me and the man from the view of those passing by.
“I’m Gabriel,” the man informs me. “I’m with Kane. I’m supposed to offer you an extra layer of protection.”
He’s tall, muscular, wears a goatee like Kane, and is maybe mid-thirties, which is too old to be this stupid. “Well, since you suck at your job, who’s going to offer you an extra layer of protection?” I ask, motioning to Jay. “Call Kane.”
Jay grabs his phone and dials, speaking to Kane in rapid Spanish before he holds the phone out to me and confirms, “He’s with Kane.”
I don’t lower my weapon, but I do accept the phone. “What the fuck, Kane?”
“Lilah,” he says sternly.
“Don’t ‘Lilah’ me, but you can give me a good reason not to kill Gabriel, who’s presently staring at my gun. I have a serial killer, your uncle, and Pocher breathing down my damn neck, and you’re going to put a man on me I don’t know and expect him to live? Obviously, you have no respect for my skills, among other things, so I repeat, give me a reason not to shoot him somewhere, even if it’s just his damn foot.”
“Please don’t,” Gabriel interjects.
“Shooting him would be messy, Lilah. We’ve had enough messy lately, bella. Don’t you think?”
I grit my teeth and lower my weapon. Gabriel breathes out a sigh of relief, but he’s smart enough at least to know better than to lower his hands. I motion to Jay. “Did you know about this?”
“He did not,” Kane replies at the same time Jay shakes his head.
I motion for Jay to watch him and walk further down the alleyway. “What don’t I know, Kane?”
“It’s not that simple and you know that, Lilah.”
“What I know is that you’re going to give me an answer, Kane. A real answer. And fuck you, by the way.”
“For protecting you?”
“For treating me like your property. I’m not. I could have killed him. I still want to kill him because I’m so fucking pissed at you.” I hang up on him.
Then I cover the space between me and the two men. “What’s your story, Gabriel?”
“My father has worked for Kane for five years. Kane wanted someone detached from his operation who just gave you extra eyes at your back.”
The whole detached from his operations and secrets thing again, I think. “What’s your background?”
“Military, recently honorably discharged.”
“Why aren’t you working for the police department?”
“Why does everyone think military means police? It’s not the same thing. And I’m sick and fucking tired of the government-run bureaucracy. Working for Kane’s oil empire is far more my style.”
Considering the government is always on Kane’s ass, on this, Gabriel aligns with Kane and does so well. “If you want to be on my security detail, you need to learn how to do your job. You failed today.”
“No shit,” he says. “I’m willing to learn.”
“Are you willing to pull the trigger?”
“I’m a sniper.”
This might work for me when Jay leaves, but not with his present skill set. “Go home.
You aren’t ready for this job.” I motion to Jay and we start to walk.
Once we’re back on the street, I say, “If I find out you knew about him—”
“I didn’t know, Lilah. I work for both of you and I can’t protect you if you don’t trust me.”
That halts me in my steps. He’s right. I do have to trust him. I turn to face him. “Don’t take a bullet for me. Think about Sally, your new girlfriend.”
“First of all, I only took one bullet for you. The other one I was just unlucky enough to get shot.”
“You took both for me. You were trying to save me when you got shot.”
“I was trying to get out of the way of that second bullet. And as for Sally, we broke up and anyone who says yes to that demand, Lilah, can’t do this job.”
“Which I would accept if I hated you and didn’t care if you died. And what did you do to piss off Sally?”
“Sally is too damn pure for the likes of me, no matter what you think. And are you kidding me, Lilah? You’d kill me yourself if you hated me and I tried to do this job.”