“There are so many holes in this theory, Sugar.”
“I know. It’s why I need you on the streets investigating for me. You have as many contacts as I do, and your fighting ability will get you in places the rest of us can’t.”
I shut my eyes and picture the last time I was in the ring.
“I won’t kill anyone that doesn’t deserve it.”
“I know. I doubt it will ever come to that.”
I remember the last time I killed someone in the ring. Sugar was front and center, and after I snapped the guy’s neck, she nodded at me and left me her card.
She hadn’t condemned me. She had known my opponent, Tiny, was an evil man with a taste for little boys.
Instead, she offered me a way to hone my skills and use them on a larger scale, making the world safer from all the Tinys out there.
That was the day I stopped being Malice and the day I became Reese.
“Alright, Sugar. If this is what you need, you got it.”
“Just be fucking careful, or I’ll kick your ass myself.”
I snicker before the door opens.
I turn, noticing out of the corner of my eye Sugar sliding the photos back into the file folder before shoving it into her desk.
“Look how tan you are, bitch.” Lollie glares at me as she steps into the room, dropping her bag and sitting on my lap, kissing me all over my face like an annoying aunt might try to kiss a child.
Lord knows I squirm like one.
“Eh, gross. Get off me. I don’t know where those lips have been.”
I shove her aside, and she lands with an oof on the sofa beside me.
“Please, children, behave.” Sugar drolls.
“Yes, mom,” Lollie says, clearly not valuing her life in any way.
“Have you come just to annoy me, or do you actually want something?”
“Wow, I’m really feeling the love,” Lollie grumbles. “I have a location shoot and one of my team is out with a broken arm—”
“You can use anyone from the Tango team.”
“Thanks, Sug.” Lollie lets out a relieved breath. Lollie might be the darling of porn, but that doesn’t mean her world isn’t without its crazies. And nothing is crazier than a superfan who somehow thinks that because he watched her masturbate in HD that she’s destined to be his bride. Lollie trusts her security team to keep her safe, but when one of them is out for whatever reason, Sugar lends her one of ours.
The one and only time Lollie hired someone through an agency, it had gone horribly wrong.
“Need me to feed Charlie?” I ask Lollie.
“Yes, please. You know you’re the only other person he’ll tolerate.”
Sugar laughs. “Maybe because most people are smart enough to be wary of an eight-foot crocodile.”
“Oh please, Charlie is a sweetheart when you get to know him.”
“He ate your neighbor,” I point out. It’s why I like him. Lollie’s neighbor turned out to be one of those superfans that thought rape and torture were foreplay. Charlie soon showed him the error of his ways.
“He can sense evil, that’s all,” Lollie replies straight-faced.