I stepped out of Gavino’s office building and into the cool wind as it blew down the street from the lake, signifying the beginning of fall. Jenna had followed me out, which she often did when we had a little group chat with the boss. It usually turned into a heavy make out session, but we hadn’t done anything else.
It still left me feeling uneasy every time it happened, but I kept telling myself it was part of the job.
Jenna leaned against me and wrapped her arms around my body to grip my ass and pull me against her. I’d spent six weeks lying low with Lia—moving her around and making sure no one was following us—and avoiding Jenna. It also meant Lia was right there in my sights the whole time, so I could be sure she was safe. Though I’d kept in contact with Gavino and done a few jobs for him, for the most part, we stayed in hiding.
“Mmm…yes, working together will be nice.” Her mouth found mine, and I did my best to seem receptive.
Even as I made out with her, my thoughts were focused on the plan that lay ahead of me.
Gavino was leaving his office with his goons to get their side of everything organized. The plans had been laid out for picking up a shipment of girls from Haiti, and I was supposed to go along as protection for the group. Gavino was going because he was an idiot.
Well, that wasn’t his reason, but it was still true. No one as high up in an organization like his should be anywhere near those kinds of goods, but he seemed to think it was the only way he could guarantee the cargo was what he wanted. The last shipment came loaded with some contagious disease, and the cargo was practically unsellable.
It was a sick, twisted business to be in at all, and that was from the point of view of a killer.
Jenna seemed perfectly fine with the whole thing, which was also fairly disturbing. Maybe spending time with Lia was making me soft or something, but the more I was around Jenna, the less I liked her.
It’s just part of the job, I reminded myself.
“When are you going to give this to me?” Jenna hummed against my mouth as her hand found its way to my cock….again.
“Maybe it’ll be your reward for a job well done,” I responded. I nipped at her lip before I stepped back a bit and smiled at her. “I gotta get prepared.”
“Prepared?” she asked as she gave me a look of disbelief. “What do you do besides aim and shoot?”
“It helps to have ammo,” I told her. “I need to go shopping.”
Ammo shopping was probably the male equivalent of a chick claiming she needed to wash her hair, but it got me out of the situation for the time being. I had enough for the job as it stood, but I was going to stock up anyway. I had the feeling additional ammunition was going to be necessary at some point, and the last thing I needed was to run out. I also had to meet with Trent and couldn’t have Jenna delaying me too long.
Trent went above and beyond to be a total dickhead.
“Playing hide-and-seek with your bitch?” he said as he sat down across from me and smirked.
I leaned against the plush seat in the 676 Bar and tried to keep my cool. Though it was near the window, I made sure I was carefully blocked from street view.
“Not sure what you mean,” I replied. It was better to sit back and let Trent be an asshole than to let him get to me, though it was difficult a lot of the time. He was a master at pushing my buttons.
“Well, you moved out of that posh place on Kingsbury to a crappy little shack up north,” Trent said with a smile. “Now you’ve ditched that one for an apartment downtown. Much more convenient.”
And the paranoia button was pressed most decisively.
“Keep the fuck away from her,” I growled under my breath. “You keep pushing me like this, Trent, and I don’t give a fuck who you are and who you work for—I will fuck you up.”
He laughed.
“You can’t touch me,” he said, “or all the evidence goes straight to the courts. You know I have that set up.”
I did, too. It didn’t stop me from wanting to put a nice, round hole between his eyes.
“You go too far and I’ll no longer give a shit.”
Trent leaned in close.
“You can’t scare me, Arden,” he said. “I have you by the short and curlies, so cut the shit and give me my information.”
Every muscle in my body tensed, and I wanted to spring at him and rip out his throat, but I forced myself to loosen up enough to give him what he wanted.
“The shipment will be here in five days,” I told him, “October nineteenth, right before midnight. Greco will be there and so will Andrey but not Rurik. I’m going along as protection for the shipment. He’s nervous; there’s no doubt about that. Jenna screwed up the last time, and Greco doesn’t want it happening again. Just remember, if you’re busting people, I’m your fucking informant. I don’t expect to be hauled away in cuffs, got it?”