Sold To The Hitman (Men of Ruthless Corp)

He breaks the kiss, wrenching his lips from mine. “I forgot where we were for a minute.”

“I didn’t mind.”

He makes some growly sound in his throat, and I pull myself together. “Let’s find Steele.”

We leave the dance floor and mingle with people we don’t know. Titan stops cold when he spies Steele across the room talking to another man with salt-and-pepper hair. He’s as tall as a skyscraper with bulky muscles and a hard jaw set in stone.

“We need to leave.” He takes my hand and leads me back the way we came.

“Why are we leaving?” My heels click trying to keep pace with his long strides. “We just found Steele.”

“We just need to go.”

“Do you know that man he’s talking to? Is that who’s running the trafficking operation?” It’s the only thing that makes sense in my head.

“Yeah, I know him.” He leads me out into the parking lot. “And yes, that’s him.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he’s got the most security in this whole goddamn place. Plus, Steele looks at him like he’s a God.” Titan opens the passenger door of his truck for me. “I used to look at him like that too. Like he was a master of all things.”

Seven

Titan

* * *

Son of a bitch. I help Blue into the truck and stalk around the hood to hop into the driver’s side.

“What’s going on? Who was that man?”

“I’ll explain everything once we’re gone.”

I drive us back toward my place. I need to call Rogue on a secure line and see who hired him for this hit.

I’m seething. Because this shot my plans for the evening. Every part of me wants to be taking Blue home to explore her sweet body instead of dealing with this shit.

I didn’t plan on kissing Blue on the dance floor, but after she sniffed me, and her eyes… she was just too damn sexy to not lay my lips all over hers. And the moment our mouths met, I forgot my own name.

I forgot about the mission.

I forgot where we were. All I could think about was getting myself closer to her. And now here I am, trying to tame an angry beast of a hard on so I can deal with this madness.

Gunner Marble.

That’s who Steele was talking to at the party.

Gunner Marble, the man who taught me everything about being a hitman. He was the first person I met when I started with Ruthless Corp. many years ago.

He took me under his wing, teaching me everything about the business. Hell, I considered him a friend… until one day he just disappeared.

I tried searching for him for a short time but gave up when I couldn’t get any leads.

I still can’t believe he’s the man I’m supposed to kill.

I left the party because I couldn’t risk the chance of him seeing me, and I couldn’t let Steele tell him I bought a woman because Gunner knows me better than that.

He knows I’d never buy a woman.

But I did.

Because I couldn’t let this one get away. Have I lost my mind?

I turn my head to stare at Blue as I wait for a red light to turn green.

“Who was that man?” she asks again.

I shake my head, not ready to go down this path with her.

“You can talk to me, Titan.” She wraps her hand around my bicep, gently rubbing my arm.

I push on the accelerator as the light turns green. “I guess you can say he was my mentor.”

“Ah.” She leans back in her seat, waiting for me to finish my story.

“I trusted him for many years and then one day he went away.”

“Poof, gone.”

“Exactly,” I reply. “I could never understand how he could leave me like he did. We were like family.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Pity is not what I want from Blue. She strokes my bicep and maybe I do want her pity. Silent, I speed down the street, making it to my home in the Hills in record time. I pull into the driveway and shut off the engine, wanting to forget about Gunner Marble for a while.

That won’t happen, because I need to let Rogue know I’ve spotted Gunner. Find out who wants the hit on him. Because… this is a hit I might not be able to fulfill. And that’s never happened to me before. I’ve always been able to take care of any job that’s come my way. Always.

I try to picture it. A gun in my hand. Me aiming it at Gunner. Would I really be able to pull the trigger?

“Are you ok?” Blue asks as I open her door.

“Yeah, I just need to talk to my boss, Rogue.”

“Ok, I can Uber back to my place and give you some time alone.”

“Not a chance in hell.”

“I’m not in any danger. No one even knows we’re onto them.”