Sold To The Hitman (Men of Ruthless Corp)

“What did you find out?” I ask in a rush.

“He’s a ghost before he went to work at the station.”

“What do you mean ghost?”

“I mean, there’s nothing.”

“Son of a bitch.”

Gunner asks, “Who’s a ghost?”

“Frank DiMaseo,” I say, giving him a brief description of who he is.

“He’s the one who gave me Blue.”

“Yeah, it was an undercover sting operation to bring the whole thing down.”

Gunner shakes his head, pulling up to a red light. He glances at me. “No, he’s brought me women before. He’s not who you think he is.”

My hands ball into fists as anger overtakes me. I never trust many people, and Frank was someone I should’ve listened to my gut about. Why didn’t he get out of the car to meet me that night they met in the parking lot? Why didn’t he want to know the man who messed up their plans and bought the woman he coerced to run a sting operation?

What really makes my blood boil is the thought he probably intended for Steele to buy her, but not for their story. To really own her.

I see red as Gunner speeds through the streets until he pulls up to an abandoned warehouse. We pile out of the SUV. “Rogue, I’m sharing my location with you. Get here.” I hang up the phone.

Gunner moves beside me, pulling out his gun.

“How do you know she’s here?” I ask. A cold snap of air hits me dead in the spine when a car that was following us pulls up to where we stand.

Steele and three of his henchmen exit the car, pulling their guns on us.

“What are you doing here?” Gunner asks, moving away from Steele.

I’ve already got my gun drawn, but Steele points a gun in my face.

“Drop it,” he says.

“Not a chance in hell.” I’m prepared to die. I’m sure he isn’t.

“Titan, let’s not make this more messy than it needs to be. You were never supposed to be involved,” Steele says, pointing a gun at Gunner.

It all falls into place. Steele and Frank are working against Gunner. This has all been about him. Blue and I are just pawns in a well-orchestrated plot to take him down. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen or die doing it.

“I don’t care what’s happening here. All I care about is saving Blue.” I say as I hand over the gun to Steele. I could easily bash his skull in as he steps closer to retrieve the gun, but not before they kill Gunner. And who knows what would happen to Blue if I made a hasty decision like that.

Steele keeps the gun pointed at my head as we’re all led inside.

Fury rages through my body when I spot Blue sitting inside what appears to be a dog cage.

What the hell?

There’s four other men in the room, and Frank.

“Let her go. You have who you want now. Let her go,” I say, speaking directly to Frank.

They laugh.

“And why would we let her go? She’s a little treat for after the key event,” Steele says. “Besides, she was supposed to be mine.”

The way he growls out the word mine makes my skin crawl.

“Ok, let’s all calm down,” Gunner says as Steele leads him to a chair in the middle of the room.

“Let’s get down to business.” Steele walks to the cage, looking at Blue with desire clear in his eyes.

I plan on shooting him first.

Sixteen

Blue

* * *

The way Steele and his men stare at me like I’m some piece of property to be claimed makes my skin crawl. The sight of Frank holding a gun to Titan confuses me. I want to shout at him and ask him what he’s doing, but I need to figure out what’s going on first.

It’s obvious I put my trust in the wrong man.

They plop Gunner down into the chair in the middle of the room, and my mind races. Why is Frank involved in this?

Steele circles the cage like a rabid beast waiting to be fed. “Let’s get down to business,” he pauses, “so I can have my pretty little plaything all to myself.”

My eyes meet Titan’s. It’s almost like he’s trying to tell me that won’t happen.

“Gunner, I’m tired of buying women at a huge markup. I’d much rather run the operation all on my own,” Steele says.

“Like you could. Where would you even get the women?” Gunner asks as the nameless men who kidnapped me bind his hands behind his back.

Steele scoffs. “Frank’s been bringing you women for years. And I just made him a better deal. That’s why we devised this little plan to get you in our grasp.”

Tears fill my eyes as I glance at Frank.

Titan pushes forward. “You asshole.”

“Hold him back,” Steele says to Frank. “You weren’t supposed to be involved.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Titan drawls out.

I’ll most likely be dead by the time the sun rises tomorrow morning, and I can’t help but want Titan to know that I’ve fallen for him. The thought of dying without Titan knowing how I feel is killing me slowly.