He takes a deep breath, and his chest expands. I start to turn, and he tightens his grip again. “I just want to look at you.”
He loosens his hold, and I turn in his lap so I can see his face. He’s staring at me, and the anguish is clear. Even his voice is strained. “You’re wrong, you know.”
“Wrong about what?” I ask.
“Three years ago I had just taken this job. I was sort of convinced to do it. I was needed and I couldn’t say no. But that was when you were my sister’s best friend. That was it. Yeah, I’d thought about you like that before, but I had it in my mind I’d never act on it. No matter how much I wanted you. The day I started this job, you called me that night to come get you. That’s the night that I took you home and I wasn’t able to resist you anymore. When you told me how you felt, I acted on it. Because it’s what I wanted too. More than anything. After we made love... and that’s what it was, Kins. You can call it whatever you want, but what we did that night was making love. Anyway, I got a text in the middle of the night. My first mission and I had to accept it. I didn’t have a choice. I had to fly out of the country. I didn’t know when I’d be back, and the commander told me in the text you never know when a mission is going to be your last, so tell your loved ones how you feel. I stayed awake all night holding you in my arms. I wanted to quit right then and there. I wanted to tell them they could take the mission and shove it up their asses. But I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t. And I couldn’t leave you wondering if I was alive, when I was coming home and all that. I couldn’t do that to you. So I broke it off with you. Told you it didn’t mean a thing. I lied to you that day, Kins.”
I shake my head, trying to process it all. “So you’re telling me May was right. You dumped me because of some sort of protection thing.”
5
Colt
I know she doesn’t believe it, and I know she’s going to be pissed, but I’m tired of lying to her. And now, after seeing how the last lie I told her affected her, I can’t do it anymore. “I...” I start to tell her when my phone rings. I dig it out of my pocket and see Rogue’s name on the caller ID. I still don’t trust him, but thankfully, Riggs has put a block on our phones so we can’t be traced. “I have to take this.”
She nods and scoots off my lap to the other side of the couch. I stand up, intent on walking out of the room, but stop suddenly. I’m not going to let her out of my sight. I don’t know how she’s taking my little bombshell, but I’m not going to give her the opportunity to run. “Stone,” I say into the phone.
“I see you are making waves already and have only been in town less than two hours.”
He’s tracking me. Somehow he knows how long I’ve been in town. “Yeah, you said I had time. You told me twelve hours before anyone else would be notified. It was less than eight.”
“That’s a lot of money, Colt. It was leaked. People get antsy when that much money is at stake.”
“How many?” I ask, dreading the answer. “How many are coming for her?”
“Lucky for you, everyone is busy. There’ve been four people that have taken the job.”
“Fuck!”
He laughs at me, and I know that he’s probably enjoying this. He’s the type of man that enjoys seeing someone else in pain.
“Who put the hit out? How do I stop it?” I ask, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.
“There’s no stopping it. It won’t end until she’s dead. Cut up into tiny pieces in a body bag.”
My eyes meet Kinsley’s, and even though she can’t hear Rogue, she still looks worried. I grip the phone tighter in my hand. My whole body freezes, and bile starts to rise in my throat. “That’s not an option, Rogue.”
He cackles. “How did I know you’d say that?”
“Can you please try to find out who put the hit out?”
“Sure. I’ll be in touch.”
He ends the call, and I put my hands on my hips, taking deep breaths in and letting them out. “Colt?” she asks worriedly.
I hold my finger up. I need a second. I know she’s been through a lot, but just the image that Rogue put in my head is enough to make me sick. I usually can handle anything. But not this. Not when it comes to Kinsley.