Hook (A Hitman's Bait 2)

Chapter 3

Survivalinstinctskickedin as I pulled Kit down under the water while bullets pierced the surface. He tried to pull away, his body in fight-or-flight mode.

It’s me, baby. Don’t panic.

But he wasn’t a mind reader and fought me for as long as he could before he stilled and allowed me to guide him to the other side of the pool. Either he’d figured out it was me, or he’d realized fighting me under water would only deplete his oxygen faster.

I broke the surface with him, and he gasped and coughed up water.

“Kit, there’s no time to waste.” I took his hands, placed them at the edge of the pool, and gave him a little nudge. “I need you to run toward the gates.”

“Sully.” He wheezed.

“Come on, baby. Go!”

I boosted him up, and when he took too long to climb out, I smacked his ass hard. He yelped and shot to his feet. I heaved myself out behind him, keeping low.

Kit ran toward the gates, and I turned on one knee, raised my gun, pointed at the balcony, and pulled the trigger. One of the bodyguards jerked, and he fell forward, tumbling over the balcony. He hit the water head first.

I fired a couple more rounds toward the balcony, but the other bodyguards scrambled back. I got to my feet and ran after Kit. The gates were open, but instead of leaving, he was waiting for me.

Goddammit, why didn’t he do what I’d told him to? Sometimes I wanted to throttle him so badly for not listening to me.

“Go! I’m right behind you,” I shouted.

“This wasn’t a part of the plan,” he yelled back and slipped through the gates. He didn’t have to remind me. A job so simple shouldn’t have had this many issues. The squeal of tires disturbed the night as bullets echoed behind us.

Right on time.

The black sedan parked a few feet away. Kit reached it first and dove inside the car. I hopped in after him and slammed the door shut.

“What the fuck happened?” Liam asked as he drove off.

“We can talk about it later.” I cupped Kit’s face, running my thumbs over his wet cheeks. “Are you hurt?”

He groaned. “I’m billing you for a spa treatment tomorrow because of my poor feet. But no, I’m not hurt.”

“Good.” I pressed my lips to his, which were so damn cold. He was shaking against me.

“Liam, give me your jacket.”

“What for?”

“We’re going for a photoshoot. What the hell do you mean, what for?”

He drove one-handed as he shrugged off his jacket and threw it over his shoulder.

“This is an expensive night for you, Sullivan,” he said. “Kit needs a pedicure, and I need a new Armani jacket to replace that one.”

“You paid sixty bucks for this, asshole.” I slipped my fingers into the straps of Kit’s dress. “We need to get you out of this.”

“We’ve got company,” Liam said. “We’re being trailed.”

“Then lose them.”

The car shot forward so fast that Kit slammed into me.

“Be careful. Come on. Take the dress off.” I yanked at the fabric.