Page 22 of Cruel Debts (Killers of Port Wylde #4)

EIGHTEEN

HAWKE

"For the last time, boys, when I get an update, I'll pass it along to you."

Lilly St. Clair sat in her high-backed fancy chair, staring us down with a sense of irritation. Those talons on her hands did nothing to soften her image, not that she was trying.

She rather liked being intimidating to everyone she met.

"We don't have time to sit around and wait, Lilly," Asher growled, his anger still simmering just below the surface. He'd been on a rage trip ever since we found out Liam's ass left Trinity alone in the gym.

In spandex or lycra or whatever that fucking skintight outfit was made of.

"We need to know what that prick is up to, and unfortunately, since he's off-grid, we need to know who that contract came from. They could be in just as much danger as Trinity."

Lilly leaned back in her chair and kicked her boots atop the desk.

"And I'm telling you, it's not going to happen.

That's one of the biggest tenets of the Guild's foundation—contracts are anonymous.

No ifs, ands or buts. But I will let you know I already reached out to ensure the contracting party is safe and aware of the danger level. "

"That does nothing for us," I growled, slamming my hands down on the desk next to her polished fucking leather heels.

"We're on two simultaneous contracts here, thanks to you, Lilly, so I feel like we're owed more than just some patronizing shit about how you're 'doing everything you can' or whatever nonsense you want us to swallow. "

Clearly, nobody in the room expected this of me. Usually, I was the detached one who just went along with whatever the others agreed to or signed on for.

Not this time.

I was pissed. Beyond pissed. And with our hackles already up, thanks to the mess Liam put us in the center of?—

How could he just leave her there? Locked in, alone, and walk off like he wasn't harboring fucking not-so-secret feelings for her?—

He had no idea I knew. Asher probably knew, too.

Realistically, he and Asher both had been carrying a torch for the little pest for who knew how long.

But not me. In this instance, at least I was the smartest of the three of us.

I couldn't fathom how two decently intelligent men could fall so hard for the biggest pest this side of the Dread River.

Still didn't mean she deserved to be abandoned in a gym in the fucking Guild.

"I think you guys need to remember who you're talking to here," she growled, eyes narrowed to damn near slits. "Who the boss is in this house of horrific killers and crazies."

"And I think you need to remember who works for you," Asher said with a snarl, leaning over the table. "Who you hired to do your dirty work."

"I'm well aware I hired a bunch of unstable lunatics and men with questionable pasts.

The point still stands: you're not in charge here.

I am." Lilly cleared her throat, her eyes drifting to her closet.

"The rules are the rules, and I can't change them for you because you're the founding crew and I like you.

If I start showing favoritism, I'll lose all credibility in this joint. And I don't have time to rebuild."

"I don't care what you do or don‘t have, St. Clair," I said with a snarl.

"I don't want this girl underfoot anymore, which means we have to take out the bastard who's after her.

And that means you're going to have to divulge some of the more sensitive information pertaining to the contract and the employer. "

"Your employer is me," she said back, sizing me up pointedly. "The conversation is over. If you have other, unorthodox ways of obtaining the information you need, well, then I won't stop you from using them. But you're not getting it out of me."

I had the feeling she already knew we had resources she didn't know about, that this was her way of encouraging us to go around her without actually coming out to say it.

That was all the permission I needed, honestly.

“Fine. You don’t wanna give us the info we need, we’ll just have to get it ourselves.” I stood, motioning for the others to follow me out of the office. They remained silent, only a step behind me, until finally, once we rounded the main foyer into the halls, Asher put a hand out to stop me.

”What gives, Hawke?”

Liam poked me in the side and frowned, standing shoulder to shoulder with Asher. “Yeah, what’s the deal? You know damn well we need that intel?—"

”She didn’t say no,” I pointed out, hoping they’d get it and I wouldn’t have to spell it out for them. “What she said was in between the lines, boys. You just have to learn to listen.”

They stared blankly at me until something clicked in Asher’s empty head. “Ohhhh,” he drawled, his brows lifting until they ran into the hairline of his perfect face. “I see what you’re saying.”

”I don’t,” Liam growled, but he shrugged it off. “As long as someone does, I suppose it’s fine. Fill me in if and when you need to.”

I was pretty sure I could get the intel I needed from the club. Trinity's employer knew something, but she wasn't talking, and if all three of us rolled up at once, there was no way we were getting what we needed out of her.

Asher was too business-forward. Liam didn't want to know.

But me?

I was a regular there. Going back for some sex, as a casual customer on mask night? Well, that wouldn't arouse any suspicions.

Just me.

Asher, when I finally told him my plans for the night, was not impressed with the ideas running through my tiny, stupid brain, as he so eloquently called it.

"Trinity's gonna be pissed if she finds out."

I shrugged, already thinking further ahead. "Doesn't matter. It needs to be done, and she's a liability there. Can't drag her with me, or the ladies won't talk. And they're the ones with all the good intel, and you know it."

I was right. He knew it, I knew it, hell, Trinity would know it if she stopped to think about it. But telling her would make her start her crusade to return to work. And if I was busy babysitting her, I couldn't do my damn job.

Keeping her alive longer than a few weeks.

Liam walked into the room, cruising the kitchen for a snack as he half-assedly listened to our conversation. I paid him no more mind than a fly on shit.

"So, when do you plan to go?" Asher flipped his phone open and checked the calendar app. "Tonight?"

"It makes sense," I said slowly, thinking about what I could wear to make myself less noticeable. "It's the high-end clientele night. I'll need good duds to blend in."

A door somewhere opened, and I heard the voice of the bane of my current existence ricochet in my ears.

"Good duds? Hawke, I doubt you own a single thing in your closet that counts as high-end.

" She eyed Asher with barely-concealed lust, and I had to bite back a snarky comment or face his wrath.

"Asher, though, dresses like he knows what shape his body is, and how to buy clothes that fit it.

" Asher cleared his throat pointedly, looking in any direction other than the one where she stood with her hip cocked out and a look on her face that suggested she'd eat him for dinner if he got naked and lay out on the table.

He was determined to act as if her interest didn't exist. That was his plan. I didn't have the heart to tell him there was no pretending that attraction away. Especially when I could see how much she got under his skin.

"So, what are you suggesting, Trin? You trying to say I should raid Asher's boring ass closet for clothes?"

Her brow rose, and she smiled at me. It wasn't a smile, though, so much as it was a baring of her pointy teeth, which I suspected she'd used on a man or two in her life, and not in a good way.

"Well, you are about the same size. And if it's for the job . . . " She trailed off, hoping we'd reveal something detailed, but I knew how to keep my mouth shut when I wanted to.

I looked at Asher pointedly. "She has a point. You do have a lot that would fit me. And it's for the job?—"

"You touch the Armani shirt I bought myself for Christmas last year, and I will personally rip your innards out while you watch.

" I raised a brow in Trinity's direction, but he didn't seem to care if he had an audience.

"You know what I'm capable of. I can keep you alive the whole time, so you feel every little tug, pull, and pinch.

I can stitch you back up with your intestines twisted up around your other organs, so you die in agonizing pain as your body strangles itself. I can even?—"

"Ugh, you two are sick," she finally said with a huff of annoyance.

I could see the little eye roll she gave us, though, so she wasn't so much grossed out as she was irritated that the conversation hadn't turned where she'd tried to redirect it.

"Well, come on, Hawke. I don't think you can be trusted to dress yourself to impress. I'll help you."

I had a sneaking suspicion that she only wanted in his closet to finger his clothes and maybe rub herself on them, but I wasn't about to turn down the help. If it got me out of this house and out from under her annoying glares faster, then I was all for it.

This was, by far, one of my more stupid decisions. Letting Trinity help me pick fancy clothes out of Asher's closet sounded good, in theory, but in practice, it was like I'd been transformed into a Barbie doll and was in the middle of some personal kind of dress-up party hell.

"Here, try this one, Hawke," she said from the closet, holding the tenth shirt out the door at me. "It's a better color than the last one, but not as flashy."

"The first one was fine," I complained, rolling my eyes as I took the damn shirt and unbuttoned the one on my shoulders now. "Why the hell am I trying on clothes like it's time to pick out matching outfits before prom?"

Trinity scoffed, though her ire was muffled by the millions of articles of clothing in Asher's bottomless closet.

I swore, the man had an outfit for every occasion.

"Because, if you're going on a mission, and playing the part is pivotal to the success, then it's important to make sure you look the part, too. "

"Appearances aren't everything," I pointed out, rolling up the sleeves on this one to see how well the damn cuffs would stay if I needed to beat someone's ass.

"They're just the only thing that matters," she snapped back, striding out of the closet with three pairs of pants slung over an arm. "Try these on—oh." Her brows rose to her hairline, and the smile she let spread over her lips made me think I should be afraid for my life.

"Oh, what?"

She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and chewed it, her eyes raking over my torso with barely-concealed heat. "Oh, you look better in that shirt than I thought you would."

I snatched the black pants off the end of her arm and sucked on the inside of my teeth.

"Tch. Put your eyeballs back in your head.

I'd never fuck around with someone as annoying as you.

Especially since all you like me for right now is the clothes on my back.

" To prove my point, I yanked the top off and crossed my arms, as if to prove that the shirt and the very Asher-like aura that came with them was all that was interesting here.

The only thing that changed me from the annoying asshole in her eyes to someone appealing was the outfit.

Her eyes damn near bugged out of her head as she whistled low, flexing her free hand into a fist. "You know, I think maybe you're right. Appearances are everything. And suddenly, I feel like I'm overdressed for this one."

I yanked her by the hand, practically throwing her from the room as I slammed the door behind her.

No way. Not a snowball's chance in hell. Not gonna happen.

She could try the fuck again. I was not on this planet ever going to get involved with that brat of a girl. There wasn't an ounce of interest in my body for her?—

"Aww, come on, Hawke, it was a joke ? —"

She stood at the door, her fist beating on the wooden barrier, but I had no intention of letting her in.

As a matter of fact, I threw Asher's clothes on in quick order, rolled the sleeves up on the shirt, unfastened a top button or two, and paired it with the mask from my last visit to the club's Masquerade Night event.

And before I could lose my resolve, I shoved the door open, ignoring Trinity's protests as I made for the door, only stopping to grab a jacket.

I wasn't fast enough to avoid her little gasp of recognition.

"You're going to the club."

Shit.

"Hawke," she growled, the sound more feral beast than woman.

Time to go.

I heard her screech through the metal door as I jogged down the hall.

I would deal with her later. Now, there was work to do.