Page 8

James

“ S he’s late,”I grumbled, scowling at my phone and the message I’dreceived a few minutes ago which had soured my mood dramatically. Notthatmy mood had been much better before the text arrived, thanks to the call from Edith earlier informing methatWillow had started her period.

I should have thought to question her on her menstrual cycle so I hadan idea when her period would be. Still, it wasn’t the worst timing, by the time I got back from this job, she would be close to finishing her period, and I could crack on with trying to knock her up.

“She’s always late. Cleo will be late to her own funeral,”Jacksonmuttered, turning to me and nodding to my phone with a smirk playing on his lips.“Let me guess, your wife messaged to tell you how much she loves you?”

Itreallywas a shame I couldn’t do my job without him, I would haveloved nothing more than to knock the cunt out rightthen. Sadly, he needed to be conscious to talk Cleo through the plan when she finally got her ass to the meeting point.

If she got her ass here, and if wasn’t for her being so damn good ather job, I would have found another honey trapper to use.

“My father wants me to take Willow for a family dinner at theweekend,”I replied, repocketing my phone.

Jackson chuckled.“That’ll be fun. Shall we make a bet to see howlong it takes for your old man to make her cry?”

I hummed in agreement. It was inevitablethatmy father would wantto meet my new wife as soon as he heard I’d eloped, and without a doubt, he’d disapprove of my bride. My father was a cruel man, crueler than me, and there wasn’t theslightest chance Willow would escape his vicious tongue, yet for reasonsthatI couldn’t fathom,thatpissed me off.

The only person allowed to be vicious toward my wife was me.

Before I could reply, the back door to the blacked-out SUV we werewaiting in was yanked open. The scent of sickly sweet candy floss filled the car, and a tall, gorgeous woman slid into the back seat.

“Howdy, boys,”Cleo said, putting on a fake Southern accent.“Longtime, no see.”

Cleopatra Stone was a woman of many faces. She had to be for whatshe did. Daughter of Harrison Stone, one of the current leaders of Legion, Cleo would one day sit on the board next to me and Jackson, along with the Evans twins- Zayden and Brody.

Personally, I couldn’t have been happier to have her as a fellow boardmember, she was a valuable asset.

We all were, and with our combined skills, we were shaping up to bethe most powerful leaders Legion had ever seen. But not all members of the society were pleased a woman would one day be overseeing them, including Cleo’s own father.

“You’re late,”I replied, peering over my shoulder at Cleo and taking inher latest look.“Nice hair.”

“Thanks,”she replied, replacing her fake accent with her real one.“Ititches like fuck though, I’ll be glad when this contract is over, and I don’t have to be Candy the bimbo with only one brain cell.”

She removed her hot pink wig, revealing her brown, pixie-cut hairunderneath and giving her scalp a scratch.

Like Jackson and me, Cleo took on contracts supplied to her viaLegion members. But where Jackson and I killed people, Cleo used her charms to gain information, or in some cases, ruin relationships.

When she was born, her father hatedthathis firstborn was a girl,but when no more children came along for him, Harrison decided to make the best of a bad situation. He shipped Cleo off to various institutes across the globe where she learned to manipulate men into doing her bidding.

She was damn good at honey trapping too, among other skills.Thanks to Cleo, Legion had obtained informationthatcould ruin people’s lives, and cause wars between governments if there ever came a time.

“Working on anything good?”Jackson said, his gaze dropping toCleo’s tits as always.

He’d been attracted to her since she turned sixteen and returnedhome after a summer away with bags of confidence, and tits the size of melons. She’d rejected his advances on every occasion though, maintaining the stancethatit was better to not fuck colleagues.

“Nah, nothing exciting. The parents of a celebrity want to provethattheir future son-in-law is a cheating dirtbag. It’s a piss easy job so I was kinda glad you guys called,”Cleo replied, sitting forward to look at the two of us from the back seat.“Who’d the politician fuck off to earn himself a death sentence?”

On our flight to New York, Jackson filled me in on how the contract toend Newton Phillips’ life had come to us. NotthatI would have turned down a contract but I always liked to know what the person had done to meet their maker at my hands. My final words to them was usually telling them what they’d done to deserve death so they’d die knowing what their sins were.

“Raped a thirteen-year-old girl,”I replied, keeping my tone neutral.

The irony wasn’t lost on me. The more I learned about Newton, themore disgusted I was, all the while ignoring the little voice in my head telling methatmaybe I wasn’t so different from him. But I kept reminding myselfthatI was nothing like him. Willow wasmy wife. My eighteen-year-old wife who had given me permission to touch her, not a thirteen-year-old who’d begged Newton to stop repeatedly.

“Dirty fucker deserves to die,”Cleo said, her face twisting in disgustlike mine had when I’d learned of Newton’s crime.

“Yeah, poor kid was traumatized,”Jackson added.“The family went tothe police but Newton paid them a visit one night, and offered them two million dollars to make the allegations go away. The girl didn’t want to relive what happened in court, not after Newton told herthathis lawyers would tear her to shreds on the stand, so she told her parents to accept the money.”

“Christ. Please tell me you’re going to cut off his cock before you killhim?”Cleo asked, looking at me.

“I wish I could, but a public figure like Newton will raise too manyquestions.”

“I suppose you’re right,”she sighed.“Well, hopefully the kid will getsome closure after he’s dead.”

“I doubt it. She killed herself last month,”Jackson said glumly.“But onthe plus side, her parents are using a huge chunk of the money to pay for Newton’s execution. Funny isn’t it, he’s effectively paid for himself to die. Every cloud, and allthat.”

Jackson looked between us, a sadistic grin twisting on his lips. I rolledmy eyes. No matter the situation, Jackson always looked for the positives.

“What can I do to help?”Cleo replied, determination flashing in hereyes.

She’d had her fair share of dealing with handsy assholes throughouther life and was only too happy to be part of the team to remove them from the face of the earth.

“How do you fancy forging a suicide note?”Jackson asked, pulling asheet of paper from the folder he held on his lap.“Here’s a sample of his handwriting.”

He handed her the document Zayden and Brody had stolen fromNewton’s office the night before. The twins were widely known for illegal street races, and underground fight clubs, but few knew the two of them were excellent thieves.

Cleo took it and raked her eyes over it. Aside from honey trapping,she was the best forger money could buy. She’d made a fortune over the years by making a variety of fraudulent documents. Faking a suicide note would be simple for her.

“Shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll write,' Dear world, sorry I’m such a pieceof shit and rapedthatpoor girl. I decided the world would be a much better place without me in it. Don’t mourn for me, I don’t deserve your tears. Regards, Newton ‘I’m a pedo’ Phillips.’' Sound good?”

Jackson and I chuckled.“Maybe a little less sarcastic, and instead ofsaying he rapedthatgirl, say he raped a number of girls,”I said, gritting my teeth as I recalled what Jackson had told me.

Newton had been raping girls and paying for their silence for the lastthree years. The worldreallywould be a better place without the piece of shit.

“Done,” Cleo said. “Anything else?”

“Yeah. We need you to fuck him,”Jackson said, grinningmischievously as he waited for Cleo’s reaction.

“No, we don’t,”I barked, intervening before the two of them could startbickering.

They were notorious for winding each other up. Despite Cleo stickingto the rulethatshe didn’t fuck colleagues, the two of them had a ridiculous amount of sexual tension between them. The sooner she relented and spent the night riding Jackson’s cock, the better it would be for all of us.

“Newton’s attending an event tomorrow night at The Ballroom Hotel.He’s got a suite there, and all the rooms onthatfloor, as well as the floor above and below, have been blocked out for his protection. Newton likes to avoid the public as much as possible at events like this,”I said, going over what Jackson and I had learned the last two days.“The key card to his suite is the only one, and Jackson can’t copy the code to clone it. We need someone on the inside of the room to let me in.”

“What about his security? Surely he’ll have people stationed in thehotel?”Cleo asked, raising a brow.

“There’s two guards stationed on each floor,”Jackson replied.“I’mgoing to override the camera feed and the elevator so James can get to the floor Newton’s suite is on. There’ll be one guard stationed by the elevator and one outside Newton’s door.”

“The guard at the lift is going to get a dose of a sleeping sedative assoon as the doors open. We can’t kill him because we need to make it look like Newton killed himself, and if we kill his guards, our plan won’t work,”I said, taking over from Jackson to brief Cleo.“Once he’s down, the other guard won’t be a problem. He’s been given an incentive in exchange for telling the authoritiesthatNewton was alive and well after you left, and denying anyone came to the floor for the rest of the night.”

We’d researched every one of Newton’s security personnel. The guywho was assigned to door duty was currently going through a nasty custody battle with his ex. In exchange for his silence surrounding Newton’s impending death, I’d put him in contact with a Legion member who was a shit-hot lawyer and would have no issues winning the custody battle.

Everyone had leverage, youjusthad to find it.

“Sounds simple enough,”Cleo said, her eyes lighting up withexcitement.“Justdon’t think I won’t break the fucker’s hands if he touches me before you get there.”

“You won’t need to. Once you get to the room, offer to make him adrink and pour this in it.”I handed her a small bag containing succinylcholine, a muscle relaxant used during surgeries.“It’s only a small amount. He won’t be able to move for about ten minutes which will give me plenty of time to get to you.”

“How do you plan on killing him?”she asked, taking the bag andexamining the content, her nose wrinkling.

“I’m going to dose him up on heroin, andthenthrow him over thebalcony, his room is twenty floors up. Along with the drugs they’ll find in his system, and the suicide note, no one will look too closely into his death. Especially when we release the information after his death about how he likes to fuck kids.”

A wicked smile curled on Cleo’s lips.“I like the plan, count me in. Idoubt it’ll be hard to get the asshole to take me up to his room.”

“Knew we could count on you, Stone. We couldn’t do it without you,”Jackson said, giving her one of his panty-melting smilesthatworked on most women, but not Cleo.

She rolled her eyes.“Cut the crap, Jackson. I’ve agreed to help, youdon’t need to blow smoke up my ass.”

“Any questions?”I said, awarethatwe’d been parked up in the darkparking lot longer than anticipated. I didn’t want any unnecessary attention on us.

“Nope, clear as mud, boss,”Cleo said, giving me a mock salute likeshe’d done for as long as I could remember.“Send me the dress code of the event, and the time you want me there, and I’ll be there.”

I nodded. “Thanks, Cleo.”

She made to get out of the car but paused before leaning forwardagain.“Oh, before I go. Congratulations on the marriage. You keptthatquiet.”

“Yeah, it was unexpected,”I replied, ignoring the way Jackson wassmirking at me.

Cleo laughed.“You can saythatagain. Is it true Welch was going tokeep her to himself?”

I glared at Jackson, who quickly started picking at imaginary lint onhis jeans and refusing to meet my stare, telling me what I needed to know. The asshole had filled Cleo in on every little detail about my visit to Peartree House.

“Yeah,”I replied, not willing to discuss any further details aboutWillow.

She whistled.“Poor girl. I’m not sure being married to you is better orworse than being claimed by Welch.Thatfat fuck is such a creep, wereallyought to consider replacing him when we take over Legion. A few years back, he asked me to forge a death certificate for a mother and her kid after the husband was killed in a car crash. Welch said he wanted to help them start a new life, but I’d bet everything I ownthatyour wife wasn’t the first girl Welch has tried to claim. I’m telling you,thatman is the biggest perv going, I’m not sure he can be trusted in a place like Peartree House.”

“No arguments here,”Jackson said at the same time I asked a question of my own.

“A few years back?”I didn’t know why, but something about Cleo’s story piqued my interest.

“Yeah, or maybe longer, I don’t remember. Jobs tend to blur into one.But I remember this kid because she hadthatthing with her eyes. You know, when they’re different colors? Anyway, it set my nerves on edge with the way he spoke about her. The creep almost jizzed in his pants every time he looked at her picture.”

“Here’s to a job well done,”Jackson said, holding his shot glass upfor us to chink.

“To one less asshole in the world,”Zayden said before downing hisshot of tequila, Jackson and I following suit.

The plan had gone smoothly. Newton Phillips was dead. Tomorrow,the world would find out about his sins, and any outpouring of sympathy would be quelled, replaced with fury at why the man was never prosecuted.

After I’d snuck out of his hotel room, having hauled the lump of a manover the balcony and watching as his body crashed to the floor, Jackson and I decided to celebrate by watching Brody beat the living shit out of his opponent in an underground fighting ring.

Brody was undefeated in the circuit.Justlike his twin, Zayden, wasundefeated in illegal street races. They were the youngest of the board members at twenty-two years old, but the two of them had good heads screwed on.

Mostly .

“I’m going to find my brother,”Zayden said, standing from the tablewe’d acquired in the corner of the club following the fight.“He’s fucking a girl who wants a twin sandwich.”

He winked at us before strolling away, earning a chuckle fromJackson and an eye roll from me.

“Maybe we should find a woman who wants a Jackson and Jamessandwich,”Jackson said, pouring us another shot of tequila each.“It’s been a while since we tag-teamed pussy.”

I downed the shot, grimacing at the burn.“Not interested.”

“What the hell is the matter with you? You’ve been a miserable cuntfrom the minute we boarded the plane to come here. Don’t tell me you’re missing your wife?”

A scowl twisted on my face. I wasn’t missing Willow but Icouldn’t get her out of my head, and I’d checked the camera feed in her room more times than I wanted to admit.

But after the meeting with Cleo and her mention of forging documentsfor a girl with heterochromia, a niggling feeling had settled in my gut. I couldn’t say for sure whatthatfeeling was, itseemedlike too much of a coincidence for the girl Cleo mentioned to be Willow. But the more I thought about it, the more my curiosity grew as to what Willow’s story was, and how she ended up at Peartree House.

The girls who wound up in the program were girls who wouldn’t bemissing from society. Runaways who’d turned to a life on the street instead of going home to abusive parents, girls who’d been dumped in care homes after their parents decided they didn’t want them anymore.

It was against Legion rules to accept a girl into the Peartree Houseprogram who would be missed in society, it would bring unnecessary attention to the ongoings in the house, and questions we wouldn’t want to answer.

“Fine, don’t answer me,”Jackson huffed after I poured myself anothershot of tequila.“You carry on being a miserable bastard, I’m going to find me some pussy.”

Withthat, he snatched the bottle off the table, and stormed into thecrowd, leaving me to brood.

Over the next hour, and after I’d ordered myself another bottle oftequila, I did everything I could to distract myself from thoughts of Willow, but the more I tried to shove her out of my head, the more the mouse burrowed her way into my thoughts.

So what was Willow’s story?

Regardless of whether there was the slightest chance she was thegirl Cleo had forged documents for, I couldn’t help but wonder where she had come from, and where her parents were. Did they know or care what had become of her?

I knew nothing about her other thanthatfor the last eight years, she’dlived in the shadows at Peartree House, yet the more I thought about her, the more intrigued I became.

More importantly, why the fuck was I interested? What Willow’s storywas before she arrived at Peartree House was none of my business; my only concern with the girl was getting her pregnant, it was as simple asthat.

“James, right?”a voice purred, distracting me from thoughts of mywife.

My head snapped up to find a woman hovering over me, her titsalmost spilling out of her tight-fitting dress, and long blonde hair trailing down to her waist.

“Yeah,”I said, raking my eyes over her body, my cock twitchingas I took in her curves.

Fuck, she was stunning.

“Your friend said you might want some company?”she replied, givingme a salacious smile.

“Did he now?”I tilted my head to the side, my gaze landing on her fulltits, and the image of my cock sliding between them sprang to life in my mind.

“Uh-huh. He said you were missing your wife and might needcheering up.”She picked up the bottle of tequila, which despite ordering, I hadn’t actually opened.“I happen to be good at cheering people up.”

She opened the bottle and took a mouthful, keeping her blue eyes onme. A wave of anger rushed through me, the woman clearly didn’t give a fuck about ruining a marriage.Butthen, it wasn’t as if my marriage was real. I owed Willow nothing,and maybe all I needed to get the mouse out of my head was fresh pussy.

“I’ve got a room at the hotel across the road,”the woman said, hertongue darting out to lick her plump bottom lip.“Maybe you could walk me back to my room, and we can…talk.”

Dismissing the image of Willow’s sad face, I stood and grabbedthe woman’s hips, pulling her to me and thrusting my hard cock against her stomach.“Do you have a name?”

“Jade,”she said, her warm breath skating over my lips as her eyessparkled with excitement.

“Pretty name. Lead the way, Jade.”