Page 84 of Killer Confections

I take a step away from him and his head whips up. He looks gutted as I put distance between us and it makes my heart clench painfully. “You killed people, Atlas…” I swallow, trying to banish the haunting memory of last night from my mind. “I don’t even know what to think…”

He shakes his head, looking desperate. “Please, let me explain, Loxley. I’ll tell you everything. No more secrets. Just give me a chance.”

I can’t stomach looking at him when he’s like this. I see that broken boy I met all those years ago and my heart and will turns to goop. I sigh. “No more secrets after this. Do you understand?”

He nods. “Of course, baby. None.”

I walk back into the house, Atlas following closely behind, before he motions to the mahogany table next to the kitchen. “Sit there. I’ll be right back.” As he passed me, he places a quick kiss on my cheek, and I let him, despite mywarring feelings.

I ease myself onto the chair, looking around the picture perfect house until he returns from his bedroom and slides into the chair across from me. He looks nervous as he rests his hands on the table and picks at his nail.

“My parents weren’t good people,” he begins quietly. “It’s hard to believe, and I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but I was raised by two highly trained assassins.” His eyes shift to me as he waits for my reaction.

Assassins.

It seems so far-fetched, but it explains so much. The way Atlas and his friend were fighting last night, moving stealthily and quickly as if they were shadows in the night, makes more sense now. Even though I was terrified out of my mind, I could still recognize they’re highly trained and dangerous.

“Okay…” I say slowly. “So, you were raised as an…”

“Assassin,” he finishes with a nod. “It’s why I always had bruises and cuts. My father trained us with his own hand. If we weren’t quick enough, we got beat. Simple.”

I frown. “That’s not simple, Atlas. That’s child abuse.”

He sighs. “It was my life, Short Stack. Being born in the syndicate before the rule changes didn’t exempt anyone. Before my brother, Rowan, stepped in as the leader, all kids born into the syndicate were forced to train and serve.”

“Syndicate?” I ask.

He motions a hand towards the glass sliding doors. In the distance, I see a few brick and stucco houses on other properties, but nothing close enough for me to make out. “The syndicate is a compound of highly trained assassins that take hits for money. We operate completely underground and there are branches everywhere. We’re considered the Midwestern branch and there’s over twenty families living on this compound as of today.”

My head reels as I blink. “Twenty families?”

“Yes.”

“All of them are…assassins?”

He makes a side-to-side motion with his hand. “Most are. Some do other jobs like crime-scene clean-up or intel gathering.”

I’m in a compound with highly trained assassins that work as part of a syndicate. There’s other organizations out there. Otherbranchesof this.

Information overload has nothing on me right now. I think I’m drowning.

Atlas leans further across the table, taking my hands in his. “No one here is going to hurt you. I promise.”

I nod deftly, staring at our joined hands. So many emotions and what-ifs flicker through my head, but what filters out of my mouth is so ridiculous I almost laugh. “I’m not even afraid.”

His lips twitch. “I didn’t think you would be. You’ve always been fearless.”

I nod in agreement before pulling my hand back. “I may be fearless, but I’m still not comfortable. I need answers.”

“Ask away, baby.”

“Those men from last night? Who were they? What did they want?”

His expression turns severe and I prepare myself for something bone-chilling. “When we receive hits, all the other branches do as well. Sometimes we run into other members while trying to collect a bounty, and it’s almost never pretty. If an assassin kills another assassin, there’s a fee that has to be paid, but sometimes that isn’t enough for the loss of a loved one. Thalia has been following a high profile hit for over a month now. She ran into trouble with the South syndicate leader’s wife. We helped her,” his eyes shift to me as he pauses, “disposeof the problem. Now Kai Hayes, the leader of the South branch, is out for blood, but he isn’t targeting us. He’s targeting loved ones. He wants to make us hurt the same way he does now.”

My blood runs cold as I stare unblinkingly at Atlas with wide eyes.

They’re targetingme.