Page 35 of Mine to Keep (Bloody Desires #10)

twenty-one

tell me your secrets

“Two men, Knox?” Olivia asks when I step out of the room, shutting the door softly behind me. “You weren't that greedy back when I knew you.” She winks at me.

I give her the finger but crack my first smile of the night. “Yeah, well, things change after a few years. I’m their Daddy.”

“Yeah, some things never change.” She grins at me.

I give her a long, searching look, asking her questions without uttering a word.

Her smile fades and she nods, waving me into the small kitchen.

There’s a first aid kit on the island, with a suture kit already open and ready.

Olivia points to a stool and I take a seat.

She snaps on a pair of gloves and gets busy poking and prodding at my wounds.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at her.

She nods distractedly. “I got my nursing degree after I got out of the game. You’re in good hands.”

I look over at her, my eyebrows raised. “You did? You’re a normal civilian now?”

“Yep. I have a wife and two dogs. Well, I have a Mommy, and two dogs. I work in a small clinic not far from here.” She meets my gaze, a soft smile on her lips. “I’ve been living a good life.”

She makes quick work of numbing me up and sewing my arm wound shut. Olivia says there shouldn’t be any issues with healing, but told me I had to take some antibiotics just in case.

She sighs when she looks at my hand. “I think you should be good with just sutures, since it went straight through, but you need to go to a hospital.” I tick up an eyebrow. “When you finish this shit, go. To. A. Hospital.”

“Hard to do when someone is trying to kill me,” I deadpan.

Olivia gives me a dry look in return before throwing stitches in my hand wound too. “You’ll figure it out. Here, take these.” She drops two pills in my good hand. “And you’ll have to take two once a day for the next ten days.”

I grunt but take the meds as she directed.

We wander into the living room, where I collapse on the couch, the familiar exhaustion creeping into my bones. The few nights I was able to sleep through the night feel like a faded memory.

By sheer force of will, I open eyes I didn’t know I closed and look into the curious face of my former lover and one of my good friends. She’s alive. For years, I thought she was dead, killed by The Void in an off-the-books retirement hit.

“How did you know I’d be here?” I ask her.

“Peggy called me.”

“What…” The word comes out as a croak, so I clear my throat and try again. “What happened? I thought…I thought you were dead.”

“If The Director’d had it his way, I would’ve been.

” She sighs and shakes her head. “My last job, I don’t know if I told you about it?

” I shake my head. “Well, he called me directly, wanting me to do a last minute job. Whatever, not a big deal. I’d done plenty of last minute jobs, though they usually came from Peggy.

All I was told was there were five targets in the house and I had to take them all out. ”

“A blackout,” I say.

A blackout is when we have to eliminate either an entire family or an entire household, their bodies not to be found for days or weeks on end.

“Yeah,” she says. “I was all set up to go, but something about it didn’t feel right.

So I called Peggy and asked her to look into it for me, but I didn’t want any of it getting back to The Void.

So she did her magic and told me the main target was a four-year-old girl and her family.

Four, Knox. She had been raped by the guy who paid for the contract. ”

“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath. One thing Olivia and I shared was no killing kids.

They may not always be innocent—because at a certain age, they know right from wrong—but we don’t kill minors.

It was a hard line we made with The Void, one they said they’d respect.

There were plenty of others that didn’t mind and would take those contracts, but no amount of money was worth it to us.

“After that,” she says, “I called him back and told him I wouldn’t take the job and I was out.

He didn’t react, which was reaction enough, so I went underground.

But while I was in hiding, I was preparing, making sure that I had a plan in case The Director tried to retire me.

I had Peggy get some cash to the family and they disappeared.

As far as I know, they’re still alive. I killed the rapist motherfucker that paid for the hit, so I’m sure The Void had no reason to honor the contract after that. ”

I grunt in approval.

“As I suspected, The Director was hellbent on retiring me for defying him. He found my hideout and someone tried to take me out. I killed her and left The Director a note stabbed in her chest. I had all the jackets of hits I’d done saved on an offshore server that only I knew about.

I told him if he sent someone else after me, I’d kill them.

And if they killed me, the information would be sent to the authorities, with his name all over it.

I asked if he was ready to risk hundreds of life sentences in a super max prison.

He sent someone else after me and I killed them too.

That’s when I told him that I had my past jackets saved and if I don’t log in every week with a new password, the information would be released.

I guess he didn’t want to chance it and he left me alone.

“Peggy kept in touch, making sure I was aware of what was going on, but I told her to spread the rumor that I was retired if anyone asked. It kept everyone safe.” She tilts her head with a soft smile. “Or as safe as we can be, anyway.”

I understand why she didn’t say anything, but that doesn’t mean I like it. After what happened with Patience, I thought I lost someone else close to me.

Olivia lays a hand on my uninjured one. “Don’t be pissed at Peggy. She only did what I asked.”

“You could have told me,” I say in a hard voice.

She shrugs. “I could have. But I wanted a fresh start, a new life. I wanted to live the life I thought I’d never have because of what I did. Now, I help save lives instead of taking them. Though I don’t mind killing a motherfucker that gets on my fucking nerves.”

I shoot her a small grin. “Don’t I know it.”

“So why’d The Void take out a jacket on you?”

“Peggy told you that too?”

“Yeah, she wanted me to know everything so I could have your back.”

I grab her hand, squeezing it quickly. “Not sure who wants me dead. I’m supposed to call her so we can discuss it, but I had to tend to Talon and Javier first.”

“Speaking of your boys, what do you plan to do with them? The closer they are to you while you’re trying to figure this shit out, the more you’ll want to protect them and not yourself.”

My throat closes up as I think about Javier and Talon in any danger. I can’t have their deaths on my conscience too. “I’m going to send them back home. You think The Director will go after them?”

Olivia shakes her head. “No. You’re Viper. He knows that would only mean you’d come after him. And if he killed you, I’d kill him. He might be an ass, but he’s not stupid. They’ll be as safe as they can be.”

“I’m getting out, Liv. They…they’re my light. I can’t have my darkness marring them. I have enough money to live a good life without contracts.”

She smiles and bumps my shoulder. “Yeah, you’re in love.” I roll my eyes, but don’t disagree. “That’s how I feel about my Mommy. She knows what I used to do, but she still stuck by me. They in it for the long run?”

“Yeah. Crazy as it sounds, they love me too.”

“It’s not crazy, Knox. We may not have worked out in the long run, but you’re a good guy. Deadly as fuck, but still good. They think so too, I can tell.”

I lean on her shoulder, blowing out a long breath.

I smile as her hair tickles my skin, reminding me of the good ol’ days when we hung out when we were in the same area.

It wasn’t always about sex when we met up.

Sometimes, it was nice to be with someone that I didn’t have to hide my life from.

I could be my full, authentic self with Olivia. No hiding. No secrets.

I feel myself sliding into sleep, but I force myself to sit up and pull my phone out. “Gotta call Pegs. She told me to call when I was inside.” I dial her number quickly.

She answers on the first ring. “You safe? Liv with you?”

“She’s right here,” I say, glancing at Olivia.

Peggy sighs. “I’m sorry I had to keep that a secret, Knox. It was?—”

“I get it,” I say, though I kinda don’t. I could have kept that information to myself. But it was Olivia’s wish, so I let it go. “What did you find out?”

“Put me on speaker.” I do, and she continues, “The file I sent to your email is regarding the couple assigned to your jacket.”

“So they’re really a couple? Not just hit partners?” I ask, signing into my email and opening the file.

“Yep, a full-fledged couple. Skylar and Martha Chaplin. Married for six years, worked for The Void for eight. They met on a job. Skylar’s weapon of choice is a rifle, long range with a scope. He can hit a dime from about half a mile away. I’m surprised you made it out alive.”

Fear skitters down my spine. Maybe I got lucky.

Peggy continues as if she didn’t just turn my world upside down. “Martha’s weapons of choice was knives, as you know. She was also skilled in hand-to-hand—MMA, Kav Magra, Jiu Jitsu.”

I touch my injured face. “Yeah, I saw that too.”

After a pause, Peggy says, “It was a five million dollar contract, Knox. I don’t know who called it in, it was an alias, paid via crypto, so it’ll take me a little longer to find out who it was. I’m working on it now.”

“Thanks.” Then something pops into my head. “Pegs, the girl who dropped off the package to me earlier this week? She was the target tonight. She was killed.”

“Ah,” Peggy says sadly. “That fucking sucks. She was a sweet girl. All alone in the world. She only fell in with The Void because she needed money for school.”

“Sorry.”

“All good.” Her voice tells me the complete opposite. “Let me keep digging to see who called the jacket and I’ll get back to you.”

“Do me a favor and find Skylar. Martha has her knife in her chest, so she’s no longer a threat, but I left him alive on the highway so he wouldn’t kill my boys. Get me his location and phone number if he has it. We need to talk.”

“Airport boys?” she asks with a smile in her voice, though it’s still tinged with sadness.

“Yeah. They’re mine.”

“Give me twenty minutes. I’ll have everything you need.”