Page 2 of Redeemed (Redeemed #1)

Chapter Two

Kennedy

T he elevator doors open, revealing Nathan, leaning against the wall, arms crossed and whiskey-colored glare drilling into me. His reddish-brown hair is in disarray, probably from running his fingers through it incessantly. He becomes the biggest worry wort when we are on assignment.

“You were hardly in that restaurant for thirty minutes. Is it really that damn hard for you to stick to the plan?” The security team watching the cameras must have tipped Nathan off that I was altering the original plan once I left the restaurant.

“I made my move when the opportunity presented itself.”

I move past him with a shrug, pushing through the penthouse doors. Like my father, I’m not fond of explaining my reasoning once I’ve made my decision.

We barely cross the threshold of the room before I’m kicking off my shoes and unzipping my dress. We’ve been on enough missions together that modesty isn’t a thought in my mind as I fully slip out of my dress and into a hotel robe.

The deep sigh I hear behind me is the only sign that Nathan followed me. How he moves so silently at his stature should be studied.

“That wasn’t the plan, Kenn. You were supposed to get him drunk and have him stumbling back to the room with you.” He runs his hand over his face and takes another deep breath, gathering his patience to deal with me.

It’s funny how the original plan worked for everyone who wasn’t required to put their body on display.

Nathan knows that we could’ve gotten the information we needed and ended Antonio Garcia weeks ago.

This assignment was simply meant to teach me a lesson for suggesting we finally attack Michael and pushing back when my father disagreed.

“I don’t think it would be smart to have the man that’s about to disappear off the face of the earth entering the elevator drunk, least of all with me.”

My fingers flex with the urge to punch something, or someone.

“Kennedy, you know the security cameras are down.”

“That doesn’t mean the staff isn’t watching. Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change. Let’s be intelligent.”

We hold each other’s gaze for a moment before his shoulders relax and he runs his hand through his hair. The fight to follow the rules exactly as written slowly leaves his body with a little push from me.

His eyes soften before he says, “You sure you want to walk down this road of possibly pissing your father off?”

I lift my chin in defiance. “I’m perfectly capable of taking responsibility for my actions.” Even if said actions will probably lead to some serious shit with my father.

Nathan’s eyes narrow on my face, reading the mischief that only a best friend would recognize.

“Damnit, Kennedy, what are we about to get ourselves into?”

I smile widely as I snatch my backpack from the bed and pull out my favorite switchblade, pistol, and a set of handcuffs.

“We are going to do exactly as my father requested—find out who Antonio Garcia works for and make him pay for knowingly selling guns to dealers who won’t stay out of Rose territory.”

“What about the information your father wants to gain?”

“I have a team combing through Garcia’s emails and data footprint as we speak. This is a retribution mission. Does it really matter how we get the information?”

Nathan’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “You know, a little heads-up before you start driving the train off the tracks would be nice. Fuck, you’re answering to Ashton when shit goes left.”

I smirk because, even though he tries to avoid pissing my father off, he likes the level of chaos we ignite together.

“He’ll only find out if you tell him,” I say with a pointed look.

“Garcia just got on the elevator, and the penthouse card was swiped.” Nathan is looking down at his phone, firing off a message.

I’m smug as I rub in the fact that I was right about Garcia. “I told you my plan will work. Just follow my lead and we can end this thing in no time. Oh, and have the cleaning crew en route.”

Without another word, Nate disappears into the other room.

I take a moment to shove down the thoughts of the consequences that will surely come from directly disobeying my father. There will be time to panic once we get the information we’re here for. My lungs fill with air, and I quiet every thought in my mind, focusing on the task at hand.

I slip the handcuffs from the bed into one pocket and my switchblade into the other before making my way to the sitting area. There’s a knock on the door and the thrill of the hunt sends goosebumps down my arms.

Do or die.

I tug loose the belt of my robe, allowing the matching bra and panty set to show. With another deep breath, I acknowledge that this assignment is almost over and ending on my terms.

Opening the door, I stand posed with a hand on my hip, allowing Garcia to look his fill and lean into the confidence of his choice to come to my room tonight. “So, you did decide to come.”

With his eyes glued to my boobs, he says, “I haven’t come yet, but I definitely plan to.”

Oh, how I can’t wait to end this bastard.

“Cheeky.”

My smile feels forced as I open the door wider for him to enter. I mentally shake myself as a reminder to keep up this act for just a bit longer.

Garcia makes himself comfortable in one of the chairs, taking up the same spread-leg sitting position he had in the bar. The man is sexy and it’s unfortunate that he knows it because the arrogance makes him equally disgusting.

Then, he actually has the nerve to pat his leg, summoning me to perch on his lap.

It’s best if he realizes I’ll be running this show tonight.

I smile, moving toward him as I pull the handcuffs from my pocket. “Do you want to play?” I ask, the cuffs dangling from my outstretched finger.

His lips tilt up before biting them as he empties the contents of his pockets onto the coffee table. “What do you have in mind, doll?”

“Great question.” I run my hand over his chest as I move around the chair to stand behind him. “I’m going to have so much fun with you tonight,” I whisper into his ear before placing a kiss on his cheek.

“Do your worst, baby.”

I chuckle knowing I whole-heartedly plan to. My hands smooth over his shoulders before pulling his arms back behind the chair and binding his wrists together.

“Let me know if this is too tight for you.”

“It isn’t tight at all.” His voice holds a sense of calm that the tension in his shoulders doesn’t agree with.

“Great.”

I tighten the cuffs even more, patting his shoulder as I walk to stand in front of him. Admiring the calm before the storm, I straddle his lap, allowing the sexy facade to drop before leaning forward and pressing myself against his chest.

I run my nose up his neck, placing my lips to his ear. A shiver runs through his body in, what I can only assume is, arousal.

“You’ve been a very bad man, Mr. Garcia.”

A full minute passes before he realizes that I’ve used his name without him giving it to me. His body goes taut beneath me as I feel him test the strength of the cuffs.

“Who the fuck are you?”

Gone is the calm, collected man that walked through the room moments ago.

“Taking money from powerful men is a dangerous game.”

My hands trace the muscular lines of his body before moving up to his neck. His eyes widen as they scan my face, looking for recognition that he won’t find. Death’s Shadow is a myth until one day, I’m sitting in your lap, and your end is near.

“Listen, I don’t know who you think I am, but I haven’t stolen any money.”

“Would you like to talk to Ashton Rose yourself?”

The mention of my father has the color draining from Garcia’s face. My first genuine smile of the night spreads across my cheeks as I watch the fear settle over him.

“You’re Death’s Shadow”

“Ding, ding, ding we have a winner!”

“Kennedy, stop playing with your food.”

Nathan’s raspy voice enters the conversation, and Antonio nearly jumps out of his skin. So focused on the imminent danger sitting on his lap, he missed the dark presence moving to the couch behind me.

“Gross, Nate. I’m not going to eat him, but I’m sure something will.

Wherever you decide to dump his body.” I ease off Garcia’s lap, bending forward to look into his eyes.

“Now, let’s cut to the chase. I need two pieces of information from you: tell me who exactly you work for, and how you plan to pay back the money you stole from my father. ”

“I didn’t steal any money. I’m being set up.”

I chuckle because it’s the same thing with all these men.

“I would hate for this evening to take an even uglier turn. We know you’re running guns in Rose territory, therefore digging into our cash flow. In our eyes, that’s stealing.”

“I don’t owe you shit! That money was earned fair and square.”

The lust that clouded his eyes moments ago has been replaced with malice. But all I care to see is fear. I punch my fist into his nose because, honestly, his tone is uncalled for.

“Nate, can you grab the items I left on the bed?” I shake my fist out and sit back on Garcia’s lap. “Now, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to give me the information I requested, and I’m going to save you from a night of torture.”

Nathan walks my weapons over to me. I stand up, taking my time screwing the compressor onto my pistol while Mr. Garcia and I have a silent glare off. The gun is a scare tactic as I wouldn’t dare fire it in a hotel.

“I already told you, I don’t have any information to give.”

I take a deep breath pulling the knife from my robe.

“That’s the wrong answer.” Flicking the blade open I drive it into the top of his thigh and relish in the muffed scream that leaves his mouth.

His teeth clench together as he tries to groan through the pain.

“Are you sure you don’t have any information for me? ”

He’s seething, pouring all the hatred he’s feeling into his glare. “Why should I tell you anything if you’re going to kill me anyway?”

“Well, it’s quite simple, really. Things can end here, quickly, or you can refuse me, and I let the big guy over there take you back to our warehouse.” I turn the knife, still lodged in his thigh, slightly. “There will be a lot more of this going on.”

“Michael Ellis is the name of the man I work for,” Garcia says through clenched teeth.

Nathan chuckles. “That didn’t take long.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not everything I asked for.” Yanking the knife out of his thigh, I drive it into the other. “Now, how do you plan to give us our money back?”

Tears stream down Garcia’s face.

“My phone,” he whispers through a shuddering breath.

Patting his head, I praise him with a “Good boy.”

I pick up the phone he slid on the table earlier, allowing his facial recognition to unlock it. He walks me through accessing the apps between sniffles and tears.

People who embrace the life of crime often feel invincible, failing to think about the consequences of their life choices.

The danger they willingly walk into for quick money can seem like enough of a sacrifice towards the life they desire—never acknowledging there will always be a bigger threat waiting to take them out.

Nathan notifies me that the wire transfer notification came through. Smiling at Antonio Garcia, I say, “It was a pleasure doing business with you.”

I snatch the knife out of his thigh and his head goes back as he fights to hold in his scream. He bears his throat to me and my knife slices across it. I watch the life leave his eyes before I tell Nathan to get the cleaning crew to the room immediately.

I lock myself in the bathroom, turning on the faucet to run water over my shaking hands.

The plan to handle this mission my way was impulsive, but Ashton Rose still wins in the end.

The evening still ends with someone dead and their blood on my hands.

My mind goes back to the elderly couple in the bar, and the fleeting thoughts I’ve had about love.

As I stare into the mirror, meeting my wide hazel eyes, I wonder who could ever love a monster like me.