Page 89 of Ruthless Desires: Vol. One

With a groan, Elliot rubs his face. “We need to stay focused on the job. We have exactly a week to kill him. After that, we’ll figure out how and when to explain everything to Wren.”

Right. Taking out Edgar Williams is our priority right now.

“So we spend today and tomorrow learning more about his security team?” I’m pretty sure that’s what Elliot said while I was lost in thought.

“Yeah. Supposedly, he’s meeting a business partner at Garden Grille tomorrow evening.”

A restaurant downtown—owned by Williams, of course.

“You think that’ll be our best shot?” Oliver asks.

Elliot shrugs. “It’s the only time I know he’ll be away from his house. I have Finn trying to get us more intel, but he has to be careful who he talks to. The last thing we want to do is tip Williams off.”

I frown. That’ll be tough. Taking a man down in a public place comes with a lot of problems, including traumatizing everyone who happens to be there at the time. His murder is supposed to be high profile, but not like that.

“We hit him on his way home?”

Elliot stays quiet. As we watch, he squints his eyes ever so slightly, a sign that he’s taking in all the puzzle pieces he has. Comparing them to each other, seeing which ones fit where, figuring out what he still needs.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find it hot as hell.

After a few minutes, he says, “We only have one shot at this. If we don’t kill him the first time around, he’ll go into hiding. We could probably get into his house, but I don’t want to take that risk.”

Neither Oliver nor I need to ask what risk he’s talking about. It’s the one we’ve decided never to take, no matter how well a job pays. There’s no amount of cash that could make losing one of us worth it.

It’s not that we don’t take dangerous jobs. We do. But we’re always able to outsmart the system. Keep ourselves hidden. Avoid the impossible situations.

Usually, that is. When we were only in this to get revenge on the man who killed my little sister, things were different. We were young. Angry.

It took almost losing Oliver for us to realize that we needed to re-prioritize. Us first, and then revenge.

I guess that’s how we got started in all this. We had to acquire certain skills to take down the crime lord who killed Sammy.

In the meantime, we’ve become the guys you go to when you need someone dead. We have the means and the know-how, so it was basically a natural progression.

“We tail him all night. We’ll have to take different cars and switch on and off so no one notices us following him. The Garden Grille has enough windows that we won’t have to go inside to monitor him. If an opportunity presents itself, we take him out. Otherwise, once he makes a move to head home, two of us will get ahead and cut him off on his road. The third will follow Williams from far enough behind and act as backup in case we need help.”

He goes on, giving more details of his plan, shoving food into his mouth in between sentences. As he does, my confidence builds. We’ve definitely handled worse before.

By the time he’s done talking, we’ve all finished eating. Almost immediately, the guilt is back in Ell’s eyes.

Oliver nudges him. “She’ll be okay.”

Elliot says nothing for a minute. Last night, when Wren overheard him, he immediately knew he’d made a mistake.

But what he can’t seem to grasp is that Wren understands why he said it. It was to protect her, to shield her from the potential danger and pain that could be a result of her entering into a relationship with us.

Wren seemed to get it last night. But Elliothasn’t.

“I think I’m gonna see what else I can find on Williams.” Elliot rinses off his plate, then sets it in the sink. “Dive a little deeper. You know.”

Translation: I’m going to sit in my office and feel like shit all day.

Oliver and I exchange a glance. Then he gives me a mischievous grin.

“Don’t worry,” he murmurs. “I know exactly how to fix this.”

Chapter five