Page 6

Isaiah

I’m more than a little annoyed that this job took longer to complete than most. All I want to do is get back to Lilly, but I can’t sacrifice the integrity of this job. One wrong move and I could incriminate myself – or worse, get myself killed.

Eventually though, I take out the mark and call the cleanup crew. I don’t stick around to make sure they get here, trusting them to do their job. Instead, I head home, tell Lilly I’ve made us a dinner reservation, then take a shower, washing myself clean for her.

About half an hour later, I’m outside of Lilly’s apartment building, waiting for her to arrive. As soon as she comes down the stairs, an unfamiliar warmth blooms in my chest. Just the sight of her makes me feel lighter. It’s foreign, something that I’ve never experienced before.

Somewhere in my mind, there’s an urge to stamp the little spark out with my heel. I won’t do it, though. I care too much about Lilly already. I’ll get used to whatever this sensation is.

“You look absolutely beautiful,” I say as I get out of the car to open the door to the passenger’s seat for her.

She smiles, looking down at the sleek black dress that hugs her in all the right places. It’s cut just low enough to give a peek at her cleavage without being immodest. Her hair is pulled out of her face, cascading down her back.

“Thank you,” she says as she gets into my car, her face pink from the compliment.

“You don’t have to thank me for telling the truth,” I say before closing her in and getting behind the wheel. “I hope you’re hungry. This place has the best appetizers in the city.”

“That’s good, because I’m starving,” she replies, and I can hear the smile in her voice.

“We’ll be getting there a little early,” I tell her, “but I might be able to pull some strings and get us seated before the reservation.”

“It won’t be a big deal if we aren’t. I’m just happy to spend time with you,” she says.

I glance over at her, pleased to see that she’s blushing bright red at her admission. Resisting the urge to tease her, I ask, “So, how was your day? You mentioned you were job hunting on the way there this morning. Any leads?”

“A few, but it’s nothing exciting,” she admits. “I kind of want to nanny again, but I’m a little disillusioned after my… last experience.”

“Makes sense,” I say, my hands tightening on the wheel. I don’t want her around any other men at all, not just because I don’t want her to be uncomfortable; I don’t want anyone looking at her.

Honestly, I make enough money to support her. It shouldn’t be too difficult to convince her to let me take care of her. I know she’s stubborn as hell, but she likes me enough that I think I’ll be able to talk her into it. Hell, if she won’t let me support her, I’ll just let her move in. And maybe I’ll hire a bodyguard to follow her to whatever job she takes.

“I don’t mean to be presumptuous,” she says as she adjusts herself in her seat, “but it seems like you make pretty good money. What did you say you do again? I’m just looking for options that I might not have considered.”

“I work in logistics,” I say evenly, hoping she doesn’t ask me to recommend her for a job. I’d do just about anything for her, but I can’t have her knowing what I really do, not yet at least. “I manage logistical issues for a large scale distribution company.”

“Oh, do–” Lilly starts to ask me something, but she’s cut off by my phone ringing.

I pull it out, intending to silence the call. When I look at the screen, I see that it’s my employer.

“I’m sorry, I really have to take this. It’s my boss.” Cursing under my breath, I answer the call and hold the phone against my ear.

“What is it?” I ask, not bothering to hide my irritation – these guys are tough, they can take my shit.

“We have an issue,” my boss says. “Our cleanup crew hasn’t reported back.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, glancing over at Lilly who’s watching me with interest. I shift my device to the other ear to avoid her possibly overhearing me. “I finished the job.”

“We know you did,” he says. “Looks like the mark noticed something was off and contacted his guys. I’ve got some information on them. I’m sending it to you now. I trust you’ll get it all sorted out by the end of the day.”

He hangs up, and a few seconds later, a text message with coordinates comes through. I know this is something I have to take care of right now. The date with Lilly is just going to have to wait.

“I’m sorry to do this to you, sweetheart,” I say, pocketing my phone and returning my attention to the road, “but I’m going to have to drop you off at home again. Something urgent came up at work that I have to deal with. I’ll reschedule the reservation, and I can give you some cash so you can get yourself something to eat.”

“Wow,” she says, sounding disappointed. “I didn’t know that there were logistics emergencies like that.”

“Taking care of this kind of thing is why they pay me the big bucks,” I say, reaching over to rest my hand on her knee. “I promise I’ll come right back for you as soon as I finish up. I might not make it back in time to have dinner with you, but we can’t let this cute little outfit go to waste.”

The physical touch followed by the verbal affirmation seems to calm her down. She relaxes against her seat and says, “I could just make us dinner while you take care of that job. I’ll snack on the ingredients while I’m in the kitchen. That’ll be my appetizer.”

“I’d like that,” I tell her, my eyes flashing to the rearview mirror. I’m fairly certain the black SUV behind us has been trailing us. So, to test that theory I make a quick left turn.

The SUV does the same.

“Where are we going?” Lilly asks, immediately noticing the change in route.

With my eyes darting between the road and the mirror, I say, “Just a little detour.”

I don’t want her to know we’re being followed, and I don’t want our pursuers to know about her. It doesn’t matter who they are, I know they’ll be ruthless. Taking her as collateral to get whatever they want is the first thing they’d do. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to her, if she got hurt or... I couldn’t even let myself think of the other, more likely possibility.

Still, no matter what I do, I can’t seem to shake their presence. Beside me, Lilly gets more and more tense. The confusion is palpable, filling the cab of my vehicle. I’ve been in dozens of similar situations and always kept my head, but I’m practically choking on her worry.

After several minutes of trying to lose them, I realize it’s pointless. So, I make an executive decision. The windows of my car are tinted dark enough that I doubt our pursuers know there’s another person in here with me. If I can keep it like that, I’ll be able to lure them out and take care of them before their team is any wiser.

It’s risky as hell, and it’s definitely going to raise some questions for Lilly, but it can’t be helped. I’d rather her be safe and confused than in danger. So, I pull into a back alley, parking my car and reaching into my center console, removing the gun I keep tucked away.

“Isaiah,” Lilly says, fear evident in her tone as I screw the silencer onto my weapon. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I say, keeping my tone even in an attempt to soothe her nerves. I wish I had more time to explain, but our safety is paramount. “There’s something I need to take care of. You stay here.”

If she says anything in response, I don’t hear it. I’m too busy hiding my gun and extracting myself from the seat with my eyes trained on the black SUV that followed us here. No one’s gotten out of the vehicle yet, but it’s only a matter of time. I’ll have to move quickly, lead them on a chase at least a block away from here. Then, I’ll take care of them and come back to Lilly. If everything goes well, all I’ll have to do is come up with an alibi on the walk back here.

“Stay low,” I instruct her as I grip my door handle. “Do not let the people that get out of that car see you, okay? I don’t trust them.”

“Isaiah, please–”

“I’ll explain when I get back,” I say before climbing out of the car and taking off, heading deeper into the alleyway.