Page 53 of While She Sleeps (The Hunter and The Thief #1)

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

ORION

“ T his better be fucking good,” I snap as I cross the lobby of my apartment building to where Killian is waiting.

Normally, he wouldn’t hesitate to come up to the apartment, but he probably realizes that if he accidentally sees Ember naked, I’ll end him, even if he is the best second in charge I could ever hope to have by my side.

“I know who trashed Ember’s apartment,” he says, nodding toward the street where his car is idling. “And I know where he is right now if you want to go take care of the problem.”

It’s five in the morning, but there are a few people milling around the street on their morning run or getting coffee before starting their day. Normally, I prefer to keep the killing to the dead of night, but perhaps I can make an exception this one time.

“Who?”

“Lucas.”

I stare at him for long seconds, and a lesser man would likely flinch as the rage overwhelms me. That fucking asshole. I knew he wanted her. He always did. And her fucking brother was going to make it happen too before I stopped any fucked-up deal before it could be made.

Travis was going to trade Ember for what remained on his debt to Lucas, and then he was going to high-tail it out of here before his sister could find out.

That wasn’t what got him killed, but it certainly didn’t help his case.

He pissed off a lot of powerful people, myself included, and he paid the price for it.

“Where is he?” I growl.

“He’s at the club. Closing time was about twenty minutes ago, so the place should be cleared out.”

“How do you know it’s him?”

“Because he wasn’t very thorough with covering his tracks. I have security footage of him at the apartment building from across the street.” He starts toward the car, and I’m on his heels. “The corner store’s security system is a fucking joke. I got in with one password attempt.”

“Please don’t tell me it was ‘password123.’” I half laugh, but the anger burning in my chest is too bright to find anything all that amusing right now.

“Close.” Killian smirks.

“What about the van? Was that him too?”

“I think so. Although he wasn’t with them.

Without corroboration, this is pure speculation, but if I had to guess, I would say that the van was meant to grab Ember while Lucas trashed the apartment and make it look like someone abducted her.

Someone who was romantically involved, perhaps.

Someone whose DNA was already all over the apartment. ”

“Are you saying he was trying to implicate me?”

“Yep.”

We climb into the car, and Killian doesn’t hesitate to take off toward the club where I officially met my little flame.

“That little fucking asshole.”

“It all tracks to that being his intention. The insistence that Ember get payment from you for your time together. The amount you spent to see her. It’s all on record, and it would be easy for Lucas to put all the evidence together so the cops don’t bother looking into him.”

“Even though he was basically pimping her out.” I roll my eyes.

“He was absolutely doing that, but Ember’s continuous insistence that she wasn’t a prostitute actually may benefit him.”

I scrub a hand down my face. “I should have killed him months ago.”

“I’ve been telling you that ever since Travis died,” Killian points out. “He’s not going to give up until he has the identity of the Hunter, and that means you won’t be safe until he’s no longer breathing.”

I tap my fingers against my thigh. Even if I was pissed as hell when I had to drag my sorry ass away from a very naked Ember, I assumed I was going to have to leave the building. So I dressed in my usual dark suit and made sure my girl couldn’t escape if she decided she was going to try again.

I saw the moment right before she fell asleep that she realized she felt something deeper than just simple attraction to me, and I saw the terror that accompanied that realization.

Ember will try to run again, but I’ve made sure she won’t get very far.

T he rest of the drive is quiet as I seethe in silence.

Lucas has always been a pest, but he was a necessary evil. He had his uses, and I exploited them whenever I needed to.

But this is too coordinated, and I don’t like it.

Sure, he has power. Not as much as me, and certainly not as much as a lot of the crime families in the state, but he has people that work for him, people that respect him, that think he deserves more power than he’s been allowed to have.

But again, not enough to pull off what he did today. His guys wouldn’t blindly grab a woman off the streets the way they tried to grab Ember today. That was a kidnapping attempt if I’ve ever seen one.

I shake my head as the fog of anger tries to blind me.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned after all these years, it’s that you shouldn’t kill angry. I know that sounds counterproductive as hell, but trust me. The more anger you have raging through your body, the sloppier the kill will be, and the greater the chances of being caught rise.

I’ve made it through these many years under the radar. I have no intention of slipping up on someone like Lucas.

Killian parks the car at the curb, and we get out without a word, each checking our weapons as we stroll toward the front door.

We could be stealthy about this, but that would mean dragging this out, and that’s the last thing I want to do.

“Mask,” Killian reminds me, and I tug it from my pocket and slip it over my face. As it is, I’m exposing myself by coming after him after his attacks on Ember, but I don’t need to confirm any suspicions he might have by walking in without my alter ego firmly in place.

The front door is still unlocked, telling me that we got here in time, and he hasn’t gone home for the night.

Killian goes in first, his back pressing to the wall as he slips down the hallway that leads into the main floor of the club.

I follow him, my own gun trained in front of me, frequently glancing over my shoulder as I move. Of course, this could be a trap. Hell, it probably is. But I’m past caring.

All I care about now is wiping any threat to my woman off the face of the earth.

We reach the hallway that leads to the asshole’s office, and I take the lead, allowing Killian to have my six. We move as one, like we have for years, until we reach the office we’re looking for.

I only hesitate for a moment before shoving the door open, my gun trained perfectly to where I know Lucas usually sits.

Except when the door swings open, the room is empty.

“Fuck,” I growl, taking a step forward to check his desk for any clues as to where he may be.

Instead, I find an envelope with the words “The Phantom” scrawled across the front in messy handwriting.

I flick a look to Killian as he checks the hallway to make sure no one is planning on sneaking up on us.

I empty the contents into the middle of the desk, and my stomach rolls as a single piece of paper falls to the solid wood.

You shouldn’t touch what doesn’t belong to you. Your little flame will burn for your mistakes.

The paper crumbles in my hands as they turn to fists.

I’m going to fucking kill him, even if that means exposing my identity to the world.