Lance: A Hitman Romance (Santa Espera #2) (20 page)

Lance swallows, and then he focuses on Gil. “My friend?”

“Yes!” Gil says with a smile. “I mean … you’re headstrong, sure. And this last job …” He gives a chuckle. “I sent Jackson to kill you. For disobeying me.” He chuckles again and Lance watches him, all other guns trained on Lance. Gil shakes his head. “It’s silly. Maybe a little over the top. But I don’t know. I didn’t think I was wrong. Do you?”

Gil is smiling widely now and Lance’s expression remains the same, but then he starts to smile too. He lowers his gun down and the others, slowly, lower their guns as well.

“No, Gil,” Lance says, giving a soft chuckle now. “You weren’t wrong at all.”

Gil’s eyes light up and he starts to laugh. The other men look around at each other, and some of them even try out a smile. The only person still eyeing Lance is Jackson.

“In fact,” Lance says, laughing a bit louder now. “I was going to quit here. I don’t want to do this work anymore!”

Gil seems to find that hilarious, and he really starts laughing. Lance laughs along with him, shaking his head as he starts walking towards Gil. Jackson’s gun is up in a second and pointed at Lance, but Gil, still laughing, motions for him to put it back down. Jackson narrows his eyes, but does what he’s told.

“Oh God,” Gil says as Lance puts a hand on his shoulder. “I guess I’ve been a bit of a bad boss, huh?”

Lance shakes his head, chuckling. “No, you weren’t a bad boss.” Gil laughs some more. “In fact, you were probably one of the best bosses I’ve ever had.”

Gil’s laughs again, but now he looks at Lance with a different expression on his face. Lance is smiling down at him.

“You really mean that?” Gil asks, his eyes gleaming, and Lance nods.

“Yeah,” he nods. “I do. In fact, you love to high-five, right?”

“I love it,” Gil says, brightening.

“Why don’t we high-five about it? Two times?”

Lance raises his hand, the one not holding his gun, and Gil looks at it, astonished, like he’s being given a puppy. Then he lifts his hand too, and twice in a row they slap their hands together.

Just like that, all the lights go out.

An instant later flashes of brilliance fill the room as gunshots echo around, almost deafening me. I scream in my chair as I hear men yell and cry out and die. I struggle hard, pulling my hands to try to free them from these bonds. A loud shout comes followed by two claps and suddenly the lights all blink on again.

The entire ordeal maybe lasted three seconds, but every person in the room is on the floor dead, all except for Gil, Jackson, Lance, and myself. Lance and Jackson are standing six feet apart, their guns pointed at one another’s head, both of them with looks of pure hatred on their faces. Gil is leaning on his desk, holding onto his side where blood is seeping out between his fingers.

“Okay, Lance!” Gil shouts, cringing as more blood soaks into his shirt. “Very funny! A very fine trick!”

“Glad you got the Clapper installed, Gil,” Lance says, not taking his eyes off of Jackson. Both men’s arms stand perfectly still, their guns trained exactly where they want them.

“Fuck you,” Gil says, spitting up some blood, and he stumbles around his desk only to pick up the knife he used to kill Willy. “Now, I
was
going to wait until you were dead before I killed this girl.” I look over at him, at the knife in his hands, and my heart beats hard as I keep pulling on the tape that binds my hands. “But now I’m thinking,” he says, taking a step towards me and stumbling a little, “that maybe I’ll make you watch as I cut the flesh from her bones.”

“Be careful not to kill her,” Jackson calls over, and Lance’s jaw clenches. “I still want to fuck that whore before she goes.”

“Don’t worry,” Gil coughs up some blood as he takes another step. “I’ll leave some for you, Jackson. You’re my favorite.”

I keep struggling against the tape. It’s only now starting to slacken.

“I just hope,” Gil takes another step, finally reaching me, “you don’t mind getting some blood on your-”

My hand slips out and in one quick swoop I bring my arm around and hit Gil in the wrist. It knocks the knife from his hand as he shouts.

“Wha-?”

“Gil?” comes Jackson’s voice, and I look over just in time to see him start to turn his head.

BAM!

Fire explodes from the end of Lance’s gun and an instant later Jackson’s head shatters, spraying blood and bone out behind him. As his body begins falling Lance pivots, pointing his gun down at Gil.

BAM!

“Ooph!” I hear, and Gil doubles over, falling forward to the ground.

I hurriedly pull the tape from my wrist and then reach down, ripping open the bonds that hold my legs. Gil is lying on the floor, writhing and moaning at my feet. Lance doesn’t speak as he walks towards us, his face like that of a statue. When I’m free I stand up, pushing the chair back behind me. Lance stops beside Gil and looks down at him. We both watch as the pitiful man rolls over on the ground, looking up at us.

“Lance, please” he gasps, the front of his shirt now soaked with blood. He coughs and more blood comes up. “Please.”

“You son of a bitch,” Lance snarls, breathing hard. “You did this. You did all of this!”

“It wasn’t me,” he coughs again. “Listen. It was Will Silv-”

BAM!

Lance’s gun fires and a hole appears in the middle of Gil’s forehead. He collapses, dead now, blood pouring out of the wound and already spreading in a pool on the floor.

I swallow. My heart is pounding, and when I pull my eyes from Gil’s dead body I see Lance lower his gun. His face relaxes, but he’s still breathing hard. And then he looks over, at the body of Willy lying on the ground. Lance drops his gun to the floor.

“Willy …” he chokes out, and then he walks over to where his friend lies dead on the ground before dropping to his knees. He crouches over Willy, grabbing the front of his shirt, lifting him up and pulling him close in an embrace. I hesitate for a moment, then walk over, slowly. When I reach Lance, I kneel down beside him and put a hand on his back. It’s only then that he begins to cry.

And as he cries I start to cry too. The two of us together. The only ones left after this massacre. We cry for the pain and the madness, we cry for our loved ones, for the dead and the alive together.

But mostly, I cry for what’s yet to happen. For the fact that Lance and I are not alone. And that beyond all this mayhem and destruction there can still be life. Beauty and happiness, even if we can’t see it right now. It’s there, waiting to be had. And I cry because we’re going to be together. We have each other now. And if you don’t have each other, then you have nothing at all.

Epilogue

Sunlight streams in through my tiny bedroom’s windows.

Lance is on top of me, and the two of us hold each other underneath my blankets. Our arms are wrapped around one another, our bodies connected, our lips entwined as we make love.

I moan against Lance as his weight presses me down into the mattress. My legs are wrapped around his, my feet sliding up and down his strong calves as he moves into me with beautiful slowness. I can feel the heat coming off of him, radiating out, keeping both of us warm. I can smell the two of us together, that sweet combination of sweat and spit and sex that will always make me smile.

Both of our eyes closed, his lips move against mine as he runs his fingers through my hair, resting most of his weight on his elbows. I grab the skin of his back, pulling at him, drawing him deeper inside of me. He does just that and my toes curl as I feel him reach my center, the two of us throbbing as he moves in and out, filling me with unbridled passion.

But I know what this is about. We’re not making love for the sake of giving each other physical pleasure. It’s about something else now … something that the both of us need to go through, to help get whatever’s inside of us out. A need for closeness, or a need to be open. A need to connect with somebody you love and know that we’re not alone in this crazy city we both live in.

Lance pushes in deeper and I suck in breath before letting it out in a slow moan. He feels so good, and our mouths open together, our tongues entwining as we connect so deeply. Low rumbles come out through his nose and I shiver, tickles running up and down my spine, covering my entire body.

“Oh, Lance,” I breathe as he drops his lips down to my neck. My bare breasts move against his chest and I bury my face in his shoulder. He moves his weight to one elbow and slides his other hand down my side. I suck in breath and feel him grab onto me, holding my thigh, and then he starts to move with a quicker pace.

I gasp and he moans again as the pleasure inside both of us rises. Our lips connect again and I move against him, pulling him into me, pulling myself into him. We ride this together and I feel his passion building as it’s building inside of me.

My heart is beating hard. Faster we go, and our passion doesn’t stop. Lance’s warmth wraps around me like a cocoon and I feel safe, protected in his arms. I rise higher with him, higher and higher. My face is becoming flushed and his lips press down into mine.

“Mm,” I moan.

“Mm, Katie,” he says, thrusting into me more quickly. I gasp as he keeps moving, we keep moving, the two of us riding this wave together.

And then, we both crest that ridge together and my body tightens as we fly over it, my breath hitching in gasps, his shudders coming through in strong, heavy waves. Bright brilliance floods my senses as I’m taken to a wonderful place, taken there with Lance, beside him the entire way.

And then the feeling subsides, and Lance begins to slow down, and I keep my arms and legs wrapped around him as I hold him, our lips connecting again as we kiss. I just want this moment to last. I want to keep him inside of me and feel his body against mine, for just a few seconds more.

Of course, all good things must come to an end. Lance finally breaks off the kiss and I release my hold on him as he lifts himself up and out of me. A shiver goes through me as I feel him slide out. He reaches down to pull the condom off, tying it up, putting it on the bedside table before he rolls off of me to lie down at my side.

I roll towards him and drape my arm over him, resting my head against his chest. He’s so warm and he lifts his far hand up, entwining his fingers with mine. I can feel his heartbeat against my cheek, thumping softly. His other hand strokes my hair and we lie together like this, holding onto one another, content in our comfortable silence.

It was just last week
(God, has it only been a week? It feels like a lifetime ago)
that Lance saved me from the restaurant and killed Jackson and Gil. We wept together over the loss of Willy, and then I helped to carry his body out to the car so that Lance could give him a proper burial. After that we burned the restaurant to the ground.

Neither of us was implicated in the burning, which Lance figures stemmed from so many cops having been paid off by Gil. In the newspapers they said it was an electrical fire and that nobody was hurt. The building was empty at the time the fire started.

And that was that.

After we left, Lance drove me back to Amanda’s house but didn’t come inside with me. He said he wanted to bury Willy, and give his memory the respect it deserved. It was strange, walking the same path up to Amanda’s house, but even though I looked over my shoulder many times, nobody came after me.

Amanda was shocked when she saw me. After all, I was reported missing on the news and she’d tried calling my cell phone, which I forgot in my purse back in my office. I sat her down and told her everything. Everything that had happened, and everything that was going to happen. It took a bit of convincing, but eventually she went along with it. And then we took Tyler with us as she drove me to the police station.

Our story was that, after the fight in my office, I fled to my sister’s house and stayed there overnight. I was shaken at the time and I didn’t think to report it. They listened to my story, and told me about Amin’s death. I cried real tears for him, and that seemed to convince them. They gave me back my purse and then Amanda and I left.

Amanda drove me to my office where my car was still parked and we parted ways, Amanda telling me to let her know if we needed any help. I drove home, had a shower, and waited. Lance showed up later that night, covered in dirt and sweat from burying Willy. But he had a shower, and I invited him into my bed, and we made love. Despite the times we’d slept together before, that was the first night I think I really felt Lance. I felt him reaching out to me, trying to connect in a way that goes beyond our bodies. When it was over we held each other and fell asleep.

He’s been here every night since. I’ve put my practice on hold, and I’m not sure when I’m going to go back.
If
I’m going to go back. Right now Lance needs me, and I need him. Our lives have changed together, and our work isn’t over yet. There’s more between us than just flesh and blood.

My hand squeezes Lance’s as his heart beats softly against my ear.

“What are you thinking about?” I ask him, and he takes a long, slow breath, letting it out before answering me.

“I’m thinking about what I have to do,” he says. “And how I’m going to do it.”

I give his hand another squeeze. “You mean what
we
have to do,” I say, and even though I can’t see Lance set his jaw, I can feel it.

“Katie, how many times do we have to have this conversation?”

“None,” I say. “Because it’s already been decided. I’m doing this with you.”

“It’s going to be dangerous.”

“Then teach me to protect myself.”

“You could get arrested. Or killed.”

“If I die it’ll be for a good cause.” I lift my head up off of Lance’s chest and our hands disconnect as I look at him. “Nothing you say is going to make me change my mind, Lance. I’m in this as much as you are. We’re doing it together.”

Lance stares at me, his blue eyes burning into mine. And then the ghost of a smile comes over his lips and he shakes his head.

“You’ve got to be the most stubborn woman I’ve ever known,” he says. I smile at him.

“If I wasn’t, then we would never have met.”

He smiles more now, and I lean forward and kiss him, keeping my lips pressed against his. He finds the back of my head and I feel his fingers thread through my hair, making me moan against his lips. And then the kiss breaks off and I lie back down, my head against his chest as he strokes it, my hand finding his once more.

“Besides,” I say, “once all this is done then we can finally go to Thailand. Like we planned.”

“Once this is done,” Lance says.

I don’t reply, and neither of us says anything as we think. As I do, as I consider what we’ve talked about, I feel the weight of our situation bear down on me. Not for the first time, and it won’t be for the last.

“How dangerous do you think it’ll be?” I ask, my voice coming out weaker than I intended.

“It’s going to be the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done,” he says. “And the most dangerous thing I’ll ever want you to do.”

I swallow. “Will I have to kill people?”

He replies, “Yes.”

“… How long will it take you to teach me?”

“That depends on how fast you can learn. Handling a gun, tactical moves, defense. Might be a few months.”

“What if he gets away?” I ask. “Or what if he finds out we’re coming and he gets to us first?”

But Lance gives my hand a squeeze.

“He won’t find us out if we don’t give him anything to find out,” he says. “And he won’t leave this city. He’s too connected to this place.”

“Getting to him’s going to be hard?”

“Getting to him’s going to be very hard. I’ve never met the man myself, but I’ve heard about him. He’s got a reputation. And he’s got fingers in many pies.”

“Well, he started up PharmaChem,” I point out. “Without that we’d be a ghost town.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Lance says. “The people of this city deserve better than what he gives them. They can survive on their own.” His hand in my hair slows down. “But if you really want to do this, Katie, I have to know that you’re going to be with me one hundred percent.”

I nod against his chest.

“Don’t worry. I am.” I feel my heart harden at the thought of delivering vigilante justice. “Will Silver is going to die, Lance. And we’re going to be the ones who kill him.”