Jealousy hit her hard. The thought of another woman touching Bain made her seethe. If she did this, she’d be helping Bain, helping them. She also liked that her work would actually be appreciated, because being a reporter had been her childhood dream. “I won’t kill.”
“Honey, I have professionals for that.”
“So, I do this and no one else gets hurt? No grudge against Bain?”
“Oh, I did want one more thing, but I’ve already gotten it,” Boss said, holding up his cell phone. “I just got a nice little message from Viper.”
He pressed a button and a man’s garbled voice came over the line. “Damn it, Boss, I told you to leave the fucking woman alone. This is Bain’s one chance at survival. If anything happens to her you’ll lose him forever. I’ll lose him. Look, I’ll
come back to make this right. Okay? I’ll work a few assignments…”
Boss clicked the off button on the cell phone. “All it takes is a little push in the right direction to get what you want.”
The echo of gunshots had her jerking back a little. She had been so interested in the conversation, she had forgotten everything else. She’d been pulled into a different world, and it would take a lot before she was used to this chaos.
“They’re a little early. It would seem you’re well loved, Scarlett. For what it’s worth, putting Michael into a grave was a job well done.”
“You killed Lisa.”
“Killer of Kings is my life. I’ll always do what needs to be done.” he said. Boss took a deep breath, pushing off from the console. “I’m sorry that you lost your baby. I know that must have been difficult.”
Who was this man? One moment he was a monster, the next, offering his condolences on a baby she never got the chance to hold, but she still loved.
“Bain would make a good father,” Boss said. “Please, don’t take this personally.” He grabbed his gun and pointed it at her head.
Their civilized conversation had come to an end.
The door burst open, and there stood her man. He looked damn fierce, but the moment he caught sight of the gun against her head, he stopped dead. She saw fear in his eyes.
Viper and the man with him before at Michael’s house were also with him.
“You know, if you’d waited a couple of hours, I was going to deliver her back,” said Boss.
“Cut the bullshit, Boss. Just tell me what you want, and I’ll give it to you. You want more clean hits. I’ll do them. Just don’t hurt her.” She heard the pain in Bain’s voice and saw the worry in his eyes. Bain truly did love her, and seeing her like this was hurting him. She would do anything and everything for him.
Boss sighed, and he removed the gun from her head. “Now that we’re all here, I think it’s easy to say that I got what I wanted. Viper has agreed to come back on board, and I already have several jobs already lined up. Scarlett here, has agreed to help in some information gathering.”
“You’re not using my woman for your fucking work. She’s not a damn killer.”
Scarlett went to Bain, placing a hand on his chest as she smiled up at him. “I want to help.”
“You’re not a killer,” he said.
“And I won’t kill.” She turned toward Boss. “I won’t help kill innocent people.”
“I’m not stupid, Scarlett. I only want you to handle the more … dangerous people. I’m sure Bain will make sure that you won’t get hurt,” Boss said.
“You son of a bitch. Just get your fucking payback with me, right now, and leave her out of this.” Bain held out his arms, a gun in each hand.
She placed her hand on Bain, stopping him from doing something he’d regret. He was just crazy enough to sacrifice himself for her, and she loved him even more for it.
“It done. It’s over. I’m not settling, Bain. I’ll be doing what I love. Please, let’s go home. We’re done here,” she said, looking back at Boss. “We’re done?”
“We’re good for now. And I want an invite to your wedding. Someone needs to give you away.”
Scarlett saw that in a dysfunctional kind of way, he cared.
Bain wrapped his arms around her, and without another word, they left. She glanced back to see Boss watching them. There was something on his face. It was only there for a few seconds, but it looked like envy. Was it envy? No, it couldn’t be. Boss was a vicious monster who only cared about power and money. He had recruited her, and now she worked for Killer of Kings.