“No, sir,” they all said, making his head spin.
“If I find out you have, I’ll punish you all.” He stepped around the young men, and took Riley straight to the office.
There wasn’t anything out of place. He doubted they’d have broken his rules about using his office. Placing Riley on the sofa, he grabbed a blanket to place over her.
“She OD’d or something?” Ronny asked.
Shadow stroked the hair back from her face. The blood on her hands was still there. He had a small bathroom, and he stood shaking his head. “No, she hasn’t. I’ve given her something to help her sleep.”
He filled a small bowl with some soapy water, and a sponge. Picking up the first aid kit on the way out, he sat down beside her, and started to work on the hands, being careful not to damage the cut, which was still bleeding.
Once he had her hands clean, he went about cleaning out the cut. Ronny had left, only to return five minutes later. “I don’t know if you want any clean clothes. These have come back from the laundry. They don’t have blood on them or anything.”
“Thank you,” Shadow said.
Ronny came from a really bad life. His stepfather used him as a punching bag until Shadow showed him how to use his fists. All of the boys at the gym needed help, and Shadow had used his spare time to teach them all how to take care of themselves, the same way his mentor had with him. Of course, they were boys to him, but most were in their early twenties, some older teens.
It was his one good deed out of a lifetime of death. Rubbing at his temple, he closed his eyes, thinking about how he could have found Riley dead on the floor. The image drove him nuts.
“We had no idea this was your chick.”
“Don’t worry about it, Ronny. What happened, happened. Next time a woman comes into the gym, don’t try and scare her away with fear of rape. That shit’s not good. It’s never good.” Riley was a strong woman, but she needed taking care of.
“Sure, sir. It won’t ever happen again.”
He didn’t correct him this time. No matter how many times he told Ronny not to call him sir, the kid always did. “Make sure everyone else knows it as well.” He looked toward him. “Will you give me some privacy now?”
“Sure, sure.”
Ronny closed the door behind him, and Shadow was left alone with Riley. Pulling back the blanket he began to work her clothes off, taking care as he did. She may be out for the count but that didn’t mean she had to be pulled all over the place.
“I was just supposed to have some downtime in between hits. It wasn’t supposed to be spent getting to know everyone. All I wanted was the chance to fit in. I earn enough to be locked up in a palace or own an island. I didn’t want any of that. Just a nice place to pretend that I was normal, that killing people really didn’t bother me. What did I get? I got a nosy neighbor with the most haunted eyes I’ve ever seen. Not to mention the curviest butt that fits really nice against my dick. Let’s see, your tits are more than a handful, and I love holding them. Then of course, your laugh. I crave your laugh so damn much, and I think it’s because you don’t do it enough. You need to laugh all the time, Riley. Life’s too short to go around being miserable. You hear me?” He continued to talk to her as he changed her from the clothes she wore to the gym wear.
Afterward, he needed to clear his head. Leaving his office, he grabbed a coffee from the machine, and watched as a couple of boys practice moves in the ring. So long as they fought cleanly without risk of hurting anyone, he didn’t mind.
When he returned to the office, Riley was still out cold. Taking a seat behind his desk, he pulled up the footage at her bakery. He’d installed security for him to watch her every chance he got. Rewinding back to when the bastard had her looking through cakes and designs, he watched her serve a bunch of girls. She started talking with the guy, and then closed the door that locked her away with a murderer rather than running out into the busy plaza.
The cameras changed, and he watched her appear. Her eyes closed as the gun pressed against her temple. Death clearly in her sights. How quickly she moved shocked him. Standing on his foot, slamming her elbow against his stomach, and that knife making quick work ending his life. Luckily, he was a low-ranking newbie compared to some of the mark’s other men.
Riley’s actions were from someone used to defending herself.
Glancing over at her sleeping form, he knew from her files that she’d been in foster care, and also that she’d been working the streets for a long time.
The mask he put on for their world to see, she wore every single day as well. Time passed, and he sat, waiting for Riley to wake up, hoping Boss hadn’t given him too high of a dose for her.
He got the message from Boss that the bakery was clean, and everything had been replaced. The fucker was going to make sure she got rewarded for her hard work, not that Shadow had a problem with that.
After what felt like a lifetime, but only a few hours had passed, Riley began to stir. Getting up from his chair, he moved toward her side, taking hold of her hand as she groaned, opening her eyes.
She turned toward him. “What happened?”
He didn’t say a word, allowing her to get accustomed to the passing time, and everything else. She rubbed at her eyes, and began to sit up when she realized her clothes were different.
“You’re at the gym with me. One of the guys found some clothes that I could give you so that you wouldn’t be in the stuff you wore before.”
“The ones covered with blood?”
“You remember?” he asked.