“Trudy, can I confess something and can you promise not to laugh at me?”
She turned all of her attention to me and looked at me squarely.
“I think we shared enough of ourselves last night to rest assured that we’ll never belittle one another’s experiences. I’d never laugh at you, Malik.”
Here she was being an adult again and I felt like a kid.
“This feels like a date. And, uh, I’ve never really dated anyone before.”
“Are you serious?” she asked me, her eyes going wide in surprise.
“Dead.”
She looked at me with a spark of interest in her eyes for just a moment and then took my hand in hers.
“I’m flattered that you consider this a date. And I’m really honored to be the first person you’ve gone out with. I’ll do my best to make it a good experience for both of us.”
I wanted to tell her that I didn’t want just a girlfriend, that I wasn’t looking for a dating experience—I wanted Trudy to be my life partner—to never look at another man and belong entirely to me—forever. But I bit down on my lip because I didn’t want to scare her away or have her believing I was some kind of jealous and possessive psycho. I didn’t have time to elaborate because a black car with tinted windows pulled into the scenic overlook where we’d parked and gotten out of the car to see the view.
“Trudy, run for the truck. Get in the passenger’s side,” I commanded firmly as I took out my gun.
…
I knew my job was supposed to be to watch Tatum-genius hacker ace-Fio, but I’d fallen in love with her social worker and now I’d put all of our lives in danger.
I drove like a madman up the winding dirt roads to the cabin. I’d made Trudy put on her seatbelt, but we were both getting knocked around like rag dolls as the SUV climbed the treacherous back road entrance.
“Who was that? Do you think Fio and Rafa are okay?” she asked me, desperation making her voice even more raspy.
“That was a lookout, Trudy. The kind they usually send out before they go in for a kidnapping.”
“Can Rafa take them alone? We shouldn’t have left them at the cabin,” she lamented.
I didn’t bring her in for her own safety, but Fio and Rafa had been phishing the Gabriellis all night. Rafa had cut all of Fio’s long black hair and dyed the remaining pixie platinum blonde. She went live as a cam girl, and while Trudy and I were getting to know one another intimately, Rafa and Fio were live baiting traffickers from the room next to us. It was to our advantage that Fio was naturally petite and looked much younger than she was. We’d formulated a plan for a sting in the parking lot of the one and only Lamoille grocery store for midnight that night.
But from the looks of it, Gabrielli had sent out scouts and that didn’t bode well for our plan. I just hoped we could make it to the cabin before their goons did. I’d left them armed and instructed them both to shoot to kill, but now I was nervous. Before today, I’d never botched a job, but I wasn’t in my right mind. It was like my brain had been hijacked with this infatuation for Trudy and it only went to show me that I could never settle down, never live some fairytale life with the woman I loved. I was a cold-blooded killer and love and death didn’t mix.
“We can’t fucking do this, Trudy. I’m sorry I played you, but we can’t be together like this.”
I rammed the truck straight over a boulder and the tires nearly lost their grip on the road as we crashed down from it. I swerved to avoid veering off the gravel road and plunging to our deaths down the valley ravine we were climbing. The back of the truck cleared the road and stuck out over the edge. I slammed the gas and the tires spun, kicking up dust.
“Malik, you’re scaring me.”
“I get paid to scare people.”
I was feeling ruthless and bloodthirsty and if anyone fucked with my brother, they’d taste the full extent of my wrath.
“Let me out!” Trudy screamed over the roar of the engine. She tried the door, but I’d locked them from the driver’s control panel.
“Sorry, sweetheart, but you’ve got to come along for the ride. I’ll take you home as soon as all the blood dries.”
Just then, I lost control and the vehicle flipped. Trudy screamed and I put my arm out to protect her from flying through the windshield. I thanked God I’m made her buckle up as the airbag inflated in what seemed like slow-motion.
I lost a few minutes to shock and then lifted my head off the steering wheel. When I looked over at Trudy, she was holding her chest and groaning, a small trickle of blood ran down her forehead from a laceration above her eye.