“You sure we can trust him?” Fio whispered in my ear, her eyes focused like a laser on the back of Malik’s head.
“Yes, we can trust the MC. If he was really a threat, Malcolm would never have let us go with him. It’s fine, don’t worry, we’re safe.”
“It’s tough not to worry when a bunch of extremely bad dudes want to kidnap and kill you.”
I barked out a laugh.
“Fio, they’d do way worse than just kill you, honey. Killing you would be too merciful.”
I shuddered and put my arm behind Fio protectively. This guy Malik was a live wire. Full of energy but it was hard to read if it was malicious or friendly. He was handsome, dark hair, bright green eyes, his brows dark slashes on his permanently furrowed brow.
“Yeah, I’ve been told that before. Tortured to death. Raped to death. The whole nine yards. They don’t take kindly to hackers. No one does.”
“What made you become a hacker?” Malik asked. He stared at us in the rearview mirror, and I did all I could to avoid his unnerving gaze. His eyes were intense, and it felt like a lit a fuse whenever our eyes connected.
“I guess I've always been drawn to computers. I think I was already an amateur hack when I first started gaming. My parents were in IT, and my older brother is a developer.” Fio said. “Have you been listening to us the whole time?” she asked nervously.
“You mean when you were discussing whether or not you can trust me? Makes you feel bad thinking you hurt my feelings?”
“Not really. I mean, you kill people for a living, don’t you? It’s kind of hard to trust someone that pays their rent by murder.”
“First of all, kiddo, I own. Second, I live by a code, I don’t take any old job they hand me.”
“Like Dexter?” she asked.
Malik barked out a laugh and he had a nice laugh, even if it made him look a little crazy. His green eyes softened a bit, and the laugh lines looked good on him. He immediately transformed from looking like a psycho to a very handsome man who drove like a racecar driver.
“Sure, I guess you can say it’s just like Dexter. But I really don’t like to play with my kills. I’m no cat.”
“Some people deserve to die,” I said under my breath.
Malik’s eyes shot toward mine in the rearview. The laugh was now gone, replaced by furrowed dark brows and a hard line on his full lips. “They sure fucking do,” he said.
I didn’t know why I felt comforted by how he responded, but I did. I also knew his answer turned me on, and I felt ashamed of that reaction. Violence wasn’t sexy and I knew that unequivocally, but the danger in Malik’s eyes, the edge in his voice became, in that moment, extremely alluring to me. Malik was sexy and lethal, but I felt confident he would keep me and Fio safe, that he wouldn’t harm us.
“So, what’s this place like?” I asked. I was trying to pull my mind away from how dangerous, charming and handsome our driver was.
“Lamoille? It’s quiet. People mind their own business. Most people live there because they want peace and quiet. It was one of the reasons Rafa picked the place. He’s in California now, but he told the feds we were coming.”
“How exactly are you gonna kill someone with the FBI and the Feds watching you,” Fio asked out of nowhere.
“They’re taken care of already, kiddo. Sometimes, we share the same hit list. Between the Valor connection and Rafa’s, I’m good. Besides, I’m pretty discrete.”
“You already told three people about the hit. That’s not really keeping shit on the down-low,” Fio said. I smiled, thinking how much I liked her; she had smarts and spunk in spades. That would come in handy with the things she was about to face.
“Who says I’m not taking out all three?” Malik asked.
I felt Fio go stiff beside me. I froze too, realizing I hadn’t even considered we could be collateral.
When I looked up, Malik was winking at Fio in the rearview. It made her smile.
“I like you kid, you’ve got some balls. I don’t kill innocent people. If that backfires on me, then so be it. I got into this gig to get rid of people like the Gabriellis, not to harm victims. There is honor amongst thieves and all that. Not all of us who work in the shadows are trash.”
I felt comforted by his words. Because the truth of it was that I wish there was someone like Malik in my life when I was young, scared, and beaten down. I’d spent years praying for someone like Malik to come and rescue me from my hell. But no one ever came, so eventually, I learned how to rescue myself.