CHAPTER 2
Hale
“The fuck are you doing, Aullie? You’re supposed to get friendly with her. Not push her into shit she’s not ready for.” Waiting for my sort-of employee, sort-of friend Aullie to get off the phone with my Piper required tapping deep into the well of my patience.
“Let me be clear, Hale. You asked me to reach out to your girl. Our friendship has nothing to do with you. You’re lucky I trust you enough not to disable your bullshit cameras and recording devices. I think I’ve made my feelings on that shit perfectly clear over the years.”
She’s not wrong. I know damn well how careful she is to avoid being recorded in any way. It comes from nearly a decade of being a paid killer. One of my operatives caught her making her first kill when she was just a teenager avenging her little sister. Instead of turning her in or getting her the psychological help she surely needed, I’d taken her under my wing. I’d sent her with my own contractors and employees to learn how to work as a vigilante for hire.
If there had been any question of my having a soul, what I nurtured and created inside Aullie when she was just a teenager verified I do not. For a time, I even housed Aullie in a condo I owned and surrounded her with agents I employed in order to ensure she was safe and able to reach adulthood. That situation was completely different than my current one.
I never felt toward Aullie even a fraction of the obsession and need I feel for Piper Clark. Taking care of Aullie was an obligation, an investment. There has never been, and could never be, anything sexual between us. Now that Aullie’s married Graham and softened around the edges some, I don’t have the same unease around her as I did when she was nothing more than a weapon to aim at perverts and deviants.
For all that Aullie’s on my payroll and gets her work assignments from me, I’m under no illusion that the woman does anything but exactly what she wants to do. Nothing more and nothing less. The bond she’s formed with my firebrand, Piper, is real. I’m not sure how much Piper remembers of her time in captivity or if she’s connected Aullie with her rescue. From the moment the two officially met, Piper’s trusted Aullie with a clear faith I think even shocks Aullie’s sociopathic self.
“I don’t want you pushing her too fast, Aullie. She’s not like us. She’s an innocent.” Piper’s been through shit; don’t get me wrong. But no matter the garbage life has thrown at her, she maintains an air of sweet resilience I can’t resist. The time will come when Piper has to accept the reality she’s got a monster who’s obsessed with her. But that time is not today.
“If you weren’t busy hiding behind your money and your power, you’d be by her side, helping her work through everything that happened to her. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about what Piper and I talk about. You realize that, yeah, boss?”
“Don’t start that shit with me, Aullie, or I swear your next assignment will be through the protection division instead of the justice side.” I know the threat lands when I hear her outraged gasp. If there’s anything Aullie hates worse than babysitting clients on protection detail, it’s missing out on the chance to murder evildoers who evaded jail.
“Fucker. Fine. Keep being not even a tiny bit secret creeper.” She hangs up on me before I can drag the meaning of that cryptic comment from her. That’s fine. I need to finish compiling the grocery order, so it can be delivered to the condo for Piper. I noticed she’s been skimping on the vegetables lately when she makes her dinner.
She also hates wasting food, so I know if I stock her up on fruits and veggies, she’ll force herself to make the right choice and eat healthy foods. I want to spoil her, too, though, so I add some ice cream and sour gummy candy to the order, as well. I may not be at her side yet, but I’m always backing my sweet spitfire.