“Probably not, unless you want to know step-by-step instructions on how to make a grown man shit himself.” I shook my head, knowing he would eagerly quote me the details of some new torture technique he had come up with.
“I know you’re trying to hunt down the asshole that hired someone to take a shot at me, but I need you to do me a favor.”
He went silent on the other end, and I could hear the water spraying against the metal bed of his truck.
“What could be more important than me hunting down someone taking a hit out on you? Last time it happened, it was a member of our organization and that motherfucker got off easy as the syndicate put a quick bullet between his eyes.”
Someone was always gunning for a Vallin. Therefore, the idea of having a hit out on me wasn’t as exciting as it used to be. We’d find them, kill them, and create the prospect for more trouble. The cycle was an endless one.
“I know,” I finally replied. “I want to kill whoever it is myself, but I need you to protect someone for me. You remember the deal I told you that would open the doorway into more business for us. Well, the deal is a go, but I just received a call from Denise. Bishop has called a workshop.”
Khane would rather gnaw off his own arm than to attend a workshop. He hated the idea of large gatherings and groups.
“So, where is this person you need me to keep an eye on?” he asked after a long pause.
“It’s my new fiancée. I need you to do a little more than keep an eye on her for me. Where are you? I need you to keep her with you until I come back.”
“What the fuck? You know I don’t like anyone invading my privacy. I’ve already agreed to this crazy getting-married shit. Now, you want me to babysit too. What’s next? A bachelor party? I get fitted for a fucking tux?”
When it came to the business side of things, Khane was hands-off unless he didn’t have any other choice. Truth be told, he was smart as hell, but he didn’t like dealing with people unless he was planning to kill them.
In the time that I would be gone to the workshop, he would handle all the business I usually did, financial investors, accounting, payroll issues. You name it. You better believe he could handle it.
“Khane, you know as well as I do with someone gunning for me, I can’t leave her exposed. I already put someone on her cousin. Besides, the moment she became my fiancée, she became as big a target as I am. You’re it, little brother, the only one I trust to protect her. She’s quiet and won’t be any trouble. All you need to do is keep her alive until I get back. Please.”
Silence followed, but my lips twitched with a waiting smile, knowing he wouldn’t let me down.
“Okay, but I’m not even in the state. I probably won’t make it back until tomorrow night at the earliest. Have Sam take her to my house before you leave. If I don’t think I’ll be there in time, I’ll have someone I trust watch her until I arrive.”
“Thank you. Appreciate it. I’ve already programmed her retinal scan and fingerprints into your house’s security system so she could get in. And, I know you like to think that you’re the baddest killer in the land, but be careful.”
His low chuckle sounded. “Later,” he said before clicking off.
Khane hadn’t even asked for the women’s name when I informed him that we were getting hitched as a part of the deal I had struck. All he knew were the basics and would rely on me to fill in the blanks whenever he felt like he was ready for the details.
Had I made the right decision when I’d asked for a wife for my brother too?