Bile threatens to rise in my throat as I hunch over. Saxon pushes me so I fall to the floor and then climbs on top of me. She smiles sweetly and bends down to press a quick kiss to my lips.
“You said to take you down,” she says, shrugging innocently.
I cough as I both laugh and catch my breath. “That’s twice now. Keep it up and we won’t be able to have kids, vasectomy re-do or not.”
Her nose scrunches up as she sticks her tongue out at me, until the sound of someone clapping catches both of our attention. Both our heads turn to see Ralph standing in the doorway.
“I have to admit, I’m impressed,” he says. “I wish I knew the rules. Your winning streak would be much shorter.”
Saxon climbs off of me and stands up while Ralph extends his hand to me. As I take it, he pulls me to my feet. S looks confused as she looks between the two of us.
“Ralph, this is the woman I told you about.”
He turns to face her and puts his hand out. “You look great for being a corpse.”
“Thank you. You look like you’re ready to become one yourself,” she quips, poking fun at his age.
A deep belly laugh rolls out of him. “Now I see how you’re able to hold your own with this one. I may look old, but I’ll have you know I’m in the best shape of my life.”
“The activities at the senior center will do that for you.”
He chuckles some more and turns to me. “I like her.”
“I thought you would,” I reply. “You’re actually going to be training her this week.”
“Is that so?”
I nod, giving Saxon a reassuring smile. “In my line of work, I can’t have her unable to defend herself. As you saw, she’s resourceful, but she’s no match for some of my enemies. I just happened to trust her a little too much. Let my guard down.”
She rolls her eyes, and I nudge her with my elbow as Ralph smiles.
“Well, it looks like I have my work cut out for me then.”
“That you do. I’ll be back in a bit, but Beni will be here if you need anything.”
I give Saxon a quick kiss before leaving them alone.
Letting Ralph in on the secret that Saxon is still alive isn’t a decision I took lightly. And that’s not because I don’t trust him. It’s simply because the more people that know about her resurrection, the riskier it is. But the pros outweighed the cons in this scenario. Knowing how to fight is important, and if she plans on staying in this life with me, doing what we do, it’s absolutely vital.
Beni is sitting in my office, going through some of the information that Mattia and Costello sent this morning. There’s everything from old security footage from local spots in the city to credit card statements from hotels. How he manages to get ahold of this stuff so quickly is one of the reasons why he’s paid so well.
“I’m heading into the city,” I tell him. “Stay here with Saxon and call me if anything comes up.”
“You’ve got it, Boss.”
I go into the bedroom to change back into my suit and then head out the door. The pilot, a reputable man named Jensen, holds the door open for me, and I climb into my helicopter. He walks around and gets into his seat, clicking all the appropriate buttons and speaking into the radio for take-off.
“Ready to go, sir?” he asks.
I nod. “Whenever you are.”
STAYING DISCREET HAS NEVER been my style. I’ve always liked being in the front lines of it all and not hiding in the background. It’s one of the reasons people fear me. What kind of psycho has enough people working for him to delegate every single thing in his life but still gets his hands dirty?
This one.
But this time, staying hidden is exactly what I need to do. If they catch me watching, everything will unravel, and we’ll lose our chance at getting revenge for Saxon. And I don’t want to see what she’s like if she’s unable to make them pay for what they did to her.
I keep my head low but my eyes focused in front of me as I watch the two of them come out of Dalton’s office building. They’re all smiles, as if they haven’t lost one of the most important people in their lives. They look like they’re on top of the world, when they should be counting their days.
They get into the car, and as it pulls away from the curb, I wait for a few cars to pass before following behind. It’s both easier and harder to tail someone in New York City. The traffic makes it harder for them to spot you, but it also becomes much easier to lose them. To successfully follow someone, you need to have practice and skill.
Reaching their destination, I watch as she gets out of the car and runs into Elite Gym. A few moments later, she comes out, swinging Kylie’s hand and tickling her as she lifts her into the car. My heart hurts for the little girl. She’s going to mourn the loss that is coming to her, but she has no idea what her older sister is saving her from.
I end up following them all the way to the restaurant they’re having dinner at, and as the three of them walk inside and take their seats, I’ve seen enough. Any more and I’ll end up going in there just to slit their throats myself. Having eyes on them reminds me why I’m standing by and watching Saxon become what she is.
A gorgeously lethal, cold-blooded killer.
GETTING BACK TO MY house, I go straight to the gym and find Saxon and Ralph both covered in sweat. He’s got his hands on his knees, panting, while Saxon is lying on the floor like a starfish. I cock a brow at them and smirk.
“When you said you have your work cut out for you, I didn’t think you meant you were going to do it all today,” I joke.
If I’m honest, I thought he would be long gone by the time I got back.
Ralph waves me off dismissively, while Saxon giggles. “He’s just mad because I already beat him four times on my first day.”
I can’t help the prideful smile that stretches across my face. “That’s my girl.”
“Your girl is downright homicidal,” Ralph growls between pants.
Trust me, I know.
“Take the day off tomorrow,” I tell him. “I have other plans. We’ll see you Wednesday afternoon.”
He nods. “Probably for the better. I’m bound to be sore after that workout.”
Saxon sits up and smiles sweetly at him. “So much for being in the best shape of your life.”
Ralph still finds the energy to laugh. “Kage was right. You really are a menace.”
“I warned you,” I say, and Saxon blushes as I wink at her.
THE NEXT DAY IS a terrifying one, given her track record with revolvers, but a necessary one all the same. Pulling around to the back of the building, I park between two dumpsters and climb out of the car. After I grab the bag from the trunk, Saxon follows me to the door, looking around as if we’re doing something wrong.
“Is this place even open?” she asks. “Why aren’t we going in through the front door?”
I ignore her questions and stick the key in the lock. As soon as I open the door, the alarm starts to beep. It gives me a total of thirty seconds to disarm it, but Saxon only gives me two before she freaks out.
“Oh, great. Now the cops are going to come,” she frets. “How are we going to explain to them that a dead girl can’t sit in county?”