≫ONE SPENT SHELL≪
COBAIN
Spoiled brats. That’s my first thought when I get the call. Two rich kids got themselves in trouble, and now their daddy needs to bail them out. I’ve seen the scenario plenty of times. Not usually in this part of nowhere that I’ve called home for a decade. But back in the day when I traveled the world, a commonly heard story was stupid shits losing their way only to get saved by their wealthy parents.
Gator isn’t a name I’ve heard in a long while. DeMarco knew him personally. Nilsson shared stories about a close call with the assassin from long before I worked in the business. Having retired decades ago, the merc’s name rarely gets spoken except for when old men swap stories about their prime.
The Arizona Moving Company operator gave Gator the number for my safe house. The merc asked for DeMarco, but I was the only one around. Just like it’d been for over a year.
Saving the spoiled asses of rich kids wasn’t worth my time, but Gator isn’t a man who asks for help. He demands it. While I never bow to men like him, I’ve always respected assholes who earn respect. He wanted his snot-nosed kids protected, and I had nothing else on the calendar for... Well, it’s been a while.
I nearly bailed on the fucking job when Neri called to whine about being tailed and having no clue what to do. Fucking amateurs. But I still went out to what remains of an old safe house and saved them. Brought them back to my home and planned to send them on their way.
What I didn’t expect was a cult called the Children of the Black Sun would take shit so personally.
Or that Neri James would wield her witchcraft on me. There’s something altogether wrong with that woman.
How else can I explain wanting her more after she nailed me in the balls? Or that her inability to actually apologize was somehow sexier than her plump tits and taunting smile?
Neri quickly fucked me up in the head. I blame some of that on being alone for too long. Any woman was bound to get my dick hard. Except Kai’s woman does nothing for me. She might as well be a child. If it had been Kai, Sunny, and the kid, I’d have barely spoken to them. I certainly wouldn’t die to keep them safe. And no way in hell would I consider giving up the sweet release of death.
Yet as I unleash hell on the incoming enemy at the perimeter line, I begin reassessing my plan to go down with my safe house. Nearby, Nilsson’s black shepherd growls at the gunfire. He’s in the last years of his life. More than once over the last few months, the dog disappeared for so long that I assumed he died somewhere in the house. Then he’d show up as if nothing was amiss. I’m more than ready for him to die.
And now we can go out together, taking dozens of religious nutjobs with us. It’s how a man like me ought to die. Retiring and living to a ripe old age like Gator is a betrayal to our calling.
But I keep thinking of Neri. Not only about her soft hair—once brown, now bleached blonde—against my skin last night or her long, tanned legs wrapped around my hips or her possessive hands exploring my body. I don’t imagine how sweet she tasted or the vulnerability she revealed when her first orgasm hit. My mind isn’t on fucking. I’m focused on her fate.
If I die here with the dog and these assholes, that’s one less line of protection for Neri. Surviving today isn’t enough for her. She needs to return to her home, and her brother is distracted by that woman and her child.
Neri needs me to live, so she can live.
That’s why I packed a bag in the Tahoe this morning. Just in case she asked me to protect her. Of course, Neri hadn’t said the words. She isn’t an emotional woman. Tears and begging aren’t her style. She left me to do what I wanted because she doesn’t believe a man should be weak.
But she didn’t need to ask. I know she isn’t safe. Even if I kill every man currently attacking this safe house, she’ll be in danger until she returns to Nicaragua.
I ought to leave the damn dog, but he whimpers when the outer wall is breached. Without thinking, I pick him up and take off running for the bunker door. I hear the cult fuckers blast open a side entrance. With the growling dog on my shoulder, I reach for my security tablet as I shut the door between the assholes and the underground bunker.
Next, I turn off the lights in the house, leaving the Children of the Black Sun in the dark. To disorient and prevent them from fleeing, I set off the smoke grenades.
After taking two steps at a time down the stairs to the underground garage, I shove the dog in the passenger seat. When I join him in the SUV and hit the gas pedal, he growls at me, and I growl back.
If I want to kill the assholes upstairs, I need to hit the failsafe before my retreat. If I want to survive the safe house’s destruction, though, I need to get out of the underground tunnel and create some distance between the explosion and the Tahoe.
Glancing at the security cameras on the tablet, I see the men moving through the house. A few wear gas masks and use flashlights to make quick work of their search. It won’t take long for them to figure out we’re gone.
As soon as I reach the outer doors of the tunnel, I hit the failsafe trigger.
The house’s cameras go black instantly, and the ground shakes from the explosion. As I watch the house that I called home for a decade disappear, a part of me worries the blast might reach my SUV.
Instead, I not only survive but catch up to Kai, who’s driving far slower—and safer—than I would in his situation. I should fault his hesitation, but he doesn’t know the terrain. Crashing now would only leave them stranded and waiting for help he knows won’t come.
I level my SUV with his and signal for him to allow me to take the lead. Kai’s expression reveals nothing. Though he’s too fucking pretty to be a killer, I can’t deny he owns a helluva poker face.
Neri isn’t as lowkey about her feelings. She’s ready to fire at my vehicle, assuming I’m the enemy. Seeing me, the gorgeous witch woman smiles full of relief.
Even with only a second to admire her expression, I realize Neri James is smugly excited to see me. Yes, the little brat knows I’m here because of her, and she’s immensely pleased with herself for ensnaring a bodyguard.
She isn’t the first woman to con me into this position, but there’s no doubt she’ll be the last.
KAI
No amount of death or suffering will ever make me regret my decision to steal Sunny and Anika from their hellish lives. Even if they one day turn their backs on me, I’ll never view my choice as a mistake. I’m a man whose heart refuses to waver with Sunny and Anika.
In the back seat, my love and child seem less certain. Anika repeatedly asks to go home. I don’t know if she means the safe house or the cult’s compound, but Sunny must repeatedly distract the four-year-old. They play games on a tablet and look out the window. Sunny names things while Anika sits on her lap and holds her precious toy-filled bag.
As I drive on back roads, Neri tracks all vehicles we pass to ensure we’re not followed. She also texts our father back in Nicaragua to inform him of our situation. He immediately calls her because yelling in Spanish is preferable to angrily typing.
“Where are you now?” he demands. Once I inform him of our location, he sighs loudly. “You need to get to Boise and fly the fuck out of that shithole.”