Come To Me (Owned Book 3) (4 page)

“S
urprise!” voices yelled in unison. Balloons floated to the top of the lofted ceiling. Presents were on the countertop. A banner that read “Happy Birthday Vic!” hung taught in glitter. I even saw a cake.

For perhaps the first time in my adult life, I was truly surprised.

I quickly shoved my gun back into the holster. I was surprised, but not in the way I should have been. My birthday was the last thing on my mind. It wasn’t happiness I felt looking around at my decorated apartment. Bewilderment was the first thing to hit me.

Then indignation as I saw Lenny make her way out from behind the couch.

“Are you surprised?” Lenny asked. Only hours before she’d been near tears in the car, saying she was going to practically pack up her life. If that was faked, she was in the wrong field. Professional actors couldn’t drum up the kind of performance Lenny did.

“Very,” I replied dryly just as she reached out to hug me. I accepted the hug, more stunned by Lenny’s sudden change in mood than the party.

“What’s up?” she asked, smiling. I stared down at her, making no attempt to mask my shock.

“What’s up?” I repeated. “What’s up is that only hours ago you—” My alarm went off and I glanced down at my watch. The red numbers reminded me I only had two more hours to get my ass to the airport if I was going to complete the hit.
Fuck
.

I’d been so sure Lenny and I were over, but now balloons hung in our apartment and Lenny straddled my side as if the previous few hours had never happened…not to mention my entire fucking family was there. Lissie, Zoe, and Grace all laughed with each other, eating various appetizers. What the fuck was happening? Had I fallen into the Twilight Zone?

And what the fuck had I gotten myself into?

If I didn’t complete the hit, I may as well declare myself dead. Forget if Alice
might
be up to her own fuckery, putting your name in the ring for a hit and not completing it was the same as putting out a contract with your name on it.

Lenny left my side, spinning as she did, her hair catching the ribbon of a balloon. I used to be cold and calculated. Every move I made was determined and coldblooded. It didn’t take a genius to know what had happened. It didn’t even take someone remotely smart. Lenny had happened. She heated me up inside out. I was boiling around her.

I did stupid shit now, like fall in love. I made rash decisions that not only affected me but others around me. The smart thing to do would be to cut her out. The safe thing to do would be to end it. As I watched her dance around, laughing and drinking, I knew I’d never do that. I could withstand torture, I could withstand days without food, but I could never withstand a life without Lenny.

Still, I had to get the fuck out of there. I’d made my bed and all that shit.

Lissie approached me as I was about to ascend the staircase and pack. “Have you ever had a surprise party?”

“No,” I responded, hand hanging limply on the railing. I’d never had a birthday party, period. Even living with Lenny, I’d managed to go on assignment for each of my birthdays. This was the first year I was home.

“Presents!” Lenny exclaimed, quickly cutting off the terrible thought process that was my birthday. “Vic come open your presents!” Hand still on the railing, I glared over to Lenny holding a wrapped box. The day had officially escalated to my fucking nightmare.

I sat down gingerly on our couch while the group all stared at me, weird smiles plastered on their faces. Of happiness, I guess. Maybe excitement. I don’t know. I wasn’t used to smiles. I wasn’t used to family or friends, either.

After I opened up most of the presents—all of which were an assortment of odd things I didn’t really need—Lissie handed me hers. I was sure I should have been more grateful, but I didn’t understand the point of presents. I didn’t need a gift card for the movies; they should have spent the money on themselves.

“It’s nothing special,” Lissie said. “I mean, what do you get the guy that has everything, right?”

I shook my head. “I don’t want anything.”

“Exactly.” Lissie waved her arms. “Impossible to shop for.”

I shrugged and looked at the sheathed rectangle in my hands. It was wrapped up nicely and had a little bow. The paper felt odd against my hands. It was beautiful, but I was supposed to tear it apart.

“Vic?” Lennox asked. “Are you going to open it?”

“Yeah,” I responded gruffly. I started with the bow, untying it and then handing it back to Lissie. Then I carefully undid the tape, making sure not to tear the paper. When I was done I held my present in my hand, regarding it.

“So,” Lissie said. “You don’t have any pictures in this place, at least none that I can see. I took this on my phone so it’s not the best quality, but I think it’s pretty cute.”

I stared at the photo. It was of me and Lennox. We were both smiling, the beach our back drop. I remembered the day, just a couple weeks ago. Lenny, Zoe, Lissie, their new baby girl, Grace, Eli, and I had all gone to the beach. Everyone together and happy. It was a normal day. A day filled with happiness.

A rare day.

“Vic?” Lenny’s voice drifted to my ears. “Vic you’ve been staring at the photo for a few minutes now.”

“Thank you,” I said, turning my attention back to Lissie.

“It’s from both of us,” Lissie said, gesturing to Zoe.

“No,” Zoe said. “I got you a set of nice coasters. Because you are a neat freak.” At that the group started to laugh. The room filled with the sound just as my alarm went off. I glanced down at my watch; I only had an hour left.

“This has been…” I searched for the right word. “Fun. But I have to get going.”

“Where do you have to go?” Lenny exclaimed. “You still have more presents and we have games to play! Zoe was so excited to play charades. You haven’t even cut the fucking cake!”

“It’s okay,” Grace said, standing up. “We can come back another time. We did surprise him.”

“Yeah, and I think the operative word there was ‘Zoe’ was excited to play charades,” Zoe said, a small smile on her face. “I’m sleeping with this girl and she won’t even play with me.” Zoe gestured to Lissie.

Lissie shrugged. “Maybe you should step up your game.”

“Oh is that right?” Zoe yelled playfully. The conversation devolved among them and I took the opportunity to sneak away. As I was about to step on the first stair, a light touch on my wrist pulled me back.

“I just wanted to give you a party…” Lenny looked away. “I know I fucked it up. I’m sorry.” Lenny threw her hands up and walked away. I followed her slightly swaying body as she made it back to the apex of the party. She opened her mouth to—I was sure—kick everyone out.

“Well,” I said loud enough to talk over her. “Who wants charades?”

Zoe jumped up, her body knocking over a tray of mostly eaten appetizers. “Fucking finally!”

I
should have known charades would devolve into a complete and utter shit show. We already had uneven numbers because Eli was at home studying. Uneven numbers were bad luck. It was perhaps the one superstition I held, but I held it for a good reason. When Lenny came back down from grabbing paper to write out teams and categories, her face was different, closed off and cold. I knew something had happened.

“What’s up?” I whispered to her while Lissie was up acting out some kind of book. Lenny ignored me, arms folded. Our therapist’s advice drifted into my mind like the bay breeze, and like the breeze, it was hardly noticeable.

“Thus Spake Zarathustra!” Grace called out.

Lissie gestured to Grace that she had figured it out and then turned to Zoe, her face red either from drink or frustration, probably both. “What the fuck, Zoe?” Lissie yelled, pushing back a strand of loose blonde hair. “Are you for real? I put down Harry Potter.”

“Go big or go home.” Zoe shrugged as she stood up, preparing to act out her own charade.

“I’m surprised Grace even got it,” Lissie said, sagging into the couch.

“Well when you’re a social recluse for upwards of eighteen years…” Grace mumbled into her drink and they started the next round of charades. Still, Lenny’s participation was lackluster. When she made guesses, her eyes were focused elsewhere and her voice monotone.

I poked her playfully. “What’s wrong?”

Turning away from Zoe, she yelled at me, completely obliterating the pretense of whispering. “I found the insurance policy, that’s what’s wrong. Will there ever come a day when you don’t lie?” I exhaled, blowing strands of hair away from my face.

Fuck
.

Briefly I wondered what our friends thought of us. I wondered how they even managed to put up with us, why the even bothered.

“Vic,” Grace said, trying to diffuse the situation. “You’re up.” I looked to Grace, reaching a hand to me from where she sat cross-legged in a chair. I snatched the paper from her and read the ridiculous movie that had been written down. If it were any other time, I would have laughed at what was most definitely Zoe’s contribution. It wasn’t any other time. Lenny stared daggers at me, her eyes burning holes into my skin.

I sighed, not sure how in the motherfuck I was going to act out
Night of the Day of the Dawn of the Son of the Bride of the Return of the Revenge of the Terror of the Attack of the Evil, Mutant, Hellbound, Flesh-Eating Subhumanoid Zombified Living Dead, Part 2: In Shocking 2-D
in under a minute and thirty seconds. At my displeased expression, Zoe laughed and said,

“I think I know which one he has.”

“You are the worst when we play charades,” Lissie replied.

Zoe shrugged and pressed start on the timer. Before I could even begin, Lenny shouted, “Iago! Wait, no, that’s
too
kind.”

“I haven’t even begun yet.”

“Haven’t you?” Lenny interrupted.

“And Iago is a character.” I crumpled the torn piece of paper into my hand. “Not a movie, book, song, or TV show.” Lenny seethed, silently sipping her drink. Even though Lenny sat on the couch and I was standing up, it felt like we were battling, like the world had fallen away and we were on our own island exchanging blows.

Sometimes I thought it would be better that way, if we fought with fists instead of with words. I’d exchanged punches with men and shared drinks right after. The way Lenny and I fought was so much deeper, so much crueler, and we didn’t share drinks after.

“What drink number is that?” I dared.

“Maybe we should switch up teams!” Zoe exclaimed, throwing tawny arms in the air. “I’m obviously the best. It’s almost cruel to pair me with someone.”

“Wait, wait.” Lissie reached across Lenny on the couch, placing a hand on Zoe’s thigh. “Are you seriously proposing we watch you battle yourself?”

“What are you, my babysitter?” Lenny stood up, violently shucking Lissie’s hand off her waist. There was a stillness in the aftermath as all eyes turned toward us.

Lissie, Zoe, and Grace all exchanged glances. “I have a feeling charades is over,” Grace said.

“At least the game is,” Zoe remarked.

“I really don’t want it to be,” I growled. “But since you’ve been acting like a child…”

“It’s a party Vic—oh wait, it
was
a party, meaning we have fun.” Lennox took another sip of what looked like straight liquor and continued, “So lighten the fuck up.”

“What is wrong with you?” I grabbed her arm, pulling her toward me. I had such a strong urge to shake her, to pull her out of whatever fugue she was in. We used to fight hard, but then we fucked harder.

Now we just fought.

And we cut.

And we bled.

But we couldn’t keep wounding each other without death.

“What is wrong with me?” Lenny dropped her drink to the ground, using her free hand to grasp my shirt. “I found a life insurance policy that will pay out millions if I die. Do I need to mention
where
I found that policy Vic?”

I glared. “Should we do this in front of company?”

“If your head wasn’t so far up your ass you would notice that they’d already left.” I paused and looked around. The party had indeed moved out. The only people left were me and Lennox. I sighed, placed a hand to my temple, and tried to take a step back but Lenny kept her fist to my shirt. I raised a brow.

“You know what hurts the most?” she asked, releasing her grip. “That it wasn’t shocking. I found the policy and I wasn’t shocked. Do you have things hidden in the walls, too, Vic? Am I going to find skeletons beneath the layer of drywall?”

I folded my arms. “Of course not.”

“Don’t act like it’s such a ridiculous accusation, Vic!” Lenny bent down and picked up her empty glass. Dusting it off, she walked over to the bar, but not before waving back at me to say, “It is
us
we’re talking about.”

“So I have some things under the floor; it’s not as if you discovered the Rosetta Stone down there.”

Lenny scoffed and walked back to me, drink and policy in hand. “Then what the fuck is this, Vic?”

“You know what that is.”

“Why do you have it?”

“Why were you rifling through my stuff?”

“I wasn’t rifling. I tripped over the goddamn floorboard and your secrets came spilling out! I don’t even want to
touch
on the fact that you have shit hidden in the floorboards. It took enough of me to comprehend your secret Batman lair, but this? Why?”