Very Bad Things (8 page)

“
Since you’ve been on my payroll I’ve had people watching you work,
making sure you complete what I tell you.” He chuckled. “But don’t take it
personally. I have everyone on my payroll being watched. What can I say?” He
shrugged. “I’m a little paranoid.” Tricks started chuckling even louder this
time. “I can’t have loose ends, but you’ve always come out on top, Ryker.”
Tricks moved closer and stopped right at the edge of the counter, just a few
feet from them. Ryker had a gun tucked in his waistband at the small of his
back and a gun tucked in the sock at his ankle.

Ryker didn’t move.

“
But then I thought you might be the one person that was different from
all the other wannabe pricks that come through my doors wanting a job.” Tricks
tsked
again and
glanced at Fiona. “And then there is this little gash that somehow makes the
hardened killer that I admire on a very depraved level switch on me. You took
her even though she saw too much.”

“
I wouldn’t say anything,” Fiona said from behind him, and Ryker
tightened his hold on her, urging her to shut the fuck up.

“
Darling, it doesn’t
matter
what you say to me,
how much you beg, or the fact you’re a hot little piece of cunt that I’ll have
fun fucking. You just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, and
the end result will have to be your life in my hands.” Tricks shrugged and ran
his fingers over the counter.

Ryker already knew that he had often been trailed off
and on since he started working for Tricks, but was still amazed at the
quickness of
Tricks’s
arrival. Besides, he needed a
distraction from this asshole thinking about hurting Fiona, because Ryker
needed to get her to a safe room, take out Moe, and finish Tricks if it came
down to it.

“
You know I have tails on you, but it wasn’t that hard to make sure you
finished the job, especially when you were so preoccupied with her you didn’t
even realize you were being followed last night.”

Tricks was
right. Ryker had been so preoccupied with taking Fiona that he hadn’t
realized a car had been following him last night. Ryker didn’t like that fact
that a woman could make him so blind. But he was still the predator, not the
prey, and the fact this waste of space was threatening Fiona, not to mention that
Tricks had obviously lost it by showing up here, connecting himself with a hit,
had just sealed
Tricks’s
death warrant.

“
I’m going to give you the option I don’t give many men, Ryker,” Tricks
said and grinned. “You give me that sweet piece of ass, and I’ll make sure
someone can actually finish the job with her after I’ve had my fun, and you get
to live.” Tricks stared hard at Ryker. “Or I can just take you both out right
now, and hire another hit-man that can actually shoot a fucking whore when the
time calls for it.” Tricks growled out the last word.

Well, it looked like Tricks wanted to die today, and
Ryker was more than willing to make that a reality. He pushed Fiona away hard
and fast, reached for the gun at the small of his back, grabbed the gun at his
ankle, and aimed it at Moe.
Tricks was
already getting
his gun out, but because he was high he was slow. Blood would run in rivers
today, but Ryker was all for it.

Chapter Eleven

What the hell had happened? One moment Ryker had been
threatening her, getting right into her face, and then in the next moment, this
man Tricks entered the cabin. Fiona knew from the look of Ryker that this was
bad news for all of them. When Tricks talked about using her as a plaything
before killing her, she knew Ryker was the better option.

Ryker should have killed her back at the apartment,
but he hadn’t. He had taken her and made her world feel a little bit better.

Her fear grew when he pulled her behind him, drawing
his weapon. There was no chance of him winning against this man. Breathing in
deeply, she stared at Tricks, who had finally drawn his gun. The laughter in
his voice matched the crinkles around his eyes. What could be funny about this
moment? Ryker held two guns, one pointed at the bodyguard with the other at
Tricks. There was no coming back from a bullet wound.

She gripped Ryker’s back, wishing they could undo the
last ten minutes.

“
You’re going to lose your life for a cunt?” Tricks asked.

“
I’m not going to be the one to lose my life today.”

The guns were drawn, yet no one was shooting. She took
a step away from Ryker, hoping to get out of the way. Part of her knew it was
what held him back. If she’d gotten to the safe room like he ordered, the fight
would have been long over. She didn’t have a clue who would win. Trick’s looked
stoned and the other man sloppy. Ryker was a professional in comparison.

“
Her pussy must be something. I truly thought you were worth a hell of a
lot more than betraying me over a whore.”

“
You better shut your mouth, Tricks. The job was done. She’s nothing to
worry about.”

“
She’s living and breathing. I’ve got rules for a reason, Ryker. No
survivors. No one is allowed to be left alive.” Trick’s hand was shaking as he
pointed the gun at Ryker.

Fiona didn’t want him to die. Ryker had come to mean
something to her in the last twenty-four hours. It was completely insane,
stupid even. He was a cold-blooded killer, a murderer, and yet he made her
heart soar with pleasure just by being with him. Yes, he scared the shit out of
her, but there was so much more to him than the fear.

Backing up, she kept her gaze on Tricks. She reached behind
her to grab the kettle that had been boiling for their coffee. No one was
paying any attention to her.

Her heart raced as she thought about the chaos her
life had turned into. Ryker risked his life to keep her around. She should have
died that night in Jake’s apartment surrounded by drugs and deceit.

He’d taken her instead of killing her. It had to mean
something, anything more than a simple fuck.

“
You’re not going to get to her,” Ryker said.

Tricks started laughing. “You’re being taken down by a
pussy. I should have seen the truth about you when you first came to me looking
for a job. You were a sniveling little shit, needing Momma to wipe your ass. I
could do better than you.”

She saw Ryker tense up at Trick’s words.

“
Whore for a mother, deadbeat for a dad. You’re nothing, Ryker. You’re a
piece of shit that’s been given too much privilege, and it’s time to take that
privilege away.”

Fiona couldn’t let him die. She didn’t know why she’d
picked up the kettle or what to do with it. Hearing the spiteful words Trick’s
spoke, she wanted to hurt him. Stepping around Ryker, she threw the kettle at
Tricks. Hot water spilled out of the kettle causing Tricks to scream.

“
Duck!”
Ryker’s yell had her dropping to the floor covering her head. She
screamed as shots rang out. Seconds passed, but it felt like a millennium. The
shots stopped, the noise going quiet.

“
Fiona.” A hand touched her shoulder.

Lifting her head up, she removed her hands to see
Ryker smiling down at her.

“
Is it over?” she asked.

“
It’s over.”

Without thinking she threw herself into his arms,
wrapping hers around his neck, and holding on. She didn’t want to let him go.
If she let him go then she had to witness the death around her.

“
It’s over,” he said, kissing the top of her head.

“
He was going to kill us.”

“
Yes.” Ryker held her tight against him. His large hands soothed her.
Closing her eyes she felt the tears start to fall down her cheeks. “They would
have done far worse to you before they granted you death, Fiona.”

“
I know. I know you saved me. I was so scared. I’ve never been that
scared before in my life.”

“
Not even with me?”

“
You scared me but not like that. He was going to kill you, and I
couldn’t let him do it.”

Ryker released her, gripping her shoulders, and
forcing her to look at him. “What you did was fucking dangerous. I told you to
get out not to go and get the fucking kettle.”

“
If I didn’t you’d be dead.”

“
No, I wouldn’t have been, Fiona. The only one at fucking risk was you.”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the two dead bodies
and the blood leaking out of them. Gasping, she jerked out of his hold,
scrambling away from the mess. She hadn’t been given enough time to see Jake
dead.

Her back hit the edge of the counter. She forced
herself to stay still as she took in the sight.

“
Fiona, it’s okay. Look at me,” Ryker said.

“
They’re dead.” She pressed a hand to her mouth. Glancing at her fingers,
she froze. There on the tips was blood. One of the men had fallen close to her
where she’d been sitting and she’d put her fingers in the mess he made.

“
Fiona.” Ryker snapped his fingers in front of her face.

“
How can you not care?” she asked, tears filling her eyes.

Was she in shock? She felt in shock. Actually, she
felt horrified, relieved, and scared. She always felt scared. For once she’d
like to not feel that.

“
They’re the worst kind of scum. They do not deserve your compassion or
your guilt. They would have done motherfucking worse than that to you.” He
gripped her chin tightly, on the verge of pain.

Crying out, she tried to jerk out of his hold, but he
wouldn’t let her.

“
No, you will look at me. Keep your eyes on me, Fiona. Those men would
have taken you against your will. Your pussy and ass would have been ripped
apart before they graced you with death. You owe them nothing. The reason I
don’t care is because they mean nothing.”

“
What about me?” she asked, croaking out the answer.

“
What?”

“
Do I mean something, or will I end up like them?”

He gripped her arms hard, tugging her off the floor.
Ryker forced her toward the kitchen sink.

“
You’re hurting me,” she said. The tears fell down her face hard. There
was no stopping him. Ryker, like always, was the man in control, not her. He
turned on the tap, grabbed some soap and started to clean her hands. Not once
was his touch gentle. He made her hurt.
“Ryker?”

In response, he shot her a scowl, letting her know who
was in control, and it wasn’t her.

Her heart hammered inside her chest. The minutes that
passed seemed to go unendingly. Ryker didn’t talk or even look at her. Her
hands were clean and the skin shriveled from being under the water for a length
of time.

He didn’t stop. Turning off the water, he marched her
back toward the bedroom. His silence scared her. Why wouldn’t he answer her?

“
Ryker?”

She found herself sat on the bed. He gripped her chin
in his hands.

“
If I didn’t care, Fiona, you’d be as dead as those men.” He got right up
close to her face. “I want you to realize something. You’re the first, the
only, woman I’ve left alive. There have been others who witnessed me kill
lowlife fuckers, and I took them out. I’ve never, ever, left a scene with a
witness. You’re the first person, and you’ll be the last person. I’m going back
in that room to clean away the mess. When I’m done, you better have a goddamn
fucking apology for me.”

He stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind
him.

She stared at the door confused.

Did she mean something to him?

Ryker had killed every other female that had been a
witness. She was the only one he kept alive, but why? There was nothing special
about her.

The silence was filled with Ryker’s movements. There
was no grunting, but the unmistakable sound of bodies being moved filled her
senses.

You’re part of this now.

You helped to kill those men.

Getting up from the bed, she moved toward the
bathroom. She stared in the mirror, looking at her pale face.

You’re as good as a killer. There’s no going back, only forward.

She needed to make a choice and stick to it. The only
thing she wanted was Ryker.

Chapter Twelve

Ryker dropped Moe’s big fucking body in the bathroom,
stared at Tricks that was haphazardly in the bathtub, and left the room. He
walked over to the sink, washed the blood from his hands, and watched as the
clear water was a now murky red tint. Bracing his hands on the sink he thought
about the harshness of how he acted toward Fiona. He hadn’t needed to be so
hard on her, but she was stupid for acting out, and throwing that kettle like
it was going to stop the situation from escalating. Getting his cell out, he
dialed the number that was only used in times like this, and waited for P to
answer.