“Boss,” Tyler slowly put his hand over top of the barrel of the gun.
I knew damn well Kai had a knife drawn under the table ready to slit the femoral artery in my inner thigh the second it looked like I’d pull the trigger. Tyler saw it, too.
“She needs to finish an assignment.”
“For you or for whomever you work for?”
“Does it matter?”
“You really are a cold-hearted son of a bitch,” Tyler said. He snorted and kicked at the empty chair beside him. “Shoot him, Boss. I have no problems cleaning up the mess.”
Kai uncrossed his ankles and leaned forward in his chair, lowering his voice. “The consequences of her telling you about me—your life. She knew that. Those I work for won’t be as … understanding as I am.”
I snorted. “You’re not understanding, Kai. That is fuckin’ bullshit. Let’s make this simple for you, Kai. If you or any of your little friends even breathe on her, I’m coming for all of you. Every single one of you.”
Kai gave a single nod as if with respect. I didn’t like it. Shit, I didn’t like any of this because I had no control over it. I researched. I planned. I got in and out of a situation before they even knew my men or me were there. Suddenly, I was in the dark and I fuckin’ hated it. What was worse was that Kai was a fuckin’ mystery. I didn’t know whether he was good, bad or indifferent.
“Why do you think I was given the task to gain Georgie’s trust? You’re not the type of man to believe in coincidences. Nor am I.”
What the fuck? Suddenly, my brain began to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
Connor dying, or so we were made to believe.
A few months later, Kai showing up in Toronto right after.
Kai bumping into Georgie at Robbie’s place.
Kai taking a menial job to kill a couple drug dealers who stole money from a MC club.
But where did this all start … My jaw tightened as I said, “Connor.”
Tyler groaned. “Shit storm.”
Kai said, “Yes. They have him. The people I work for.”
“Who are they, Kai?” I asked.
He ignored me. “Everything you thought you knew about Connor is dead. He will even kill her if he has to.” I saw the scars on Kai and I knew without a doubt Connor now wore similar ones. Who the hell was Kai affiliated with? “Georgie won’t be free of them now that they have Connor. I give her minor assignments so she’ll stay safe. She’s just lucky they haven’t taken her in, too.” Kai chuckled. “My guess is they didn’t want to have to deal with you if Georgie disappeared.” He sobered again. “Or a tactic to help Connor … see things their way. My guess is that is why they let you live instead of killing you right from the beginning. Despite how this looks, killing is not how they generally go about things. Coercion—yes. Torture—definitely. Death is too final.”
Who the fuck were these people? How did they get to Connor? Why him? Most of all, how the hell could I keep Georgie clear of this?
“And Robbie?”
“Dead. I killed him the second he walked out of jail,” Kai said.
“Jesus Christ. She thinks he’s alive. That you’re trying to find him. You’ve been lying to her.”
“And you’re not?” Kai huffed. “Come on, Deck. You’ve known Connor is alive for months and yet you haven’t told her.”
“You’re keeping her on a leash by telling her Robbie is alive. You’re using her.” I’d have to tell her about Robbie and Connor. Fuck, neither was going to be a good conversation.
Kai shrugged. “You can look at it whatever way you want. Bottom line—I’m saving her from them.” Then his voice lowered and lost that slight accent. “I was there when she was sixteen and damaged by that fucker. You weren’t.” Now, that was a fuckin’ stab right in the gut. “I saw what he did to her, what it still does to her, and I wasn’t letting him walk free after that.”
“The cuts.” I closed my eyes, a wave of sickness breaking through my usual steady calm. Then in a sudden abrupt movement, I hauled off and landed Kai on his ass with one punch. This time, Tyler stood back and watched. “I don’t care if she begs you. And fuck whoever you work for and fuck Connor. Georgie doesn’t get involved in this.”
Kai lay on the ground a second then reached out his hand. Cocky bastard. I yanked him to his feet and he smiled. “Too late for that. She’s been involved for ten years.”
“Get her uninvolved.”
Kai shook his head back and forth. “Lionel is dead. Who do you think is responsible? Don’t know for sure yet, but I’m thinking it’s who I work for.” Shit. “Georgie stops doing assignments, they’ll know and they’ll send someone after her. My guess will be Connor. You can imagine what that will be like for her, having her dead brother showing up to kill her.”