Stand Of Redemption(59)

“That’s Point area. I’ll have someone there in forty-five minutes,” Mitchell replied and hung up abruptly without waiting for Ria to reply.

She looked at the phone. Those assholes didn’t have much to say, and they were always quick to hang up on her.

She made herself get over her irritation to see if Kataya was staying or going. She watched the two women argue, then the young girl got in the car and Kataya looked around before going back into the house.

Ria let out the breath she had been holding. Thank God she wasn’t leaving the house. The last thing she wanted to do was follow her to wherever the hell she would go.

The next forty minutes felt like the longest minutes of her life. Ria kept her eyes on the house, praying Kataya didn’t try to leave. When she saw a car finally pull into the driveway, she breathed a sigh of relief, but then yelped in shock when she saw two men step out of the car with guns raised.

Oh God, what had she done?

Ria knew she should haul ass and get out of there, but she couldn’t make herself move. She stood transfixed as one walked to the door and the other walked to the back. They were going to kill Kataya!

The man went to kick the door in, but before his foot made contact, she heard a gunshot and watched the man drop to the ground. Kataya had taken the first shot! She could see Kataya through the window, holding the gun, but then saw the man come behind her and point his gun to the back of her head.

Ria had seen enough. She was getting the hell away before she witnessed anything else. She jumped in her car and headed toward the interstate, calling Mitchell on the way.

She waited impatiently for him to answer.

“What?”

“Mitchell! She shot one of the men,” Ria practically screamed through the phone.

“I know. We have it under control. He’s not dead,” Mitchell replied. “You’ll get your next assignment soon.”

Ria heard the infamous sound of silence as he hung up on her again.

“What the fuck?” Ria said to herself.

This was turning into a mess. She wasn’t going to be able to do this much longer. Just a few more jobs, then she would tell Emiliano enough. She worked on taking deep breaths and getting herself back under control. She did recall seeing the man rolling on the ground and figured they probably wore protection, considering they were going after someone who’d hijacked firearms.

She continued to remind herself that, if she wasn’t doing these jobs, someone else would be, and it wasn’t her fault these people had betrayed the cartel. Anyone who watched movies would know they always found you.

That thought made her nervous. What if Emiliano didn’t let her quit?

She got lost in her thoughts. She had to do this. Her job wasn’t even that bad. Maybe Kataya had plans for the guns that involved hurting a large number of people, and she had prevented her from doing it. She calmed herself with those types of thoughts as she drove home.

Once home, she texted Nicholas to tell him she was back and needed to catch some sleep. Smiling mischievously, she sent him another picture before taking a quick shower and collapsing on her bed.

* * *

Ria stretched, enjoying the feel of the soft sheets. She didn’t want to wake up; she was still feeling drowsy. Rolling over, she burrowed beneath the blankets, stiffening when she felt someone lying next to her. Her head peeked out from underneath the covers.

“Nicholas!”

He was lying on his side, looking down at her, wearing nothing but a predatory smile.

“You scared me to death!”

“You’re surprised after the pictures you sent me?”

“How do you know it was me? I didn’t show my face.”

When Nicholas burst out laughing, she quickly tried to smother him with the pillow.

“Okay, Okay,” Nicholas surrendered, taking the pillow away from her.

“Your face looks much better.” Her hand reached up to cup his check.

Unable to resist, Nicholas bent down to give her a kiss that had her clinging to him. “You’re beautiful,” he said, breaking away.

She frowned up at him. “Don’t give me compliments you don’t mean. I’m not a woman that needs to hear that for you to have sex with her.”

He laughed out loud. “I only say that when it’s true. You are beautiful.”

She blushed, seeing the admiring way he was staring down at her. She reached up, kissing his firm mouth, her tongue parting his lips.

It quickly turned into a passionate kiss.

“Oh, God, you taste good,” he groaned as he pulled back and looked down at her.

“You taste like chocolate,” Ria quipped back.

Nicholas laughed again. “Yeah, I couldn’t resist the chocolate drawer I keep. I have a terrible sweet tooth.”