I reached up and cupped his face. His eyes widened just the slightest. Adjusting my position, I was able to get onto my knees, moving closer to him as I pulled him down.
When our lips met, the hand in my hair relaxed. Every kiss with him was full of energy, but instead of a lust-filled craze, we tasted. Teasing tongues as his hand moved to my waist and he pulled me closer.
As much as he was fronting, I could see that things weren’t that simple on the inside.
The line between captor and captive were blurred.
The next day, we split off from the others and headed out in search of the missing Killing Corps.
“Four of us hunting down three Cleaners and a handler hiding somewhere in the world. Easy.” Five chuckled as we headed out of the hotel room.
“Just remember to check in,” Nine said. “We’ll set a meeting place and work our way there once we have everyone.”
“And if something happens to one of us?” One asked.
“Try not to die,” Six said, giving One a little smirk.
She rolled her eyes and gave him a hug before moving on to Five and Nine for hugs as well. It was kinda strange.
“You boys are my favorites, so stay alive, okay?”
She stopped in front of me. “Goodbye, Lacey.” She held out her hand and after a beat, I took it. “I’m not sorry for who I am or what I’ve said to you, but I am sorry I was intimidated by you and thus treated you poorly. You were right—I won’t see you again and they’ll go back to being mine alone.”
She turned and stepped away, leaving me to stare after her, too stunned and confused to say anything back.
Five stepped up beside me. “Wow, that was as close to an apology as I’ve ever heard her give.”
I turned to him. “That was an apology?”
His lip quirked up. “It was a pleasure getting to know you, Lacey. I hope to see you again, but I don’t know if that’s in the cards for us.”
He pulled me in for a hug and I wrapped my arms around him, smiling into his chest.
“Thanks for being awesome.”
He pulled back, and I looked up. His eyes were intense, serious. “If only you could die happy, having known my dick inside you.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine, catching me by surprise.
“That’s it,” Six said as he pulled Five off me.
My lips tingled, and I could feel my face heating up.
Five held out his hand to Six. “I hope to see you again. You’re one of my favorites in our little ragtag group.”
Six nodded. “Till next time.”
We climbed into the car to drive back to Atlanta. We needed to stop at the studio apartment to drop off his guns before boarding a plane to Las Vegas.
Jason hadn’t been heard from in days and they couldn’t get ahold of him, so Five was headed out to find him. One was searching for Seven while Nine was going to look for Two.
Six and I were headed to Vegas in search of Four—the last place he’d been dispatched.
In the time I’d been with Six, I’d traveled more than in the entire decade prior. Las Vegas wasn’t new to me, unlike some of the other areas we’d been to. I’d visited the adult playground two years prior when Digby and I had gone on a long weekend trip. We stayed at The Venetian and had a blast. It helped that Digby won almost a grand playing poker.
With Six beside me, I knew it was going to be a vastly different trip.
Pulling up to yet another seedy motel, way off the strip near the downtown area, I let out a groan.
“Are we staying at the cokehead special for a reason?” I asked as I looked through the window of the car that, like Miami, was mysteriously waiting for us in the long-term parking lot.
After it happening multiple times, I figured they must have had some sort of in with one of the rental companies to discreetly supply them with a vehicle. Or at least, that was my theory.
We made one stop for a weapons pickup before driving into the what was probably the worst part of town.
Six looked around, then back to me. “Stay.”
I stared at him and rolled my eyes. “I doubt the druggies are going to be any help to me.”
He didn’t take his eyes off me as he walked into the lobby, if you could call it that. I stared at the neon sign as he passed by it and shook my head. In the window was a sign that read “Cash Only” and below that “We rent by the hour.”
It was actually the first time since the motel outside Atlanta that he’d left me alone. Since it had been a while, his warning was almost amusing. At that point, I was in too deep to go back. Even if I did get home, the government or CIA would probably knock down my door soon after and drag me away.
The wait for his return was only a short minute or two, but when he came out he was angry.
“You didn’t kill anyone, did you?” I asked as grumpy pants climbed in.
His gaze narrowed on me. “Almost.”
My mouth popped open. “You showed restraint?”
“We’re not staying here.”