TWO DAYS LATER
We finished our business in Cincinnati and then we moved to Columbus. Now we’re in Cleveland waiting to mark off our next target on the list. I convinced Sawyer to let me take it on my own. He didn’t want me alone, but I coerced him to stay back so he and Tia could have some private time. Instead of staying in a hotel, we rented a cottage on Lake Eerie to have a peaceful weekend after completing our tasks. On Monday, we plan on flying out to North Carolina to take care of a few targets there.
“Are you sure you don’t want my help?” Sawyer asks, sneaking quietly into the kitchen while Tia’s in the bathroom.
I grab the car keys off the counter and glare at him. “I’m good. Enjoy your night. I’ll be back soon.” I know Tia has an intimate night planned for them, and I really don’t want to hear any of it.
Sawyer sighs. “Okay, but I’ll be waiting up until you get back.”
His words make me smile. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
My gun is holstered at my waist, and my cell is in my back pocket. I’m ready to go. I walk out the front door of our cottage and get into the SUV we rented. My target’s name is Jeremy Ware, a forty-five-year-old man convicted of indecency with a minor on several accounts, rape, and domestic abuse. The disgusting pig even impregnated his fourteen-year-old stepdaughter and convinced her mother that he caught her with a boy from school and that she needed to get an abortion. Thankfully, the girl’s living with her grandparents now, but the damage is done; she’ll never be the same. At least, after tonight, she won’t have to worry about her stepfather ever again.
It’s midnight, and I know Jeremy isn’t home yet. Every Saturday night, he bowls with his buddies and drives the half-mile home drunk. What he doesn’t know is that I’ll be waiting for him when he arrives. There’s a neighborhood playground close to his house, and that’s where I go to park. Turning off the car, I blow out a breath and look around. All of the homes are dark, and it’s eerily quiet.
My thoughts turn to Colin, and I lean my head against the seat. I can’t help but wonder what he’s doing and if he’s trying to find me. With me moving around so much, I haven’t made it easy on him. I promised Tia I would call him tomorrow, and I plan on it; I just don’t know what I’m going to say. Fighting against the bond has taken a toll on me, and it kills me to admit it’s kicking my ass. There’s no way in hell I’ll ever confess that to Colin though. I’m afraid of what’s going to happen when I finally see him. My wolf side is impulsive, and I know that part of me wants to give in to the idea of a mate. However, this is Colin we’re talking about.
Reaching over to my purse, I pull out my personal cell. I scroll through the C’s in my contacts until I find Colin’s name. As much as I want to deny it, I’ve missed talking to him. My thumb hovers over the call button, and I’m just about to press it when headlights appear up the street. When the car gets closer, it’s Jeremy’s old, blue Chevy truck. I set my phone aside and get out, using my shifter speed to run through the patch of woods behind the row of houses before I get to Jeremy’s. I make it to his backyard before he even pulls into his driveway. Quietly, I creep up around the house, cloaked in darkness. Jeremy opens the garage door and pulls his truck inside, cursing when he gets out, and his keys fall to the ground. He picks up his keys, and I can smell the stench of beer emanating from him. Judging by his dirty clothes and greasy dark hair, it doesn’t appear as if he’s taken a shower in days.
“Are you always this disgusting?” I ask.
Jeremy jerks around, his eyes squinting against the darkness. “Who’s there?” He looks off in the wrong direction, and when he finally sees me step out of the dark, he jumps back. “Where the hell did you come from?”
I pull out my gun and point it straight at his head. “Your worst nightmares,” I reply.
Eyes wide, he falls to his knees and sobs like a baby. “Please don’t kill me. I’ll do anything.”
With him begging for his life, I feel no sympathy whatsoever, only vengeance for those he hurt. “You should’ve thought about that before you harmed those innocent women, especially your stepdaughter. You disgust me. There’s a special place in hell for people like you.”
Not wasting any more time, I pull the trigger, and that’s the end to Jeremy Ware. His blood oozes onto the garage floor, and I slowly back up, waiting for his heart to stop completely. When it does, I holster my gun and take off for the woods to the park where my car is at. I get there and pull out my phone so that I can call the cleanup crew. I have no clue who they are or how they get to the scene as fast as they do.
I press the number, and this time a lady answers. “Name, target, and location.”
“Special agent Grayson, Jeremy Ware, Cleveland, Ohio.”
“Copy that. I have your location. You’re all set,” she says. The line disconnects, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Tonight was the first mission on my own, the beginning of a new way of life.
“I see this is what you do for the FBI now,” a voice calls out.
And it’s not just any voice. Holding my breath, I slowly turn around, and there he is. Colin. I try to calm my racing heart, but it’s no use. Opening my mind to him, I say the next words just to see if he reacts.
“You’re here.”
His lips pull up into a sad smile as he approaches me, but then he stops. “I am.”
The link is open. Everything we did in our dreams was real. Colin’s known everything this entire time. “How did you find me?”
“I have my ways.” He nods toward my car. “You should probably get out of here.”
Heart racing, I clutch my keys, and I can barely recognize my voice when I speak. “We should. Do you need a ride?”
He shakes his head. “I’ll find you. Go.”
There are so many questions I want to ask him, but he runs away so fast I lose sight of him. Once in the car, I hurry on my way back to the cottage. My breaths come out in rapid pants as I reach for my phone to call Tia.
The line rings a few times, and then she answers. “Hey. Did you finish it?”
“Yeah, but that’s not why I’m calling,” I reply breathlessly.
“Oh my God, are you okay?”
I rub a hand over my aching chest. Seeing Colin made me feel things I’ve kept suppressed for a very long time. And now I know without a doubt that he’s connected to me. The way he looked at me with those crystal blue eyes of his and feeling his need changed something inside of me.
“Colin found me, Tia.”
“Are you surprised?”
Not in the least. This is Colin we’re talking about.
“No,” I say. I had hoped Colin would but didn’t want to admit it to myself. “He’s on his way to the cottage. I don’t know what to do. The dream where he bit me was real. I spoke to him through my mind, and he heard me.”
“It’s okay,” she murmurs soothingly. “You were prepared for that.”
There was something different about him tonight. “He’s changed,” I tell her. “Or maybe I have. When I looked at him, I didn’t feel anger like I used to before.”
“This is a good thing. Hopefully, you two can finally figure things out.”
“What if we don’t?”
She snickers. “You will. I do not doubt that. Now concentrate on the road and get here safely.” We say our goodbyes, and I drive in silence the rest of the way to the cottage. A black SUV pulls into the driveway behind me, and when the lights shut off, I can see Colin in the driver’s seat. The time has come to face him. Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and let it out slowly. Opening the door, I reach over to grab my purse and get out. Colin shuts his door and focuses on my eyes as if he’s searching for answers. I wish I had them.
I point toward the back of the cottage. “If you want to talk, we can sit out on the deck. We have a nice view of the lake in the daytime.”
Colin smiles, but it’s guarded. I can tell there’s a lot on his mind. “Lead the way.”
He’s close as we walk together around the house, but he doesn’t touch me. My fingers ache to feel his skin, but I clench my fists together. When we get to the deck, I set my purse down on the patio table. Colin makes no move to sit, and I don’t either. Instead, he keeps his distance and stares at me while I stare back. Silence fills the air, and the emotions inside me build to the point I don’t know if I can contain them. Blocking him from my thoughts is a lot harder when he’s around.
“Congratulations on joining the FBI,” Colin says, breaking the silence. He takes a step forward and smiles. “I knew you would make it.”
“Thanks. It was hard work.”
He nods and walks over to the edge of the deck, his eyes on the dark lake. The moon gives it a glow that looks almost magical. “I know,” he murmurs. “I watched you.”
I stare at his back. “You watched me?”
I wait for him to turn around, but he doesn’t. “When I wasn’t traveling for work, I was there in the woods, watching you train with the others. I probably only missed five days total of your training.”
A gasp escapes my lips. “You were there that whole time?”
He nods. “I felt like I was a part of it with you. It was like you were someone else out there, so strong and determined. However, I got a little jealous when you’d joke around with the one guy. It made me think of the way you used to talk to me.”
“His name’s Chris,” I say, smiling at the thought. “I love him, but our conversations weren’t as fun as ours.”
Colin glances at me over his shoulder and grins. “So, you missed me?”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Then my eyes narrow at him. “Okay, so maybe a little. You’re the only one who can keep up with my insults.” Colin chuckles, and I realize I like hearing it. “I knew you were there that first day in the woods. I could feel you.”
His grin fades. “I was afraid of that,” he replies, averting his gaze back to the lake. “It’s a good thing you didn’t shut me out that day. I heard you say something about the cameras in the woods. I knew to keep my distance.”
It’s strange knowing he can hear my thoughts if I let him. There’s so much I don’t want him to know yet. “When were you going to tell me?”
He shrugs. “When have I had the chance until now?”
He has a point.
“True.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulls something out and sets it on the wooden rail. I recognize the smooth, black stone. I walk over and stand next to him, taking the rock into my hand. It’s warm as I roll it around my fingers. “That’s how you stayed hidden from me.” Being beside him gives me a sense of peace, but it also makes me yearn for more.
A heavy sigh escapes his lips, and I can’t bring myself to look into his eyes just yet; I know I’ll fall hard if I do. “The thought of being away from you killed me, Kami. Those eight weeks were pure fucking agony. Using the stone was the only way to keep you from feeling me. Then, when I went to Amelie’s the other day and found out you’d already left, I thought I’d lose my damn mind. And even more so when I saw you in the alley with that cocksucker. I knew Sawyer was there, but all I wanted to do was rip that bastard apart when he started coming after you.”
Mouth gaping, my heart pounds in my chest. “You were there?”
“I was. Just like I was there when you killed the others.” I can see the concern on his face and hear it in his voice. “You don’t have to tell me anything, but I’d like to know what you’re doing.”
It’s my chance to tell him the truth, to test him. If he can’t accept what I do, then it’ll never work, mates or not. “I’m an assassin, Colin. I work for a secret group of the government called the Circle of Justice. I’m all for saving lives, but those men deserved to die after what they’ve done. That’s what Sawyer and I do. We kill those who escaped the justice system.”
“What did those men do?” he asks.
In their files, it showed pictures of their victims. I can see their smiling faces like a carousel going round and round in my head. Hopefully, they can smile now. “Let’s just say I would’ve preferred taking them into the woods and watching them bleed to death after I cut off their dicks.”
Understanding flashes across his face. “I see. That’s why that guy was coming after you.”
I nod. “He drugged a woman’s drink at the bar, and I saved her. Then, he turned around and spiked mine. I didn’t expect to be the victim that night.”
Colin’s eyes flash with rage, and he grips onto the railing, his emotions hitting me like a ton of bricks. His feelings are raw and powerful, almost out of control, but he holds it back. “It’s been so hard fighting the urge to protect you. There were days I didn’t think I could hold back anymore, but then I knew I’d drive you away.” The wall I built inside of me comes crashing down, and there’s not stopping it. Sucking in a breath, I grab my chest, and Colin turns to me, his eyes glowing. “Looks like I’m not the only one trying to keep it together. I thought it was only me.”
Shaking my head, I avert my gaze. “No. I wasn’t ready to deal with it. I still don’t know if I am. I’m sure Faith told you how I feel about finding our mates.”
“She did. We can take things slow if that makes you happy.”
Rubbing the spot over my heart, I open my eyes and look at him. “And you’re okay with that?”
He nods, his expression genuine. “I’ll do what it takes. You’re my mate, Kami. I’ll wait as long as I have to.”
“You seriously mean it?”
His gaze lands on my hands, and I can tell he wants to touch me. “I do,” he says, grinning as he lifts his gaze back to mine. “I want you to know me, Kami. The real me. Take my blood if you want to. That way, you’ll never have to doubt me. I don’t think I’m asking for too much.”
I can live with that. Am I ready to open up Colin’s side of the connection? Honestly, I don’t know. If he lets me in his mind, he’ll know something’s wrong if I don’t want him in mine. “Okay. We can talk about it all tomorrow.”
He smirks. “More like in a few hours. It’s already tomorrow.”
“All right, smartass,” I say, holding out the black carmine stone in my palm. “Don’t forget this.”
Shaking his head, he lifts his hands to mine, curling my fingers over the stone. The electric jolt that mates feel when they touch shoots up my arm and all through my body. I’ve felt it in our dreams, but it’s been nothing like this. Colin’s heart rate jumps, and he closes his eyes. “You keep it for now,” he says, his voice low as if he’s trying to concentrate. “I don’t need it anymore.” The feel of his skin makes me want more, and by the glow of his eyes when he opens them, he can sense it. It doesn’t matter if I block my thoughts from him; there’s no way I can entirely hide my emotions.
Clearing my throat, I slide my hands away and nod at the cottage. “There’s an extra bedroom. You’re more than welcome to take it. Then, after we’ve gotten some rest, we’ll talk more. I know there’s a lot we haven’t said.”
He brings a hand up to my face but lets it fall. “You have no idea.”
I take a step back and then another. “Goodnight, Colin.”
A small smile spreads across his lips. “Sweet dreams, Kamille.”
For the first time, I like hearing him say my name. The dream part catches my attention. It’s been a while since I’ve allowed myself to think of them. I haven’t had one in two months. Turning on my heel, I head inside the cottage and on the kitchen counter is my herbal tea. Tia makes it for me every night. I walk over and lift the cup to my lips, but I don’t drink it; something holds me back. Instead, I set the mug in the sink and walk away.
I’m curious to see what happens.