Reaching the bar, I lean against a wall and cross my arms over my chest to wait for Hailey.
My thoughts turn to the past three days. We’ve spent every second together except for when she had to be at work.
I now know every inch of her body.
I’ve heard her whimper, moan, and scream my name.
I’ve seen the love in her eyes while I came inside her.
I’ve held her while she slept.
And still, it’s not enough.
It will never be enough.
I close my eyes at the thought that I have to tell her who I really am. My whole being revolts against the idea.
I’ll lose her.
I can’t.
Fuck.
With the threat of an attack from the Albanians, I know I’m running out of time. I can feel it. It’s like a storm brewing on the horizon.
My head snaps toward the bar, and a second later, Hailey comes out.
“Hey, handsome,” she smiles at me.
“Hey,” I murmur as I push away from the wall. I wrap my arms around her and press a quick kiss to her mouth. “How was work?”
“Same as yesterday.” She wraps her arm around my waist, and I keep mine around her shoulders as we begin to walk home.
My eyes keep scouring our surroundings, my body on high alert.
Hailey tilts her head back and looks up at the stars. “Don’t you think it’s beautiful here?”
“Hmm.” My gaze turns to her face. “But it’s nothing compared to you.”
She lets out a chuckle and snuggles against my side, placing her other hand on my abs.
“It feels like a dream.”
“What?” I ask, tucking my free hand in my pocket.
“Us.”
The alarm sounds from my phone, and my entire body goes ice cold. Yanking the device out, the air rushes from my lungs.
Alexei.
“What’s wrong?” Hailey asks. I pull free from her, and grabbing her hand, I begin to run, dragging her behind me.
“Carson!” Hailey shrieks, but I don’t have time to explain things to her.
My brother needs me.
I’m just about to activate his tracking device when my phone begins to ring, and I come to a dead stop in the middle of the road.
Hailey gasps for air as I growl into the speaker, “Kod.”
“Bratstvo,” Alexei mutters. “Sorry. The fucker I was subduing grabbed hold of my chain and pressed the button by accident.”
“My fucking heart,” I snap at him. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. Don’t worry.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “Blyad’,” I mutter, pins and needles still spreading over my body from the fright.
“I’m fine,” Alexei says again. “I have Demitri. You think anyone can get past him?”
No.
I take another deep breath. “Have you found the cousins?”
“No, still looking. I’m working my way up the food chain. Watch your back. They have photos of you and the little one.”
“What photos?”
“It looks like you’re standing outside a restaurant.”
Fuck.
Hailey places her hand on my bicep, and she gives me a worried look. Thankfully she can’t understand Russian.
“I’ll call you when I’m alone,” I mutter. “Be safe.”
“You too.”
We end the call, and then I take another breath to calm my racing heart.
“What happened?”
I shake my head. “False alarm.”
She sits down on the road and then lies back, her arms splayed at her sides. “God, I’ve never run that fast before. I need a minute to recover.”
That makes two of us. My fucking hands are shaking.
They never shake.
Christ.
I crouch next to Hailey and glance around us, even more on alert after the scare.
It’s only happened once before, and just like then, it almost gave me a heart attack.
“What alarm was it? For the house?” Hailey asks.
The alarm means I have a couple of hours to save Alexei. If I’m lucky.
It means death.
“Yeah.” I hold my hand out to Hailey, and when she takes hold of mine, I pull her to her feet. “Sorry.”
“Hey, it happens. As long as everything is fine.”
I place my hand behind her neck and pull her to me. We start to walk again, and as we reach her house, I ask, “My place or yours.”
“Mine,” she replies. “I have zero energy to walk up the mountain after the impromptu exercise.”
I take Hailey’s keys from her, and after we step into the house, I lock the door and glance around the kitchen and living room. Heading up the stairs, I do the same with the bathroom and bedroom.
“Are you looking for something?” Hailey asks as she shrugs out of her jacket.
I shake my head. “Just making sure it’s safe.”
Her mouth curves up in a smile. “Aww…” She drops the jacket on the floor then falls onto her bed. “Sleeeeep.” She turns onto her side and holds her hand out to me. “And my man.”
I take off my boots and socks and remove my coat. Setting my phone down on the bedside table, I lie down next to her. I hold my arm open so she can snuggle into my side.
Hailey rests her head on my chest and lets out a contented sigh. “Heaven.”
What the fuck would I have done if Alexei was really in trouble? Dragged Hailey along? Locked her in my house?
Fuck.
“What are you thinking about?” she asks.
“Us.”
“What about us?”
“How happy I am.” I press a kiss to her hair and tighten my arm around her. Bringing my other hand up, I adjust a couple of the strands sticking up from her hair and kiss her again. “I have something to tell you.”
I’ve been lying to you.
I’m an assassin.
I kill people for a living.
Hailey lifts her head and looks at me. “What?”
I stare into her eyes and try to force the words over my lips, but instead, I say, “I love you.”
The smile I love more than anything spreads over her face. “You do?”
“Yes.”
She stretches to reach my mouth and presses a soft kiss to my lips, and then she gets comfortable again. “Like I said. Heaven.”
I close my eyes against the truth that’s haunting me.
Tomorrow.
I’ll tell her tomorrow.
HAILEY
When we reach Gimmelwald, Carson parks the car. I climb out and do a total three-sixty turn, taking in the quiet village and mountains. It’s surrounded by alpine splendor.
Carson takes hold of my hand, and we start to walk down the cobbled path.
“The village looks deserted,” I mention when I don’t see anyone.
“I think only a hundred people live here. Maybe less.”
“Where are they?”
“Indoors.” After a moment, he says, “I almost built the house here.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“It’s too quiet.”
“Says the hermit,” I tease him.
Carson gestures at the houses. “Look at the amazing architecture. It’s been around for hundreds of years.”
There’s so much history here.
Silence falls between us, and we come to a stop and just stare at the mountains for a couple of minutes.
“Places like this make me think about everything,” I whisper.
“About?”
“Life. Death. The meaning of everything.”
“You think there’s a meaning?”
I turn my gaze to Carson. “Don’t you?”
He thinks for a moment, then shakes his head. “This world is chaos. The wars. The good and the evil. Love and hate. The guy working a nine-to-five job until he dies. The old woman dying of loneliness in an old age home. There’s more darkness than light. Everyone looks for a purpose, but if you take a step outside of your comfort zone and look at every single thing, you realize there’s nothing but chaos.”
“There can be beauty in chaos,” I say as I turn my body to face him. I lift my hand to his jaw and brush my fingers over the stubble. “A loving touch.” My lips curve up. “A caring smile.” Standing on my toes, I press a kiss to his mouth. “Connecting with someone.” My eyes meet Carson’s. “It’s the little things that make life worth living.”
Letting go of his hand, I pick a flower and hold it out to him.
Carson takes the flower from me and stares at it.
“Everything has a purpose.”
Carson lifts his eyes to mine. “What’s the purpose of a cockroach?”
I let out a bark of laughter, and it echoes through the mountains. Covering my mouth, I glance around to see if I disturbed anyone, but the streets are still deserted. “Oops.” I turn my gaze back to Carson, then answer him, “They take care of the trash. Like flies, the little shits eat anything.”
Shaking his head, his lips curve up. He lifts a hand to the side of my head, his eyes filled with tenderness. “You’re extraordinary.”
“Emphasis on the ordinary,” I joke, and taking hold of his hand, I pull him back to the car. “Let’s go find food.”
We spend the day driving from town to town and gorging on the local foods which I buy for us. Carson and I had an hour-long argument about who will pay for what, and only when I threatened to travel alone did he give in to letting me pay for our food.
Carson parks the car in front of his house, and as we get out, his phone begins to ring.
He answers in Russian, and I listen even though I don’t understand a single word. It’s just hot hearing him talk in his native language.
I enter the code he showed me a couple of days ago, and we walk into the house.
He holds the phone against his chest, and pressing a kiss to my temple, he says, “I have to take care of this. I won’t be long.”
“Sure.”
I watch as he walks to the other side of the house, talking on the phone again as he takes the stairs down to his office. It’s the only room I haven’t seen yet.
I walk to the kitchen and grab a bottle of water from the fridge. I take a couple of sips, and my eyes go to the paper towels. When I found out Carson kept the flowers and he’s drying them out, it made me happy.
I set the bottle down, and lifting the top layer of paper towels, I peek at the flowers. “They’re as dry as they’ll ever be,” I mumble.
I cover them again, and taking the stairs up, I head to the bedroom. I strip out of my clothes, and walking into the bathroom, I open the faucets in the shower. I take my time, and by the time I’m dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, there’s still no sign of Carson.
Going back down, I walk to the stairs leading to his office and glance down at the closed door.
I go curl up on the couch and stare at the pine forest on the other side of the window. Silence wraps around me, and after a couple of minutes, I fall asleep.
I wake up to Carson lifting me to his chest. “Hey,” I mumble sleepily.
“Shh… sleep, baby,” he murmurs as he carries me to bed.
“Are you done with work?” I ask as I rub my cheek against his shoulder.
“Sorry it took so long.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
He lays me down on the left side of the bed, and before he’s done showering, I’m fast asleep again.
