Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27799 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27799 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
“We’ll make it work.”
“I don’t think it’s that easy.” He’s so damn confident. Why is everything about him attractive even when it should be bad?
“Starlight, the easiest thing that’s ever happened to me was falling for you. I’ve been gone from the start.”
“I just–”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I pulled you into my world, and now there is no going back, and if I’m honest—which I will always be when you ask—I would do it again. Now do you think I’m a monster? The life you knew is no more. I am fucking sorry but–” I cut off his words this time, pressing my mouth against his.
I want to tell him that I couldn’t care less about my old life. That there is nothing left there for me, but I don’t want to ruin this moment with him. He takes over. His mouth devours mine as though he's starved for me.
This is where I want to be. All I wanted to do was see the world. All those Instagram posts and the life I’d made online would never be as real as him.
“Finn.” I pull back from the kiss when it dawns on me suddenly. “This is my fault, isn’t it? I went digging about you and put you in danger.”
“I’ve put myself here, starlight.” He smiles down at me. His rare smile gives me silly butterflies like I’m a girl with a crush and not a woman with a deadly hitman on top of her laying his claim to her.
“I love when–” Finn’s hand comes down over my mouth. The smile drops away. I nod my head in understanding. He removes his hand and like a deadly panther, he leaps from the bed without making a sound. I sit up, catch the shirt Finn tosses my way, and pull it on.
When I glance back to Finn, he has pants on and a gun in his hand. This man is a magic act.
“I know. How many?” I hear him whisper.
I scream when someone comes busting through the window. Crap. I put my hand over my own mouth. I’m going to get us both killed.
The man gets caught up in the curtain. Finn grabs him, and I hear a snap. Scream, he mouths to me.
I can do that. I let out another loud scream. “You killed him! Please don’t hurt me!” I don't know why I thought to say it, but I do. Finn gives me one of his smirks.
“You got him?” Someone shouts as they kick the door open.
“She got me all right.” Finn pulls the trigger. The gun isn’t loud, but the man hitting the floor is.
Finn spins around as another man comes through the window, only this time he lands on his feet. Finn was too quick. He knew the man was already coming. Is that Mercy or all him?
He grabs the man by the throat, only this time he doesn’t kill him. Finn slams his forehead into the man’s face before he takes him down to the floor. I scramble to my knees. Finn never lets go of the dazed man's throat.
“You really thought two would be a distraction enough to sneak in on me?” he asks the man. “You’ve always been a cocky bastard. I don’t know how you’ve made it this long.” The man only makes a choking noise. “You’re lucky she’s here,” he tells the man before he ends his life.
“Old friend?” Finn barks a laugh at my question.
“Something like that.” He walks over to the bed. “Up you go. We’re done with Paris for now.” Finn lifts me from the bed.
“I’m going to get you killed.”
“No, starlight. You only make me all the more deadly.” The same hand that he used to kill a man seconds ago comes up to gently cup my cheek. I lean into his touch. “I have something I love to protect.”
Finn really is a hitman. His words nail me right in the heart.
It will forever be him.
Epilogue
FINN
YEARS LATER…
“Ugh, this food is so good,” Georgia moans as she digs into the small paper tray full of barbecued lamb and roasted corn. The food market is busy tonight, full of mostly locals although there are the occasional foreigners like Georgia and me. No one here is as pretty as Georgia. Her wheat-colored hair has gotten brighter with all the sun exposure we’ve had on our vacation. Freckles are popping out, and her skin has taken on a warm glow. She said she doesn’t even need to use a filter because the sun, food, and salty sea have been so good for her complexion.
I think her looks have always been ‘gram worthy. I bite into my samosa and stretch my legs out. My arm rests on a small satchel I’ve been carrying around since we left the States. In between jobs, I’d been searching all over the country for these two things, and I finally got a call from a dealer two days before we were set to go overseas. I kissed Georgia goodbye in the morning, hopped on a private plane, and was home before midnight.