Little Bird (Caged #1) Read online

  “I really didn’t want to take it this far, Megs. I don’t like to hurt people unless they deserve it or I need them gone, and I’m not certain you deserve it. Yet. What is this girl to you, anyway? I thought you didn’t do the ‘friendship’ thing. Why are you so against me doing my fucking job?”

  I stare into his dark brown eyes not wanting to admit to the bond I’ve developed with the boy.

  “You’re going to have to pull the trigger, Lucas.” I turn my cheek to push into the barrel he has aimed at my face. “Or we’re going to keep going back and forth. I can’t let you kill the boy.” I drop my eyes as they fill with moisture before my brows raise that this motherfucker has somehow drawn tears from me.

  I don’t know if it’s because I know he’s going to shoot me and Bronson is as good as dead, or if it’s because one blow to the face and I’ll be unconscious and weak and Bronson is still as good as dead. I should have never even had an ounce of lust driven trust for this man.

  He’s breathing heavily now, staring at the barrel of the gun. I can feel the tremble in his hand and I’m not certain if it’s from anger, nerves, or pure pain radiating from his hip. He takes a few deep breaths then curses, lowering the gun.

  “That’s what this is about? The motherfucking kid?” He doesn’t let my throat go but his grip is loose enough I can breathe.

  My rage is starting to boil that he’s brought this out of me, and sucking my bottom lip into my mouth that’s still bleeding from when he slapped me, I then spit blood in his face.

  “Once you kill me, Jasper will have your head on a platter,” I growl because I don’t want to talk about why I can’t let him kill Bronson. I don’t want to acknowledge the innocent boy that’s still full of happiness and life even after all he’s been through has penetrated through my wall of hatred and numbness.

  When I try to punch him in the face, hoping to get the upper hand, he slams me against the wall again, knocking the wind from my lungs.

  With a chuckle he says, “I’m not certain you know Jasper like I do, Megs.” Sighing, he wipes the blood from his face, gun still held tight. “But I gotta tell ya, he’s not a dumbass. He definitely picked a hardass bitch to run this district.” His grasp on my neck tightens. “I’m walking out that door.” He nods toward the door. “I will finish my job. I always do. I had hoped I wouldn’t have to take out multiple people for this piddly job, but I do what needs to be done. You’re getting in my way. That’s unacceptable.”

  “Fuck. You,” I growl.

  I will fight until my death. I’ve come close several times with Jasper. I’m not giving up without fighting. My feet are barely on the ground and it was my disadvantage at first, but I bring my knee into his hip where I stabbed him and he lets me go to stumble back. Whipping open my bedroom door, I hit him in the face with it when he lunges for me and I run to the bookshelf in the living room to get my second stashed gun. I quickly spin, aiming it right at his face as he has his aimed at mine and he slowly approaches.

  “I can’t let you kill that little boy,” I calmly say but the tears rolling down my face are anything but calm.

  I’ve worked so fucking hard to get where I am right now. My will to survive is all being lost to protect a child.

  This is why I don’t love!

  With a limp he approaches closer, his gun only inches from my mouth and I raise my arms to aim the same. The pain from his stab wound is radiated through the painful look across his face but I’m not backing down until one of us is dead.

  “Just the boy?” His dark eyes stare straight into mine. We’re feet away from each other, guns aimed and ready, and he’s frozen in thought. When I nod he lowers his gun slowly, sliding it back into the holster on his hip. “I go by the books, Megs. But if the only way we’re both going to walk out of here alive today is by a small, four year old compromise, I think I can live with that.” His hand slowly raises and pushes my gun down, but I’m not stupid so I keep my eyes on his hip, the first move he makes, I will fire. “You have to understand, I’ve never gone against orders, Megs. If we do this… if I spare this kid’s life, you have to get rid of him and we never speak about this compromise again. Jasper wouldn’t be as compassionate.”

  I roll my eyes. He doesn’t know the half of what I’ve been through with Jasper, and he’s not going to use him to scare me.

  “Just bring me the boy and I’ll make sure he’s safe and undetected.” When he walks past me and to the door, I grab his arm. “Lucas. I’ve been fighting for my life with Jasper for years. Before he gets the chance to kill me because you tell him I’ve betrayed him, I promise you, you will suffer.”

  His body turns toward me, his pant leg soaked with blood from his hip, but his thumb grazes over the split in my lip before his eyes meet mine again.

  “I’m not telling him anything, Megs.” He leans in and presses his lips to mine.

  I instinctively suck his lip to taste the blood, but before I grab his face to deepen the unwanted kiss, I clench my fists and he backs away, looking me straight in the eyes.

  “I’m not, and neither are you. I promise you. And I don’t break promises when it comes to sparing innocent lives.” With that he turns and leaves my house.

  I fall against the door, bruised and so close to defeated, and I close my eyes trying to catch my breath from everything that just happened. Not the fight, the fact I spilled tears in front of him. I hate the man… or I want to. I don’t trust him… or I don’t want to. But I have no options right now but to trust he’ll bring me Bronson. And if he does, what do I do then? He works for Jasper and I know he wasn’t sent here a month ago to deal with Regina. That means he’s probably been watching me. That means I have to kill him or he will me.

  I make it to the bathroom just in time to spill everything I’ve eaten today into the toilet.

  Motherfucker.

  It’s not even from the pain either. I can, and have dealt with more pain… it’s from the nerves. The nerves that I just had to hurt that woman. I had to hurt her, and I made her bleed, and I hit her.

  And here we go again. Every heave from my stomach makes my hip hurt that much more and reminds me I need to stitch that fucker up before I bleed out.

  I can’t believe I’m letting her get to me like this. Why haven’t I just killed her already?! There’s zero space in my life for someone like her. A woman. A warm bed is one thing, but to start to have feelings for her like this? This is just fucking nuts. I can’t have feelings for anyone in this line of business! I don’t do this shit, but every fucking glance from her has me melting into a goddamned pussy!

  Ten minutes later I can finally stand straight without feeling like I’m going to pass out.

  I fucking made her bleed. I promised her I’d never make her bleed and I did it. I hurt her on purpose, and what’s worse, it wasn’t for pleasure. It was pure rage that she could defy Jasper and me. She’s so strong headed… and she’s so damn sexy when she’s sticking to her guns. Thank god I took the bullets before she came in the room or else she probably would have shot me. I need to learn to be on guard more around that crazy… sexy… bitch.

  FUCK!

  The last thing on my mind should be how bad I feel for hurting her. Hell, I shouldn’t even feel bad… she attacked me first! I should be more worried about the fact that she fucking stabbed me! She pulled a gun on me, and she stabbed me… ME!

  Catching my breath, I hear my phone ringing in the kitchen but ignore it. Four times it rings, and four times I ignore it. I know it’s Jasper. I also know I can’t talk to him in the shape I’m in right now. So, instead of discussing why I can’t control my breathing and am too distracted to think straight, I slam my fist into the mirror and send everything from the sink crashing to the ground. Motherfucking emotions and shit! I feel like I’ve lost my goddamned mind, all over this bitch!

  “Shit.” I hiss picking a shard of glass out of my knuckles.

  I’ve never failed a mission and tonight will be the first. Letting a stre
am of curse words flow from my mouth, I start cleaning and stitching up the stab wound on my hip. I’m not proud to say this is just one of the many times I’ve had to stitch myself up, but I’m proud to say that with this talent, I’ve saved a shit ton of trips to the ER growing up.

  After cleaning the area up, I cover it and hop in the shower to clean off the blood. So much blood. She’s tiny… but Jesus Christ she’s feisty.

  How can something so simple get so fucked up in such a short amount of time? I was supposed to come in, get shit on her, then probably kill her. Instead, I came here and one look at her had me all sorts of messed up. First it was lust. Pure cock driven lust. She’s a tight body with a cute face and I want to fuck all of it. But now… now it’s developed into actual feelings beyond my dick. What the fuck is this feeling anyway? Love? I fell flat on my fucking face in love in a matter of a few weeks with the one bitch I shouldn’t have? I’ve never been in love… never given it a second thought because I don’t have room for that nonsense in my life. I don’t want it. I’m not built for shit like that, but something happened when I saw her and spoke to her that thawed something inside me. How can you love someone so much you can’t think straight when they’re not around, but hate them so much that you continuously think of ways to torture them when they are? That’s how it is with her. Is this really what love feels like? To want to spend your time with the one person that drives you most insane in this world?

  That’s just fucked up.

  But fucking hell, she’s amazing. It’s like she’s the female version of me! Who wouldn’t fucking love that?

  After I’m finally clean, I head to my phone and see all fifteen missed calls. All from Jasper. Now’s as good of a time as any, I guess. He’s going to be pissed, but there’s nothing I can do about it tonight. Regina isn’t going anywhere with that kid in tow tonight.

  “Where the fuck have you been?” his voice booms through the phone and I roll my eyes. “You better fucking answer next time I call you!” I hear the noise in the background and know he’s in a crowded room with people listening.

  Sighing, I sit at the kitchen table and stretch out my leg to make my hip more comfortable. I don’t feel like addressing his carrying voice and ignorant words. I know he’s doing it for attention.

  “I’ve been busy,” I growl, hating the game we’re playing.

  I just want to kill someone. Is that so bad? I’m at one hundred ninety eight kills right now and I can’t fucking wait for that two hundredth.

  “I don’t give a damn. There’s too much shit happening for you to not answer my goddamned calls, especially when I’m out of the fucking country. What the fuck you been doin’?”

  “Working, Jasper. I’m on mission fucking impossible over here. This fucking girl… she’s impossible to crack and I’ve been at this my entire life. Then I’m thrown for a loop with an immediate issue that needs taken care of and shit’s hit the fan. I’m fucking stabbed because of this goddamned mess! That’s asinine and you know it!”

  The line is silent for a moment before his voice, low and smooth, comes through. “Stabbed?” There’s amusement in his tone. “Someone finally put you in your place?”

  I growl, holding back all the words I want to throw at him right now. “Something like that.”

  “I told you to watch yourself with her, Lucas. She’s not what she seems.” He laughs then coughs. “Fucking women ruining this entire empire.”

  “Right,” I mumble. “I have to finish this before it gets out of hand.”

  “Sooner than later,” he growls. “Tonight, Ace.” He curses to someone in the background then hangs up before I can respond.

  Tonight my ass. A few more hours so I can get some sleep isn’t going to hurt anyone. This job is a hour tops, once I have the boys to help with clean up. I can be in and out by lunchtime. The whole not knowing where she is thing though might hinder that time frame. Hopefully that tracker I put on Megan’s car is in working order still. I noticed the car gone when I left, so that’s the only thing I have going for me.

  After some quick computer work and Google searches, I find exactly where this bitch is hiding. I’ve killed plenty of females in my line of work, and every single one of them deserved it. This one won’t be any different.

  Other than the fact that there’s a kid involved.

  3839 W Polidore Street. Best Inn.

  I need sleep, but first thing tomorrow I’m taking care of this damn job once and for all.

  ***

  Waking up before the sun has never been my strong suit, but I’m not taking a risk when it comes to this time frame. After a quick call to the cleanup crew working this region, I hop in the car and head out of the community. The drive is about thirty minutes from here, which gives me just enough time to come up with a plan of action. I’m killing a kid’s mom. An innocent kid. I’m not so cold-blooded that I would have him watch while I do it.

  Maybe I should though. Tell him that when you’re bad you need to be killed. Maybe that’ll teach the snot nosed brat a lesson. Don’t fuck up or you’ll end up in that burn pile with your mom. That’s a way to scar a kid for life.

  Pulling into the lot, I notice the black van in the back and nod to the boys. They will run clean up and leave it like she was never here. I walk across the lot to room three C, knocking on the door three times and I instinctively make sure my gun is tucked away safely before it opens.

  “Oh god,” Regina whispers the minute her eyes hits me. “Ace.” The fact that she knows who I am makes me get that rush of power I haven’t had in weeks. “Megan said you’d come. I… I didn’t think it’d be this soon.” That tremble in her voice brings back the surge of power I crave. I should be pissed that Megan called her, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from her. She’s loyal, I give her that.

  God, it feels good to be back.

  “Good, you know who I am.” I grin and look around the room seeing the boy watching cartoons.

  “I was warned he’d send you. A friend of mine… you… well… Jasper hires you…”

  “So then, let’s not draw this out. Bronson,” I say; he looks up from the TV and his face immediately brightens.

  “I know you! You’re the man looking for Birdie’s bird!” He hops off the bed and smiles up at me.

  “Did you know she got a new one? I’m heading back there and if you want to play with it, I’ll take ya.”

  His eyes brighten as he looks up at his trembling mom. “Can I?! Mom, I miss Birdie and the yellow bird!”

  She smiles through her pending tears, nodding her head. “I love you, baby. You be good for Birdie, okay?” She hugs him as I look away.

  I don’t have time for this shit.

  “Okay, go on over to that really cool looking car over there, that bright red one, hop in and buckle up. I’ll be right there.”

  He smiles at me and heads down the sidewalk to my waiting car.

  “Don’t hurt him,” Regina trembles as I hit the locks then automatic start on the car as soon as the kid is in. “Promise me, you won’t hurt him,” she begs as I close the motel door.

  “Turn around and let’s get this over with.”

  ***

  “So we get to see the yellow bird?” Bronson is too fucking excited about this goddamned bird.

  Has this kid not had anything exciting in his life before that a bird would be such a big deal? What the hell is it with people in this area and birds?!

  “Yep,” I clip, shifting in my seat, feeling the weight of my gun underneath me.

  I’ve never felt anything but pure euphoria after a kill, but today is different. I’m at kill one ninety-nine, and one more will give me what I’ve been hunting for. I should be ecstatic, and I kind of am, but this kid next to me is making it hard for me to be happy that I just ruined his life. Really, I’m not sure what Megan wants with him. She doesn’t like kids… I’ve seen her when she babysits him. She better have a place lined up for him already, because there’s no room for a kid in this
business of ours.

  There’s also no room for love, but apparently my fucking heart thought differently.

  We pull into the neighborhood and a calmness comes over me that left the minute I drove out of it earlier today. The four turns it takes to make it to Megan’s driveway are the longest turns I’ve ever taken. I did my job. I finished the job. I did it… but why does that make me feel different than usual?

  “Birdie!” Bronson yells, barely waiting for the car to stop before scurrying out and into her arms on the front porch.

  I slowly get out of the car and slam my door, taking a moment before looking up at her. “Hi, Megan,” I say, not moving from my spot in the driveway.

  Her eyes hit mine while she holds the boy as if he’s her own. What this look is, I’m not sure. Hatred for me? Gratefulness? I don’t fucking know, but all she says is, “Thank you.”

  “I don’t break my promises.” I grit my teeth.

  I don’t feel guilty at all for killing the bitch, but I hate that it had to get so messy so fast. Slowly walking towards the house, the look in her eyes stops me dead in my tracks. I don’t even know if I’m welcome here anymore. Fuck me.

  “Birdie, I’m hungry.”

  “You’re always hungry,” she mumbles putting him on his feet.

  “Is the yellow bird okay?”

  “La Petite is fine. Go in the house. I’ll be right there.”

  “Bye!” Bronson waves to me and I wonder where this kid got normal manors from. Certainly wasn’t his drugged up whore of a mother.

  “See ya, kid.” I wave but don’t smile. I can’t smile at that kid. Megan needs to get rid of him before his existence gets them both killed.

  I pull open the car door about to get back in until she says, “Lucas.” I stop way too fast and too eager for her to talk to me and I want to punch something because she saw it. “Do you want to come in? We have to talk.”

  We have to talk. Every man’s worst fucking nightmare to come out of any woman’s mouth. Motherfucker. Talking leads to information, information leads to more fights, and more fights lead to more stab wounds. Stab wounds I can’t defend myself against. I’m not certain I’ll be able to stop her if she comes at me again. If she hates me that much then she’ll just have to kill me.