In Too Deep: A Romantic Suspense Novel (29 page)

Sophie sat back, blinking. "I fell in love with a contract killer. Jesus."

"It gets worse," I said, hurriedly throwing the weapons into my backpack. "Sal found out about us. That man, Lefort, he's known as The Frog, and he's Giordano's top lieutenant. I didn't even know that they knew where I lived, that condo is owned under another name. Nothing I own is in my real name. Anyway, after you left, Giordano called me, set up a meeting. He said that I picked the worst woman in the world to have as a girlfriend. You know who Owen Lynch is?"

"Yes. He's the deputy mayor of the City. I've seen him at the Shamrock a few times, he's friends with the Devitts." Sophie looked like she didn't know if she was going to run, puke, or faint. I guessed it was better than screaming, so I just kept her talking, letting everything come out before she could stop me. "He's also the most corrupt criminal of them all. You ever watch that TV show,
Person of Interest
? You know, the one starring the guy who played Jesus in the movie?"

"Yeah, Tabby likes to watch. She thinks Jim Caviezel's cute."

"Well, the corrupt cops in the show, that group they called HR? Let's just say Owen Lynch and his group is about five times worse. There's a reason no cop has had charges brought on them for assault, attempted murder, or any form of homicide since Lynch has been in city government. And, he's the actual owner of the Shamrock. I don't know the two who hit us tonight, so I don't know if they are Confederation men who were sent by Sal because Sal knew I wouldn't do what he wanted, or if they're some of Lynch's boys who came to kidnap you to put pressure on me. But apparently everyone knows we're together, and neither side is happy about it."

Sophie's eyes narrowed as she looked at the two bodies still on her living room floor. "Just what did Giordano want you to do?"

I looked at the bodies, then looked at Sophie. "You weren't supposed to survive to see the sunrise. But I knew as soon as he ordered me, it was time for me to retire, and I knew I had to bring you with me."

Sophie wiped her hands over her pants and stood up. "And if I say no?"

"Then I'd at least ask you to come with me to a new city, somewhere you could set up a new life, a new identity, and then go away. If that didn't work, I was going to give you the backpack." I handed her my backpack and stepped back, keeping my eye on the door. Sophie opened it and gasped, before pulling out the first stack of wrapped twenty dollar bills. "There's exactly one million, two hundred and thirty thousand dollars in there. If you want to walk away, it's yours. It's the safe option. Once you drop out of sight, they'll lose interest in you pretty quickly. I'm the one with enough knowledge in my brain to take down criminal empires."

"Or?" Sophie asked, putting the money back and looking me in the eye. I sighed, and squatted down in front of her, wanting to reach out and take her hand but afraid to do so. I wasn't worthy of it, I never had been. But now she knew just what a disgusting creature I was.

"Or you come with me. Sophie, I'm not saying it's going to be paradise. We'd both be on the run for a long damn time, maybe for the rest of our lives. The men I worked for, they have connections all over the world. But as much as it is more dangerous for you, I can't imagine living my life without you. So yes, I'm greedy, I'm a taker, and I've caused enough death that I'm going to be answering to some immortal deity eventually, and I don't expect it to be a pleasant conversation. But I love you, and I want to at least see you to safety."

I watched Sophie ponder it for a minute, her eyes going from the bodies on the floor to me and back. I could almost see the thoughts running through her head, and the concerns she had. Going with me meant giving up any hope for a normal life, that was for sure. Finally, she turned and headed towards the bedroom of her apartment. "Where are you going?"

"To pack a couple of bags. I may be going on the run with you, but I'm going to at least take some of my clothes with me. Unless you happen to carry women's clothing with you in the back of that pickup you've got downstairs?"

"Okay, but I'd like to be out of here in five minutes. If those were Owen Lynch's men, his standard procedure is to send another team, usually corrupt cops, soon after. It covers their asses in more ways than one." I heard Sophie rustling around in her bedroom, hurriedly packing her bags, and I guessed more than a few times just jamming things in. Still, she came back out in less than four minutes, with a backpack and a large gym bag slung over her shoulders.

"If I forgot anything, I'm expecting you to pick up the tab," she said with a half grin. "So where are we going?"

W
e drove for four hours
, until nearly midnight. We had taken the Interstate for most of the trip, stopping for gas once while Mark grabbed some snacks for us from the convenience store. While we munched on Fritos, he filled me in on his plan. "Ever since the first hit, I knew I didn't want to be stuck doing this my entire life. I met too many lifelong criminals in the years I worked for Sal and the Confederation, burned out by paranoia, and turning to drugs or other crutches to try and get through to the next day. So I started saving, and learning how to invest my money. I used a lot of shell corporations and dummy names, stuff I picked up from the same criminals I worked for. I took my laptop with me, it's in the back of the truck, although I plan on chucking it in a fire as soon as we can, just in case. I have a backup system anyway, one the Confederation can't track."

"Just how much money are we talking, anyway? I'm not trying to be a gold digger, but I am curious."

Mark thought for a second, then shrugged. "Well, there's a lot of things I'll have to give up in the city, stuff I bought under the alias I used for my condo. That kind of sucks, since that was a lot of my real estate investments. But my cash assets, my stocks, and my other investments I made under other names. I can't give you an exact amount, but I'd say if I liquidated everything that I could currently liquidate safely.... I'd have access to over a hundred and fifty million dollars."

I blinked, sure he had said something wrong. "A hundred and fifty million? That sounds like baseball player money."

Mark laughed and passed a minivan that was traveling fifty miles an hour on the highway. "Yeah, I guess so. Although most of it is locked up in investment vehicles that I specifically set up for long term usage, so the real value is higher. I mean, liquidating my gold assets and my mortgage securities would totally hose me on fees, and with the way the market is now I'd get soaked on my Asian investments too."

"Is that what you did with your spare time?" I asked, taking another few Fritos and chewing on them. The greasy corn flavor was a reminder of my childhood, as my grandfather loved the things, especially covered in chili con carne with cheese. "Become a business mogul?"

"I've tried to learn a lot of things," Mark replied without arrogance. "When you said that you thought I had an MBA, it really touched me. Most of the people I worked with, they wouldn't have noticed. They talk about my shooting skills, or my fighting skills, and lots of comments that I would never repeat to you that makes your average frat house sound like a highly cultured debate society. I hope I treat you better than how they treated the women in their lives."

I thought about it for a moment, then crunched on a few more Fritos. "You already are," I said, reaching over and squeezing his thigh. "Too many men would have continued to lie and try and bullshit me. You told me the truth. One question, though. If Lefort hadn't shown up at your door this morning, would you have told me eventually?"

"Eventually," he said, keeping his eyes on the road. "Actually, I don't know. I do know I was looking at getting out of the business anyway. I've made enough money, and I never did like it. It was just something I'm good at, I guess."

"Do you feel the need to kill?" I asked, looking over at him.

Mark smiled and shook his head. "No. While all of the men I've killed have been scum, I've lost sleep over them every time. I did it because I had to, at first to get out of the situation my father put us in, then later to get out of the situation I was in. You coming along was just the final little push I needed."

I wasn't sure if Mark was telling the total truth, and I looked in his direction. "Since we've met, tell me every job you've done over the past month."

Mark nodded and his face grew grim as his mind went back. "The night we met, I killed a Russian loan shark, Karl Vaslov. He went into business for himself, and the Confederation found out about it. He started trying to use his financial backing to expand into other fields, specifically the vice and drug trades. The next job I did for pay was an assault on a mixed martial arts fighter, spraining his left knee so that his opponent would have an advantage for their upcoming fight. I did two industrial espionage jobs, simple breaking and entering and getting files out of computers. The only unpaid criminal act I did was against Glen Green. I visited his house the night after we met. Other than a black eye, I didn't hurt him, but I did threaten him."

I nodded, not too surprised. "I'd wondered what happened to Green. He wouldn't tell anyone."

"Well, that's another way I got myself in trouble," Mark replied. "What I didn't know is that Glen Green was a frat brother with Owen Lynch. It was just one of the reasons that Owen wanted to use you to get to me."

Mark pulled off the Interstate, working his way along the minor roads. We drove for about another ten minutes before he pulled into a small motel, far away from the highway. "It's no luxury hotel, but it's safe, and they take cash," Mark explained as he shut off the engine. "It's one of four reservations I made this afternoon under false names from a burner phone. By the way, do you still have your cell phone?"

"Yeah," I said, pulling it out. "Do I need to get rid of it?"

"No, but shut it off and take out the battery for now," Mark explained. "Are there any very important numbers you have on there?"

"Just Tabby and a few other friends." A thought came to my mind, and I reached over to take his hand, which was still on the gear shift. "Mark, am I going to have to leave my entire life behind?"

Mark looked out the windshield, his face stony. "I don't know, Sophie. I hope not, but I honestly don't know. Let's go inside."

I grabbed our bags while Mark talked to the man at the front desk, coming back with a key. "Room seven," he said, "around back like I asked. It's not visible from the road at all."

The room was clean but obviously dated. The television looked like it was older than I was, and the wood paneling screamed nineteen seventies. Still, the bed was king sized and looked clean, the sheets were white and crisp. Mark brought in a gym bag with him, which he sat down on the small table next to the window. Pulling the single chair around, he sat down, his eyes looking out. "You need some sleep," he said quietly, keeping his vigil. "I'll make sure you're safe."

I watched him for a moment before going into the old fashioned bathroom, complete with a tiny shower that looked like it was maybe able to create a good steam if I wanted it, and a slightly warped mirror. I had packed my toothbrush, but forgot my toothpaste, so I just used water, scrubbing until my tongue squeaked over the enamel. Scrubbing my face with the cold water and provided washcloth, I then looked at myself in the mirror. A thousand questions whirled in my mind, the primary one being what my future with Mark entailed. Should I stay with him? Should I disappear? Should I just wait it out, then see if I could go back to my old life, secure that Owen Lynch or the Confederation wouldn't come after me?

On one hand, I was angry with Mark. His lies and deception had cost me, at least temporarily, everything. My friends, my job, my diploma, even my name I was sure. On the other hand, he had defended me without even blinking, taking out two armed men before they could even lay a scratch on me.

I came out of the bathroom after changing into one of Mark's undershirts, a habit I'd picked up over the past few weeks, and an old pair of light blue cotton shorts. As soon as I saw him sitting there, his eyes filled with pain but at the same time resolute. I could see, he did love me. And he'd never hit me, or hurt me, or mistreat me. Most of all though, I could see that if I asked him to, he'd die protecting me, and trying to keep me safe. It made my decision easy.

Coming over, I ran my hands over his shoulders, which tensed beneath the thick shirt he was wearing. I leaned down, letting my breasts rest on the back of his shoulders and neck, running my hands over his chest. "If you really want to make me feel safe," I whispered in his ear, while my hands worked on the buttons of his shirt, "you'll take me to bed and make love to me. Keep me next to you, safe through the night."

Mark took my hand and kissed the palm, before turning his head to look up at me. I was surprised and touched to see the glisten of tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry I've destroyed your life," he whispered. "I'll do what I can to rebuild it."

"Then make love to me," I repeated, coming around and pulling him to his feet. "We'll discuss the rest in the morning."

I pressed my body against his, letting my hands roam over his chest and around to pull Mark against me. Standing on my tiptoes I could just reach his chin with my lips, so I kissed him there, trailing kisses down the sides of his neck. He initially resisted me, still stiff and unsure, but when I pulled his shirt back and over his shoulders, he let me. He was wearing a black t-shirt underneath that curved and rippled over each muscle in his beautiful chest. Stepping back I growled lightly, running my hands over my breasts, making sure to rub my nipples which were already stiffening through the thin t-shirt. "Don't make me get on my knees and beg," I moaned, lightly pinching my right nipple. "Because if I do, I'm going to pull your cock out of your pants and suck you until you come in my mouth, and I don't want that tonight."

"What do you want?" Mark asked, his voice slightly husky. His eyes followed my hands as I ran them down my stomach and over my hips, slipping my right hand inside my shorts to lightly tease me. I sighed and looked at him, my heart filled with desire and lust.