Predator - A Stand Alone Suspense Romance (26 page)

“Fuck,” Damian hisses. He starts to stalk up and down in front of the bed, and it’s making me nervous.

“Let’s just go home,” I almost beg.

“We’ll get the car, and then you’ll have about ten minutes to get used to it before we go to the strip club. I’ll kill him there, and we’ll have to run from there. I’m thinking we could find our way to the nearest gas station and call a cab from there to take us back to the airport. We can sleep at the airport and then we leave tomorrow.”

“Damian.” I crawl to the edge of the bed and get up. I go to stand in front of him so he’ll stop the maddening pacing. “We can still go home. We don’t need to do any of that. Just … let’s just go.”

His eyes search my face and then he shakes his head. “It’s the only way we’ll be safe. We need to finish it.”

Damian~

I stole the ugliest piece of shit I could find. Cara kept shrieking every time a car came down the road, almost succeeding in giving me a fucking heart attack. Note to self: never steal a car with Cara again.

Oh, and finding an automatic around here is impossible, so that made things a lot harder. It takes Cara about fifteen minutes to drive okay-ish. The car jerks every time she pulls away and she lets it die once at a traffic light. But, she got us to the strip club in one piece. I tell her to park in the far corner, near the dumpsters. We quickly wipe the car down, making sure we don’t leave any fingerprints.

“Don’t lock it and leave the keys,” she whispers. “With a little luck someone else will come along and steal it.”

“Really?” I ask like a dumbass. “You think so?”

“This is South Africa,” she shrugs.

As we walk to the entrance an African man waves at us and yells something I don’t understand. Cara waves at him and pushes me forward. “He’s offering to watch the car.”

“How will someone steal it then?” I start to worry, thinking we should get a place to park it where I can cover it up. It will give us more time then.

“Damian, he’s going to go sit on his ass and get drunk. He won’t stop a thief. It’s fine there.”

Cara pays the cover charge and we go in. I’m instantly on guard as I start to search the place for Tom. Tonight is going to turn out shit for me, one way or another. I did lie to Cara, and tonight she might just find out.

I glance at her. She’s just as tense as me. I spot Tom at a table in the back. He’s not alone. I take a deep breath and take Cara’s hand. “Just play along.”

“What?” she whispers, and then her eyes grow huge as I start to walk towards Tom. “You’re just going to walk up to him and kill him in front of all these people?”

“No,” I hiss. “Just look scared as fuck and do what I tell you.”

“No problem there,” she snips at me. “I’m about to piss myself, I’m so scared.”

Tom looks over the floor and to the half-naked women dancing before his eyes finally settle on us. Shock registers on his face and then he waves at the people around them. They get up in a hurry and scatter in all directions, leaving Tom alone at the table.

When we’re close to the table he slams a fist down on it, making the glasses rattle. “Why the fuck did you bring her here?”

“Is there somewhere private we can do this?” I growl, jerking Cara closer. She stumbles over her feet and almost loses her balance, which makes for a good show.

“Yes … yes.” He jumps up. “This way!” He hurries down a dimly lit passage and I check behind us to make sure no one is following us.

Once we’re in the office, I close the door behind us.

I can’t even look at Cara as the words leave my mouth. “Seeing as you want her dead, I thought I’d deliver an up, close and personal service.”

“I thought the deal was off,” he snaps at me.

“Only because she got away from me. But I have her now so it’s your choice - dead or alive?”

“Damian?” she whispers and I just can’t face her. It will totally throw me if I see hurt on her face. Tom has to believe me.

Tom’s eyes flick from me to her, and then he starts to talk and my world crumbles around me. “Sorry, Cara, I can’t have you running around. I thought I could, but they’ll kill me.” He looks around the dingy office. “I’ll lose all of this.”

Disgust wells up in me as I stare the man down. He turns his back on Cara and says, “Just do it quick. I don’t want her to suffer.”

Keeping hold of Cara’s hand I walk to the desk. I grab a pair of scissors and then shove her away from me. I lunge at Tom just as he turns to see what’s happening. I plunge the scissors into his gut and watch him sink to the ground. As I kneel down beside him, I catch his horror-stricken eyes, and say, “I’m a cleaner, Tom, not an assassin. I rid the world of filth like you. You think you’re hiring a hitman, but in the meantime, you’re paying for your own death.”

I yank the scissors out and plunge it back in, right under his ribs, praying I hit a lung. “Fucking hurts being stabbed over and over, doesn’t it?”

He tries to say something, but it comes out garbled, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. 

I yank the scissors out again and then get up, watching as the light goes out in his eyes.

They say hell is where you relive your worst nightmare, over and over. I fucking hope it’s true for this bastard.

Cara~

I stare at Uncle Tom’s body and I can’t find a glimmer of relief. I feel a strange sadness, as if I lost more than my uncle.

I watch as Damian uses Uncle Tom’s shirt to wipe the blood from the scissors before he tucks it into his back pocket.

My mind can’t get past what Uncle Tom said, that he hired Damian to kill me.

Damian was meant to kill me.

He turns to me and avoiding my eyes, he looks around the office. “Did you touch anything?”

“Kill me? You have to kill me?” I ask, still reeling in shock over that.

“Not now, Cara. You can freak out when we’re a safe distance away.” He grabs my hand and drags me out of the office. He closes the door behind us and then walks down the dark passage, towards the back. He shoves a heavy door open and we slip out.

He keeps walking, just pulling me along, and like an idiot I follow him.

It’s a long walk to the petrol garage. One good thing is that there are no police driving past us, which means they still don’t know Uncle Tom is dead, or the police are taking their sweet time.

When we get to the garage, I have to make the call for a cab. I don’t know how I keep my voice normal as I give the address to the cab company.

When I’m done making the call, I walk away from Damian. I need some space. I need to think.

“Cara!” he whispers harshly, quickly catching up to me.

When we’re out of the light and direct view of people putting in petrol, I swing back to him. “Kill me! You were paid to kill me?”

“No,” he snaps at me. “I took the job so I could save you!”

“You didn’t know me. Why would you want to save me?” I cross my arms, feeling totally hurt and lost. “You said you came for me, Damian. You lied.” A sob ripples up my throat. “You lied to me.”

“I just didn’t tell you the truth, but I didn’t lie when I said that I came for you. When I got your file, fuck, anyone with half a heart could see that you were innocent. I didn’t lie to you, Cara. I’m a cleaner, I’m not a hitman.”

“What about that girl you saved? Were you meant to kill her, too?”

“No, she was kidnapped, and I just had to get her back.”

“But me … you had to kill me.” I don’t know how to process any of this.

“That’s what Tom wanted. I couldn’t tell you that. Fuck, Cara, you were broken. Telling you something like that would have destroyed you.”

“Instead you let me believe that my loving uncle sent someone to help me? Oh wait, you said he paid so you would look after me? That was just another lie.”

“Yes, to save you the heartache!”

“What’s the full story, Sam?” I whisper, needing to hear it all.

He looks around us before his eyes settle on mine again. They are filled with guilt and I wonder if it’s guilt over the fact that he lied, or because he got caught?

“Tom wanted you dead. He sent me your details and the first recording. He said to make it quick, to put you out of your misery. He didn’t want you to suffer.” He swallows and then looks at the road. “I pretended to take the job and when I got you and the memory disks, I figured it was a win. I returned the money he paid, and I closed the account. I would never hurt you, Cara. I just wanted to help you. Yes, I kept things from you, but it was to save you from the pain of knowing who your uncle really was. I didn’t lie when I told you about the mafia. Your father and uncle got mixed up with the wrong people, and when your father wanted out they killed him. Your uncle on the other hand, didn’t want out. He’s been laundering money and carting drugs for them for years. But then they found out that you got away. I don’t know how. I only know that Tom wanted a quick death for you.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I whisper as the tears start to fall.

“No, but the fact that I never lied about my feelings for you should count for something.”

He takes a step closer to me and I quickly wipe at the tears. “I just need some time. I need to absorb all this information.”

Just then a cab pulls into the garage. I make sure my cheeks are dry as we walk to it.

The trip back home is a silent one. I suppose I should be happy that we got away. I should feel something after seeing my uncle being murdered by the man I love … the man I hardly know. I think I should feel happy … but I’m not.

Damian~

We’ve been back a week. The news show that they have no suspects for the murder of businessman Tom Smith, but that he was linked to a crime syndicate and it must be a deal that went bad. I ditched the scissors in a trashcan right at the airport. At least there’s no way they’ll find it.

Everything should be fine, but it’s not. Things are really shaky between Cara and me. I want to hold her. I want to tell her that everything will be fine now, but I know it’s not what she wants.

She needs distance, and I’m giving her as much space as she needs.

Like I said, it’s been a week, and it’s not getting any easier. I’ve been keeping busy with odd jobs, but at night the silence is deafening. I can hear it screaming at me.

The days just roll by, each one as bland as the next. Cara is quiet, and I’m worried that she’ll sink back into depression. The only thing that keeps the worry at bay is the fact that she goes for a walk every afternoon after work. It gives me peace knowing that she’s reverted back to the walk as a way of coping.

Cara~             

I’m not angry anymore. I had nothing to be angry about - when it comes to Damian. He tried to protect me and I can’t hold that against him.

It hurts so much that my own blood wanted me dead. Damian was right when he said that he saw someone who was alone in this world. It’s a scary thought … being alone.

If I need someone in the middle of the night for any reason, there is no one to call.

I don’t have a next of kin to give if someone should ask.

I have no friends.

I have no family.

It hurts so much that I have no one. I’m a ghost.

It’s these thoughts that weigh heavily on me. I carry them for three whole weeks before they break me.

It’s the middle of the night and I can’t sleep. I’ve been feeling crappy the past week. I think it’s just everything that’s happened to me that’s catching up.

I can hear Damian breathing. Damian … why do I keep calling him that? It’s not his name. I can’t call him Sam, and Alex is still new to me.

Sam, the man I’ll never know. The ghost in his past.

Damian, the man who saved me. The predator who kills, who was meant to kill me, but instead kept me.

Alex, the man who’s supposed to be my husband. The handyman who loves fixing things.

Who is the real man that’s lying next to me?

I hear him move, and I whisper, “Why did you really keep me?”

It’s quiet for a while, but I know he’s awake. I can feel his energy.

“I saw someone who was broken, and I wanted to fix you.”

“Because you couldn’t save Leah?”

“Partly, but mainly because your own uncle wanted you dead. My father tried to kill me once - that’s when I left for the army. We had that in common. Our own blood wanted us dead.”

I absorb what he’s telling me and then turn on my back. I stare up at the dark ceiling.

“Why are you staying with me now?” I close my eyes, scared of what his answer might be.

“I’ve never met anyone as strong as you. Normally, people are scared shitless of me, but although you were scared in the beginning, you didn’t back down. You were at your lowest and you still stood your ground in front of me. I’ve never seen such strength in anyone. It’s a rare beauty. Life just keeps taking blows at you, and you just keep getting up.”

“Life hits like a bitch,” I joke and we both chuckle, knowing it’s not the truth. Life hits hard, so fucking hard, but it helps to joke sometimes.

“I’m not angry,” I whisper. “It just hit me that I’m alone. I have no family. I don’t know who you really are.” I suck in a deep breath and whisper, “I just feel so alone.”

I feel him turn on his side, his eyes on me. “I’m just a man in love with a kick-ass girl.”

I chuckle and turn on my side, too, looking into his eyes for the first time in days. I’m glad it’s dark so I don’t get the full impact of those grays.

I want to make a joke to break the tension but instead a sob bubbles over my lips and the words come out thick with tears, “So you won’t leave me?”

He moves closer to me, and then his fingers brush over the curve of my cheek. “Never.”

“Not even when I grow old and fat?”

He laughs and leans in until I can feel the heat of his breath on my lips. “Not even then.” He presses a kiss to my lips and then whispers, “I live you, Cara. I live for you, and I’ll die for you. There’s nothing here for me but you.”

“I live you, Alex,” I whisper, and he pulls back.

“Why Alex all of a sudden?”

“Sam belongs in your past. I’ll never get to know him. I think he died with Leah, and I’ll let her have him to keep her safe wherever she is. Damian is a cleaner who saved my life, but Alex is my husband, and he pieced me back together. Alex is my family.”

He presses a kiss to my lips again and then whispers, “I live you, Nina.”

This time it’s my turn to pull back with a grin pulling at my lips. “Why Nina all of a sudden?”

“Cara is an eighteen-year-old girl who died the day her parents died. I think we should let her rest in peace with them. Karen, she suffered so much heartache. To be honest, no one can possibly survive everything she had to endure. I think it’s best we let her go, but Nina, she’s this kick-ass chick who works down at the hardware store, and I really want to score with her.”

Laughter bursts from my lips, and I roll onto his chest. “So you want to get into my pants?”

“Hell, yeah,” he growls, his hands slipping over my hips and gripping my ass tight.

I push off of him and laugh. “Then you better buy me dinner first. I’m not that easy.”

I hear him chuckle as I walk to the kitchen to make myself some tea. The smell of coffee has made my stomach churn the last couple of days.

I’m glad we had this talk. I feel better, as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Sure we have to get to know each other, but that’s what the future is for.