Just Bob (Assassins Inc. #1)(32)

I would ensure it personally.





Bob



I leaned against the wall and watched as Shade talked with Stone and Stryker and some other guy I had never met, who might possibly be the biggest man I had ever seen. It was amazing to think that all of them were stone cold killers.

Although how long that would continue, I didn’t know. The organization Shade and the others worked for had fallen to pieces when Councilman James went to jail, along with several of the people he had paid bribes to. The house of cards the councilman had built was still falling. It remained to be seen how many people fell with it.

“Impressive, aren’t they?”

I glanced down at Sinclair for a moment before looking back to the four men. They were impressive. Each one of them had something about them that made a person want to give them a wide berth. An aura of danger. And yet, I felt as if I could trust all of them.

Yeah, I was weird like that.

“I wanted to personally let you know that Mr. Bixby, Sr. was taken into custody. He won’t do as much time as the others because he truly was trying to get away from James, but he still had a hand in all of this and he has to pay for that.”

“Is his son taking over?” I had always kind of liked the younger Bixby. He had a sound mind and understood numbers, unlike his father, who simply wanted to manipulate them and make money.

“It looks that way. The company took a big hit when you were fired. It’s going to take them awhile to climb out of that.”

“So, what’s going to happen now?”

I was out of a job. I was pretty sure Shade and the others were out of a job. I wasn’t sure how things were going to go.

“I kind of wanted to talk to you about that.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Me?”

“They’ve asked me to take over for Councilman James until a replacement can be found. I was hoping you’d handle the money end of things, the accounts and such, until then.”

“Me?” I echoed on a squeak.

“You’re good with numbers, Bob. What I know about keeping track of money could fit in a thimble. I’m a computer guy, not a numbers guy.”

“Yeah, but…”

“You’d get paid for the work, obviously.”

“Oh, that’s not it,” I said quickly. “I’m just not sure what Shade’s plans are and, well…” I shrugged. “I need to talk to him before I can make a decision one way or the other.”

“Oh, sure, I understand that. Just let me know as soon as you can. Now that this mess with James is cleared up, my guys want to get back to work.”

“And you want to make sure they get the money coming to them.”

Sinclair smiled. “Exactly.”

I chuckled lightly. I wouldn’t mind working with Sinclair. At least that way, I would be able to make sure no one screwed over my mate. “I’ll go talk to him now.”

Going to talk to Shade would do two things for me. It would help me make a decision about whether I was employed or not, and more importantly, it would give me a chance to be wrapped up in the handsome man’s arms again.

My heart jumped for joy when Shade wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close just as soon as I was within reach. The man didn’t even stop talking. It was as if it was a natural gesture for him.

I listened to him talk to the others for another few minutes before leaning up on my tiptoes and whispering in his ear, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

I suddenly had the man’s full attention.

“Of course, mate.”

My throat felt a little thick as I walked with Shade to a far corner of the room, one where we could have a little privacy. The living room of the council estate was huge. Hell, the whole place was huge. Fifty people could live there and still have elbow room.

“What’s up, babe?”

“They’ve asked Sinclair to take over temporarily until another councilman can be chosen.”

“Oh, good.” Shade glanced across the room at the man. “He’ll make a good councilman.”

“He wants me to work for him.”

Shade’s head snapped back around. “He wants what?”

I smiled because I could see the shock on Shade’s face and knew what he was thinking. “As his accountant, Shade, not an assassin.”

“Oh.” Some of the bluster went out of the man. “I suppose that would be good.”

“I wanted to talk it over with you first.”

“Why?” A frown marred his forehead. “Don’t you want to work for Sinclair?”

“Oh, it’s not that, but I don’t know what your plans are, and…” I shrugged, feeling funny. “I thought we should talk it over first.”

“Ah.” Shade had an odd grin on his face as he drew me back into his arms. “Well, if you are agreeable, and because working for Sinclair will more than likely be a full time job, we could stay here temporarily. I have a room upstairs for when I stay here.”

“Both of us, though, right? And Mustachio?”

“Yeah, baby. You, me, and that damn cat of yours.” I leaned into the hand Shade pressed against the side of my face. “I’m never going anywhere without you. Where I go, you go. Where you go, I go.”