Mr. Dark 2 (Tamed #2)(9)

"What do you mean, until tonight?"

I finished my sweep of the two bodies, taking the men's weapons, wallets, keys and other materials. While I'm sure the cops would investigate, it would at least throw them off the trail for a bit. I wasn't worried about my prints being on the bodies, I've never been fingerprinted in my life. "One of the Confederation members, in fact the most powerful member, is a man named Salvatore Giordano. He's what you might call the Godfather of this town. Sal had an extra rule, one that he had a reason for, but I broke. Sal's rule is that any hitman, even a freelancer like me, could not be in a relationship with anyone. My peers and I called it the two date rule. And until I met you, I had no problems following that rule. You changed that for me."

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 gaped, 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?"