SWNOVELS Chapter 44
I spend the rest of the evening with my mother. She has a dog on either side of her, their heads on her lap, as she sits on the sofa in the living room. She always spoils them. I’m sure coming to live with me again was a pain in the ass for them.
“I see you’re breaking the rules of the house.” She turns and smiles. The dogs don’t even bother moving. Supposedly, the dogs aren’t allowed to lie on the sofa, but I have yet to see that rule actually be enforced.
She’s reading a book and sets her tea down. “I love this tea, River. I’ll have to grab some before I go back home,” she says in way of changing the topic.
“It’s Anya’s favorite,” I say as I sit on the couch opposite her.
“Anya is an interesting choice,” she says carefully. I give her a pointed look as I fish my phone out of my pocket.
“You like her, don’t you?” I ask. Whether my mother approves or not, there is no me without Anya.
My mother nods, and it fills me with pride. “Not really who I thought would be the first woman of yours I’d meet. She certainly has a temper, but I’m sure you can handle her.”
“You’ve met other women,” I remind her, and her saying Anya has a temper is an understatement.
“None that you couldn’t keep your hands off of or that you were smitten with,” she points out as she stretches her legs. The dogs jump off as if only just now realizing I’m in the room.
“I’m not smitten,” I counter as I unlock my phone to the screensaver of Anya and her beautifully pierced tits on my screen. I can’t wait to break into her home tonight, and break her in as well.
“No, I think you’re in love,” my mother says as she stands. I don’t confirm or deny it. “Just be careful with that one. It sounds like she went through her fair share of hardships growing up. She may have never been loved before, and I’m pretty sure she will do everything in her power to push it away or sabotage it.”
“I’m very persistent,” I reply with a smile.
My mother just laughs and nods her head. “Don’t I know it. I’m going to bed now. Enjoy your evening, River, and don’t be out too late,” she says as she summons the dogs behind her.
“Whatever could you mean?” I ask innocently, and she gives me a knowing look. Now that she knows Anya and I are neighbors, she knows exactly where I’m heading tonight.
My phone buzzes, and it’s a message from Will. My eyes widen at the onslaught of information. Though I might’ve called him off Alek Ivanov for the time being, it didn’t take away my curiosity around Meredith Fork.
For good reason. Fuck. My instincts are always on point, and as I read the information he’s sent through, they prove correct once again.
There’s no way Anya can possibly know this.
An alert trips on my property’s perimeter alarm and notifies me through my phone.
“What the fuck?” I say as I switch out the screen and look at my security cameras. There’s nothing on screen, but I know better than that, considering I used the same tactic on Anya’s premises last night.
Someone’s on my property, and it’s most likely someone who shouldn’t be. If it were Anya, there would be no sneaking. She’d kick in the front door unapologetically.
I stand and peek out of the living room and up the staircase. My mother is in her bedroom now, and the dogs are with her. If someone is trying to get in, then their first choice is most likely through the garage. Because that’s the first place I would break into.
Michael would have been alerted about the intrusion as well, and he’ll be minutes away.
I open the wooden cabinet in my living room and shift three of the books. I grab the pistol hidden there. In the book beside it is the silencer, and I combine the two. My second sensor alerts me through my phone, closer to the house now. The cameras aren’t relaying that detail to me, but as expected, they’re heading toward the garage, so I do the same.
Who the actual fuck has enough balls to target me in my own home? Especially while my mother is upstairs trying to sleep. I crouch behind one of my cars in the dark, then purposely override my security system to unlock the door. Why make it difficult for them when this is exactly where I want them to walk into?
A small noise grabs my attention, and with laser focus, I narrow my gaze on three people wearing all black. Three? Is that all that was sent? What a fucking insult.
They have guns raised as they walk in, black masks covering their faces. They look for the door into the house and head in that direction. Before they even make it to the door, I shoot two in the back of the head. The final one I shoot in the back of the knee and then the hand holding the gun.
He screams, the only noise heard among the ordeal as I come up behind him and press my hand to his mouth to muffle his screams.
“I’m giving you one fucking chance to answer me or I will murder everyone you love and force you to watch. Who sent you?” I say calmly, a wild storm beneath as adrenaline courses through me from the kills.
The intruder is slick with blood as I hear barking. Fuck. My mother’s most likely heard the noises. I glance between the intruder and the door. If she comes in here, she’s in for a startling reality check.
“Rick Cansis,” the person squeaks.
The sex trafficker? I angle him away, put the gun to his head, and blow out his brains.
I run to the door, closing the garage door behind me, and remain in the dark as my mother calls out from the staircase.
“River, is everything okay? I heard screaming,” she says. My dogs are barking as they run to me. They growl at the door, and I signal for them to return to her.
“Everything is fine. I just stubbed my toe on the coffee table again,” I call out to her.
Headlights streak across the front windows. “Michael’s coming over for a drink. We’ll be quiet. Go back to sleep, Mother,” I say. “You might want to shut your door. You know how clumsy he can get after a few too many drinks. Don’t want him stumbling into your bed again, do you?”
“Dear God,” she mumbles as her door slams.
Michael comes into the garage as I switch on the light. Another two men are behind him, guns raised as they walk in.
“What the fuck happened?” Michael asks.
I raise my finger to my lips. “My mother is upstairs, and I would like for her not to discover the three bodies here. Arrange a cleanup immediately.”
“Who the fuck put a hit on you?” Michael asks, snapping his fingers for the other two to start busily making this place appear brand fucking new again.
They begin to drag out the bodies as I say, “Find me Rick Cansis’s address.”
Michael’s eyebrows shoot up. “You want to go after the sex trafficking kingpin?”
I offer a crazed half smile, my blood pumping with the thrill. “He came after me first. Besides, I don’t like how he parted his hair anyway. Oh, and he also made a pass at my woman.”