SWNOVELS Runner: Chapter 23
As Gray drove up the long driveway, I couldn’t tear my eyes off Mili. She sat perched in the passenger seat, her back straight as a rod. I’d never seen her so focused. Maybe she was like this for all her jobs. But after overhearing what that guy Caleb had said about being worried for this job, I had a feeling this one was different somehow.
“My neck is fucking killing me,” Gray grumbled as he turned off his headlights.
“Your neck? I’m the one who slept in the middle. How did the smallest person take up half the damn bed?” I said, surprised my words didn’t get a reaction out of her.
Last night, I was the last to take a shower, and when I came out, Mili was already passed out. She was sprawled on one side, and Gray was on the other. We had flipped a coin, and I lost. Which meant I was stuck in the middle all night. And I didn’t get an hour of sleep. Mili moved in her sleep, and half the night she was practically rubbing on me, causing me to replay what we had done as I sported a semi hard-on all night. Her mouth was the best I’d ever felt besides when we’d had sex at the club. And it was driving me insane.
I didn’t trust her. I shouldn’t want her. But I craved her more than anything else that had ever touched my tongue.
After she got ready in the morning, she left the room and didn’t come back all day. We had no idea where she went, but she was back at eight tonight to get ready for the job. It was only ten now and already dark outside.
“His cameras should go down right about…now.” She was staring at her watch, her eyes narrowed with determination.
“You know how to hack camera systems?” Gray asked in surprise.
“Or someone who works for her does,” I muttered. “Maybe Caleb.”
Mili whipped her head around, her death glare focused on me. “Don’t talk about things you know nothing about.”
My chest rippled with a foreign emotion as I tried picturing who the fuck this Caleb guy was. It bothered me that she was defensive about him. Picturing her with anyone other than Gray or me made me see red. My breath hitched, and I looked away from her to stare out the window into the darkness.
I was jealous. I didn’t get fucking jealous.
“Park in front of the garage. It’s a blind spot from the house,” Mili ordered, pulling me from my thoughts.
“I thought you said he wasn’t home,” I said, my heart rate accelerating as Gray shut off the car. I loved the thrill of working jobs, but we were out of our element with Mili here, and it had me on edge.
“He is. Or he’s supposed to be. So just in case.” She took the key that Gray and I had stolen out of her purse before pulling on her ski mask. Gray and I followed suit, covering our faces. Only our eyes and mouths showed as Mili carefully tucked her hair under the thick wool.
“I’ll go into the house to get the car key,” she said, even though we already knew the plan. “You two stand watch.”
“Maybe one of us should go in with you,” Gray started to say.
“No,” she said sharply.
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because I know the security code to get into the house. This place is a fortress. You can’t get in without it unless you want to trip the alarm.”
“I looked this guy up,” I said, watching her tense. “Everything he owns is locked down. He runs in big circles. Illegal circles. How the hell did you find out the code to his house?”
“I do my research,” she snipped. “That’s why I’m so good at my job.”
We got out of the car, silently closing the doors before following Mili to the side of the house. Taking out the key, she stuck it in the lock while glancing at us.
“I’ll open the small garage door once I disarm the alarm.”
With those words, she slipped inside, closing the door soundlessly behind her. My gut twisted, wondering if we’d made a mistake doing this with her.
“We’ll be fine,” Gray murmured, knowing what I was thinking. “She takes her jobs seriously.”
The five minutes we stood there felt like an eternity until we heard the small click we were waiting for. The garage door opened, and Mili’s brown eyes peered at us through the ski mask. She motioned for us to follow her, and we flipped on our flashlights as we went into the pitch-black garage. I smiled in appreciation once we stopped in front of the car we were taking.
An Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale. Worth at least three million dollars with only eighteen of them in existence. This man must bleed money because this wasn’t the only rare car in this huge garage.
“You know there’s three of us,” Gray muttered, looking wistfully at the car next to us. “We could take another—”
“No. We don’t deviate from the plan,” Mili interrupted him.
She hit a button on the wall, and the large garage door rolled up. As it moved slowly, she unlocked the car and opened the passenger door. By the time I got close enough and shined the light on her, she was already straightening back up after messing with the cupholder.
“What are you doing?” I asked tightly.
“Nothing.” She tossed me the key. “You and Gray take it. You know where the drop is.”
My lips parted in surprise that she was trusting us to do this without her. “We’ll wait for you.”
She waved her hand. “No need. I’ll drive the other car and pick you both up after I reset the alarm.”
Her usual sarcastic banter was absent as she waited for us to move. Gray trusted her more than I did, and even he was hesitating. Her eyes clouded with anger as she clenched her hands.
“You agreed to do this my way. It’s my job,” she hissed. “Let’s not sit here and argue until he comes home. Get in the damn car.”
I bristled at her demand but moved toward the driver’s door. We didn’t need to get caught doing this. Gray stepped in front of me, raising an eyebrow. I sighed, raising my hand.
“Come on,” Mili said, her voice hard and cold.
“Give us a minute,” Gray told her. “This might be the only time we get this close to a car like this.”
“So?” she asked, clearly not understanding.
Without explaining, Gray and I closed our hands into fists and played a game of rock, paper, scissors. I gritted my teeth when he won. We did it again, and my heart skipped when my paper covered his rock. I wanted to drive this car.
“Are you serious?” Her voice was smothered in annoyance, but I detected a small note of amusement as Gray and I played the last round.
“Shit,” I cursed when I lost again. “Son of a bitch.”
“If you’re nice, we’ll stop halfway and you can drive.” He smirked, holding his hand out for the key.
After dropping it into his palm, I stalked to the passenger side and jumped in, not even opening the door. It was a convertible, and luckily, there was no rain forecasted tonight. Gray started the car, and the engine purred to life.
“Go,” she urged, her finger on the garage button. The second the car cleared the door, she was closing it. Instead of racing down the driveway like I expected, he put the car in park.
“Let’s wait a few minutes,” he said, not looking at me.
“I’m not the only one who thinks something’s up,” I mumbled.
We waited in silence for over three minutes before I got impatient. She should be out by now. Nerves created a pit in my stomach as I climbed out of the car and headed to the door she had used to get into the house.
“It’s fucking locked,” I said incredulously. “She shouldn’t have locked it until she came out.”
“We would have seen her if she left the house,” Gray said, his gaze moving over the windows. There wasn’t a light on, and for a moment, it was silent until we heard a muffled crash. We stayed still for a second before a second crash came from inside the house. I twisted the door handle again, knowing it was useless.
“These doors are all reinforced,” I muttered, remembering what Mili had told us. “We need to find another way in.”
My ears pricked up, hearing yelling in the house. Whoever it was had a deep voice, which meant it wasn’t Mili. What the hell was she doing? Even though I knew she could handle herself, I couldn’t stop the slice of panic that was spreading through me. We ran to the back of the house, picking up our speed when a light suddenly turned on. Skidding to a halt, we peered through the glass doors at some sort of study. One lamp was on, and it kept the room bright enough for us to see.
I didn’t try to hide, knowing they couldn’t see through the dark window with the light illuminating the room. Mili was standing in front of the doorway of the study, her mask still in place. The guy had his back to us, his arms raised in surrender as Mili swung a bat in her hand. A weapon she didn’t have before entering the house. The guy was yelling, but we couldn’t hear anything through the glass.
Mili raised the bat and swiped the shelf on the wall beside her, knocking down pictures and other expensive-looking shit. Making a decision when she went for another shelf, I planted my feet. When she smashed the third shelf, I shoved my elbow into a pane of glass in the door. Brushing the specks of glass off my hoodie, I kept my eyes on Mili, but she hadn’t even noticed. She was completely focused on the guy in front of her.
“What do you want?” the guy asked. “Money? Take it.”
“I don’t want your money.”
The guy paused. “A woman? A fucking woman broke into my house?”
I sucked in a breath when Mili pulled off her mask. Gray went rigid next to me, neither of us moving. Her face revealed no emotion. Nothing. It was a look I hadn’t seen on her before, and it made me uneasy. I shifted, waiting for her eyes to spark with some type of life.
“Milina?” the guy choked out, sounding like he’d seen a ghost. “Holy shit. The rumors are true. You are alive.”
My eyes widened as I stared at Mili. No wonder she wanted us to leave. Whatever this job was, it was personal. Something she didn’t want us to be a part of. Excitement churned in my stomach. Maybe we’d actually figure out some of her secrets tonight. Gray looked uncomfortable, like we shouldn’t be eavesdropping. But he didn’t move away from the door either.
“It’s been a long time, Rhett.” Her voice still lacked its usual vigor, but her eyes were suddenly burning with red hot anger.
“Why’d you come here, darling?” Rhett asked, his attitude flipping now that he knew who she was. “Did you miss me?”
I gritted my teeth, forcing myself not to move. I’d rather this fucker go back to being scared like he was when she had the mask on. He was acting like she was nothing to him. Powerless. Like he was in control of her. I didn’t fucking like it.
“You could say that,” she mused, her posture relaxed even when he took a large step toward her. “It took me years to track you down. You hid this house well.”
She shuffled to the side, and he did the same, still keeping a wide distance between them. Where they were standing now, I could see both of their faces, and bile crept up my throat at the sight of Rhett’s. The hungry look in his eyes was one of a predator. He wanted her. Shit, maybe she used to be with him. It was obvious we knew nothing about her.
“How did you find me?” he asked, studying her.
“Everything can be bought. Especially when your security alarm system is online. Makes it easier to track.”
He was silent for over a minute. “Caleb. He’s alive too, isn’t he? You couldn’t have hacked your way through that yourself.”
“You haven’t seen me in six years,” she snapped. “You know nothing about me anymore.”
“You couldn’t have changed that much,” he said, creeping closer to her. “I remember everything about you, little Lina—”
“Call me that again and see what happens,” she hissed, the rage making her voice tremble. Her grip on the bat tightened until her knuckles turned white as she watched him inch closer. I internally screamed at her to swing, but she stayed completely still.
“Everyone wanted you,” he said, his voice thick, as if he were reliving memories. “But Joel never was one to share.”
A flash of fear crossed her face for a split second before she schooled her features. Joel. That name was important to her. And from her reaction, she wasn’t fond of him.
“That didn’t stop you from trying, did it?” she spat out, making him freeze.
“I offered you an out—”
She laughed coldly. “An out? You wanted me to become your doll. To be your special little fuck toy.”
“It was still better than the life you were living,” he tossed back, losing control of his emotions. “When I found you, I risked my fucking life to not bring you back to him.”
“Found me? You tracked me down. On his orders,” she screamed, her voice hollow. “Then you threatened me with the options to let you fuck me or bring me back to Joel. You really think I would have traded one devil for another?”
“I’m not going to pretend I’m a good guy,” he murmured, getting within hitting range of her. “But I was still a better choice than him.”
“Really?” she tilted her head. “Because I got free of him. I’d say I made the right fucking choice.”
Without warning, he lunged at her, and my heart leaped in my throat. But she was ready. She swung the bat right into his kneecap, and he crumpled to the floor, roaring in pain.
“You stupid bitch,” he bellowed, trying to scramble away from her. “You think you can get away with this? I’ll make your years with Joel seem like heaven compared to what I’ll do to you now.”
A grin spread across her face, and this one was a far cry from the one she gave us. This was her Sapphire smile. Or maybe her real one. In this moment, I could easily see why she was so good at what she did. She was fucking ruthless. That smirk she was casting at Rhett promised to drag him to the depths of Hell.
“I’m simply repaying a favor,” she told him calmly. “When you shoved me in the trunk to cart me back to Joel, you broke my leg when you slammed the trunk lid on me.”
My chest tightened painfully, the image of a younger Mili enduring that kind of life.
“I didn’t break your leg. I-I broke your arm,” he finished lamely, realizing the truth didn’t sound any better.
“Oh shit,” she said brightly. “You’re right. Bad memory. Let me fix that.”
She stepped forward, this time swinging the bat into his right arm. The crack of his bone was barely heard over his howls of pain as he rolled on the floor.
“I was going to make this look like an accident,” she informed him over his screaming. “But after seeing you sleeping so peacefully, I couldn’t do it. You needed to pay for it all.”
I wasn’t sure Rhett was even comprehending her words at this point. His eyes were wild from the pain, and fear was finally breaking through as he looked at her.
“What the hell happened to you?” he sputtered out. “When did you become this person?”
“I got free,” she stated, as if he should understand. “You think I’d ever allow someone else to steal my life like he did?”
His breaths were shallow, and his face was pale as he cradled his smashed arm. “You’ll never be free. Even if he’s gone, others aren’t.”
“Actually, I’d say there are only about three of you left. You aren’t the first one I’ve found.”
Confusion swamped me, and I hoped they kept talking about who the hell the others were. It made sense why she was so protective of her name. It wasn’t just because she was Sapphire—it was because she was hiding.
“Even if you kill me, you won’t get what you need—”
“You mean this?” She held up a small, narrow piece of paper. “How arrogant of you to keep it in your most prized car. You really thought no one would be able to find that secret compartment under the cup holder? If you were smarter, you would have kept it in a fucking safe.”
She was patronizing him, and even with his body broken, he wasn’t taking it well. Baring his teeth, he grabbed the edge of the small sofa and pulled himself up on his one good leg.
“You won’t find them all. You can’t shut us down for good,” he hissed. “We’re too large for that.”
“Not anymore. Not since Joel died,” she replied with a feral grin. “It’s too bad you won’t be here to see when I bring it all down.”
“Did he die?” Rhett shot back. “Because we thought you died with him, yet here you are.”
“You think I’d be here if he was still breathing?” The blank look crossed her face again. “If you have any last words, better spit them out. Because you’re about to meet your friends in hell.”
“Wait—wait,” he cried out. “What do you want? We can work out a deal.”
“Beg,” she taunted him cruelly. “It’s music to my fucking ears.”
“Milina, I can help you—”
“Caleb wanted me to give you a message. He’s sorry he couldn’t deliver it himself.”
Rhett brought his one good arm up, as if he could shield himself, as she advanced toward him. “I’m sorry for what I did to him. He didn’t deserve it—”
He screamed bloody murder when she swung the bat into his side, no doubt breaking at least a couple of ribs. He crashed back to the floor, his breaths coming out in short wheezes. He tried crawling away, getting closer to the door we were hiding behind.
“If I had time, I’d shatter every bone in your body for what you did to us,” she said, her voice shaking as she glared at him with hatred. “Lucky for you, I need to go.”
He didn’t have a chance to respond before she raised the bat again before smashing it against his skull. He fell to the side, his lifeless body leaning against the side of the couch. Dropping the bat, Mili pulled out a handgun, aiming it at Rhett’s head.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath.
She was a good shot, but if she missed, or if the bullet went through him, it would go right out the window at us. Gray carefully stepped to the side, realizing the same thing I had. I took one step back and flinched when my shoe crunched on a piece of glass. I didn’t even have a chance to glance up to see if she’d heard because a second later, a bullet went through the glass. I dove to the side, out of the way, while Gray crouched and ran in front of the doors until he was beside me.
“Who’s out there?” she called out.
Neither of us answered, and my heart thudded as I debated whether we should tell her it was us. We’d built up enough trust with her in the last couple of months that even with her pranks, we hadn’t been worried about her killing us. But now I wasn’t so sure. Whatever her past was, she didn’t want us knowing anything about it. That conversation revealed a lot. Too much.
“If we can get to the car before her, we can get out of here before she knows it was us,” Gray whispered.
I forced a grin. “You mean you don’t want to come clean that we were listening?”
“Fuck no. She’d use that bat on us.”
Another bullet rang out, and we leaped to our feet, racing across the back patio. We tried stepping lightly, but our steps weren’t completely silent. We rounded the garage, skidding to a halt when we saw her coming out of the house. The front door was still wide open, and dim light spilled over the lawn. An outside light popped on when she hopped off the porch.
“Shit,” Gray muttered.
“Is it hard for you two to follow directions?” Her voice was dangerously soft. “All you had to do was drive the fucking car ten minutes away.”
“In our defense, we wanted to make sure you were okay after we heard the screaming,” Gray told her nervously, his eyes staying on the gun in her hand.
She observed us silently as she leaned against the expensive car. “How much did you hear?”
My fingers twitched, instinct telling me to go for my gun. I could see it in her eyes—the struggle to put a bullet in us to keep her secrets safe. I resisted the urge to reach for my weapon, staying still. Even if I did, she’d get a shot off before I could even grab it.
“We took the car like you wanted, and waited for you to pick us up,” Gray said carefully. “The poor asshole died during a break in.”
Her mask was impenetrable, her gaze not giving anything away. “Take the car to the truck. I need to make sure I didn’t leave anything behind, and then I’ll meet you there.”
She spun around, tucking her handgun in her waistband before striding back into the house. I blew out a breath, relaxing my muscles. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she had considered shooting us. But she’d chosen not to. That had to count for something.
“I’ll wait and drive with her,” I muttered, glancing at Gray. “You good to drive it yourself?”
“Don’t push her, Kade,” he warned me. “No questions. No prodding into what we heard. Or she will fucking kill you.”
“I know.”
He nodded and then hopped into the car. I watched him drive away before walking back to the car we had driven here. I wasn’t about to walk back into the house. But I wanted to make sure she was okay. She hid it well, but I’d seen the pain flash in her eyes when Rhett spoke about her past. Whatever hell she’d endured had scarred her. Anger licked down my spine as Rhett’s words replayed in my mind. I wanted to help put the rest of the monsters who’d hurt her in the fucking ground. Not that she’d ever accept our help. Or want it.
But the door was cracked open tonight. We’d learned about her, and now I wanted to dig until we found out everything.