the cuffs of my sleeves while pinning the phone between my ear and shoulder.
“Who was the guy?”
Another beat of silence.
“Ari, we do what we do for money, not for out of control little girls.”
Fuck his warning. Fuck his reminder. I’m seeing fucking red at the moment. The walls around me and all the faces of the people rushing back and forth are dripping in it.
I lick my tongue against the smooth surface of my top teeth, then scrape it against the sharp edges.
“Who was the guy?”
A sigh. “Jason Ayers. I guess she decided to give him another chance, again, although I have no fucking idea why. What is with this girl? I could watch daytime soap operas and witness less drama.”
Jason Ayers. That son of a bitch has been a problem since the night I touched her. Adeline is a stupid, stupid, little girl. Constantly going back to someone who obviously doesn’t know how to keep his fucking hands to himself. And up until now, I’ve stayed out of it. He is an asshole, yes. But he hasn’t caused any significant damage.
Until now.
Now he’s marked her.
Now he doesn’t deserve to have the hands he can’t keep to himself.
“Where is she?”
“Home,” he answers, sounding completely defeated since he knows exactly what is about to happen.
“And where is he?”
“Jesus, you’re going to do something, aren’t you?”
Annoyance flickers inside me.
“My name is not Jesus. I’m not feeling particularly forgiving or without sin at the moment, and that doesn’t answer my question.”
“He tried following her home. She wouldn’t answer the door. He took off. I don’t know where because I stayed to watch her.”
Lincoln doesn’t need to stay there any longer.
I’m home. And I am pissed.
“Take off and do whatever it is you’d rather be doing now. I’ll take care of the problem.”
“Ari-“
“Don’t ask questions, Lincoln.”
He curses under his breath, but ends the call without another warning that Adeline’s problems aren’t mine.
Except that’s where Lincoln is always wrong. From the moment I first touched her, everything in her life has been mine.
I leave the airport, go home, change into something less expensive than the suit I wore on the flight, and I’m on the road to Adeline’s house within an hour. I’m not sure why I know Jason will return to her house again. Maybe it’s because I know guys like him, weak motherfuckers that beat on women because they don’t have the balls to take on a man.
Parking in my usual spot a block away from her house, I round the street corner with a hoodie covering my head, the dark cloth hanging low to disguise my face, my gear bag slung over a shoulder.
Not that anybody will see me, I know how to move without being detected, but I will see him, and I don’t want Jason to know the face of the demon breathing down his neck until it’s too late for him to do a damn thing about it.
Just as I suspected, his car is parked in her driveway, his face lighting up from the glare of his phone. I pull my phone from my pocket, scroll to the tracking app connected to Adeline’s and see Jason is calling her over and over again.
She doesn’t answer, which makes her a good little bird.
But still, the fact he feels the need to harass her after bruising her face sends a fresh wave of anger burning through me like fire.
It isn’t long before I’m by his car. His face turns to me when I rip the door open. His body slumps in the seat when my elbow cracks his nose so hard blood splatters the steering wheel and windshield.
Not the cleanest job, but this isn’t about being professional. This is about making a point.
He passes out, and I lug his weight from the car, toss him in the back seat, bind him, gag him and I’m backing his car out of her driveway within two minutes.
Pet by A Perfect Circle is blasting from his speakers. I laugh at how appropriate the song is.
Jason wakes up again in the middle of a wooded lot, body stretched over the ground face up, bound wrists secured to the ground above his head by a tent spike, his ankles the same.
I’m crouched down beside him when he blinks open terrified eyes. His mumbled voice draws my attention to his face, his head lifting to lock eyes.
It’s impossible to make out exactly what he says, not that I care. I’m sure it’s something along the lines of