in,” she said.
“Why did you wait until today?” he asked, as he walked in the
living room.
“I have aprocedurethat I need to follow,” she said, as Parker
came into the room.
“Oh, you do that aftereachjob?”
“Yes, I do,” she looked at Parker. “The job has been
completed,” she said, as she closed the door. She sat down on the sofa.
“Have a seat,” she said, as Parker sat next to her. “Where’s my money?” “Where’s my proof?”
She opened the wooden box that sat on the table and pulled out
the necklace that she removed from Alyssa’s neck. “Here. This is what
you wanted, right?”
“Yes,” he took it from Sam’s hand.
“Like I said,where’smy money?” she asked.
He stood up and laughed. “Oh, you think I’m going to pay you
for something I could’ve done myself?”
She pulled out her gun and aimed it at his head. “I think you will.
If you wanted to do it yourself, you would’vealreadydone it.” He stood up and smiled. “You are quite a woman. Maybe I will
takeyouinstead.”
Parker stood up. “Idon’tthink so.”
“I’ll will be back with the money,” he said, as he headed towards
the door.
Sam put her gun back in her waistband. “I’m getting tired of his
stupid games.”
“So am I,” he said, as Jack came back in the room with the
money.
“It’s all in here. I do have another assignment for you, Sam,” he
said.
“Now, what?”
He dropped an envelope on the table. “Read it later. First, I
want to speak to you inprivate.”
Sam nodded to Parker and he left the room. “So, what is it?” “I have a proposition for you.”
“What could that be?” she said, as he moved closer to her. “I wantyou. You could do so much better than a damaged hit
man.”
“What? You’re out one mistress and need another one?” she
asked.
“That’s not what this is about,” Jack sighed. “If you have sex
after every kill, I could be the one you have it with,” he grabbed both
her arms and pulled her into a hard kiss.
She smiled at him and kneed him in the groin. He quickly let go.
“You aresolucky.”
“Lucky?” he asked, as he groaned.
“Yes, I usually kill those who touch me. First, it’s not sex with
Parker. It’s making love. With you, it wouldn’t beanything. I know how
you arenow.”
“Iwon’tstop trying,” he laughed.
“I won’t stop pushing you away. As for Parker, he can still kill if
he has to. I wouldn’t underestimate his devotion to me.”
“I seewhyhe is devoted to you.”
“Oh, and if you touch him, I won’t think twice about killing you,
only I’ll make it extremely messy!” she spat.
“Take the money and do the next job!”
“I want the up front money.”
“I added an extra fifty thousand to your pile. That’s the up front
money.”
“You canleavenow. I’ll be in touch.”
Jack headed out the door and joined his men in the hallway. He
looked at Simon. “Iwantthat woman.”
“Dead, sir?”
“No,definitelyalive.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I haven’t decided yet. She’s very shrewd and very smart,” he
said, as they headed down the hall. “I have to decide what to do about
Parker.”
Sam walked into the kitchen and sat down.
“Sam? Is everything all right?”
“No. Unfortunately, this bastard wants anewmistress.” “You?”
“Yeah. I almost killed him, right here.”
He put his arms around her. “It’s all right.”
“I don’t know. I’m a little worried now. It’s gotten to be more
than just being his hit woman.”
“You think he’ll come after you?”
“Definitely. He may even try to get rid of you.”
“Well, we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. Every where we go,
we go together.”
“I think we should up the security here.”
“Oh, right,” he said.
“And we get rid of the bugs. I don’t care if he knows. I want
them out of here. I don’t want anythingto touch us,” she said. “I’ll call Drew and he’ll take care of it.”
“Good. Um, I think I’m going to work out. I have some steam
to let off right now.”
“All right. I’ll get a hold of Drew. I’ll be on the balcony if you
need me,” he said, as he kissed her cheek.
She headed into the bedroom and changed her clothes. She
noticed one of her boxes sitting on the floor of the closet. She sat down
on the floor and opened the box. Slowly, she pulled out the photos that
were neatly stacked. “Mom? I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.
Help me figure this out. I remember … I remember what it used to feel
like … and it’s still with me … but the anger…” she stood up quickly
when she heard a gunshot echo throughout the penthouse. She ran down the hall and found Parker lying on the balcony.
“PK!” she screamed. She leaned over his body. “PK, please, open your
eyes.”
He looked up at her. “What happened?”
“You were shot. What the hell happened?”
“I don’t know. My shoulder… it’s killing me.”
“Can you get up?” she cried.
“I think so,” he grabbed his shoulder as he stood up. She put her
arms around him and led him down the hall to the bedroom. “I’ll take care of you.”
“Don’t I need a doctor?”
“I can do this. I was a trained medic.”
“You were?”
“Yeah, see? You don’t know everything about me. Now, let me
take off this shirt,” she said, as she unbuttoned his shirt and removed his
T-shirt. “Oh, it’s really bleeding. I’ll be right back,” she hurried down the
hall to the bathroom. She grabbed the first aid kit and went back in the
room. “PK, stay with me. Please.”
He opened his eyes. “Is it over yet?”
“I have to clean it and get the bullet out. I’ll take care of you. I
promise.”
“I know you will,” he said, as he closed his eyes again. He
winced at her every touch of his wound.
“There. I did the best I could. I don’t have anything to sew the
wound up with.”
“What kind of bullet was it?”
“A nine mill. You must’ve turned right after the shot. A little
closer and you’d be dead.”
“I think maybe I should wear the Kevlar.”
“I think we both should.”
“I taped it up the best that I could. Damn. He is trying to get rid
of you. PK, I don’t know what to do.”
He reached up and touched her face. “Lie here with me.” “I can do that, but we really need to decide what to do.” “We’ll figure something out. I swear, we will,” he said, as she laid
down next to him.
“You scared me, you know.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’tdo it again,” she kissed his cheek. “I just found you. Ican’t
lose you.”
“You won’t lose me, babe,” he whispered.
“Did you get to call Drew?”
“Yeah, he’ll be over in a few hours to take care of everything.” “Good,” she laid her head on his chest.