Page 37 of Ruthless Contract
Hanging my head out the window, I called out, “Hey! You want some pain pills?”
Pulling his car door open, he faced me.
“Fuck no. I know the side effects of your pills. I’ll take the meds normal people take.”
“Suit yourself.”
I rolled the window up and backed out, nodding to one of the cleaners who drove past me. The drive home was quiet. I didn't mind the silence. It allowed me space to think, to plot. The pain pill was already starting to work.
With every mile that passed beneath my tires, the ache in my side faded a little more. The throbbing sensation had grown duller until it was barely noticeable. By the time I pulled into my driveway, I could hardly feel the injury.
Unfortunately, the side effects had started kicking in, too. My tongue felt numb. I ran it across my teeth and frowned. Nothing. For the next seventeen hours, I wouldn't feel pain, pleasure, or much of anything else.
The formula still needed work. But right now, I wasn't interested in perfecting it. I was interested in killing my cousin. The moment I entered my house, I headed straight for my office.
Dropping into my chair, I powered up my laptop and pulled up the camera feeds I'd secretly installed around Pasquale's estate months ago. I hadn’t been able to get any cameras inside. And he didn’t have cameras in his home that I could hack into.
However, I’d hacked into his outside cams and installed a few of my own around his property. The screens flickered to life. I leaned back and studied the estate. As usual, his security was pathetic.
Four guards wandered the grounds, guarding the perimeters. One stood near the front gate, which I had no intention of going through. Then there was one inside, managing the cams, guarding Pasquale.
My cousin and I were the exact opposite. While I hated having a team of guards around me all day, every day, he loved it. Maybe it made him feel safe. Or wealthy. Maybe it was a status symbol.
Or maybe he was just a coward who had so many enemies that he couldn’t sleep soundly without knowing his guards were there. Tonight, no amount of guards would keep me away from him.
The four men guarding the perimeter weren’t doing their job properly. One was leaning against the east fence, watching a movie on his phone. The guard at the front door was talking on his phone while sitting on the front steps.
Then there was the one on the back porch, who was seated in a chair, dozing off. The one on the west side was pacing back andforth, staring at his phone every few seconds as if he was waiting for a call. They were all distracted or asleep.
Pasquale's estate sat in the middle of nowhere. Dense woods surrounded the property on all sides. The nearest neighbor was far enough away that nobody would hear a gunshot ring out in the night.
If someone did hear it, they’d assume it was a hunter. My cousin relied on privacy and secrecy to protect himself. He arrogantly believed nobody would be bold enough to come after him. As for me, he thought I didn’t know where he really lived.
The one time he’d invited me to his home, he’d given me the address to a villa in a prominent area. But I’d placed a tracker on his car and found that the villa was where he stayed when he wanted to spend time with his mistress.
This place in the middle of nowhere was where he actually lived... alone. I zoomed in on several camera angles. I’d been watching Pasquale’s estate for a while now. I knew that his men changed positions every two hours.
And every hour, the guard inside contacted them to check in. I stared at the clock. It wasn’t nine pm yet. By the time I made it to his estate, it would be after nine, and they would’ve already done their check-in.
At ten, they would switch positions, with the guy at the front of the house moving to the back, the guy in the east moving to the west. I had until ten pm to get the job done and get off the property before they switched positions.
My fingers flew across the keyboard as I set his cameras to play on a loop. Anyone monitoring the feeds would see exactly whatthey expected to see...Nothing unusual. I disabled the motion detectors.
I couldn’t have them notifying the guards of my presence. By the time anyone realized I was there, it would already be too late. Once I was done, I closed my laptop, my plan and route already mapped out.
I'd park well away from the property and approach through the woods. The trees would provide enough cover to keep me hidden from the few guards Pasquale had. Taking out the west guard and the one at the back door shouldn’t be much of a challenge.
Once I was inside, I’d finish off the guard in there and go after Pasquale. I’d never gone up against my cousin before. I didn’t know his fighting style. Didn’t know his strengths or weaknesses. I wouldn’t underestimate him.
Standing, I crossed the room and opened the closet. Weapons lined the shelves. I selected what I needed and dropped them into a duffel bag. Then I added extra magazines. A silencer. Commercial-grade tear gas. A dagger. Zip ties. Lock-picking tools.
Anything that might prove useful.
Once I was satisfied, I zipped the bag shut and carried it downstairs. I stared at my clothing, wondering if I should change. They were only going to get dirty again anyway. So, I decided against it.
A few minutes later, everything was loaded into the trunk of my car. I slid inside and rested my hands on the steering wheel for a moment. The plan was simple. Go to his estate. Kill everything in my way.
I would get in, find Pasquale, and end this. Then get out before the guards switched positions. No more delays. No more sabotage. No more games. Tonight would end in one of two ways.
