Page 24 of The Hitman's Virgin
He figured the woman who had been knocking at the door might have been a neighbor who was pissed with them fucking. He hadn’t been quiet, and he couldn’t hold back.
Evander moved to Callie’s boxes, and it was kind of sad that her life fit into a couple of small cardboard boxes, but that was how it was for most people. Would have been the same for him if he hadn’t taken his life into his own hands. If he needed to leave, he had a small bag of stuff. There was nothing of real value in his possessions. Sure, there were a couple of personal items, but again, they were just trinkets. He had memories. In his line of work, he’d never grown attached to anything.
Callie was the first real person he had ever felt anything for, and this was deeper. It was crazy to him.
Evander heard the buzz of his cell phone in the quiet apartment, and he didn’t like exactly how quiet it felt. Why would Callie leave? Where could she have gone? He assumed she was across the hall talking with that neighbor. She’d be leaving for good, after all. He wanted to give her space and not appear to be the obsessed man he really was.
He picked up his cell phone, and rolled his eyes when he caught sight of Bastian’s number. It had been a couple of days since Bastian had talked to him.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“Is your little woman there?” Bastian asked.
Evander clenched his hands into fists. “Really? What do you want?”
“Look, if she’s not there, then you need to figure out where she is. I heard whispers of a few of your enemies reaching out.”
Evander rubbed at his temple. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“We all have enemies, but something about a disgruntled customer talking about you and a run-in he had. I think they’vefigured out what you’ve been doing, Evander. Someone must have put a tail on you and figured out the rest.”
Evander didn’t like this. He still remembered the one night he came home to find Callie gardening in his front yard. He hadn’t put his SUV in the garage and it had bothered him since. He thought he was just paranoid thinking he’d be tagged in such a short time. It could have been then or any other time. His mind was racing. Callie was gone.
They were not far from Guy’s Titties and her old boss. Maybe that asshole was mad he stole Callie away from the job.
“I’ve got to go.”
Before Bastian could say anything more, Evander snapped the phone closed, grabbed his clothes, and pulled them on. He didn’t linger, nor wait.
He had a lot of fucking enemies. Every single hitman had a lot of enemies. He knew going to Guy’s Titties to stalk Callie had been a big mistake. He knew he shouldn’t have had her. If someone had been following him, he wasn’t aware of it. He was always aware of it.
Leaving the apartment, he made sure to close and lock the door behind him. He made his way down to his car, and he didn’t hesitate in grabbing two more guns from the trunk and locking them to his holster within his jacket. He didn’t even try to hide what he was doing. He had two more guns placed at the back of his pants, then he closed up the trunk of his car and started to make his way across the street.
There was only one place Callie would go. Someone must have come to collect her. He had to fill in the blanks without really knowing. Callie was naive, and even though she didn’t talk about Guy’s Titties that much, she did mention a woman named Leah. He should have known to deal more thoroughly with this side of Callie’s life.
Now as he made his way closer to Guy’s Tittles, he felt that rage slowly starting to build. The darkness. For the past few weeks, since having Callie in his life twenty-four-seven, he’d been able to ignore it. He didn’t need to be angry or cruel. He was just a guy. Callie didn’t bring that side out of him. One smile from his woman was enough to calm the beast within.
He didn’t go to the front door of Guy’s Titties, instead, he made his way up the side of the building and snuck into one of the open windows on the top floor.
The moment he stepped inside, he was aware of how silent it was. He’d been in Guy’s Titties countless times, and this place was never quiet. He held a gun, locked, loaded, and ready.
Each room was empty as he did a sweep. That was another sign that shit was not right.
There was always some activity, every day of the fucking week. There were a lot of men, married and single, who were happy to use the girls that took their clothes off. There was nothing.
He made his way down the stairs, keeping to the wall, and he was shocked to see there was no security. Whoever had decided to come for him clearly hadn’t given it a lot of thought, or put a lot of planning into this.
He got onto the ground floor, and as he did so, he was able to glance through the small piece of glass that showed the main club. It was dirty, but the lights were on, and in the far corner near the bar, he saw several women. A couple were bleeding, and he spotted Guy as well. He didn’t look good. It appeared both his eyes were swollen shut and several teeth were missing. But what fueled Evander’s rage more than anything was the sight of Callie, kneeling on the floor, blood trickling from her mouth.
He didn’t even need to see who the man was. That sight alone fired venom through his veins, and his temper went intooverdrive. Someone had taken his woman, lured her here to get to him, and he didn’t even need to get the answers to know this is exactly what had happened.
Anger unlike anything he had ever felt consumed him. It was burning, twisting in his gut, and he just saw red. In all his life, he had known control. Everything was about timing and precision. He had known the value of keeping his cool.
When the bastard reached out and grabbed her hair, twisting it in his fist, making her face contort, Evander didn’t hesitate. He reacted and charged into the room.
He had no way of knowing who was where, or what the real situation was, all he saw was his woman being hurt, and his need to protect her took over.
Chapter Ten
