Lace and Bullets: A Hitman Romance (12 page)

M
ia’s words
hit him harder than any boot to the gut.

“I’m pregnant, Damien. Please, get up!” She raced toward him and all the rage he’d kept at bay exploded.

She’s pregnant with my child.

It’s all he could see. All he could think. He had to protect her and that baby if it was the last thing he did. Letting a pair of dirty cops beat him into submission wouldn’t make that happen.

Something inside him clicked. The world slowed down. The ringing in his head from the billy club blow turned into a hum. He could do this. He could shut it all down.

Adrenaline and love mixed together inside him and pumped through his veins. He wasn’t a superhero, but he would damn well put on a good show.

Mia screamed at the cops on either side of him, waving her arms as she ran at them. The piece of shit ADA lay on the floor, clutching the family jewels and howling.

There had never been a better time to be a bad, bad man. As the cop to his right held up his hand to stop Mia from coming closer, Damien struck. His leg swung out in a vicious arc and before the cop knew what had happened, his body slammed into the ground and his head followed.

The asshole was knocked out cold. Damien lunged over his body as the other cop snapped to attention.

Before the other cop could reach him, he snatched the billy club from the floor.

Game. On.

The cop would be no match for him. Didn’t matter whether he had a gun or not. This wasn’t Damien’s first life or death fight. Now he had more than himself to worry about.

He stole a glance at Mia. She stood out of harm’s way, her head swiveling back and forth between him and the ADA.

“Watch him, Mia! Make sure he doesn’t move!”

She nodded and Damien backed up in a crouch, swinging the billy club wide. The cop pulled out his gun.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“Yeah, watch me.”

“I’ve got better things to do.” Damien rushed the cop as he fumbled with his gun. It went off as he slammed into the burly man’s chest. They both fell to the ground and the gun clattered to the floor.

The first punch was always the sweetest. His fist slammed into the cop’s jaw with a sickening crunch. He could do this all day.

“Damien!”

Mia shouted as the ADA staggered to his feet. Too bad. He grabbed the club in both hands and swung. The wood slammed into the cop’s temple and that was it. Lights out.

Damien pushed himself up to stand and picked up the gun from the floor. He pointed it straight at the ADA.

“Not another step.”

The ADA was hunched over, half clutching at his dick, but he managed to sneer anyway. “You won’t get away with this.”

Damien glanced at the two cops unconscious on the ground. “Funny, I was going to say the same about you.”

Mia couldn’t hold back anymore. She rushed to his side and wrapped her arms around his middle. “Oh, Damien, I’m so sorry.” Her words tangled up in sobs and Damien planted a kiss on the top of her head.

“Shh, it’s okay.” There would be plenty of time to talk it all through, but he had some work to do first. He gave her a squeeze and she let him go.

The ADA managed to drag himself up to his full height and Damien licked his lip.

“She’s a little bit tougher than you gave her credit for, isn’t she?”

“You won’t get out of here alive. Marcelo knows we’re here. He’ll be sending someone to clean up the mess.”

“That’s fine. He’s better at getting rid of dead bodies than I am.”

Damien stepped closer and pointed the gun straight at Steven Willow’s head. He couldn’t wait to put a bullet right between the man’s eyes.

“You kill me and you’ll always be on the run. Marcelo will never stop. The cops will never stop. You’ll be a dead man.”

“Marcelo doesn’t give a damn about you. You’re just a pawn like I was. You get his drugs and his guns and his girls through town without jail time. He does what? Fluffs up your ego? People like you make me sick. You’re supposed to help people. Not ruin their lives.”

He made sure the safety was off before stepping closer. One bullet to the head and this would all end. Mia and his unborn child would be safe.

Mia’s voice cut through his resolve. “Damien, wait. You don’t have to shoot him.”

“Yes, I do. He’s dirty, Mia. He’s as bad as your father. He hurt you. He deserves to be punished.”

“Not like this. We can go to the cops, Damien, we can finish what your sister started.”

The ADA tried to laugh, but it ended up in a cough. “Your sister would never have taken down the cartel.”

Damien’s jaw ticked. “What do you know about it?”

“Everything.”

Damien struggled to maintain control. “Spit it out, Willows.”

“You should have seen how easy it was to take her out. Like giving candy to a baby.” The man’s eyes flashed and his lips spread up into a disgusting grin. “Or should I say drugs to a whore?”

Damien lunged forward, shoving the barrel of the pistol straight into the ADA’s forehead. He pushed until the asshole winced. “You’re lying. You didn’t know my sister.”

“Of course I did. She was passed around the office so many times she probably had whiplash.”

Mia spoke up. “Why would she be involved with the DA’s office? It makes no sense.”

Her voice was the only thing keeping Damien from pulling the trigger. All he saw was blood and death and his sister’s killer.

The ADA was a second away from his last breath. Damien would avenge Melanie’s killing. He would set everything right.

“Didn’t he tell you? That little whore thought she could rat us all out to the fucking FBI. She was all set to take down Marcelo and your dear old dad. He asked me to make sure she couldn’t.”

“You’re lying.”

The ADA motioned at Damien. “Ask your boyfriend. That locket he wears around his neck? She had it on the night she died. Said it was the only thing her mother ever gave her. You know, she was so far gone, she even tried to give it to me for a hit.” Willows shrugged. “I told her she could pay me back in other ways.”

Damien couldn’t listen to another word. He stepped forward and pushed the gun harder into the man’s head. “On your knees.”

The ADA slid to the floor.

“Don’t. Damien, don’t kill him. Please. Think about the future, not the past.”

“He doesn’t deserve to live.”

“No, he doesn’t. But your baby deserves a father.”

His finger jumped on the trigger. Melanie deserved vengeance. All the years he had lived with the guilt of her death. No matter how many days went by, the pain never eased. He’d driven her to overdose. He’d been the chain around her neck.

He fingered the locket hanging against his chest as he thought over all the crimes he’d committed. All the things he’d done for Marcelo because his big sister was gone.

Someone needed to suffer. It should be the man who killed Melanie.

“I love you, Damien. Please. Don’t let your baby grow up without you.”

Mia’s words cut deep. He’d known somewhere deep inside that she loved him. But to hear her say it in the same breath as she spoke about their unborn child?

Damien closed his eyes for a second and saw the future Mia talked about. The one where they were together and free from the cartel and the District Attorney’s office. If there was even a chance that it could happen…

Didn’t he have to try? This was his shot to prove he was a good man. To show her he could swim in the light and not just tread water in the dark.

He whipped the gun around. “Guess it’s your lucky day, Mr. ADA.” He slammed the butt of the pistol into the side of his head and the ADA crumpled to the floor.

Mia almost tackled him in a hug. “Thank you, Damien. Thank you.”

He flicked the safety on the gun and shoved it in his waistband. “Don’t thank me yet. We’ve still got to figure a way out of this mess.”

With Mia holding tight to his side, they hustled out of the warehouse. The bright sun shone down on their heads and Damien couldn’t believe his luck. Mia was safe, he was alive, and they had a chance to breathe.

Damien pulled her into his car and started the engine. It wasn’t long before they were miles away from the ADA and his dirty henchmen. He parked in an empty lot and turned to Mia.

There were so many things he wanted to say. So many questions to ask. But all he could see was the light in her eyes. Hope lingered just below the dark surface, swirling like melted chocolate.

He had to ask. “You’re really pregnant? You weren’t just saying that to…I mean it wasn’t just to get me to…”

Mia leaned across the console and planted a kiss on his lips to shut him up. “Yes. I’m really pregnant.”

Christ
. Damien didn’t know what to do, where to look, or what to say. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Are you happy about it?”

She slid back onto her side of the car. “Are you?”

He thought about what a child would mean. Late nights and early mornings. Diapers and bottles and the kind of life he’d only dreamed of. Damien reached out and grabbed her hand.

The smile that spread across his face echoed his words. “I’m thrilled…Terrified, too.”

Mia laughed. “What, a bad man like you, scared of a baby?”

He knew she was trying to be funny, but the words rang true in his mind. Damien squeezed her hand. “That’s just it, Mia. I am a bad man. I shouldn’t be a father.”

“Stop it.”

“I’ve killed people.”

“For a reason.” She reached up and cupped the side of his face. “Everything you did was for a reason. You told me yourself, every hit took out someone worthy. They weren’t good people.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me.” She stroked the edge of his jaw and Damien wanted to believe her.

“You’ll be the only one.”

“No. The FBI will believe it, too.”

“What?” Damien pulled back and Mia let her hand fall.

“You asked what we needed to do next. That’s it. We need to go to the FBI. Tell them what we know and finish what Melanie started.”

“No. It’s too risky. You’re pregnant, Mia. If something happened to you…”

“I’ll be careful. It’s our only option, Damien. Think about the baby. What kind of future will she have if her father’s on the run?”

He blinked. “You think it’s a girl?”

Mia blushed. “It’s just a feeling.”

Damien’s hand went to the locket still hanging from his neck. In another life, his sister would have made a great mom. “Then let’s go.”

Mia beamed as she darted back over the console to kiss his lips. She might not fully understand it, but Damien would go to the ends of the earth to keep her and their baby safe. If she wanted to go to the FBI to clear his name and give their child a father, he couldn’t say no.

He owed it to all the women in his life to try.

S
he checked
her makeup one last time in the mirror.

“I can go in alone, Mia. You don’t have to go with me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re in this together and I’m going to get us in front of someone who matters. They aren’t going to give us the runaround today.”

“What if it doesn’t work? Even I can’t punch my way out of the FBI.”

Mia smiled. It was the first time Damien hadn’t been confident he could handle something. But he hadn’t seen her in action yet. She might not be a lawyer, but she’d been around enough of them and been through enough school to handle herself.

“It’ll work. It has to.” She pushed open the car door and stepped out into the bright morning sun.

After running from the ADA and the mess they had left behind in the warehouse, they both needed a night’s sleep and a shower. It was risky, but they hadn’t been caught yet. Another few hours wouldn’t matter.

Damien walked around the car and slipped his fingers through hers. “They won’t trust me, you know that.”

“They don’t have to trust you, they have to trust me. Come on.” She tugged his hand and together they walked up to the unassuming office building.

The movies always made the FBI look so glamorous and sexy. Mia knew better. Half of the agents looked like they worked in a generic electronics store with their navy polo shirts and khakis.

Damien held the door open and Mia stepped inside. The only sign it wasn’t a temp agency or a staffing company was the bullet-proof glass separating the waiting room from the rest of the building.

She plastered on a friendly smile and walked up to the receptionist. The woman couldn’t have been much older than Mia, with short blonde hair and a cheerful grin.

Mia spoke through the holes in the glass. “Hello, my name is Mia Davenport and I need to speak with the agent in charge of the Melanie Rogers matter.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No, it’s kind of an emergency.”

“Just a moment.” The receptionist stood up and made her way through a door to the back.

Damien shifted his weight back and forth on his feet by her side.

“Relax. This is going to take a while.”

“They’ve got cameras all over this place. They’ve probably already run us through the system.”

“It will be fine.”

The door opened again a few minutes later and a man in a suit appeared. Average height and build, a few years older than Mia. Not the man in charge. She forced herself not to frown as he stepped up to the glass. “Agent Clausen isn’t available. I’m Agent Duncan. Kate says you are here about a Melanie Rogers?”

Mia smiled. “Yes. If you would look her up, you’ll see that she was a confidential informant. We have information regarding her involvement with the Marcelo cartel and the District Attorney’s office.”

The agent raised an eyebrow. “You expect me to believe you two just walked in here with information on the most lethal criminals in the state?” He put his hands on his hips. “Why don’t you tell me what this is really about? Trying to get out of some jail time?”

Oh, no he didn’t.
Mia knew it would take some convincing to get someone to talk to them, but she didn’t expect they’d be dismissed. What kind of idiot didn’t look up her file?

She stepped forward until her breath fogged the glass. “My name is Mia Davenport. I’m the late District Attorney Davenport’s daughter. I was in the house when my father was murdered. I watched the whole thing. It wasn’t a robbery. Anthony Marcelo ordered the hit. Now the ADA is in bed with him.”

Mia poked her finger into the glass. She wished she could poke the jerk’s chest. “If you don’t get me a sit-down meeting with the agent in charge of the Rogers matter, I am going to the media.”

The agent tried to interrupt, but she kept talking.

“I am going to get up in front of all those reporters and live feed cameras and tell them that the FBI had a chance to take down the dirtiest criminals in our city and they fucked it up because they sent a rookie like you to handle the job.”

She stepped back. “So you go into the back and you get me someone who matters. Right. Now.”

Agent Duncan swallowed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

As the door shut behind him, Mia exhaled. She’d been squeezing her fingers to hide the shake, but now that he was gone, the trembling took over.

Damien’s hand landed softly on her lower back and she leaned against him. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

She smiled. “I thought you knew that by now.”

The door beside reception opened and an older man with brown hair graying at the temples appeared. “Ms. Davenport, I’m Agent Clausen. How about the two of you come with me?”

Mia grabbed ahold of Damien and they followed the agent down the hall.

He showed them into a room with a small conference table and a handful of chairs. Mia and Damien sat down.

The camera on the ceiling recorded their every move.

Mia had been nervous before, but now, sitting inside the FBI’s offices, staring across the table at an agent wearing a shoulder holster, the butterflies grew.
I can do this.
She swallowed and waited for him to speak first.

Agent Clausen had to be in his late forties. Thick, but not soft, with kind blue eyes and an easy demeanor. If he was Melanie’s main contact, Mia could understand why the woman trusted him.

“So how do you know Melanie Rogers?”

Damien sat forward in his chair. He might not look like a good man, but Mia knew that deep inside, his heart pumped the same blood as hers. Damien might be right that everything was a shade of gray, but he wasn’t lost in the darkness. He was fighting to do what was right.

“I’m her brother. Damien Rogers.”

“You’re a wanted man, Mr. Rogers.”

“I’m aware of that.”

Mia reached for him and squeezed his hand. “We’re here in good faith. Damien didn’t know his sister was an informant. Now he does and we both want to help take Marcelo and the ADA down.”

The agent rested his forearms on the table. “What is it you’re looking for in return?”

Mia sat taller in the chair. “Full immunity. Witness protection. New identities and new lives somewhere far, far away from Wellington.”

“That’s a tall order, Ms. Davenport.”

“It’s worth it. Between the two of us, we have enough evidence to not only arrest most of the Marcelo cartel, but also a good number of police officers and Steven Willows.”

“You seriously think the interim District Attorney is involved with Marcelo’s crimes?”

Mia glanced at Damien. “I know he is. Yesterday he tried to kill us.”

Agent Clausen sat back in his chair. “Any proof?”

“Do my bruised ribs count?”

The Agent turned to Damien. “Unfortunately not. We need more than that. To accuse someone like the ADA, we need a video, photo, some incontrovertible proof. Without it, the federal prosecutor won’t touch it.”

Mia bit her lip. After all this, there had to be a way. She couldn’t let Steven get away with all that he’d done. She couldn’t let Marcelo walk away from all the hurt he’d caused Damien and so many others.

She spoke without looking at Damien. “I could wear a wire. Try and get a confession.”

“No. You can’t. I won’t let you.”

Mia turned in her chair. “This isn’t your choice to make; it’s mine.”

Damien’s eyes searched her face. “It’s too dangerous.”

“It’s a risk I have to take.” She reached out and squeezed his hand. “If I can get him to talk, then it’ll all be over. Marcelo, Willows, the dirty DA’s office and the cops. Everything I’ve worked for in law school, everything I wanted to do since I was a kid, Damien. It would all happen.”

“What about the baby?”

She glanced at the FBI agent. “I’ll have backup, right?”

“We would have an entire team in place to assist.”

“For our family, Damien. Our future.”

His jaw worked back and forth and Mia could see the fear and anger at war in his eyes. But he couldn’t protect her this time. He couldn’t take the fall and be the man to save the day. She needed to do this on her own.

Damien looked up at the agent. “I want a deal in writing before she does this.”

“It’ll take a while. I’ll have to ramp it up the chain.”

Mia nodded. “Of course.”

Agent Clausen stood. “Let me make some calls. In the meantime, I’ll get Agent Duncan back in here. He can take both of your statements. Tell him everything you know about Marcelo and the DA’s office. The prosecutor will need it to make a decision.”

As soon as the door swung shut, Damien reached for her. “You don’t need to do this for me, Mia. You should stay out of all this, let me go.”

“Never.”

“I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”

“It won’t. The FBI will protect me.”

“The same way they protected Melanie?”

Mia reached up and put her hand on Damien’s chest where the locket hung. “I’m sorry she died, Damien. She was doing the right thing by coming to the authorities. I can finish what she started.”

“I don’t know what you see in me.”

Mia smiled. “I see the father of my child. I see a future.” She leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on his lips. “This isn’t just for you, you know. I’m doing this to clear the Davenport name, too. I want it to mean more than just a dirty District Attorney who got taken down by the same criminals he supported.”

A faint smile tugged at Damien’s lips. “So you’re not interested in changing your name?”

“Why would I?”

He traced a line over her ring finger on her left hand. “If we got married.”

Mia blinked. “Are you—”

The sound of the door opening made her pause.

Agent Duncan stepped in with a smile and an armful of paper and pens. “All right, so I’m here to take your statements.” He pulled the chair out and sat down. “Whenever you’re ready.”