Shattered Pieces (Undercover Elite Book 1) (13 page)

Johnnie

The ride into St. Matthews is one I’m very familiar with because, ironically enough, I grew up going to church there. I look over at the cobblestone church as we venture down Frankfurt Avenue and wonder what my pastor would think if he found out I’ve grown up to be a killer.

I pull the mirror down to take one last look at myself and, once again, the realization of how much I look like Rhonda hits me. I tug at the wig one last time.

“You look fine and, yes, it looks real.”

“How did you know I was going to ask that?”

“I’ve spent the last six months tracking your every move, studying every nuance. I know what you’re thinking before you think it, girl.”

I watch as he reaches inside his jacket and pulls out a ring box. “Give me your finger.”

I look down to see him placing a huge wedding set on my hand. “I can’t wear this. It costs more than I make in a year.”

“You work for me now, Mrs. Kensington.” He arches one eyebrow and speaks in a voice that’s more sinister than sexy, “You can wear it and you will wear it, even after this job. I won’t have people hitting on my woman.”

I roll my eyes. “You are unlike anyone I have ever met, Cash Kensington.”

“Okay, your undercover name is Katy Kensington.”

“I hate it.”

“I knew you would,” he chuckles.

“Well, it won’t be hard to remember.”

“That’s why I chose it. Pestering you with a girly name was just icing on the cake. Shall we, Mrs. Kensington?” he asks as he reaches for the door to get out.

“It’s now or never,” I answer, taking his lead.

We barely make it out on the lot before a salesman accosts us.

“We’d like to take a moment to look around and if you could get Steven Taggart to assist us, it would be greatly appreciated.” The poor guy looks forlorn when he looks at Cash’s Armani suit and my wedding ring. I’m sure that’s one of the reasons he insisted I wear it, though I’m sure it’s more about me not getting hit on by other men if they think I’m married.

“Very well,” the salesman answers, making his way around the corner to get his boss.

I walk over to a bright yellow Hummer and immediately Cash shakes his head. “It’s too flashy. You can have it in black; it will work for when we’re doing jobs in Mexico.”

“I didn’t seriously want a car.”

“You need one and it needs to be all terrain.”

When I look up again, I see Mr. Taggart heading in our direction and his eyes are glued on me. My heart is beating so fast that it feels like I can hear the blood rushing through my eardrums.

“What can I help you with today?” He reaches out to shake hands with Cash.

“Well, my wife is interested in this black Hummer and we’d like it with all the bells and whistles. I was referred to you by a gentleman in Mexico, a Jorge Sanchez, before his tragic demise.”

“Yes, I heard about that and though it was tragic, it was, in a sense, well deserved. He crossed the wrong people.”

Steven did exactly as Cash predicted when he mentioned Jorge. Mentioning a major Mexican drug dealer was a definitive way of letting him know that we aren’t just there for a car.

“I’m sorry,” he looks at me as if he’s confused, “you look so familiar.”

“She gets that a lot,” Cash answers for me and I find myself feeling relieved he did. My tongue suddenly feels tied and my stomach is in knots.

We spend some time looking over the car and I actually start to get excited when he hands us the keys for a test drive.

“Are you going to be able to drive this thing, girl?” Cash teases me as we make our way out of the dealership parking lot.

“I’ve driven in third world countries with you. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

We all pile in the car with Steven Taggart in the backseat. I refrain from looking at him in the rearview mirror and only use it for driving purposes. As much as I try to avoid making eye contact with him, I can feel the weight of his stare. He’s looking at me, studying my every move, and it is beginning to make me very nervous. I’m playing a very dangerous game with a very dangerous man.

A chill courses through me as I glance in the rearview mirror and see him coldly eyeing me. His face is set in stone and he looks like he has every intention of killing me at the first opportunity. What the fuck was I thinking when I agreed to this? How could I have deceived myself into believing I could fool him? I look too much like my sister to do that. I purposely made myself look like her just to fuck with his head and now it’s backfiring on me.

Getting through the test drive is hard enough but I still have to make it through the paperwork. It is like a bad dream—one where everyone is avoiding the elephant in the room and I am the elephant. Thank God I wasn’t stupid enough to try and do this on my own. If I had come here without Cash, I think I’d be having a panic attack by now. I fill out the paperwork, closing the deal in a mindless fog. I need to talk to Cash. I need for him to reassure me that this is just my imagination in overdrive. I need him to tell me that he will kill Steven Taggart before he ever allows him to kill me like he did my sister. I need to get the fuck out of this car dealership before I lose it.

Cash

I push her long, lean body and pin her against the wall as soon as we enter my house. Though it looks like a mansion, it is more like a compound in the way it’s designed. It’s a veritable fortress to keep the ugly out.

“He knows who you are,” I growl in her ear as I chew up and down her neck.

“Tell me you’ll protect me,” she moans as if she’s more interested in the heat of the moment than the fear of knowing a killer has her identity.

“Get that fucking wig off!” I jerk it off, not giving her a chance to obey me. “Do you think I’m going to allow you to believe I want to fuck someone other than you? It is never going to happen.”

I bend down and wiggle her pencil skirt up, burying my face in her core. My fingers rip at her tiny G-string and she spreads her legs as it falls to the side under my assault. Her fingers weave through my hair. “Don’t fucking touch me until I tell you to,” I growl as I look up at her like I’ll wear her ass out if she disobeys.

Her palms slam against the wall in instant obedience to my mandate. I slip my tongue through her silky folds.

“Fuck, it’s so hard not to touch you.”

“That’s precisely why I instructed you not to.”

My lips pull at her clit, coaxing it from its hiding place.

“I want you to come, baby girl.”

My tongue swirls around the pearl at her core as my lips suck and I add just the right amount of pressure to send her over the edge.

I jerk her from the wall and bend her over the end of the couch, fisting her hair in my hand. My cock is so hard it hurts as I tug at my zipper with my free hand, finally allowing it to spring free.

“Fucking mine!” I growl as I drive my cock balls deep into her. I know I’m hurting her. I want to hurt her. I want to dominate her. I want to fuck her like I hate her and I am. She cries out and comes all over my cock. The pulsing of her core sends me right over the edge with her.

I walk around the couch with her and pull her down on my chest, stroking her hair as I comfort her. “I’ll kill him before I ever let him get his hands on you. I spent too long getting you so there is no way I’m going to lose you now. You’re mine and I’ll kill to keep you.”

I know this line of work is new to her. She’s seen all of the ugly that the streets and strip clubs have to offer, but looking death in the face as you pull the trigger is something she’s never had to do. The threats in my line of work have to be eliminated by either killing them, or having them put in prison. Situations in the streets are different because, once you escape from the threat, you’re safe. In my line of work, the threat is imminent and constant and until that threat is dealt with, your life remains in danger. She now has a target on her back and if she thought I was keeping a close eye on her before, she hasn’t seen anything yet. Now that Steven has her in his sights, I’ll be watching her like a hawk.

Johnnie

I don’t know how long I lie in his arms, trying to hide the fact that I’m trembling. The man who killed my sister knows who I am and now he’s going to kill me too. I shudder as I try to push the thought away.

“Are you cold?” Cash asks me, rubbing his large hand over my arm.

“No,” I lie about the icy fear now rippling up my spine at the thought of my sister’s killer and what she must have endured by his hand. Was it a quick death or had it been agonizingly slow and painful? I don’t realize a tear is flowing down my cheek until he starts speaking again.

“Hey, hey, hey, do you think I’m going to let that bastard get near you?”

“I don’t know. It isn’t just that. Seeing him just stirs up a lot of emotions I thought were buried.”

“Baby, that stuff doesn’t go away. Pain like that is too deep. It scars over but it never goes away.”

“Cash, if you could have seen the way he was looking at me, you’d understand. It was cold, calculating, and heartless.”

He lifts my chin and his face has the look of a snarling, feral animal. “Do you honestly believe that I’m going to let him get to you after I kidnapped you to save you from yourself?”

“He’s dangerous, Cash.”

“Yeah, well, I’m fucking dangerous too. Grr,” he growls, kidding with me. I can’t help but burst out laughing.

Steven Taggart might be a killer but
Undercover Elite
is an organization that is trained to deal with his type and I couldn’t be in better hands.