Red Handed by Jessa Wilder

The black sedan peeled out of the parking lot, and the little thief gave me a cocky-ass wave. I busted out laughing, a wicked grin pulling at my lips. Whoever she was, she out played me tonight. First, by shocking the shit out of me and trying to slice my head off. Second, when she had me fawning all over her tight body, only to pull out a gun. That was fucking hot.

I groaned and adjusted myself in my pants. She was sexy as all hell, and once I’d gotten my hands on her, my brain fritzed. She was all soft curves and tasted like spearmint. I would’ve fucked her against the wall had she not pulled her gun out. I was worried when she’d pointed it at my face, but she must’ve gone soft on me. Good. I liked to think I wasn’t the only one affected.

I rubbed my palms over my face and cleared her out of my mind. What the hell was I doing before I was so pleasantly distracted? Oh yeah, Mr. Penny.

I whipped my head back toward the shadowed corner behind the fire escape, where I’d left my bleeding friend. Empty. Where the hell was he?

I’d already done a decent number on him, so he couldn’t have gotten far. Too bad for his escape plan, he’d left a twenty-foot trail of blood leading halfway down the sidewalk.

“What the fuck, Mr. Penny. I wasn’t done with you.” My voice was low as I grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up to get a better look.

What a fucking waste of a good squealer. His skin was pale blue, blood pooling from his mouth. He made gurgling sounds, choking. Fuck, I must have nicked an organ. Rookie fucking mistake. The boys would never let me live this down.

“Sorry, man,” I told him. “Actually didn’t mean to kill you. I mean, we would have eventually, but this was a little premature. My bad.”

I tossed his body down, pulled out my phone, and texted our clean-up crew. Blood coated my hands and I cringed, wiping them on my shirt.

I sat down on the fire escape to wait, ignoring the twitching body to my left, and scrolled absently through Instagram, tapping ‘like’ on a couple of pics my manager posted of me last from last weekend’s race. A smear of blood appeared across my screen, and I frowned. Sometimes I wondered if I was becoming too numb to this shit. Whatever.

My mind wandered back to the redheaded thief. Who the hell was she? She obviously wasn’t a guest, decked out with guns and blades like that. Rush was going to lose his shit when he found out his impenetrable security was bested so easily. I grinned to myself at that. I couldn’t wait to rub it in his face.

The clean-up crew rounded the corner, and I looked up in surprise. I knew they’d jump when they got my text. They were scared as shit of me, partly because I was at the top of the Gentlemen food-chain, and partly because of my reputation for making people disappear. That was record time, though, even for them. Fucking awesome.

I stood, giving the van a single wave before leaving them to it. Clean up was my least favorite part of the job. I didn’t need to watch.

I used the service elevator to the penthouse floor, not wanting to scare the shit out of a hotel guest. Still, I did my best not to touch anything. Our clients knew they were in gang territory. Fuck, they were here to pay for our high-class pussy, but they liked to feign ignorance. Nothing would break the illusion like a giant tattooed man dripping with blood.

The hotel was luxurious enough that even this elevator was decked out in wall-to-wall mirrors. Blood coated my hands and speckled my face—I looked like an extra from Final Destination. I wondered if my little thief was in the same position. Was she marked where I’d touched her, or did she get away clean?

I reached the penthouse floor and quietly entered Nico’s suite. The only light came from the city lights glowing through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Hopefully that meant the guys were asleep, or I’d have time to come up with an excuse for the disaster I made of this job.

I pulled my shirt off and tossed it in the kitchen trash. Fucker, I loved that one. I lifted my arms to avoid dripping blood on Nico’s fancy floor and washed up to my elbows in the sink. Once you got a speck of blood on you, that shit multiplied like glitter.

“That’s fucking gross, man.” Rush stood in the hallway, watching me clean off. “Nico’s going to kill you if you get blood on his shit.”

I smiled wider at that, humming as I cleaned. “He can try.” I dried my hands off on a fresh cloth. “Anyway, I thought you got off on this type of thing.”

Rush snorted, crossing his tattooed arms. “Keep fucking dreaming. You are way to chill after ripping someone’s nails out. The screams alone get under my skin.”

I laughed. “To be fair, I normally gag them.”

He cringed. “Your cheeriness creeps me out sometimes.”

I whistled as I wiped specks of blood off my face, using the microwave as a mirror. Most of the time I had no shame in my job, and I was fucking good at it. Well, I was good at it most nights. Tonight was a disaster.

Nico’s harsh voice cut through my humor. “Tell me you didn’t torture someone right outside my hotel?”

I glanced up at Nico as he appeared in the hallway behind Rush. Where Rush was covered in greyscale tattoos and dangerous looking, Nico always looked like he was auditioning for Mad Men. I lifted my hands in mock surrender. “Fine, I won’t tell you.”

“Fuck you,” Nico snapped, his expression angry as usual. “Do you think I enjoy paying off cops?”

I shrugged. “We needed the information. Plus, it was worth it. He sang like a fucking canary. The Trilogy’s making moves. They killed two Mount Summer guys on the South End, but they haven’t made concrete plans to move in and set up shop there yet.”

Nico sneered at the mention of our rival gang. Even a throw away reference to Mount Summer was enough to send him over the edge. To be fair, a light breeze could send Nico over the edge, so that wasn’t saying much.

“It doesn’t feel right. Something’s coming,” Nico said, raking his hands through his jet-black hair. “We’ve got a few men missing, but they’re not confirmed dead.”

I winced, knowing how this was going to go. “I got distracted and the little shit went and died on me.”

Rush scoffed, looking almost amused. “What the fuck, Beck?”

“What do you mean you got distracted?” Nico’s eyes had turned dark, and he directed his ‘I’m the boss’ glare at me. Tension pulled taunt between us. Typically, getting distracted on a job would be a death penalty, but I was lucky that this fucker loved my ass.

All three of us were alumni members of the Gentlemen. Nico especially, as it was his family that started the whole thing, but all our dads had been original members. The three of us had been as close as brothers since we could walk. The amount of shit we got into as kids was ridiculously high. We were all the family we needed, and everyone else was expendable.

“I’ve got to know what could’ve been more interesting than cutting a guy up.” Rush smiled, effectively cutting the tension.

I smirked at the memory of the redhead. “I caught a thief.”

“Well, where the hell is he?” Nico demanded.

I shrugged. “She flew the coop.”

Rush laughed. “Wait? Did you get distracted torturing someone by a girl?”

“You don’t understand what I was dealing with. She was fucking hot, man,” I grunted, flooded by memories. “Hottest kiss I’ve ever had.”

Nico growled. “You kissed someone robbing my hotel?”

Rush grabbed his laptop. “This I’ve got to see.”

“If you had your hands on her, how the hell did she get away?” By now Nico’s neck had turned red, and his jaw ticked. Never a good sign.

My grin had his face turning purple. “Careful, man. I keep telling you, if you don’t calm down, you’re going to have a stroke. Try yoga.”

Nico swung a fist at me, and I barely dodged out of the way. The fucker was fast.

“Watch it, the gala’s tonight. Don’t want to bruise this pretty face,” I said.

“It’s a fucking masquerade. It’ll be hidden,” he snapped.

I would say he needed to get laid, but I had literally seen two girls leave his room this morning. There was no amount of sex or drinking that could fix rage like that. Dude was just born fucking angry. Probably why he went to business school.

The surveillance feed came up on Rush’s laptop. There was no sound, but you could easily make out the visual with the night mode cameras Rush had installed. I grinned at the sight. I was standing in the alcove hidden from the parking lot. My face pressed near the unlucky Mr. Penny’s. He was trying to squirm away from me, but my hand pinned him in place. I could just make out a glint on the knife in the video as I made shallow cuts to cause maximum pain without killing him. Or that’s what I was supposed to be doing. The image showed my head popping up. I stepped into the shadows beside the door, barely in time for it to swing open. A small, dark figure walked out, and my gaze focused on her.

Rush busted out laughing when she tried to slice my throat. I grinned, a semi forming in my pants. She was sexy as fuck.

“She got the fucking drop on you?” Nico asked, one eyebrow raised.

I held up my wrist, showing the cut there. “I blocked it. Don’t worry about me too much.”

Rush and Nico got closer to the screen, watching as I pinned her to the wall, practically devouring her face. They weren’t there. The little thief was irresistible. They watched as my mark dragged his way out of the alcove while I pressed the thief harder into the wall. Then, the video showed her pulling the gun on me.

Nico’s brows went up. “That’s fucking embarrassing.”

I smirked. No, it was hot as hell.

“Who is she?” Nico asked. “Can you zoom in?”

Rush zoomed in, but the angle didn’t show on her face. Instead, we were treated to a better view of me looking like Christmas had come early.

Rush choked on a laugh. “Distracted is right. You didn’t even notice that guy trying to escape.”

“Relax, I’d already incapacitated him enough that he wasn’t going to get far.”

Nico growled. “By incapacitated, do you mean accidentally killed him before you could ring him for more information?”

I looked down at the floor. “My bad.”

Nico practically growled, ready to dig into me, but Rush cut him off, still staring at the redhead on the surveillance video. “Where are her fucking shoes?”

Before anyone could reply, all three of our phones buzzed. What the hell was happening now?

Rush checked his first. “Shit’s going down on the seventh floor. A client got out of hand.”

Nico’s jaw ticked again. He stood abruptly, grabbed his guns, and slipped them into their tan leather holsters. He put on his suit jacket, never looking less than professional when dealing with business. Nico was wearing his ‘You’re fucking dead’ face, and I lit up with glee. He was fun when he raged out like this. Well, unless you were the one on the receiving end.

We took the elevator down and as soon as the large double wood paneled doors opened and screams assaulted us.

“Shut the fuck up,” Nico said, barely above average volume.

You could hear a pin drop. His voice didn’t need to be raised for people to follow his command. We walked up to the group, slower. One of our girls hovered in the doorway to her room. Two Gentlemen had a third man pushed down on his knees, and Madame Cosset glared down at him. The man on his knees looked up, eyes round with terror, but Nico ignored him. He directed his gaze at Madame Cosset.

Cosset was older, probably mid-fifties if I had to guess, but she rocked her age. Her hair was a pale blonde pulled up off her neck, and she wore fierce red lipstick. She oozed sex. Which made sense because she managed the girls for The Espositos. Nico didn’t trust many people, but she’d proven herself working for them far longer than he’d been the head of the family.

I doubted he’d admit it, but he relied on her to keep this side of the business running. Without her, it would fall apart. I should’ve talked to him about giving her a raise.

Nico nodded at her, a sign of respect he didn’t give lightly. “What’s going on here?”

She pointed at where one of our best enforcers was holding a man down, his nose pressed to the floor. “Mark here decided he wanted to take things in a direction Missy didn’t want to go.”

I made a feral sound in the back of my throat, dangerously close to a growl. The girls all had paperwork the men had to read through and sign. It included their ‘I will and I won’t do’ list.

I stepped forward, but Nico held up a hand. “We don’t murder people in the hotel.” His voice was rough, barely holding his anger in check.

The piece of shit didn’t know what he’d gotten himself into. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.” He went to get up, but our guys held him in place.

Nico looked at the enforcers. They were dressed in suit pants, black dress shirts with their sleeves rolled up, showing off matching Gentlemen tattoos. They were both big mean motherfuckers, perfect for this type of job. “Take him out back and give him the gold star treatment.”

“No! Please, God, please. I swear I didn’t mean to. I forgot.” He was a trembling mess. If we didn’t get him out of here fast enough, he’d piss himself all over the floor.

Missy snorted, arms crossed, confident that we’d take care of him. “Me screaming ‘no’ wasn’t a good enough reminder?”

“No, please. Jesus, please.” Fear made the man practically whimper as he pleaded with us.

Nico’s jaw clenched. “You’re banned from the hotel and I’m going to put out the word. You are officially blacklisted.” He told the scum of the earth, then addressed our men. “Break his legs. I don’t want him walking out of here.”

The guy’s voice raised, shouting at Nico. Fucking idiot. “Do you know who I am? You can’t do that. I’ll bring every officer down on you.”

Nico got closer to him, voice dangerously low, a deceptive smile on his face. “Do you know who I am? You should’ve read the paperwork. There’s an ironclad NDA. I would know, I wrote it myself.” He grabbed him by the throat, squeezing hard until the guy’s eyes bulged and his face turned purple. “Don’t forget who runs this town.”

The man started screaming but was cut off when they shoved a ball gag in his mouth. Handy things to have around. Our men dragged him to the stairs, no doubt letting him hit each one.

Nico addressed Madame Cosset. “Missy can take the week off. Paid.”

Missy smiled through her tear-streaked face and Madame Cosset nodded. All the girls were a bit too infatuated with Nico. It was actually becoming an issue. We treated our girls well. They are all listed as regular hotel positions. Maids, spa attendants, clerks. Which meant they all had full benefits that included a great health care plan. That could come in handy in their line of work. Not that we’d ever let someone hurt them.

I watched as Cosset led Missy away. I was close to following the guys downstairs to dole out that asshole’s punishment myself, but Rush clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Come on, we’ve got shit to plan.”

I sighed. “Right.”

This shit with the hotel girls was all in a day’s work. Today we had bigger fish. If Mr. Penny’s information was good, it wasn’t just our guys going missing. Mount Summer was losing men, too. Or they were turning up dead at least. That could only mean there was a connection. The Trilogy was getting bold and with the gala tonight we couldn’t afford to make mistakes.

My mind drifted back to the redhead. I considered myself to be a pretty lucky guy, and with any luck she’d be back. I smiled as I followed Rush and Nico upstairs. Looked like I was going to have to catch a thief.