Invincible (A Kingpin Love Affair Book 3) (3 page)

“I won’t say anything, and I won’t risk my life for you,” I said coldly. My heart was filling with anger once again, and for the second time in my life, it was growing colder.

“Good, because I’m not worth it. Now I’m going to leave, Tegan. I’m going to run as far away as I can. If you come looking for me, they will find you, they will know. So lie, hide, and keep yourself out of the public eye.”

A kiss was placed against my forehead as he picked up a bag that had been lying in the corner. I hadn’t noticed it. I hadn’t noticed anything really. I should’ve seen it coming. The signs were there. I just ignored them.

As he headed for the door, feelings overwhelmed me. I should’ve been screaming at him. Telling him what a prick he was for using me, for taking everything I gave him and then leaving. Instead, I stood there watching him as he walked away, my heart shattering for the second time in its short life.

A tear escaped my eye, trailing down my cheek. How had I gotten to this point yet again?

Fool me once. Shame on you. Fool me twice. Shame on me. Fool me three times… There wouldn’t be a third time.

* * *

THE DAYS PASSED in a flurry, and as the summer turned to winter, the gaping hole in my chest became bigger. Every passing day was a reminder of what had failed to work in my life.

I had just sat down to devour a pizza from Domino’s when the doorbell rang. What the hell? Jamie’s reminder echoed in the back of my mind, but why should I care? He wasn’t here now.

Groaning, I got up from the couch and trekked over to the front door standing on my tiptoes to look out the peephole. On the other side of the door were two men, both wearing dark suits, their eyes boring into the wooden door.

“We know you’re in there, Tegan. Now open the door or we’ll take it down. Your choice,” one of the men said. A smile showed on his face, and my breath caught in my chest as I took a step back. Would they really kick down the door? How much trouble was Jamie really in?

“One…” I could hear the man on the other side of the door say…

“Two…” He was counting… Why was he counting?

“Three….” In an instant, I shuffled away from the door as it flew open. Wood splintered and cracked as they pushed it all the way open. My heart was beating out of my chest as fear rooted me to the floor. Why wasn’t I running?

As the two men entered my apartment, their eyes scanned the room. They’re just looking for Jamie. They’re just going to ask you some questions and then leave. You’re going to be okay, Tegan.

“You should’ve just opened the door, sweetheart.” He bent down, looking me over. His dark blue eyes were beautiful against his dark skin, and when he smiled, it sent a shiver down my spine.

“I would have…” I stuttered. I knew better than to talk out at these people. It wasn’t as if Jamie’s warnings went unnoticed. I knew because my mind said do whatever you can to survive.

“Don’t lie. You know why we’re here. You know that if we don’t find him, you will be his repayment,” the man with the blue eyes said. One of his large hands came into my view as he wrapped a lock of my hair around one of his fingers.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered to himself. I wanted to swat his hand away, feeling as if I were being felt and looked at as if I were a prized piece of beef.

“I don’t know where he is. He left, he ran.” The words I said were true, and the other man looked down at me as if he didn’t believe me.

“You know if you’re found lying, we will kill you,” Blue-eyes said. His voice was soft, so soft that for a moment, I wondered what it would be like to get lost in it.

“You’ll end up killing me anyway,” I said matching his soft tone.

Blue-eyes gestured to the other guy to do something, and I watched as he walked away leaving me alone with this man.

“Jamie owes the casino a lot of money, love. A hundred-thousand dollars. We’re sent to get the money, and if we don’t come back with something, then we’re to take whatever and whomever we have to in order to get it.”

He wasn’t trying to warn me or make it easier for me. He was simply letting me know what would happen if I couldn’t get the money for him.

“This is Jamie’s debt, though. Not mine. I haven’t even been to the casino since it was built. You have to believe me when I tell you I haven’t done anything wrong here.” I was pleading with someone who held my life in his hands.

Moments of silence passed and my eyes started to glass over. Why was I fighting my death? Why wasn’t I letting him take me in?

“Because you’re beautiful, and I don’t want to see you die, I will give you six months. That’s it. Find a way to get the money. Sell whatever you can, get a job, do something…”

“Six months?” I said in disbelief. I had six months to make a hundred grand? It wasn’t going to happen.

“Yes, love. Six months. That’s it.” His word was final.

“Most people in this town don’t even make that a year. How the hell am I supposed to do that?” The question was more directed at me. Blue-eyes reached his hand out and gripped me by the chin.

“Six months, Red. Six months is all I’m giving you. If, in six months, you don’t have the money, then your death is how repayment will be settled.”

His eyes were cold, and his hand had a death grip on my chin. Clenching my teeth together, I nodded. I wasn’t going to say another word. I was just going to do whatever I could to make the payments and then leave this town forever. Either in a casket or walking.

“I’m glad we understand each other.” He released me with a shove that sent me sliding across the floor. I kept my head down as tears slipped from my eyes. I didn’t want them to see how weak I was. How much this all had affected me. My mother had left me to fend for myself in this big world, and all I had managed to do thus far was find more trouble.

“Liam. Let’s go. She has six months,” the blue-eyed man said his voice so full and boastful.

“See you in six months, babe,” the other man said as he stepped over the threshold. They both turned around smiling before walking away. I sat very still, not even moving an inch until I could no longer hear their footfalls on the wood floor.

Then I cried. For the love I had lost and the death that would soon be my own.

CHAPTER THREE

Devon

PRESENT

“AGENT MITCHELL, MY office NOW!” Frank practically yelled for the whole office to hear as he pushed through the room.

“Fuck…” I mumbled under my breath as Zerro smiled at me across the room. Zerro was my partner. He was a bad guy turned good guy. He used to be a part of the Mafia but decided he wanted to run with the good guys.

Bringing myself back to the present, I realized I needed to be heading toward Frank’s office. God, the fucker (Zerro) probably told on me for something stupid again. If so, my biggest mistake was bringing him into the force. He was lucky we were in the office finishing a case. Otherwise, I would’ve dropped him off on the side of the road somewhere.

“Boss?” I questioned, hiding my expression. Never own up to it, unless you have a reason to.

“Come in and have a seat, Mitchell.” Frank’s voice resonated authority and immediately, I was finding a chair to plant my ass in. Shuffling papers around on his desk, he threw a folder open. Its contents couldn’t be seen from where I was sitting, but something told me it wasn’t good.

“I take pride in my men, Mitchell. You have been one of those men for three years now. The youngest on the force and you continue you to amaze me.” There was a
‘but’
coming somewhere… “But…” See, there it is.

“But, you’ve been acting strangely. In all the years you have been here, you have yet to take a vacation or a three-day weekend. Hell, we can’t get you to leave for even twenty-four hours. Why is that?”

Suddenly, my mind was drifting to a place long ago. To a place when I had something to live for.

“You say you want to be in the FBI, son?” Frank had asked me. He was smiling, but his eyes looked sad. I wondered what it was that caused the sadness.

“Yes, sir,” I spoke loud and clear. He scratched his head for a second as if he were pondering something. I had the whole thing planned out. I would marry Tegan and push for a case that was closer to home. Frank knew why I wanted to do this. Why I had to do this.

“Listen to me when I say this, son, and take it to heart because I never did. If you have someone in your life who you love, that you would do anything for, then I think it would be best if you’re honest about your future plans now.” I looked at him confused. What did he mean?

“I have been honest with her. She knows what I want to do with my life.” I expressed hiding all emotions from my face. Frank was a bit of a hard ass, and I didn’t want him to know whatever it was he was saying was getting to me.

“She does, does she? Let me tell you something… My wife left me for the simple fact I was never home. I always had cases somewhere else, and I always ended up being gone on an assignment for months, sometimes years. I missed a lot. Including the birth of my daughter. One day, I came home and she was gone. Now none of that really pertains to you, but here is what does. That could be your life. She might think she knows what she’s getting into, but she doesn’t. So if you love her, if your heart beats for her, it’s best to let it go. It’s best to remove her from your life before she removes herself.” From the way he spoke, and the emotions written on his face, I could tell he understood every word he had said. He had lost so much because he thought he understood what it was like to be in the FBI.

“I don’t think I can do that…” My voice was gruff, and my chest was simply aching at the mere thought of hurting Tegan. She was my one and only, the thing that held me together when all else failed.

“Then you might not be able to do this, son. The FBI isn’t made for everyone, and it will break you before it brings you back up. There will be no time for love or loss with your job. If you want in, you have to leave her behind.”

Leave her behind? Break her heart and make her hate me? Would it really be worth it to rip her from me now rather than later when I couldn’t be the man she wanted me to be? Didn’t she deserve better than that?

“If you do it for anyone, do it for her. In the end, it’ll hurt a lot less,” Frank said, walking away from me to think about my choices. In reality, there was no choice. The choices had already been made for me. It was Tegan’s heart hanging in the balance.

“Devon…” Frank commanded pulling me from my thoughts.

As if remembering what we were talking about, I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t have an answer for him, and even if I did, I wasn’t going to tell him I had no family to go home to. That was a lie. I had a family to go home to if you wanted to call it that. I just didn’t care to. He knew that though, so why was he asking?

“Don’t know, Frank. I simply love the force more.” I smiled, winking at him. Instead of a smile showing back, a frown took its place. He wasn’t messing around, and I didn’t have answers for him.

“We know about your home life, that much is obvious. We wouldn’t hire someone to work for the FBI without a thorough background check.” Frank stated the obvious as if I hadn’t been working here for the last three years.

“There isn’t anything going on, Frank. I have—” My words were cut off as he stared at me sternly. I was so going to kill Zerro.

“You have been stressed out more than usual, and it’s starting to show in your work.” Stressed? Huh?

“Oh, really? How so?” I sat back, acting as if I had won the argument already.

“This isn’t a contest, but so you understand—how about those men you brought in the other day for questioning. All four had bloody noses and huge knots on their foreheads.”

“Hey, I was doing my job…” I held up my hands innocently. In reality, I was taking my frustrations out on them. They had answers I needed.

“No, Mitchell. Your job is to protect this nation, serve its people, and beating the shit out of people isn’t doing your job. Therefore, I’m giving you a month’s paid vacation. In the event you come back in a month, and you’re not doing any better, I’ll give you another month.”

No. No. No. This couldn’t be happening. Time off meant thinking, thinking meant anger and aggression, and without my job as an outlet, I was liable to fall off the truck.

“That’s nice of you, sir, but I don’t feel that—”

“Listen, Devon, I don’t want to be a dick, but you need a vacation, and if I have to order the men to take you somewhere and drop you off to get you out of this building, then I will. Listen to me when I tell you to take this time off.” There was no questioning Frank. His word was all, and even if I hated what he had to say, I had to respect it and follow through.

“Looks like I’m taking a vacation…” I muttered my jaw clenched tight with every word. I was going to hate the next thirty days more than anything in my life.

“Yes. You’re to do absolutely no work while gone. None. I will give your work to Agent King. Keep in touch,” is all he said while smiling at me.
Keep in touch?
I knew exactly what that meant. Don’t step foot into this office until you have fixed your shit.

As I closed Frank’s door, I zoned in on Zerro. He had a smirk on his face that told me he was the accomplice.

“What the hell, man?” I questioned, walking over to my desk. I pulled the rolling chair out and threw myself into it.

“What do you mean?” He smirked some more. Two years ago, I had saved his ass and had given him the chance to start over, to have a clean break. This is the thanks I get? I was starting to think he wanted to be a bad guy again. Asshole.

“Frank’s making me take a month off. What the hell am I supposed to do during that time?” I raked my fingers through my hair, frustrated.

“You could learn how to cross stitch. Bree is all over that shit,” Zerro mumbled as he typed away at his computer. He was so mundane compared to the person I had met when I was just starting out.