Read Online Style and Disgrace by Caitlin West - Free Book Online Page A

and my father did. What stories do you have to prove that your…job, if you want to call it that, is a good thing? You don’t agree with your side, my father died trying to save a rival, and now, as I get dragged into this shit, I get insulted, too. Well, there’s the door, Ian. At least you don’t need a master lemming to show you how to use it.”
    I stormed toward the stairs and he intercepted me just before I could get there. He grabbed my arm, his fingers like tiny vises biting into my muscles. I twisted but it just caused it to hurt and I scowled.
    “Let me go.” My voice was low and threatening. Every ounce of anger I could possibly muster simmered just beneath the surface. I considered letting it go, but held back. The fireworks were primed and the fuses were short. There was no reason to go off quite yet. I had plenty of time. “Now.”
    “I didn’t mean to insult you.”
    “I’m not going to ask you again.”
    He let me go and I drew back, bumping into the wall. He held out his hands to either side.
    “Please, Abigail…just…hear me out.” He was truly desperate. His terror was palatable. He was wondering if he had lost me…this wasn’t something I garnered from his expression, it was something I just knew. Like reading a book, I picked up precisely what he was thinking and it came as easily as if he had told me himself. “The phone call I received was upsetting. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
    “Yeah, you could’ve tried telling me what it was about or being the least bit respectful, but, instead, you got all temper tantrum on me. I’ve been through those relationships, Ian. I don’t need an encore. You want to start off fresh and leverage all of your supposed passion , find some barfly bitch that’s used to being smacked around by her boyfriend because that’s not me and it never will be.”
    “There are times we’ve been asked to kill…” He let the gravity of that statement settle in, but I was so far beyond the point of surprise or shock, it did nothing to me at all. A cold numbness smothered my brain and I just stared at him with a look that suggested he would have to do a lot more to elicit a response from me. “We haven’t done anything like that for a long time.”
    Something dawned on me.
    “Did they ask you to kill me?”
    “What?” Ian’s eyes widened and he quickly shook his head. “No, no…of course not, no. They don’t even know about you. You’re still neutral anyway. Even with the connection to your father, you’re not a threat to them. Not yet. I’m so sorry you would even think that.”
    “Would you fulfill that order if they gave it?”
    “I would not.” He answered a little too quickly for my taste, but, somehow, I did believe him. “There are plenty of things I wouldn’t do if they asked and they probably know that. This time, they would not take no for answer because it has been quite some time since they’ve asked. Mostly, I’ve done a good job lately of giving them something without doing something terrible. Now…there’s a person that requires our special attention.”
    “I don’t know what that means…are you a prostitute?” I shook my head. “I don’t know what you people do, Ian. I thought it was fight monsters from two different sides. Now you’re talking about being an assassin or…God knows what.”
    “Interesting choice of words.”
    “Enough of that shit!” I shouted. “Are you going to leave or what? It sounds like you’ve got something important to do so don’t let me keep you. I guess I’ll be figuring out how to take care of myself for a while…which is probably a good thing considering who’s offered to help.”
    “You…you were close to giving in to me.” Ian must’ve wanted to ask the question, but it came out as a statement. He figured me out and I didn’t care. That moment was over, even if I still nursed a masochistic desire for him in my heart and…well, physically too. “I made a mistake