-38 hours

It was the blaring shrill of ambulance siren that jerked Willow from a dreamless slumber. Crumpled bed sheets pooled in her lap as she sat upright, blinking her tired eyes as she sluggishly adjusted to the waking world’s reality. She glanced around, her eyebrows slanting into a scrunch as she soaked in the unfamiliar surroundings. It took a few moments too long for her brain to realize where she was and why she was there. This was one of Sebastian’s many safehouses; a loft apartment in the heart of downtown.

Metal hinges whined as the apartment’s door opened then clicked shut. Thumping footsteps traveled across polished concrete floor and up the metal stairs leading to the bedroom that overlooked the living room and kitchen below. Sebastian appeared to her in a dark hoodie, black jeans, and sneakers with a brown paper bag spotted with grease stains and a to-go cup in his hands and a leather laptop bag on his shoulder.

“Seems like you been busy,” she teased, a tired smile on her lips.

“Someone’s got to bring home the bacon,” he said as he rounded the bed, offering her the bag and cup. She blinked in surprise at his subtle humor, a rarity from someone as serious as him.

Her mouth watered in anticipation for a much-needed dose of coffee, but when she took a sip, peppermint tea with a splash of lemon awaited her instead.

“This is tea,” she said with a crinkle of her nose.

“You’re very perceptive.”

Willow rolled her eyes. “You know I’m not much of a tea person.”

It was no secret she was a coffee addict, known throughout her job to drink at least three or more cups to herself going.

“Then I suppose it’s a taste you’ll have to acquire over the next few months,” he returned. “Sacrifices come with the territory of parenthood, Will.”

Willow pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, “Sebastian, we mutually agreed that we’d talk about that when all this is over. Now, what’s on the agenda for today?”

“I need to scout a location to set up shop and I blow that bastard’s brains out on the ferry.”

“If you have to blow his brains out,” she corrected.

Sebastian shrugged. “Semantics.”

“Actually, there’s a huge distinction, Sebastian,” Willow said. “We agreed that you are to act as backup incase your father tries something shady. It’s my job to negotiate our freedom, not play the bait so you can get the chance to assassinate your sperm donor. We’re doing things my way.”

“And what’s my reward for when I prove you wrong?”

“A middle finger,” she answered before she took another sip of her hot beverage, batting her eyelashes innocently.

He chuckled, removing the laptop bag’s strap from his shoulder and dropping it onto the bed.

She cocked an eyebrow. “Where did you get that anyway?”

“Copped it off some hipster at the coffee shop. I can’t handwrite my tell-all exposé of the Company,” he said. “I’ve got nearly four thousand words down though. I think I’ve got another eight or nine thousand in me.”

She gawked. “How long were you at the coffee shop?”

“It opens at 5 o’clock and I left a quarter past 9.”

“Wow, that’s very impressive.”

He smirked as he approached her, bending down to peck her lips. “With the right muse, I can accomplish wonders.”

His tongue slipped slyly into her mouth and her eyelids fluttered shut, a moan bubbling in the back of her throat. She carefully pulled away before it escalated into more.

“We’ve got a very busy day,” she reminded him.

He arched an eyebrow. “I’ve got a busy day. You need to stay here and rest.”

She scoffed. “You seriously can’t expect me to sit here all day twiddling my thumbs. I’m coming with you. No if’s, and’s, or but’s. This is my plan and I want to be there every step of the way.”

“Doing what needs to be done is strenuous work,” he said, nuzzling his nose against hers.

“If I can handle you, I can handle anything.”

{}{}{}

-35 hours

The factory reeked of abandonment and piss, but before their arrival, there was a quick trip to a nearby pharmacy for a beach chair. A purchase Willow was much grateful for as she feared what plague lingered on the trashed floor. Sebastian had broken out a window and set up his sniper rifle. Now, he laid on his belly, his eye peeking through his scope, waiting for the ferry to creep into his view—however long that’d be. The ferry worked on an hour-and-a-half schedule, but if Sebastian wanted the meeting to take place on a specific spot on the boat, he needed to scope from the perfect spot.

As he did what he did best, he dictated the Company’s secrets to her, and her fingers tapped away on the laptop effortlessly. However, the more he delved, her stomach twisted from all the gritty details, but she marched on. Why not kill two birds with one stone? Time was money and everything banked on this tell-all. Well, that and Juliette’s access code into the high-security network.

She then asked, “How are you going to get Juliette alone enough to, erm, you know?”

“Juliette’s a creature of habit, which means she’ll have a reservation tomorrow at a five-star steakhouse for lunch,” Sebastian explained. “She’ll order a medium-rare filet mignon and have the server fetch one of her bottles from her wine locker. She’ll have two glasses and the second glass will make her lightheaded.”

Willow blinked. “I never pegged Juliette for being a lightweight.”

“She’s not, but sedatives are generally known for causing lightheadedness,” he teased.

“And how exactly are you going to put sedatives into her wine? Servers uncork the bottle and pour right at the table. Maybe, you can get away with it if it were a used wine bottle, but what if she decides to drink a new wine tomorrow?”

Sebastian chuckled momentarily at all her questions. “Simple. Bypass the steakhouse’s security measures after closing, break in, bust into the wine locker, and needle-inject sedatives through the cork.”

“Oh,” she said, dumbfounded by his plan’s brilliance. “You came up with this all within the last few hours?”

He admitted, “Baby girl, I’ve been in this game a long time. Plus, I’ve fantasized killing Juliette for years. Sedatives will serve our purpose, but poison was the original plan.”

Willow opened her mouth to speak, but she wasn’t sure what exactly she could say. When her husband spoke of his craft, it was always difficult for her to process that the same man who could be as gentle as lamb with her had the capacity to take another human life without a second thought. Granted, the subject of their conversation was Juliette who didn’t deserve an iota of sympathy for what was in store for her, but still.

She cleared her throat. “Alright, well I’ll leave that to you then.”

Her cell chirped in her pocket and it was a text message from Farrah: Boutique called. Your dress arrived and they need a date/time for a scheduled fitting. How’s tomorrow at noon sound?

Willow texted back that she’d be busy tomorrow and the day after to which Farrah returned ‘tick-tock, tick-tock, the wedding’s in 2 weeks.’ She slipped her phone back in her pocket and sighed heavily. The last thing she needed to worry about was that damned wedding and all that came with it.

Sebastian queried, “Who’s that?”

“Farrah,” she sighed.

“Wedding?”

She nodded. “Yup.”

After weeks of being pampered underneath the Brazilian sun, Willow could only imagine how many pounds she gained since the dress being ordered. Nor did carrying a tiny life within her help matters. A rush of prickles washed over her as the latter remainder burst into her head. Another thing she didn’t want to worry herself over.

She was grateful her husband hadn’t mentioned her condition since they left the loft, but it would be naïve to think she was off the hook. After all, Sebastian was a calculating man skilled in the art of trapping her in a corner when she least expected it. She knew there was an argument to be had, but there was a terrible feeling deep in her gut that she’d lose. With Sebastian as her opponent, there had yet to be a battle she won.

Willow shook her head to rid her worries and fears about the matter.

She cleared her throat, flexing her fingers over the keyboard. “Anyways, there’s a story to be told. What else you got for me?”

{}{}{}

-23 hours

Willow felt like a caged animal. It had been six hours since Sebastian returned her to his secret hideaway in the heart of downtown, citing his need to prepare for Juliette’s interrogation. It would’ve been best for her to sleep, but she couldn’t. She laid on the sofa in the living room, draped in a blanket to battle the chilly draft. If it weren’t for the fact her feet ached from the day’s labors, she would’ve paced the loft’s every corner. She tormented herself with all kinds of worst-case scenarios which none varied from a finale of bloodshed.

She nearly leapt to her feet as she heard the muffled jingle of keys and the door hinges’ squeaky groans. She flung back the blanket and rushed over, wrapping her arms around Sebastian’s neck. Her frantic greeting’s energy made his back thump against the metal door.

Willow buried her nose into his chest and admitted, “I was so worried. I was legit starting to think the Authority found you or something.”

She pulled back to peer up at him, blinking in surprise as she drunk in the sight of the mild amusement on his face. She gawked and bopped his left pec.

“Me worrying myself to death isn’t funny, Sebastian!”

“I think you fretting over me is adorable,” he chuckled.

She rolled her eyes and exhaled sharply. “Are you turning in for the night?”

“The steakhouse doesn’t close until 11 o’clock. It takes about two hours for the place to clear out, so I’ll head out around 2 or so,” he said, pushing back his hoodie’s sleeve to take a gander at his wristwatch. “Which means I’ve got five hours of freedom to spend with my wife.”

The annoyed edges of her face softened at his words and she reached for his warm calloused hand. “I think I know what we can do in the meanwhile.”

She led him upstairs and situated him in front of the bed, brushing back his hood and tugging at the zipper. He shrugged off the garment and tossed it aside, allowing her to push him onto the mattress. It squeaked and heaved under his weight then complained some more when she straddled him.

Willow was too antsy to sleep and being intimate with her husband always worn her out.

Clothes shed. Swept up in the moment, time somehow hiccupped.

“You’re working me like you’re trying to prove a point,” he groaned and squeezed her circling hips before his hands trailed down to her ass, palming her cheeks possessively.

She leaned down and brushed her lips against his. “I am trying to prove a point.”

I don’t want them to take you away from me, she thought.

Sebastian leaned up to claim her lips, but she dodged him successfully by straightening her back again. She flipped her messy hair over her shoulder, unable to hold back a smile. He growled and sat upright, weaving his hand into her tresses and gripping a fistful. He used his brawl to force their mouths together, imprisoning her in a hungry kiss. All the while, she rocked her hips, taking in his cock with a steady confident rhythm.

Though the kiss fell apart, their foreheads pressed together and submitted to the moment of passion. Her hand braced the back of his neck while her other pressed into the mattress for support. The kaleidoscope of light the city’s night gave caught on their sweaty skin.

Willow’s persistence sent him into a powerful orgasm. A rush of overwhelming pride coursed through her veins at sending her husband over the edge. His fingernails bit into her ass as he succumbed to her spell.

As if a switch had been turned on inside him, he practically tackled her onto her back, still lodged inside her. Time hiccupped again and his face was buried in between her thighs, her fingers entangling in his messy dark hair. His calloused hands cupped and squeezed at her tender breasts, rolling her hard nipples.

She didn’t want this moment to end, but like all things, it had to whether she liked it or not.

{}{}{}

-10 hours

Across the street from the steakhouse was a parking garage. After forking over the security guard’s one-month wage in a crumpled brown paper bag, he strolled into the structure. As he searched for Juliette’s limo, he disabled security cameras with precise gunshots. Though a silencer was an effective tool, it could never mask the noise like the movies portrayed, which was why he used a burner phone to call 911 as a concerned civilian about an elderly man having a heart attack in front of the steakhouse. The blaring sirens concealed his intentions. Tossing aside the phone, he ventured toward the limo parked in an emptier section of the garage.

It wasn’t much to subdue the driver and passenger-seat bodyguard. He made a promise to his wife not to shoot anyone blatantly broad daylight, so he snapped a neck and slit a throat then looted the corpses for their phones and hauled their bodies into the trunk.

After settling into the driver seat, he waited for his cue.

One of stolen cellphones rung and he smirked as he answered.

“Jules got tipsy. Pull up to the alleyway, a firetruck and ambulance is blocking the goddamn entrance.” All a part of his grand scheme which had been in the making for years, brewing and bubbling in his head only as a fantasy.

Now, he had the permission to bring it into fruition.

“Will do,” Sebastian replied before he ended the call.

Because Juliette was a top-notch loyal customer at the ritzy steakhouse, the limo was gifted with a complimentary parking pass which dangled from the rearview mirror. The bribed security guard took note and raised the mechanical arm to allow the limo to depart. With a lane blocked from the ambulance and firetruck, traffic clogged, and it took a few minutes to reach the alleyway.

One of Juliette’s goons had her arm draped around his neck and she leaned against him, cradling her woozy head. The suited man ushered her into the backseat and shut the door, rounding the limo’s front to get in. Not allowed to use a gun, Sebastian put his foot to the pedal and hit the goon, relishing as the limo’s wheels rolled over the body like a speedbump.

On the other side of the partition, Juliette groaned weakly, “What the hell was that?”

“Roadkill,” Sebastian stated.

Exiting the alleyway, he merged onto a different street.

Rolling down the partition, he peered into the rearview mirror. A rush of satisfaction coursed through his veins like a drug as he caught sight of unconscious Juliette slumped over.

He couldn’t wait to break her.