Free Freed (Bad Boy Hitman Romance) by Terry Towers, Stella Noir

morning to drop it.”
     
    A weird feeling came over me, and I looked down at the empty seat several rows below and to the left. The seat where Kyle usually sat. I looked down at my watch. Class started in two minutes, and we had a quiz. Why would he be late on a day like this? The professor locked the door on quiz days. If you’re late, you miss out and get a zero.
     
    But then again, he was a trust fund baby. Maybe he was just taking classes for something to do and wasn’t really serious about it. My ponderings were cut short when the professor came strolling into the room, closing the door, behind him.
     
    “Good morning class. If you haven’t already, put your books away. It’s time to find out what you’ve learned thus far and if you’re keeping up with your reading assignments.
     
    “Shit, I should have studied last night,” Vanessa grumbled under her breath as she placed her textbook under her seat. “Least I would have gotten something out of the evening.”
     

     
    ~*~   TT ~*~
     

     

     
    Kyle
     
    “Yeah, I’m having a little difficulty getting much out of her.” I silently cursed. This was supposed to be a simple job, but this girl was a little harder to crack than most. She was a damned vault when it came to her life prior to moving to California. I looked down at my mobile phone, waiting for my boss, who happened to also be my father, back in London, to chew my ass out from the other end.
     
    Flynn: “I sent you out there because I thought I could count on you.”
     
    “You know you can. It’s taking a little longer than I expected. What do you want me to say, Flynn?” I raked my fingers through my hair in frustration.
     
    Flynn: “I want you to say that you know where Tanner and his little cunt are. That’s what I want you to say. I want you to say that the little bitch you’re courting has squealed on her sister, and that within a couple of days, Tanner will be in your hands.” The pitch in Flynn’s voice rose with each word. “That’s what I fucking want you to fucking say.”
     
    I cringed. It had been a long time since my father had been this angry.
     
    Flynn: “Just because you’re family doesn’t mean I won’t fucking have you taken out as well if you fuck this up. First, Lance blows up the goddamned facility there in the states, and then Tanner takes off while still being indebted to us. Those pricks are going to make us a laughing stock!”
     
    My father was being melodramatic, as per usual. At least in my opinion. The Lance debacle was over 5 years ago, and Tanner nearly as long. Lance, who went rogue, was the son of the man who had run the facility in the states. Word was Lance and the little slave he’d fallen for were holed up somewhere in Canada. We had people working on it. As for Tanner, sure he’d been one of the best trainers the Organization had ever had, but fuck, why did we really care? If he wanted out, whatever, as long as he kept his mouth shut, why the fuck should we care?
     
    If I ran the organization, I certainly wouldn’t be worried about some assholes that skipped out on the company, never to be heard from again. There were more pressing issues, in my opinion. While Lance was somewhat understandable, this vendetta on Tanner that my father seemed to be carrying was completely personal and a waste of resources.
     
    But I wasn’t the boss – yet. However, when I was, there would be some serious shifting of focus. But, until then…
     
    “Look. She’s different. She’s just harder, that’s all.”
     
    There was a pause on the other end. Maybe I had gotten lucky, and he hung up?
     
    “Flynn?” My father preferred I called him by his first name. Always had. Not like he was much of a nurturing father anyhow. I didn’t grow up going to football games and receiving affection from him, so it seemed more appropriate anyhow. If I were to sit and psychoanalyze myself, I would image that would be part of my own issues.
     
    Flynn: “If