Signs of Innocence (Soul of the Sinner - Book 4) Read online

  “HI… I’m Adele! I am so glad you’re here, we really need the help! We have been so busy lately that I barely get to see Alex. You can go right up; I’ll call him to let him know you are on the way!” Adele advises, and my eyes lift as I turn away from her. I glance towards the door, wondering if I would be able to get out before anyone had time to stop me.

  As I glance back at Nikki and Adele an attractive man approaches and puts his hand on Adele’s lower back. He leans over to give her a kiss before his eyes meet mine.

  “You must be my new waitress?” he asks and before I can respond, Adele does. He holds his arm out leading me to his office and my feet feel heavier as I make my way up the stairs.

  I walk into the office and he stop within a few inches from me as he closes the door.

  “Your Hannah?” I nod, and he sighs and looks me over. I suddenly feel paranoid as he almost seems to be inspecting me. “I’m glad to finally meet you Hannah, I’m Alex Deluca and I have been looking for you.” He leans as he whispers into my ear.

  Alex grabs my arm and pushes me onto the couch. He grabs a chair and moves it so that it’s within inches of me. He leans over with his elbows on his knees and just stares at me. I don’t know if I am going to pass out or throw up. They finally caught me, and I won’t be leaving this office. I only wonder if Nikki was part of this whole set up.

  “Does Nikki know about this?” I whisper

  “Do you think you’re in the position to be asking questions?” he asks, and I take a deep breath realizing this guy is nothing like Thomas.

  “You have really complicated things for us Hannah. Why the hell do you even walk the streets that late at night? You should have never been near a fucking alley while Thomas was taking care of business. You are a beautiful girl; you should have been warming someone’s bed”

  “I already promised Thomas…”

  “Your promises don’t mean shit do they Hannah? You went to the cops, you talked to that prick Howard and now I have to deal with you.” Alex barked

  “What are you going to do to me?” I whisper

  “What do you think?” his voice is now as cold as his eyes

  Thomas

  “What the fuck!” I practically jump off the sofa when the splash of water hits my face. I wipe my face off as I glare at Oliver, wondering how in the hell he got into my house.

  “How did you get in here?” I murmur

  “The door wasn’t locked Thomas. What the hell is wrong with you?” Oliver grumbles

  I glance down shaking my head as I walk away from him. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I have barely shown up at the club lately, ok I haven’t shown up at all. I go out to buy enough booze for the day and come home. I don’t even think I have showered this week. I know I haven’t shaved and I barely notice myself when I walk past the mirror.

  I wince as my back crack with every step I make from sleeping on the sofa. Isn’t it pathetic that I can’t even force myself to sleep in my own bed? If I go in there I’ll think of her and that is the last thing I want to do. Oliver slowly approaches me like he is afraid I’ll strike at any minute and he is right to do so. I feel like a fucking caged animal.

  “You look awful.” Oliver utters

  “I don’t think you look that hot either. Why are you even here Oliver?”

  I stare at one of the half-drunk beers that is sitting on the table and I lean over to pick it up. There is nothing worse than a warm beer, but I am desperate enough to drink it.

  “You need to come with me. We have business that needs to be handled and you’re the only one that can do it.” Oliver states

  I shake my head and fall back on the couch as Oliver stares at me. I am in the mood for this shit. I haven’t killed anyone since Hannah’s brother. I glance at my television and notice there is a crack in the screen and I start to wonder how in the hell that happened. Oliver walks over and kicks my leg to get my attention

  “Get your ass up Thomas, you’re coming with me.”

  “You don’t know what a fucking head shake mean? I am not going anywhere, at least not today.” I contested

  “We have Hannah.” Oliver’s brows drew together in an agonized expression

  At that moment my world stops. I stood up, surprised, and more uncertain than ever. The shock of Oliver’s statement hit me full force.

  “Where is she?” I replied sharply as curses fell from Oliver’s mouth

  “She’s at the warehouse. I’ll take you to her.”

  I get dressed and rush out to Oliver’s car. We sit in silence as I try to contain my anger. My temper when crossed could be almost uncontrollable. The thought of Hannah being touched and at the warehouse has crossed the fucking line with me.

  I can feel Oliver’s eyes on me, but I ignore him.

  “Thomas”

  “Don’t talk.” I spat out the words contemptuously

  “I think we need to.” Oliver hesitated, measuring me for a moment

  “If she’s hurt, I’m done.”

  “You would give it all up for her?” Oliver asks

  I close my eyes laying my head on the headrest as a chill black silence surrounded us.

  The silence loomed between us like a heavy mist for the remainder of the car ride. When we finally arrive at the warehouse I push the car door open and jump out. The Deluca’s own several warehouses and they each have their own purpose. The one they brought Hannah too is for one special purpose, torture.

  There is one room in the back that doesn’t have windows. It doesn’t take much thinking to know that is the one she would have been kept in. I grab my keys to unlock the door and find Hannah huddled in a corner. Her eyes meet mine half in anticipation, half in dread. My Hannah doesn’t know if I am here to save her or kill her.

  I lift my hands as I slowly walk over to her. She choked back a cry, frightened, electrified as she looked behind me to Oliver. I kneeled beside her and placed my hands on her face. Her breath seemed to have solidified in her throat. She was afraid of me.

  “I’m not going to hurt you baby.” I stared into her eyes as they clouded with tears.

  I picked her up and carried her out as I walked past Oliver.

  I don’t stop walking until I get back to the car. I sit Hannah on the hood, so I can carefully look her over. I haven’t forgotten the threat that I gave Oliver. If she has one scratch on her, I will walk away from this life. I don’t know if I am being unreasonable, but there is a code that we have with each other. I told them I would take care of Hannah. Did I keep up my end? I didn’t but they still should have discussed it with me before they made any move against her.

  As I am inspecting Hannah a car pulls in behind Oliver’s. My force my eyes away from Hannah’s when I see Alex Deluca approaching. He glances between Oliver, Hannah and me and shakes his head.

  “I guess this is when the shit hits the fan.” He advises as he turns his focus to Hannah

  Hannah

  I have always been a fan of murder mysteries. There is always a bad guy that kills, and some unassuming victim witnesses the crime. That person is normally hunted down so that the killer gets away. That is almost the story of my life. I am the witness, I was hunted down, but the killer didn’t attempt to kill me. I fell in love with the killer and he asked me to marry him. I said no, the killer ran off and now I am sitting across from Alex Deluca. I suppose he would be considered the killer’s boss.

  I can see the anger and disgust in his face. He said he has been looking for me. I guess I did a good job at hiding, this time. I promised him that I wouldn’t say a word and he advised my word meant nothing to him. When I asked Alex Deluca what he would be doing to me, he replied “What do you think?”

  What I thought was that I was going to be killed and carried out like the trash. Alex’s eyes went from cold to what I think was warm? I thought I was misreading him, I had to be. Alex chuckled nastily as he stood and walked towards the door. He turned towards me and I noticed his eyes blazed amber fire.

>   “I need you dead Hannah.” He chuckled nastily

  He stood there, tall and angry as he continued to stare at me.

  “Unfortunately, I can’t touch you. Do you know why that is?” his voice inflamed and belligerent

  I sat in the chair, my thin fingers tensed in my lap as I shook my head

  Alex slowly walked towards me and kneeled. “I can’t touch you because of Thomas.”

  “Thomas hates me” I stirred uneasily in the chair

  “Hates you?” he muttered

  “Thomas has been useless since you came along. Now I have a hitman who is basically on sick leave for emotional distress because he fell for a witness.” He glowered at her and turned away

  “Now I only have two options Hannah. I can’t kill you because Thomas will most likely come after me. I am going to choose option two.” A sudden thin chill hung in the edge of his words

  “What is option two?”

  “I am going to force his hand.” His voice was cold and lashing

  Alex grabs my arm and leads me down a back stairwell at the club. He pushes me into the passenger seat of his car and I pray that he’s not about to kill me. The ride is silent as switches lane in and out of traffic. He finally pulls off the road and I notice we are at a warehouse.

  When Alex gets out of the car I consider jumping out and making a run for it. Without warning a hand closed over my right shoulder. I was too late as Alex was now assisting me out of the car. My heart starts to race when I am inside the warehouse. Alex practically pushes me into a small office, that has no view of the outside world, but does have a small bathroom.

  “You won’t suffer long.” His voice was cold and exact

  “What are you going to do to me?” I answered in a rush of words

  Alex tilted his head and sighed.

  “You’ll stay here until we find Thomas. We’ll leave it up to him what happens to you.” He gritted his teeth

  “What do you mean find Thomas?” I ask

  Alex walks away without answering and slams the door behind him

  I run towards the door and as expected, it’s locked. I am locked in this damn room and I don’t know how much longer I’ll be in here. That same night Alex comes back with steak dinner from Deluca’s.

  Alex has come in several times with breakfast, lunch and dinner. He never talks to me, he only looks at me with disgust. I just hope he isn’t poisoning me.

  “How long have I been here?” I whisper

  “It’s been a week Hannah.” He sounded curt, abstracted

  “Where Is Thomas? You mentioned you had to find him…”

  Alex narrows his eyes at me and my heart starts to pound worried that I have pissed him off.

  Thomas

  Within seconds I have Alex against the building and Oliver is pulling me off.

  “I told you, I would deal with her.” I spit as Alex wipes the blood from his split lip.

  “That’s the problem Thomas! You didn’t deal with her. You started acting like a little pussy, not the Thomas who takes care of shit.” Alex reminds me as he looks between me and Hannah

  I pull out my gun and point it towards Alex as his shakes his head. I slowly back away from him and towards Hannah as I pull her closer to me.

  “Did he hurt you?” my eyes met hers disparagingly

  I watch as Alex give her a brutal and unfriendly glare

  “No” she reflected with some bitterness

  My eyes close in relief as I lower my gun and nod at Alex. I walk over and pull him into a hug. It’s all good, were ok. He didn’t hurt Hannah and we can all go on with life. At least that is what I thought when I hear Hannah gasp. When I turn around Oliver has one arm around her neck and the other is holding a gun pointed to her head. His jaw clenched, his eyes slightly narrowed.

  “What the fuck are you doing Oliver?” My eyes probed to Hannah’s very soul

  “It’s decision time Thomas. This shit ends now, one way or the other. Either you do it, or I’ll have too.” Oliver pulls Hannah against his body as I watch the tears fall down her face.

  “Can I have a few minutes alone with her?” I ask as Hannah’s eyes shifted from one person to the other

  Oliver glances past me and looks at Alex. He nods and walks with Hannah towards me. I grab her by the arm and walk back into the warehouse

  Hannah drew back into the room and leaned against the wall. She leaned back and closed her eyes. I stood over her, with my hands on my hips. I don’t know how we ended up this position? Hannah was the inconvenient witness that I wanted to protect. I never should have allowed myself to fall in love with her. After everything I have done to protect her, we have come full circle. Alex and Oliver are waiting outside for me to kill the only woman I have ever loved.

  “Just do it Thomas. Please get it over with.” She hugged her knees to her

  I moved closer until I left her no room at all as I sat in front of her

  “I should have done this a long time ago.” My thigh barely touched hers

  “Yes... you should have.” She swallowed hard and squared her shoulders

  “The minute I laid my eyes on you in the alley, I knew you would be trouble. Every second I spent with you it got worse.” I gritted my teeth

  “What are you talking about Thomas?” she stared at me in astonishment

  “The minute our eyes met, I started to fall in love with you. I tried to fight it, I knew it wouldn’t work. You are too good for me, but I couldn’t walk away. I knew I had to protect you… no matter what it costs. I’m going to go out shooting Hannah. I’ll kill them both, but you must be prepared to run. Just promise me you won’t look back.”

  Hannah’s eyes widened as she looked at me stunned and sickened, she repeated what I just told her.

  “You’re going to kill them, and you want me to run and not look back?” she whispered, and I nod as I pull away from her to stand.

  “Why? There are two of them, you won’t walk away!”

  My expression was grim as I watched her

  “Just do what I have asked you to do Hannah.”

  “I can’t” she replied in a low, tormented voice

  “Damnit Hannah. We don’t have time to argue about this shit! All hell is about to break lose. When it does you need to be prepared to run out of here. You will keep running and go to my house.” I pull out my house key and hand it to her. “I keep a bag of money in my bedroom closet. It will be enough to give you a start, but make sure your start is out of Chicago.”

  “Why are you doing this Thomas?” her eyes were bordered with tears

  My fingers trailed down her temple as I stared into her eyes

  “I am doing this because I love you Hannah.”

  Hannah

  He loves me. He said that he loves me, for the first time. My prince charming is standing in front of me, while the mob is waiting for him to kill me. I have found my Prince Charming and he’s a fucking hitman. My heart races as I stare into his beautiful chocolate eyes and I feel stuck in time.

  I think about all the time I have spent with Thomas and I wouldn’t change a thing. I was meant to be in that alley that night. Our eyes were meant to meet that fateful night. Thomas may have started out on the quest to kill me, but he has protected me from the moment we met. He is a hitman, but he’s my hitman. He would never hurt me. Thomas is willing to end his life to protect mine. He loves me.

  “Hannah!” he quirked his eyebrows questioningly

  “What?” I managed to reply through stiff lips

  “Did you not hear anything that I just said? I am going out…”

  “No!” I stop Thomas before he can say any more.

  “What are you saying?” his mouth twisted wryly

  “You’re in love with me.” I slowly approached him. “I am in love with you too Thomas. I think I have another way out of this.”

  Thomas glanced sideways at me in surprise

  “What exactly would that be?” he measured me with a cool appraising l
ook

  “You said that if we got married, they wouldn’t touch me.” I looked at him quickly, hopefully

  “Hannah… we have gone through this shit once. I can’t do It again.” He said in a grudging voice

  “I don’t expect you too.” I watch Thomas’ eyes darken when I fall to one knee.

  “What the fuck are you doing Hannah?”

  “I love you Thomas and the fact that your willing to risk your life for me proves something to me. You’re the Prince Charming that I have been dreaming about since I was a little girl. You may not be innocent and work a desk job, but you’re the man that I need and the one that I want. I want us. Will you please marry me?” I flushed, but remained silent while I waited for his answer

  Thomas slowly dropped down beside me, facing me. One corner of his mouth was pulled into a slight smile. Thomas reached over grabbing one on of my hands and kisses it.

  “We are really going to have to work on your timing Sweetheart.”

  I bit my lip to stifle the grin as I stare into his eyes

  “That’s not an answer.”

  Thomas looked at me as if he were photographing me with his eyes. His gaze dropped from my eyes to my shoulders to my breast. There was a tingling in the pit of my stomach as Thomas pulled me closer to him. The smoldering flame I saw in his eyes startled me. Reclaiming my lips, he crushed me to him. His kiss was urgent and exploratory. I pull away from him as I place my hands on his face.

  “Was that my answer?”

  “I. will. Marry. You.” Between each word, he planted kisses between her neck and face. My lips found their way instinctively to his as someone starts to pound on the door.

  “What the hell is going on in there?” Alex yells as Thomas pulls away from me and stands to go answer the door.