Lettie

Chapter 2

Collette- age 22-5 years ago

The metallic taste of blood coated my entire mouth and down the back of my throat, probably from puking up blood. If I had to guess, it felt as though all my ribs were broken, and even though it hurt like hell to breathe, I still could, so that made me far less concerned of a punctured lung. I was unsure of how long I had been unconscious. I took a quick note of my surroundings and recognized that I was still in the warehouse that housed Mark and his company Kingston Security, which I had been an employee of until what I can only assume was a day or two ago. The smell of vomit, blood and pain was too fragrant in the air for it to have been much longer. I tried to start taking stock of the damage to my body, but it was still too painful to move, I let my mind wander to the reason I was on the floor, to the last happy memory I had and drifted back to that rainy day in the coffee shop.

"Jacks"

"Hello, Lettie, I've missed you." His smile and the way he smelled of mint and paperback books made me weak. I tried to smile but it didn't exactly reach my eyes, Jacks being Jacks picked up on it quickly.

"Let me guess, work? Can you tell me where you're going this time?" He said it with a hint of a smile, so I knew he wasn't mad.

Jacks thought I was a buyer at the warehouse, where we specialized in the procurement of special artifacts, mostly art, it required me to travel to parts of the world where I could be unreachable for a few weeks at a time. What he didn't know was that I was an employee of Kingston Security, and we didn't specialize in the procurement of art, we specialized in death. You wanted to find someone? We found them. You wanted an answer from them? We got it. You wanted them to disappear? Yeah, we did that too, with no hesitation. We were the best of the best, either handpicked and trained at an early age or recruited based on the special skill sets we possessed. Brutal, Loyal, Deadly. Death. Ghosts. A Ghost.

"Yeah, how'd you guess?" I whispered. Guilt gnawing at me that I couldn't be honest with him. This is something that I was good at, making myself appear non assuming, sneaking into places, getting grown men to let their guards down. At 5'4, honey brunette hair, green eyes a little bit too big for my heart shaped face and button nose, I looked more like a librarian meets a barbie doll instead of a woman who would gut you and watch you bleed out without giving you a second thought.

"You always look sad when you tell me you're about to leave for a work trip. How long this time do you think?"

I shrugged, "It could be a while this time, a month, maybe two." I'd never been good at articulating my feelings, mainly because I never had any good ones before Jackson, even though we'd only been seeing each other for about 6 months, my heart still seemed to come alive only for him.

"It's okay Lettie, I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself." He chuckled.

Yes, he could, he stood at just over 6' foot tall, Jet-black hair, hazelnut eyes that tended to turn to liquid gold when he was turned on, the veins on his forearms showcased how much time he spent in the gym. It took everything I had to not start drooling over him. He was only 24, two years older than I. He had his own company, a large tech company that specialized in building websites for clients. Not only was he good looking, but he was also smart, the total package.

"I'll miss you; you know." I kept my head down so he couldn't see the tears threatening to build in my eyes, I knew what was awaiting me, and there was always a chance once Mark knew my intention, I wouldn't make it out of the warehouse. I had to choose, if I stayed in my position, Jackson would become a target if my identity was ever found out, the people I wiped off the face of this planet had people who wanted vengeance. But doesn't everyone? I almost smirked, because some part of me wished they would try. Begged them to try. It always made me giddy in a sick way when my targets realized that they were caught, that standing between them and life, was me. And I never faltered. Until Jackson. He consumed too much of me. He was too much of a distraction, but I couldn't let him go. I had to get out, and there was only one way. Blood in, Blood out. So, bleed I did.