Exit Wounds (Acid Vanilla Series Book 5) by Matthew Hattersley

Author:Matthew Hattersley [Hattersley, Matthew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boom Boom Press
Published: 2021-07-11T16:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Four

The royal bath was deep, and the water hot, and it felt good to be clean after the last few days. Even Kendis – initially reticent to get naked – now looked to be enjoying herself. Her eyes were closed and the frown that had been there since they were snatched from their beds, and perpetuated by Heydari’s plans for this evening, had now faded. It was a blessed moment of calm amidst the confusion and chaos. In Acid’s life, she took those where she found them.

“Feeling any better?” she asked her, once they were both submerged with only their heads visible.

Kendis opened her eyes and immediately her expression fell, like she’d been caught out. “Not really,” she rasped. “I mean, it feels good to get clean, but… I don’t know. This is weird.”

“Fair enough.”

“You ready to tell me what the fuck’s going on yet?”

“Jesus, Kendis. I’ve told you.” She sighed, but she knew the kid wasn’t going to leave it. “I used to work for Caesar. I met him when I was young, he took me under his wing, gave me a good life. An amazing life.”

“So you are close?”

She didn’t respond straight away, just kept staring at the tiles opposite. Then she said softly, “I know it sounds cheesy, but for a long time he was all I had.”

Jesus.

She heard herself and snapped out of it. “But I still hate him. He might have given me a lot, but he took a lot as well. Too much.”

“Oh shit, you mean—”

“No.” She cut her off. “God, he’s gay. And he wouldn’t anyway. Ever. But still, that doesn’t excuse what he did.”

Kendis leaned forward, eyes darting around at the two women, Heydari’s ‘sisters’, who were sitting on the side of the bath administering soap and towels. She lowered her voice. “And what about Cyrus? Are you here to kill him?”

Acid followed her gaze, alert to any tells on the women’s faces, but they remained placid and neutral. Either they were the best poker players in the world, or they didn’t speak English.

“If I have to,” she replied. “It wasn’t part of my original plan. But plans change.”

She glanced over her shoulder to see one of the female attendants holding a jug of water up for her. Acid nodded and lay back, letting her pour it over her hair and face. Once done, she brushed the water from her eyes to see the act had elicited a raised eyebrow from Kendis.

Screw it, she didn’t have to be self-destructive all the time, did she?

The way she saw it – if she was going to die, she’d prefer to do it with clean hair. Plus, she had to make it work with Heydari, and that meant putting on a good show. She’d seen how her feminine wiles had blindsided the egotistical madman just now and – aside from the fact she’d grown tedious of this hackneyed dance many years ago – it seemed being a relatively attractive woman was going to stand her in good stead.

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