The Assassin's Blood: The Confradia Assassins 3

Chapter 20: Into the fire

Santana

I can't believe that this is happening to us. What was Connor thinking? Perroni could have killed us. Everything seems so surreal at that moment. Especially the part where Declan came in and saved us. It was like something out of a movie. Declan's face is expressionless as he steers the vehicle through the darkened streets. Observing him from beneath the fringe of my lashes, I think through what has just occurred. I still don't understand how our life has gotten so out of control. And now that Declan is involved, I feel worse. Connor was right, Declan is a killing machine. I had never seen someone fight like that before.

My heart plummets at the thought of what would have happened if Declan hadn't shown up. I never expected Perroni's obsession to reach such a dangerous level. I should have listened to Connor when he said not to trust the guy. Now we're homeless and penniless, and it scares me. I know Declan means well, but I can't depend on him. I've learned over the years that it's me and Connor against the world. Connor needs me, and I need to make sure I keep him safe. He's all I have, and I will do anything to protect him.

The car comes to a stop rousing me from my musings. Panicked, I look around and see that we're in an industrial area surrounded by large factories. Everything seems quiet at this time of night. After a moment, the building's large cargo doors open. Declan drives through the center of the garage and parks near a row of beautiful cars. Two men appear a few moments later and wait near the entrance. I can't really see their faces, but neither Declan nor Connor seem nervous. Shutting off the ignition, Declan turns to me, then turns to Connor. "Come on." He mutters before he steps out of the car. I look at Connor, who nods his head and hesitantly slides out of the car too. Heart pounding, I follow warily behind them.

Declan's jaw is tight, and his arms are rigid as he makes his way to the front of the garage. Connor must see my panic because he stops beside me and places an arm around me. "It's okay, San. They're cool." I nod my head and tighten my hand around his. As soon as we get closer, I notice that one of the men looks familiar. Then I remember, he's the other guy that came into the diner with Declan. "Hey, welcome to our shop." He mutters with a cheerful smile. Connor steps forward and shakes his hand. "Hey man, thanks for the help." The guy shakes his head and gazes at me from beneath the fringe of his lashes. "Yeah, no problem. Hey Santana, I don't know if you remember me. I'm Hunter." Connor gives me a curious look, which I ignore. I never told Connor that I had met Declan before. I guess the cat's out of the bag now. Taking Hunter's hand, I give him a timid smile and mutter. "Hi, Hunter. Yeah, I remember you."

He doesn't release my hand. Instead, he takes it and leads me to the other man. "Santana, this is Priest. He's the owner of the shop." I'm about to say something, but I can't find my voice. My tongue nearly falls out of my mouth when I get a good look at him. There are no words to describe the man in front of me. He's gorgeous. No, he's perfect. I have never seen such a good-looking man in my life. He's almost ethereal. It's unreal. I have to blink several times to make sure he's real and that I'm not dreaming of him. He's tall. Not as tall as Declan, but close. His hair is a golden brown, and his eyebrows are perfectly arched. He has dark lashes, clear silver eyes, tanned skin, and a razor-sharp jaw.

"It's nice to meet you, Santana." He mumbles in a deep, husky male voice. Mouth gaping open, I take his hand and manage to nod my head. Heat spreads through my cheeks when someone clears their throat. I've been caught staring. How humiliating is that? Hunter places his palm against his mouth to cover his chuckles, but it's no use. After a second, Hunter lowers his hand and says. "Don't worry, all women react that way to Priest. We're used to it."

Hunter gives me a salacious wink, and to his friend's chagrin slaps him on the back. "The man is too pretty for his own good." Priest rolls his eyes and gives Hunter a murderous glare. "Alright, enough of that, Hunter. How about you let the grown-ups talk." I gaze at Declan, who is standing there with a grim look, then look back at the man, Priest. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to stare. It's nice to meet you." I mumble clumsily.

His smile is politely and waves a hand to a flight of stairs behind him. "Why don't we go into my office and talk?" Connor and I nod and follow the men as they make their way to the office. Declan remains quiet, which makes me feel like an idiot. He must think I'm the biggest spazoid. Connor must see my discomfort because he takes my hand and gives it a supportive squeeze. Both Declan and Priest walk further ahead and begin to murmur to each other. I try to concentrate on the conversation, but my thoughts are centered on Declan.

Even though Priest is gorgeous, I didn't feel a thing when he held my hand. However, a simple look from Declan can make me melt. It angers me that I can't feel the same emotion for another man. I just hope that these emotions fade over time.

Priest's office is quite impressive. The entrance doors are made up of windows, and one of the walls is painted red with several shiny metallic car rims decorating the walls. There are pictures of race cars mounted on one of the walls and a desk taking up residence in the middle of the room. The desk is black with rims in place of legs. Priest sits behind his desk, while Hunter leans in the corner with his arms crossed in front of his chest and waits for us to get comfortable.

Moving forward, Declan pulls out a chair and gestures for me to take a seat. I feel like a little girl being called into the principal's office. In this case, the principal is a really hot male model.

"So, what happened tonight that made you bring your guests here?" Priest asks with a congenial smile. Declan places something on top of Priest's desk and straightens his spine. "Santana and Connor are here because they were attacked by her former boss at their home earlier. The guy's name is Stefano Perroni. Perroni is obsessed with Santana. He bought her diner and threatened to fire her if she didn't sleep with him. When she turned him down, he fired her and refused to pay her." He points a thumb in Connor's direction. "Connor here took it upon himself to recover her money by hacking into the man's computer. Perroni found out and retaliated. I barely got there in time before his men irreparably hurt them. That drive has information that Connor dug up on the Perroni. I'd like to look through the information and see if we can help Connor and Santana."

Priest gestures to Hunter, who leans over and takes the drive. "Alright, we can check it out. In the meantime, you're both welcome to stay here. I have several apartments upstairs. Hunter will show you where they are." Shaking my head, I rise from the chair and face them. "As much as we appreciate all of your help, it's best if we don't involve you in this any further. I know that this is not what you want, Declan, and I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. If you can show us the exit, Connor and I will be leaving now." Declan shakes his head. "No, Santana, you and Connor will not be going anywhere. I may be a selfish prick, but I would never let you and my brother be hurt. Let us take care of this, and then we can talk about your next step." Priest nods in agreement. "It's fine, Santana. Even though I appreciate the sentiment, we can take care of ourselves. Besides Declan, Hunter and I couldn't live with ourselves if something happened to both of you. Trust me, we can take care of this."

Declan stops next to me and firmly states. "Please, Santana. I promise you, all of us are trained for this. Let us help you." Hunter interjects with a humorous reply. "Plus, Connor is really good with computers. We can use his help in sorting this stuff out." Connor nods his head enthusiastically. "Yeah, I definitely want to go through that information. I hate that asshole, and I want him to pay for what he did to us."

I want to argue, but I realize that it would only embarrass Connor. Instead, I release a deep sigh and respond, "What can I do?" All of the men gaze at me, perplexed. Declan is the one that answers. "There's nothing you can do right now, San. How about I show you the guest rooms. It's late, and I'm sure you're both exhausted."

Priest rises from his chair and gives me a charming smile. "Actually, Hunter will show you where to go. I need to talk to Declan for a few minutes. By the way, if you're hungry, the kitchen is stocked with whatever you need." Declan nods his head and gives Hunter a knowing look. "Take care of them." Hunter nods and gestures for us to follow. "I'll show you two around." Without another word, Connor takes my hand and follows Hunter. Before I step out the door, I glance at Declan, who gives me a reassuring look. "It's okay, Santana; you're both safe here." Somehow, that's all I need to put me at ease.

I'm amazed by how well the shop is set up. Connor whistles as we pass by a sleek black car. "You see that car San? That's a Tesla. It's one of the first self-sustaining cars in the world. It runs on electricity. It's almost as awesome as Declan's car."

Hunter turns and smirks at our conversation. "Yeah, Declan's car is pretty awesome. The Tesla belongs to Priest."

"It's an awesome car," Connor mutters excitedly. I shrug my shoulders with indifference. "Yeah, it's really nice." Hunter shrugs. "Yeah, it's cool that he can drive it now that he's not blind anymore." Connor and I both give him an incredulous frown. "What?" We mutter in unison. Hunter sighs. "Priest lost his sight after an accident a few years ago. Fortunately, he had corrective surgery, and now he can see. He has really cool eyes." I think through his words for a moment. I can't imagine how difficult it would have been for him to lose his sight and not be able to enjoy the things he took for granted for so many years. "I'm glad he gets to drive his car now. It must have been hard to own something so beautiful and never be able to use it."

Hunter nods. "Yeah, exactly. People always assumed that because he was blind, he had somehow lost every other sense or feeling. But let me tell you, never underestimate Priest. He's a badass. Being blind only made him more resilient. And now that he can see, he's even more capable." He mutters as he opens the door to a room and reveals a large space.

The room has wall to wall windows, which makes sense because we're in some kind of factory. The center of the room consists of a gray sectional with a matching coffee table, and there's a large flat-screen television mounted on an entertainment center. Similar to Priest's office, there are pictures of rare racing vehicles with their designated information written in a caption. To the right of the room, there's a small kitchen against one of the walls, a red refrigerator, microwave, and a stove. The cabinets are metal, with black marble countertops.

"The rooms are this way," Hunter says, pointing to a set of doors. Hunter opens the door and gestures for us to walk inside. "The room is not too big, but it's comfy. The room Connor is staying in is similar to this one. Each bathroom is stocked with toiletries." I step behind him and gaze into the room. There's a wooden loft bed in the middle of the room covered with a white coverlet. Over the headboard, there's a painting of the city. Other than that, there is no other furniture in the room.

I step back startled when Hunter turns around and bumps into me. I know he didn't mean to, but after the night I've had, I'm a little jumpy. Connor stiffens in alarm and places his hands on my shoulders with a calming gesture. Seeing my fear, Hunter lifts his hands up and gives me a helpless look. "Sorry, Santana, I didn't mean to startle you." I shake my head. "No. It's okay. I guess I'm just a little jumpy after what happened tonight. I'm sorry." I whisper.

Grateful, I wave away his comment. "It's okay. We appreciate anything." He gives us an unsure look then says, "There's a first-aid kit in the bathroom. I can check you two over if you want me too." I shake my head. "No, it's alright. Perroni just slapped me once. He didn't hit me hard enough to bruise me. He must have scratched me with his ring. I'll take care of Connor. Thanks!" He looks over a stoic Connor before he turns to the door, "Okay then, good night. If you need anything, we'll be downstairs."

Once Hunter is gone, Connor lets out a tired breath and places his hands on my shoulders. "Are you sure you're okay?" I exhale a deep breath before I reply. "Yeah. I'm fine, but you look pretty banged up. Let me clean those cuts." He stands there, unsure for a moment, then nods his head. "Okay. Let's go to the bathroom. I don't think anything is broken, but my ribs feel sore." His words strike me like a bullet. Feeling emotion overwhelm me, I wrap my arms around him and hug him tight. Tears well up and glide down my face. Connor wraps his arms around my waist and holds me just as tight. "It's okay, San. I'm okay. You know I would never let anyone hurt you. You're all I have." I swallow my tears, place a gentle kiss on his head, and dry my tears with my hands. "I know, Connor. I was so scared. You're all I have, too, and I don't ever want to lose you."

We stand there for a few moments consoling each other, then pull apart and clean his wounds. Thankfully they're not that serious. Once I'm done bandaging Connor up, I search through one of the bedroom closets and find clean clothing. Like Hunter said, its men's clothing, but at least they're clean. Connor is luckier than I am because he finds a pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt in his size. As for me, I took a shower and slipped on a large t-shirt. At first, I thought that I wouldn't be able to sleep, but my body must have felt different because as soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell into a heavy slumber.