Page 38 of Saving Grace
“The job changes you,” Cassie said softly. “All of us had our first kill by sixteen. You’ve probably heard this before your amnesia, but you have to understand, Matt had been an assassin for eight years. Still, he’d been okay, but it wasn’t until we’d lost Kate that he began to change. He became volatile. At first, we attributed it to “the gloaming” stage when our kind lost our unusual abilities, and at first, it was. But losing his twin and not getting help for it had made him who he is now.”
“Him being a dick?”
Cassie winced, before she laughed. “That’s one way of putting it.”
“But Kate’s alive.”
“Yes, and I think I’m beginning to see Matt mellow a bit.”
“You call that mellowing?”
“You knew him before, only you don’t remember.”
“Soon you’ll tell me he’s really a nice guy underneath.”
“Yup.”
“You’re his sister. Of course, you’re biased.”
“Ask Millie. She’s fond of him.” Cassie’s eyes danced with laughter.
A chair pulled out beside us, and Roger Peña plopped down into it. “Good evening, ladies.”
I checked the time on my phone. Jeez, it was almost six.
“You’re later than your usual four o’clock,” Cassie remarked.
“Boss has been slacking on the job,” Roger grinned at me. “Someone has to toe the line. Axe is still working.”
“Sorry for causing trouble,” I murmured guiltily.
“Not your fault,” he said. He ordered a beer from our server before he continued. “The tension between you both had been brewing for months even before your amnesia. I’m certain it started even before that.”
“He hated me after that mission. You know that.”
“Misplaced hate. That’s why you understood him then.”
Not so much now, it seemed.
“You worked with deLamar,” I said. “You think I can trust him?”
“Trusting deLamar is done on a case-by-case basis,” Roger replied. “It depends what he wants from you.”
“But he rescued Matt.”
“Because he was afraid Matt would break and give away information about him.” Roger leveled me with a stare. “He didn’t know Matt enough then and neither did I. Foster would never break.”
“So, you’re saying you and deLamar rescued Matt for selfish reasons?”
“Self-preservation. Besides, I owe him now. He gave me a home after I’d lost my family, but it’s you I have to thank for giving me a chance to avenge my wife and son.”
Apparently, I had enlisted Roger Peña as an informant for the Blood Bull op after he’d approached the DEA to offer his help. His wife and son had been killed in one of the Carillo Cartel’s attack in an open market while targeting one of their rivals.
“Oh shit,” Cassie cursed, drawing my attention to the window where we had a clear view of Foster’s garage.
Across the street, Matt was helping Kyra into his truck. Kyra, the diner waitress, who went out of her way to tell me that Troy and I had a thing, that we had breakfast here one Sunday morning, and it was obvious we’d spent the night together. She suggested it might’ve been an entire weekend.
It didn’t make me feel any better because her testimony confirmed I was indeed a slut.