Blood Feud Read online

  Blood Feud

  Changed

  Book Five

  Heather MacKinnon

  Blood Feud

  Copyright Ⓒ 2020 by Heather MacKinnon

  Book cover: Fiverr.com/GermanCreative

  Editor: Karen Sanders Editing

  Proofreader: Dark Raven Edits

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, actual events, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All Rights are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  More from Heather MacKinnon

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Ashton

  “What the hell did I get myself into?” I grumbled under my breath as I paced my boss’s marble foyer. Alexander left with Charlotte over an hour ago and asked me to wait for his friend to arrive.

  The friend who was supposed to dispose of a body for him.

  I glanced at the bathroom door, knowing there was a dead guy behind it. With a shake of my head, I turned to pace in the other direction.

  It wasn’t that I was particularly averse to dead people. I’d seen enough of that in the SEALs, but I wasn’t employed by the government anymore, and this wasn’t a deployment. This was a dead body smack dab in the middle of New York City, and I could very likely wind up charged with this murder if I wasn’t careful.

  I glanced at my watch for the fifth time in the past ten minutes, noting that this Mildred person was now officially late. With a snort, I wondered if her powered scooter broke down on her way up here.

  I made another lap around the foyer and came face-to-face with a large gilded mirror on one wall. My eyes were swollen and bruised, but my nose was the real problem. I reached up to touch it, hoping I could pop the bone back into place and go on with my day. But that wish quickly faded as I felt around and realized it wasn’t a clean break. And that I’d have to probably get x-rays tomorrow.

  “Hausle’s getting that fucking bill,” I mumbled.

  A knock on the door drew me out of my thoughts, and I hurried to open it. When I did, a red-headed woman with the greenest eyes I’d ever seen was standing there. I took a quick moment to check out the rest of her and wasn’t disappointed at all.

  But what the hell is she doing here?

  I leaned against the door and gave her a grin. “Can I help you?”

  Please say yes.

  Please say yes.

  Please say yes.

  “Alexander Hausle called me.”

  I jerked back before looking her up and down again. “Mildred?”

  She shrugged one delicate shoulder. “I prefer Millie.”

  Holy.

  Fucking.

  Shit.

  The whole time, I’d been expecting some wrinkly old woman to come and take the body off my hands, but instead, this was what I got.

  A fucking bombshell with curves for days and eyes I could stare at for hours, just counting all the shades of green in them.

  What the fuck?

  “He called you to deal with this… problem?” I finished lamely.

  “Yes. And? Who are you?”

  “Ashton McGraw. Hausle hired me to guard his girlfriend.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re not glamoured, are you?”

  I frowned. “That hypno bullshit? Fuck no.”

  She tilted her head to the side as she continued to study me. “Why is that?”

  It was my turn to shrug. “I guess he likes me.”

  Or more accurately, I was more useful to him like this. That’s what Alexander said, at least.

  She pursed her lips but didn’t say anything else. We stood there for a moment, our eyes locked and my dick already hardening in my pants. Finally, she cleared her throat.

  “Can I come in?”

  I jumped to attention and pushed the door open wider. “Of course. My apologies. Come on.”

  I stood still as she passed me, willing my hands to not reach for the curves I was already fantasizing about. She smelled sweet and expensive as she walked by, and it was not helping the situation in my pants one bit.

  She stopped in the middle of the foyer and turned to me. Next to her was a suitcase I honestly hadn’t even noticed. I was too busy looking at her to care about what she was carrying.

  “Well,” she said. I held my breath as I waited to hear what she’d say next. When I didn’t say anything, she huffed out an irritated breath and waved to the apartment around her. “Where is it?”

  I jumped again and hustled over to the bathroom door. I swear, I hadn’t moved so fast since boot camp.

  “It’s in here.”

  She followed behind me, close enough that I could smell her again. Millie ducked into the bathroom without hesitation. She stopped in the middle of the room and put her hands on her hips.

  “He’s going to have to go in pieces,” she muttered. When she turned to me, I looked away quickly so she wouldn’t know I’d been staring that whole time. “Was he drained?”

  I frowned. “Of what?”

  Her lips twitched with a grin as she shook her head. “How did you get yourself into this situation?”

  I leaned against the doorframe and gave her a smile of my own. “I’ve been asking myself the same question all day.”

  Her eyes shined bright with humor before she turned back to the body. She crouched beside him and turned his head to the side before nodding. “Yeah, he was drained.” Without warning, she grabbed both his legs and started pulling.

  I jumped into action again.

  “Hey, let me help you with that.”

  She laughed. Actually fucking laughed at me. “Don’t worry about it. Just get out of my way.”

  I stood there stupidly for a moment before hurrying out the bathroom. I watched her drag the full-grown man out into the foyer as easily as if she were pulling a little red wagon. In seconds, he was sprawled across the marble floor in between us.

  “You might want to leave for this part,” she said.

  I looked up at her before checking my watch. Truthfully, I’d had every intention of leaving the moment she got there, but now, I didn’t want to go.

  I could lie and say it was chivalry.

  I could lie and say it was me making sure the job was done right.

  But they’d both be just that. Lies.

  The truth was, Millie was hot as fuck and I wasn’t going anywhere.

  “It’s cool. I can stay and help.”

  She laughed again. “I don’t need your help.” Millie walked over to the suitcase she’d abandoned and opened it up. Inside was a large plastic tarp, and I watched in fascination as she spread it out on the floor.

  She kicked the luggage aside before walking over to the body. I lunged toward her. “You need me to move him for you?”

  Millie turned to me with a grin as she looked me up and down. Slowly. So fucking slowly I was sure she’d notice the bulge in my pants I couldn’t seem to make go away. “No, thanks,” she finally said, the grin turning into a smirk. “Wouldn
’t want you to wrinkle your shirt.”

  I glanced down at my blue striped Oxford and slacks. It was my typical work clothes, but suddenly I felt overdressed. I turned to look at her and noticed for the first time she was wearing baggy coveralls and work boots.

  How had I noticed her body, but not what was on it? It had been drilled into me to stay observant in the SEALs and as a bodyguard. I prided myself on the fact that nothing got past me. But this sure as hell did.

  I heard a loud cracking sound, and my eyes darted back to Millie. Somehow, she’d already moved the body easily twice her size onto the plastic sheet. Now, she was standing above it with an arm in her hands.

  A detached arm.

  Tendons and muscle dangled from the end of it as she tossed the appendage onto the tarp.

  “What the fuck?” I couldn’t help but say.

  Millie looked up and shrugged. “Told you you’d want to leave before this part.” She reached over and grabbed his other arm before yanking it from his body.

  I stood there, eyes wide as I watched a woman who couldn’t have been more than five foot four inches and a hundred and twenty pounds tear a full-grown man apart.

  But that was exactly what she was doing.

  How was she so strong?

  “It’s a good thing he was drained already,” she commented as she tossed aside the second arm. “Things get really messy when they’ve still got blood in them.”

  I’d seen a lot of fucked up things in my life, but this definitely cracked the top three.

  “Can I… um… help you?”

  She laughed as she pulled off his head. “No. I’m good. You can talk to me though. Tell me how this guy pissed off Hausle.”

  I gaped for a moment before I got my tongue to work again. “Um, this is his girlfriend’s dad.”

  Millie whistled. “Damn. Guess the meeting with pops didn’t go well.”

  I chuckled, which was strange, because I was watching a woman tear a body apart limb by limb. But still, it was kinda funny.

  “Actually, this fucker came here to rob him, and in the process, he almost killed his daughter.”

  Millie froze with one of the man’s legs in the air. Her face turned hard. “He hit her?”

  I nodded slowly. “Yeah. He really fucked her up. She was unconscious when I got up here.” And she was also being fed blood from her boyfriend, but I didn’t mention that part. I didn’t want this woman to think I was as crazy as I felt just thinking that sentence.

  Millie’s eyes were like glass marbles, hard and cold as she looked back at the body. With a loud wrenching sound, she twisted his leg off his body and tossed it aside. “Wish he was still alive to feel that,” she muttered.

  “Honestly? Same. I’ve heard a lot about this asshole and the shit he used to do to his daughter. I think his death was probably too quick.”

  Millie nodded slowly as she stared at the body. “If it makes you feel better, it seems like most of his bones were broken already. Probably happened before he died.”

  I nodded once. “It does make me feel a little better.”

  She glanced up at me, an appreciative light in her eyes.

  “What about you?” I asked. “Do you… tear a lot of bodies apart?” I finished stupidly.

  Millie laughed again, the sound tinkling and filled with joy and so fucking sweet. “No. Definitely not.” She pulled at her baggy clothes. “I had to borrow these from someone.”

  “They look good on you,” I said immediately. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I winced. I sounded like a fucking moron.

  Her eyes twinkled. “Thanks.”

  Millie turned back to the body and grabbed his second leg as I tried to think of something smart to say. Which would be a first for this conversation.

  “So, if this isn’t typical for you, why did Hausle call you?”

  She tore the last limb from his body before turning to me. “I owed him a favor.”

  “What kind of favor?”

  Millie tossed the leg aside before looking at me again. “Well, he disposed of a body for me once, so I guess this is only fair.”

  I looked at her again. Closer this time. Making sure to take in every little detail. Funny enough, knowing she’d killed someone before made no difference in how bad I wanted her. None.

  “So, do you kill people often?”

  Her head whipped in my direction before she threw it back and laughed hard. I watched her delicate throat bob with her chuckles and my hands twitched with the need to touch her. To find out if her skin was as soft as it looked.

  “No. I don’t kill people often. Or ever. That was a one-time thing. I was young and angry, and honestly, the asshole deserved it.”

  I nodded slowly. “Yeah, I know a few people I wouldn’t miss.”

  Her eyes darted to me again. “No, I mean like he really, really deserved it.”

  I frowned. “Was he a murderer?”

  She tilted her head to the side. “Technically, yeah.”

  “Was he going to hurt someone else?”

  She nodded. “I have no doubt he would.”

  I shrugged. “Then I guess you did the world a favor.”

  Millie looked at me. No, watched me for a long time before speaking again. “Things always that black and white for you?”

  I shrugged again. “Sometimes, yeah.”

  “So, you don’t think killing is wrong.”

  She said it like a statement and not a question, but I answered anyway.

  “I think some people need killing, yeah.” I looked down on the bastard that abused his daughter for years, and it only reinforced my opinion. “Some people are just bad. Some people don’t have any redeemable qualities.”

  She nodded slowly. “How can you tell the difference? Between the ones that are bad and the ones who just do bad things?”

  I thought about that for a minute, knowing that, for whatever reason, my next words would hold some weight. “This may sound a little Christ-like, but I feel like the really bad ones aren’t ever sorry. The ones who just do bad things are usually remorseful, at least. The others couldn’t care less.”

  She nodded again, her lips pursed and her eyes far away. “I think you’re probably right.” Millie looked back at the dead guy. “You think this guy was sorry?”

  I shook my head immediately. “From everything I’ve heard, no. Not at all. Hell, he stabbed his daughter in the gut when she tried to run away from him, and the bastard still followed her here. Nah. This one needed to go.”

  She turned to me, her eyes like emeralds. “That’s awful.”

  It struck me as odd that a woman who’d never met this person or the daughter he abused would even care, but it was clear she did. A lot.

  “What about you?” I asked. “Was he sorry? The guy you killed?”

  Her expression turned hard again. “No. He wasn’t.” She turned back to the body and started gathering the limbs in her arms. “In fact, he told me he’d do it again. That was when I knew he had to go.”

  I hurried to her side and grabbed the guy’s torso, thankful she’d left the heaviest piece for me. I hefted what was left of Kevin Wakefield into my arms and followed her over to the suitcase.

  “I think you did the right thing,” I finally said.

  She was crouched down, stuffing body parts in the luggage when she looked up, her bright eyes wide open. Millie stared at me for so long I forgot what we were doing as I got lost in her gorgeous gaze. Finally, she nodded and turned away. “I hope you’re right,” she said softly.

  I watched her busy herself for a long time, the desire in me to keep pushing so strong. I wanted to know more. Hell, I wanted to know everything.

  Who was this asshole that she killed? Who did he kill before she took him out? And why was she still harboring guilt over something that seemed like it happened a long time ago?

  I kneeled next to her and stuffed the dead man’s torso in the suitcase. It was a tight fit, but we finally got all his pieces inside and t
he zipper closed before turning to each other.

  I’m not sure what came over me or what I was thinking, but before I could talk myself out of it, I reached for her hand.

  It was softer than I’d imagined.

  “I know you did the right thing,” I said, putting as much assurance into my words as I could.

  Millie looked up at me and smiled, and I swear, I’d never seen anything as stunning as her in that moment.

  But I only got to appreciate the sight for that moment because there was a knock on the door. Our expressions turned cautious as we stared at each other.

  “Expecting someone?” she whispered.

  I shook my head. “No. I’m not.” I climbed to my feet and walked over to the door, taking a moment to peer through the peephole first. My brows furrowed as I stared into an empty hallway. “What the hell?” I murmured as I wrapped my hand around my gun and cracked the door open.

  The heavy wood smashed into my face, throwing me backward. The pistol flew from my hand as blood poured down my face for the second time that day, and I knew my night was nowhere near over.

  Chapter 2

  Millie

  “Son of a bitch,” Ashton yelled as his fists started flying.

  I stood up quickly, old fear flitting through my system.

  Three men came streaming through the doorway. Two circled Ashton, while one came right toward me.

  “Hey there, beautiful. What a surprise you are,” he said with a smile, his teeth yellow and stained from too much coffee or cigarettes, or both.

  I felt those old habits slithering their way through my body. My shoulders hunched and my eyes dropped from his. I tried to make myself seem small and unassuming. I completely shut down for a brief moment until I remembered.

  I was a badass vampire now.

  I straightened back up. The moment passed, and I don’t even think the jerk noticed.

  “We’re just here to make a little money, but you’re like a bonus,” he continued as he stalked toward me.

  I let my arms hang loose at my sides, knowing I didn’t even need them to incapacitate him. It would take no effort at all for me to overpower this asshole, and that made me feel strong. And capable. And unafraid.