I still can’t see his face.
The flashlight lowers.
A girl stands next to him. Her light brown hair is braided down her back, she has green eyes, and is wearing a short black dress with boots and a long tan trench coat. “Sim.”
“That’s me.” I smile. “How are you, Del?”
I feel Junior and Ash tense and then start to yell all at once. I almost laugh. Of course, they know her because Maksim dated her or used her for information, and sometimes it wasn’t him. She tells me all the time she will never love me, and I don’t remember much except she likes to talk—a lot and it’s because of her that I was able to kill her dad.
See? Really good at trades.
Though she says I tend to treat her like shit sometimes, not like I can help it. I don’t love her.
“Jenna?” Serena repeats. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Del.” She winks. “Actually, but it’s been fun, trust me…”
“Not doing too bad.” Del looks at the guy next to her; I recognize him as her uncle. He’s bad news and would have killed his brother himself had I not beat him to it.
I nod to Del. “You eat today?”
She shrugs. “Hell, I ate fifteen times today, cover blown and all that.”
“Fifteen?” Serena repeats in confusion and what appears to be complete rage.
“She has a hearty appetite,” I explain.
Junior snorts out a laugh. “That’s worse than King. Maybe they’re a match made in heaven in this completely fucked up situation. What the hell, man? A little warning next time.”
I see her flinch. She doesn’t want this. She has no choice.
Peace has been made between the families.
But everyone deserves a choice.
“Fifteen…” I repeat, “Damn Fred,” I jerk my chin toward her uncle. “Did you starve her?”
“Probably should have.” His guard is down. “Come on in, King’s here, but he’s… well he ran into someone’s fist.”
“Or someone’s fist ran into him,” Ash grumbles.
We all enter.
Lights flicker on.
It’s in a shit ton of disarray, and as expected, exactly fifteen men are surrounding King as he sits tied to a chair a gag in his mouth. His green eyes flash toward mine in confusion as if to say, what the hell are you doing?
I wave.
Ash groans into his hands.
“So, what brings you here?” Fred asks while Del moves toward King. She’s carrying a knife behind her back.
Good girl.
“Oh, you know we were in the neighborhood, right Ash?”
“Joy driving,” he deadpans. “Super fun.”
He nudges Junior with a sideways kick, who glares and adds, “I like watching lights when I’m high.”
I try not to laugh and fail.
“That funny?” Fred asks with a scowl.
“He’s fucking hilarious.” I shrug. “Anyway, we should probably take King home now until the wedding.”
“Wedding?” Junior and Serena say in unison. I said it before; did they not understand my meaning?
“Ash should be the flower boy.” I wish I were kidding; I’m so serious because how funny would that be?
Another smile stretches across my face, and I shake my head. I’m getting really strange looks from my friends.
So what?
The pain in my head isn’t as bad anymore, but it’s still there, so is the threat of darkness and the need for blood.
“Anyway,” I clear my throat. “We should go.”
“You’re not going anywhere.” Fred pulls out his gun.
Fifteen other men do the same.
I sigh and hang my head. “I was afraid of that. Do you still want this alliance?”
“Yes.” Fred grins. “On our terms. And now we have the Capo’s son along with the rest of you, think of the millions we can get.”
“Right?” I nod my agreement. “The only problem is, well, Junior’s an idiot.” I shrug halfheartedly. “Sorry man, but he couldn’t tie his shoes until he was thirteen. Then Ash over there pissed his dad off and is basically kicked out of the Family. Serena has anger issues, so good luck when she bites your dick off. Even her own dad wants her dead, and well… King, poor sad, dysfunctional King. There’s another heir, so he may not even get to be the Capo. I guess what I’m saying is, they’re not who you want.”
Fred’s eyes narrow. “Then who do I want, you smartass?”
A dark chuckle sounds followed by. “Me, you idiot.”
Dom steps out of the shadows; he’s been following us the whole time, hidden in the back of the SUV, and I know he listened to our conversation. He’s Tex, our Capo’s half-brother, and fucking insane.
Which means it’s always fun when you bring him to a gunfight.
He has two guns in his hands right now.
And he starts firing before I say go.
More gunshots fire from behind him.
I assume it’s Tank.
And then… stepping out of the shadows is Valerian, Russian boss, terrifying and in a happy accident just landed his jet an hour ago.
He never hesitates, and King’s his brother, so when I say bodies are going down, it’s not a joke.