Chapter Ten
Priest always had a feeling Boss was never going to give him the name of the person he needed to finally exact his revenge—yet he had. But Cleo’s safety had taken precedence over a lifetime of yearning for revenge. Every single lead had brought him here, lying in bed next to Cleo, and for the first time in his life, he felt at peace.
The men who’d taken everything from him were still out there, but when he was with Cleo, nothing else mattered to him. Not revenge, not death, not his past. It was like he was getting a second chance, and he didn’t want to squander that opportunity. Not this time.
Staring down at her sleeping face, he couldn’t help but smile.
No nightmares. No furrowed brow in sleep. No whimpers.
Cleo looked at peace, and he wanted to take full responsibility for how she slept. Before, she’d had chronic insomnia, and now she looked absolutely blissful. She said it was because of him. He made her feel safe. To him, she’d always looked beautiful, and even now with Boss warning him that she wasn’t who she seemed, that hadn’t changed.
When their bedroom door slid open, he reached for his gun. Habits never died, not with him, and he pointed it toward the person opening his door.
What the fuck was Gabriel doing here?
This was supposed to be a safe house and yet, with every passing hour, more of the Killer of Kings were turning up. If he was honest with himself, it was driving him fucking crazy. Sure, he owed Gabriel an apology for running out on him and dealing with his own problems, but the guy was obviously more than capable.
Glancing down at Cleo, he was relieved to see that her arm was covered, and there was no chance of any of the guys seeing her naked. He didn’t want anyone to know how stunning she looked without any clothes. She was for his eyes only.
“We need you,” Gabriel said, mouthing the words.
He wasn’t a great fucking lip reader, but couldn’t it wait?
Easing out of the bed, he heard Cleo’s slight whimper, and he quickly put the pillow he’d been lying on near her arms for her to grab hold of. Priest didn’t want to leave her, but duty called.
After tugging on some sweatpants and a shirt, he padded out of the bedroom and made his way down the hall to where he caught sight of Harb spooning some cereal into his mouth. When he got to the kitchen, he saw that Boss had been joined by Maurice and Gabriel. Viper and Bain were also in the kitchen.
“What the hell is going on?” Priest asked.
It was rare for Boss to pay such a close interest in a woman who should have already been dead by now.
“Where’s Cleo?” Boss asked.
“Safe. In my bed, why?”
“We’ve got to move her,” Boss said.
“Look, why don’t you just tell me what the big secret is? I’ve been working for you half my fucking life.”
He saw Boss’s jaw clench, and glancing down at his hands, he realized they were also fisted, ready to fight. No one truly knew Boss’s real age. The dude was old, but not too old. Old enough to still be scary as fuck.
“Viko Fedorov,” Boss said.
Priest tensed up.
Viko was the leader of the Circle of Monsters, a group that was the complete opposite of the Killer of Kings. The man was deadly, and the men he employed had no morals, and they always took on the jobs that guaranteed death. What made them different from the Killer of Kings was their integrity. Circle of Monsters had none, and it was every single man for himself. At Killer of Kings, they had a code, and they lived by that code, or at least, Priest tried to.
“What about him?” Priest asked.
“We’ve got a meeting with him in an hour. Cleo needs to be there.”
“There is no fucking way she’s going to meet that piece of shit,” Priest said. “What’s the point?”
Viper whistled. “Whatever happened to you being the silent type?”
“I’d say that ended the moment a girl entered his bedroom.” Bain sniggered.
“What is all this about? On the phone, you said Cleo needed to be the one to talk to you, not me. You’ve got me running around in circles. Now tell me what it is?”