by Sam Crescent
Her hands shook.
“We need to talk,” Boss said. He put a hand to her back and started to walk her out of the room but Xavier stood in front of the door.
The pain in her brother’s eyes was clear to see. This was torture to her. He was the only family she had left. It was one of the many reasons why she tried to ignore him. Seeing him now, it was hard to stay cool and aloof.
“I hope one day you can forgive me,” he said.
“Xavier,” she said.
“Now is not the time,” Boss interrupted and nudged her forward.
“There’s nothing to be forgiven for,” she said.
Opening the door, she let Boss take the lead, guiding her to where he wanted her.
Boss came to a stop at an office. They stepped inside and she looked around. There were no cameras and there were several machines where doctors used x-rays.
Hands on her hips, she looked at him. “I didn’t want this to happen. I hope you believe that. I’m not a monster.”
“Why won’t you kill me?” he asked.
“Really, you want to know that?”
“I don’t need to know it today, but it’s a question you’re going to have to answer. For now, tell me all that you know about Viko.”
“You think he’s distributing the drug?” she asked.
“I know Viko and he’s the kind of guy who would mask drugs as something else. It helps get them through shipping into the country and doesn’t require backyard dealings.”
“Viko didn’t do this.”
“You sound confident. How do you know?”
She took a deep breath. “Because … the debt to him, it goes deeper than his protection of me.”
“What do you mean?”
She didn’t want to reveal another man’s business. She took a deep breath. The only way to finally combat these drugs was to work together. “Viko’s tracing the drugs as well. He has been for a couple of years. What you don’t know is he once had a daughter. I won’t get into the details, but she had a boyfriend and … well, he got her into drugs. These things got to her, and she died. Viko, for all of his faults, is on your side. He wants the scientists and the people behind them.”
Chapter Seven
Boss didn’t have time to play around. Not with Bain’s life in the balance. The possibility of losing him was indigestible—but his man was strong, and if anyone could survive this, it would be Bain.
He lay on his stomach on the roof of the seven-story building. Business never stopped at Killer of Kings. He’d wanted to take his time with this contract, savor it. But at this point, he just needed it done. The heat was getting to him, but he didn’t flinch. He was a statue, his eyes on the doorway of the building across the busy street. Maurice had tracked his movements, and Mr. Black always worked out at this gym, same time, same day. Never smart for a man working on the shady side of the law to have a predictable schedule.
As soon as he had Tyson Black in his sights, he pulled the trigger. It only took one shot. Boss never missed.
Immediately, he rolled into a sitting position and packed up his sniper rifle. Clean and quick. There was only one more to take care of—Edward Seer. He’d wanted to do this himself, but finding the scientist was now his top priority.
He pulled out his cell as he jogged down the staircase to the street below. “Chains, I have a find and eliminate I need you to handle. The client’s family was threatened.”
“Send me the info. I’ll get it done.”
“Wait for my secure message. Check for loose ends. Make sure no one hurts the wife or kid.”
“You know it.”
Boss slipped his phone back into his pocket. Chains didn’t like men hurting women, so he was the right man for the job. He trusted all his hitmen to efficiently handle their contracts, which was why he rarely took any jobs himself. Maybe he’d stick to overseeing.
He carefully put his rifle case in his trunk and got behind the driver’s seat of his car. He called Adam as he started up the engine. “News?”
“I’m working on something right now, Boss. It’s big. I’ve been coordinating with Maurice and we’ve tracked these mints to a factory out of state. Shipments came in by water in containers. The trail leads to an island in the Caribbean. You’ll find your scientist there.”
“Soaking up the sun, enjoying the spoils of the suffering he’s caused.” Boss gripped the steering wheel with his right hand, squeezing so hard his knuckles turned white. “Tell Maurice I want a flight—tickets for me, Graciella, Killian, and Xavier. Tonight. Get me as much intel as you can—names, addresses, everything.”
“Yes, Boss. I’ll get it handled.”
In his world, money and power talked. Now that he had a major lead, that scientist was as good as dead. Once he had his hands on the antidote, he’d give it to Adam to synthesize. The cycle of death from Graciella’s revenge would end.
He could be her hero.
As he drove home, he messaged his men so they could say their goodbyes to their families. Then he called Widow Maker.
“What do you want now?” she answered.
He chuckled. “I’ve found your scientist. Thought you’d want to know.”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
“Unless you’d rather I keep information to myself,” he said.
“No, I want to be in the loop. Are you sure about this? It’s not a hunch?”
“I wouldn’t gamble with Bain’s life. We tracked the drug mints Scarlett had right to the source country. Now it’s just a game of cat and mouse,” he said.
“Give me what you have. I can handle anything.”
He smiled to himself. Boss loved her spunk and defiance. She’d never bend over for anyone and he liked that about her. “Of that, I’m certain. I’ll call you when I have more details.”
She growled and hung up the phone.
He laughed out loud. She drove him crazy and was sexy as fuck. She was also his greatest weakness. He always kept track of his killers’ women. Since he’d been hung up on Graciella, he’d been slacking in all areas. If it hadn’t been for his obsession, he would have caught wind of Scarlett’s activity long before Bain got poisoned.
Would have, could have wouldn’t help him now. It was time to make things right for everyone. Once the drug ordeal was over, what would happen to Graciella’s debt to Viko? She’d have no reason to team up with him once her problem was gone. Only the debt would remain.
Boss would pay for her freedom if he had to.
He pulled into his underground parking area, the doors automatically closing behind his car. He put his jacket on the hook and headed upstairs. There wasn’t much time to get ready for a trip abroad. Boss scrubbed his hands over his face and looked in the hall mirror. He was too old for this shit.
The front doorbell chimed, echoing in the massive foyer. His mansion had too many empty rooms. It wasn’t until now that he realized how sterile his home was. Graciella was right. He was just as lonely as her.
He opened the front door, El Diablo and Killian pushed through the doorway like two toddlers needing to be first.
“Dominican Republic?” asked Xavier.
“How long will we be gone?” asked Killian.
Boss took a deep breath. “I’m going to take a shower, pack a bag, then we’re all heading to the airport so we can save Bain.”
“You found what we need?” asked Killian.
Boss nodded.
“What about firepower?” asked Xavier.
“Everything’s already being arranged as we speak. We’ll pick up our guns as soon as we’re off the airplane. I have contacts on the island.”
“There were five more local deaths today,” said Killian as he dropped down in one of the armchairs.
Boss groaned. “You’re not fucking helping. We’re leaving in an hour. Make sure you’re both ready. Graciella’s on her way.”
“Graciella? Why does she need to come?” asked Xavier.
Boss chuc
kled as he walked up the winding staircase. “Funny, I know she’d say the same thing about you. Your sister’s not a little girl, Xavier. She can handle herself.”
He didn’t wait to hear more complaints.
Boss headed to his bedroom, stripped down, and stepped into his custom walk-in shower. He turned on the rainfall head and stood beneath the cooling water.
He thought of Graciella, her gorgeous body under him on the bed. She was fucking perfect. Luscious curves, evil eyes, and the scars inside and out only attracted him more. She was complicated and lethal. He’d often had female assassins work for him. They were employees, nothing more. Graciella was something else.
The door to his bathroom burst open. Boss leaned over and grabbed a towel, wrapping it securely around his waist.
“What the fuck?”
He had two of his hitmen downstairs. How did anyone manage to get upstairs?
Graciella stood there in the middle of the large room wearing all black leather, her dark hair brushed smooth as glass over her back and shoulders. Her hands were perched on her hips as she stared directly at him.
“Did you kill my men?”
She tilted her head, eyes narrowed. “They didn’t try to stop me.”
“What’s the problem here?” He stepped out of the shower and grabbed a hand towel to pat dry his face.
“You’re the problem,” she snapped. “Who do you think you are, anyway? You think you can toy with me because you’re the killer of kings?”
He ignored her ranting, walking to the wall of counters. Boss ran both hands through his damp hair, looking at her through the reflection in the mirror.
“I’m talking to you!” She stormed over to him, her heels clicking on the marble. “You didn’t think I should be involved in killing the scientist? I’m the one he screwed over. I’m the one who’s had to live with this on my conscience.”
Her emotion and vitriol were palpable. He loved her like this. So much fucking passion.
Boss grabbed his shaving cream container and began to spread some foam under his chin. “Are you done?”
“Bastard!” She had a blade tight to his throat the next second. “You thought you could fly off in the night and I’d be none the wiser?”
“Don’t start something unless you plan to follow through,” he warned.
“Do you know how many men I’ve killed for less?”
Boss hadn’t moved, the sharp edge of the blade nicking his skin. “Do you realize how many women I’ve turned down since that night in the restaurant?”
She scoffed. “I don’t care about your whores. What does that have to do with anything?”
In a few quick moves, he knocked the blade from her hand, the metal tinking into the sink, then twisted her body around so she was trapped between the counter and his much larger frame. “Because I can’t get you off my mind.”
“You’ll get over it.”
She wriggled, but he forced her to stay in place.
“You feel nothing at all? Are you really that cold, Graciella?” he asked. “You still haven’t answered me—why didn’t you kill me?”
“I should have.” She glared daggers at him then tried to knee him in the crotch. He blocked her move, securing her wrists. She twirled and ducked, freeing herself, then she kicked him in the side. He groaned and ground his teeth together.
Restraining himself was becoming increasingly difficult.
****
Graciella was pissed off.
Boss had called to tell her he’d found the scientist. In a way, they were all a team with the same goal. It felt good, and they were making progress together. Then he pulled this bullshit. He was flying out with Killian and Xavier to kill the scientist who’d fucked up years of her life. People had died because of those drugs, and that was all on her, not Boss.
She was tired of being treated like a second-rate killer because she was a woman. Graciella had a lot to prove, but she thought Boss was better than that. She was wrong.
Boss glared at her after she kicked him for the second time. She knew she was playing with fire, but she couldn’t stop herself.
“You’re even taking Xavier.”
“Your brother will blend well in the Dominican Republic. He speaks the language and can get us good intel once we’re on the ground.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I have the same qualifications. But I’m of no importance to you, am I?”
Her breathing was rapid, her chest rising and falling in deep waves.
“If any other person, man or woman, had come in here without permission, they’d be dead,” he said.
“Not me?”
“You like to test me, don’t you?”
“I like to be included and not constantly out of the loop. Did you think I’d slow you down? Put your man in the hospital at risk?”
She attempted to strike him, but he snatched her wrist so fast she gasped. He wasn’t so gentle this time. Boss had her stomach down over the counter. His bathroom was nearly as big as her condo, floor-to-ceiling marble, the epitome of luxury. Maybe she was in way over her head testing the king.
Graciella felt the hard ridge of his cock against her ass. He secured both her wrists above her head and collected her hair to one side with the other. He leaned over and kissed her temple. She squirmed, but he only squeezed her wrists tighter in warning. Graciella was only alive right now because he’d had mercy on her for some reason.
“Your temper is your weakness, beauty,” he whispered in her ear.
He released her wrists, and she immediately twisted around. Boss grabbed her waist and hoisted her up on the counter, using a thigh to separate her legs.
She swallowed hard. Boss wasn’t a meek man. His frame was big and hard with muscle. He was always in control, even when she pushed him too far. She could feel the heat of his skin, smell the musky scent of his shaving cream, and savored his strength as he grabbed her ass and pulled her to the edge of the counter.
“Take what you want. That’s what you do, isn’t it?”
“Watch it. Think twice before you speak to me.” He stood there for another few seconds, staring her down, then he stepped away and carried on as if she wasn’t there. “Top drawer,” he said.
She slipped down and opened the first drawer, keeping him in her sights at all times. He was only shaving in front of a sink, no sense of fear or urgency even though she’d attacked him numerous times.
Graciella pulled out the contents of the envelope. They were plane tickets with her name on them. First class to the Dominican Republic.
She was shocked into silence.
“I don’t understand. If you had these the whole time … why didn’t you say anything?”
“That wouldn’t be any fun.”
Her temper boiled up once again. She waved the envelope next to him. “You’re too much, do you know that?”
He leaned over the splashed his face with water, patted his skin dry, then added after-shave. His body still glistened from his shower, every defined muscle moving as he cleaned up by the counter.
“Considering this was all your doing, you’re lucky I’m involving you at all.”
She wanted to tell him off, but he was right. Her mistake had even crossed borders. And she knew he was worried sick about Bain.
Graciella wanted to kick herself. This wasn’t what she was expecting. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“For what? Trying to slit my throat?”
“For not checking with you first…”
Boss narrowed his eyes. He slipped on his clean boxers under the towel, not giving her a glimpse, then hung up the towel on the bar. His movements were slow, and she could feel his disapproval even though she hadn’t said anything yet.
“Go on,” he said.
She took a deep breath. “I called Viko. Told him about the island, your tickets, and the scientist.”
He chewed on his lower lip. It would be sexy as hell if she wasn’t certain he wanted to kill her just then. “Who call
ed you?”
Graciella shrugged.
“Was it El Diablo? Fucking tell me right now.”
“No! I swear it wasn’t him,” she said. Boss looked like he wanted to assassinate her brother, murder in his eyes. But it wasn’t Xavier.
He stalked closed, caging her in. “Now.”
“Me.”
One eyebrow raised in question, then he exhaled. “You tagged me. When? Where?”
“No, I tapped Xavier’s phone. Men are all the same,” she said. “So easy to manipulate.”
He chuckled, a deep masculine sound that affected her way too much.
“That’s where you’re wrong, sweetheart. The only one who manages to fuck with my head is you.” He kept coming closer. She didn’t try to stop him.
Boss was a breath away. He leaned down to her level, running his lips along her cheek, slowly, so close to her lips. He inhaled, exhaling on a faint growl. She wanted to touch him, to grab on to those strong shoulders.
She closed her eyes.
“Why didn’t you kill me?” he whispered in her ear.
When she didn’t answer, he cupped his big hand under her pussy. The pressure was intense when she was already strung high with her attraction for Boss. She dropped her weight just enough so she could feel more. Her lips parted slightly, and he moved in fast, kissing her with enough passion to steal all her thoughts.
Her natural defenses vanished. Her anger fizzled away.
If she was his weakness, he was hers just as much.
Should she give in to her desires? God knew how much she wanted Boss. Wanted him to ride her. He wasn’t an evil man. Would it be so bad to allow herself to experience the pleasure he could give her? He prided himself at being the best at everything.
She wasn’t sure what she wanted out of Boss.
Did she want the whole fairy tale? She’d never really thought about it. Was that even possible for people as broken as them?
No, if she let down the guards around her heart, she’d regret it.
She was the conquest right now. Once Boss claimed her, she’d be discarded like all the others. That, she couldn’t handle. It was safer for her to call the shots.
“Do you like that?” The way he moved his hands, one on her crotch, the other behind her neck was addicting. He knew exactly how to handle her body to make her spineless in his arms.