The thought brought a humorless quirk to the corner of my lip as I wandered the glimmering sidewalks right at the very cusp of dawn. I couldn’t see it. The gleaming spears of glass and steel would continue to shield the city from the rising light, but I felt it, felt the pull moving through me, a familiar prickling more accurate than any clock.
Nevertheless, I glanced at the numbers on my watch, calculating my time before I would be meeting with my contact.
The car, an undescriptive Hyundai with a rusted bumper and dented trunk was exactly where the text had promised it would be — at the corner of First and Sutton. It was the only one parked beneath the shadows of a leaning oak someone needed to trim back. The tinted glass obscured the occupants. When I pried the door open and slid into the back, the overhead lights remained off.
The worn leather felt warm beneath me, but it was the mixture of stale Cheetos and gym socks that had me almost shifting uncomfortably. The man at the other end waited until I was properly seated and still before adjusting the cap on his balding head and lifting his face into the shadows.
“Has the matter been settled?”
The driver, a burly man in his late forties who had never said a word in the six years I’d seen him, turned his head to peer at his side mirror. I’d been watching the back through the rearview mirror and knew he’d seen a passing car along the street over.
“It has,” I told the man on my left.
Hamlet wasn’t much of a talker. It was the only thing I liked about him. He was direct with zero patience for complications. I appreciated those qualities in a person.
“Can we trust him?”
I hadn’t been sure in the beginning. I’d spent years watching for Eduardo’s replacement, years of eliminating obstacles and building an empire for a man who couldn’t find his own way out of a shoebox. Yet, despite my best efforts, he had run the sectors into the ground. He’d ruined the people and destroyed lives all to fill his own pocket. I may have been a killer, but even I followed a code of honor and watching innocent people suffer wasn’t part of my idea of a good time. Eliminating him had been a pleasure. I’d spent days thinking of different methods, some of them painful and gruesome, but it had to be quick and painless. It had to be clean. Overdose was usually overlooked and written off quickly. I made sure no one looked too closely, not that anyone would. No one had liked the man. But Nero…
Nero was a different kind of beast. He was clean and methodical. I admired his work, his unique talent that mirrored my own. But it was his heart that baffled me. He had one. It was evident in the way he cared for Davien and Mia, but also the people around him. I had never seen one of my kind capable of … love. The very idea was fascinating. What more, the notion that we could love and be loved … what a concept. I had to see it for myself.
“Nero is the man for the job,” I assured my contact. “I believe he will repair the damages caused by his predecessor.”
The man who called himself only Hamlet hummed quietly. “See that he does. The Organization require balance and anonymity, unlike those idiots who call themselves the Syndicate.”
If I was capable of caring, I would have rolled my eyes at the animosity pooling into the cabin. What Hamlet didn’t realize was that he didn’t matter.
The Organization.
The Syndicate.
The entire underworld.
They were all run by men who believed themselves untouchable. None seemed to realize no one was. They were small, mortal men playing a part until I drew their name and brought their time to an end.
But that was a mission for another day.
I inclined my head. “Of course.”
We shared no goodbyes as I withdrew myself from his car. He was driving away even as I was shutting the door. His impatience was no surprise or concern to me as I wove my own way back to my own vehicle. The early morning breeze cooled my cheeks and reminded me I would need to pull out my heavier coat. They were promising a bitter winter and I abhorred the cold.
Epilogue — Mia
One Year Later…
“You’re staring again.”
And not a woman on earth could blame me. The two across the room, clad in matching tuxes the soft gray of charcoal were the very specimens of raw, masculine beauty. Every woman in the room was staring, and I didn’t blame them one bit.
“Can you blame me?” I muttered around the straw caught between my teeth. “Look at them.”
They stood twenty feet away in deep conversation with a couple I almost recognized. It was a work thing based on the bored expression on Davien’s face and the painfully polite expression of interest on Nero’s but they both listened while the woman spoke rapidly, waving around a flute of champagne.
Davien took that moment to meet my gaze. The left corner of his mouth quirked in that dirty, roguish way it did when he was about to do something particularly delicious to me. That simple gesture had my knees going weak and other parts growing damp. It took all my resolve not to push my way through the crowd and jump him.
“Mia!” Liana jabbed me hard with her bony elbow. “Will you stop?” Laughter glimmered in her eyes. “People are starting to notice.”
I couldn’t give a rat’s ass who noticed what. I’d spent too long hiding how I felt. I wasn’t going to do that again to save someone else from being uncomfortable.
“I’m allowed to look at my husbands in any way I want,” I told my cousin. “This is our home, after all, and these people are just guests. If they don’t like it, they can leave.”
“Who can leave?”
Mom appeared at my elbow, a dark drink in one hand and her tiny, beaded clutch in the other. She wore a beautiful dress in a soft cream that complimented her olive tone and dark hair. I leaned in and kissed her soft cheek.
“Whoever doesn’t approve of my life choices.”
Her frown was immediate and fierce as she swept a challenging glower over the faces around us. “Did someone say something? Who?” Her voice rose as if daring the person to step forward.
I laughed and looped my arm through her elbow. “No one.”
“Better not.” She took a sip of her drink. “It’s been a year. If people are still shocked by your marriage, then they can talk to me.”
Warmth filled my chest, cocooning me in the arms of absolute bliss. I hugged my mother.
“Thank you,” I murmured.
She gave me a one-armed squeeze. “For what?” She drew back to grin at me. “Mothers spend their entire lives praying their daughter finds a good man who will care for her and love her. Mine found two. What more could I ask for … except maybe…?”
“Don’t.” I laughed at her eyebrow wiggling. “Stop. I’m still enjoying myself and them. We have lots of time to decide if we want to start a family.”
“If?” Mom’s eyes bulged. “What do you mean if?”
“How cute would your babies be, though?” Liana cooed, fingers clasped under her chin. “They would be the sweetest little angels.”
“Agreed, but let’s go back to the if,” Mom prompted.
I opened my mouth to assure her that wasn’t what I meant when a familiar voice cut in from behind me.