Play Dirty (Wages of Sin #2) - Neve Wilder Page 0,6

much in common. Both specialized in close-contact kills, both were as beautiful as they were fatal.

Az narrowed his eyes. “It’s a deadpool.”

“Obviously,” she said with a roll of her eyes before turning to Jonah expectantly.

Jonah shrugged. “I got the same message Sadie did, with the request to extend the invitation to anyone we thought would appreciate a head start. That’s it. That’s what I know.”

Jonah was lying, but it wasn’t Az’s place to say so. Besides, he truly didn’t care. His gaze was locked on Madigan—Madi to his friends. Az was not his friend. He wasn’t sure what they were, which irritated him almost as much as the way his body acknowledged the other man, even as the rest of him attempted to ignore him.

“And we’re supposed to believe this is from Red? Red’s dead,” Mina stated.

“Well, if anybody could put something like this together beyond the grave, it would be Red,” Madigan muttered.

Mina pressed her lips together, seeming unconvinced.

Before anybody could speak again, the voice filled the room again, the childlike Queen clasping her hands primly. “Understand, these targets will not go unpunished. You have been chosen because you are the top in your field, which is why the Red Queen has given you forty-eight hours to seek out and destroy as many targets as you can. When your time is up, the list will be released onto the darknet and any civilian may pick up the mantle and fight for the Red Queen. Do not waste your advantage. The dead cannot cry out for justice, it is our duty to seek it for them. Your time begins…now.”

The clock resumed its countdown on the screen while a shrill voice screamed, “Off with their heads!” on a loop.

Madigan stood, folding up the envelope crudely and stuffing it into the back pocket of jeans that molded to his hips and thighs like a second skin. It was the first time Azrael could remember seeing Madigan so…casual. Every time they’d met, they’d been playing a part, each of them still referring to the other by the names they’d given in the hotel bar two years ago.

“Leaving so soon?” Az asked, forcing a soft chuckle. “A deadpool too plebeian for your tastes?”

Madigan held the door open with his foot and flashed Azrael a sharp grin. “Au contraire,” he said in perfectly accented French. “I’ve got a plane to catch.” He ticked his chin toward the screen. “I think Robert Cortez is going to have a very unlucky night.”

Robert Cortez. Azrael found his name on the list, noting the half million bounty. He wasn’t even one of the highest on the list. Was Madigan attempting to mislead him? Perhaps pull a bait and switch, like last time? Goosebumps rose along his skin as he contemplated their last meeting. A rooftop pool in Madrid. As usual, they’d fought for control, but Az had let Madigan win. He’d missed the feeling of being pinned down and fucked. That time, there’d been an edge to it, Madigan’s words as sharp as the snap of his hips as he drove his thick cock into Az’s tight hole, whispering all kinds of filthy things as he fucked him like he hated him.

Az had woken with finger shaped bruises on his hips and throat and an ache in his ass that had stung far more than the note telling him Geoffrey Greenberg would be dead long before Az got to him. That fuck had cost Azrael seventy-five thousand dollars, but money Az had. Still, perhaps he should return the favor? Snatch Cortez before Madigan could, remind him why they called Az the Angel of Death.

“I’ll be taking my leave as well,” Az told the others, getting to his feet. “Jonah, my friend, thank you for the invitation. I’ll do my best to help rid the world of these terrible men.”

He nodded to Mina and the other assassin. Neither returned the gesture, too busy looking over the list.

Once Az was outdoors, he pulled his phone free and hit the first number in his contacts. Carrington’s feminine voice answered, “I was starting to think you didn’t need me anymore.”

Az gave a warm chuckle. “How could you even imagine such a thing, angel. I need everything you have on Robert Cortez, including where he is right now.”

There was the sound of keys clacking on a keyboard. “Robert Cortez, the blood diamond guy? Uh, when he’s not exploiting helpless children in South Africa, he’s often at his Palm Beach vacation home. But it looks