Bad Men - Piper Stone Page 0,20

Dante had to freaking coerce me, shoving a past mistake in my face. If they’d told me you were going to be along for the ride, I doubt I would have agreed no matter the cost to my illustrious career.”

So Dante had strong-armed him as well. Maybe we were both in the doghouse, which was why we were given the shit assignment.

“I feel the same, although my distrust of you has nothing to do with the money,” I said casually. The guy irked the crap out of me, and I didn’t trust him in the least, but we didn’t get to pick our partners when one was necessary. The Specialists took care of that for us. I’d often wondered whether the wealthy moguls and criminals in charge of the organization had a sick sense of humor given the jobs they accepted.

Expensive boats stolen out of harbors.

Jewelry taken from fancy auctions.

Paintings ripped off walls.

Hell, there was even a Saudi prince who’d paid through his nose to have his prized Arabian horse returned.

The powerful, brutal, and influential clients certainly couldn’t use whatever form of law enforcement that existed in their countries for assistance. After all, the items had originally been stolen. That made the price for retrieval unheard of and the danger level extreme. It was always interesting that not a single client had ever balked at the price.

Nor the fact lives were usually lost around the operation.

“Then fucking tell me what it does have to do with. You and me gotta trust each other and right now, I couldn’t give a rat’s ass whether you were popped in the middle of this or not,” Diego snorted, giving me a hard glare.

Hearing his frank words almost dragged a smile from my lips. I turned toward him, getting in his face. We were perfectly matched in size and brawn, although he had no idea what I was capable of. Even the handler that had been assigned to both of us had no full understanding of my background. While I hadn’t lied when I’d been interrogated by another operative during the job interview, I simply hadn’t told the man all my qualifications.

There was no need for them to know.

I snapped my hand around Diego’s throat, my fingers adding the perfect pressure point to his carotid artery. A small amount of additional pressure and he’d pass out. A bit more and he’d be dead.

When he shoved the heel of his hand under my chin, I gave him credit for chutzpa as well as the fact he’d remain an asshole.

“With a small pop of my hand, your neck will be broken,” he said through clenched teeth.

“And one more squeeze and I’ll be able to keep the entire two million all to myself.”

While I appreciated the game of standoff, that wasn’t getting us anywhere. “Why the fuck did the Specialists hire you?”

“Because I’m damn good at my job,” Diego answered. “What’s your excuse?”

We remained in the same position, pushing the boundary for a full minute. When I let go, I shook my head. “What’s your claim to fame, Diego? Killing druggies for your boss? What happened? Did you get bored being second in command to one of the most ruthless drug lords in the United States?”

I’d searched my own contacts to find out everything I could on Diego Sanchez. Perhaps the Specialists only wanted him to his ability to kill without conscience, a pit bull when needed. He’d been forced to spend years in prison, accepting blame for a job I doubt he had much to do with. That should have proven his loyalty to the Miami Cartel. Something had happened after his release.

While his eyes opened wide, he said nothing, merely dropped his hands and walked away. I’d obviously snagged a nerve. Oh, what a damn shame. Snickering, I remained in the doorway, my thoughts drifting to the doctor.

I had to give her credit that she hadn’t fallen apart during the treacherous journey we’d gone through, her ability to keep up even surprising.

She was also ballsy as well as beautiful, her attitude likely one of the things that the Serpent had found attractive. From the reports I’d read, while he collected women like fine pieces of art, they almost never offered any form of resistance. They didn’t care about his sick proclivities as long as they had their fancy dresses and expensive jewels. Lindsey didn’t fall into that category in the least.

But where had he met her in the first place? Why would he target her