Bad Men - Piper Stone Page 0,36

I was just a hired gun and nothing more. I jogged up the back stairs, knowing he would follow. There was no point in arguing or pushing Dante away. The man was like a dog with a bone. He wouldn’t allow that to happen.

“Do you want a drink?” I asked as I walked to the small fridge located behind the bar I’d built myself. That had been months ago, shit, almost a full year. I’d spend little time in the house I’d purchased for a song. That was going to change. I was tired of cleaning up other people’s messes.

“Sure. What the heck. My scheduled flight doesn’t leave for a couple hours.” Dante studied the small house in a scrutinizing manner. Right. He’d brought his private jet, which meant he could leave any damn time he pleased.

I watched as his nostrils flared, his eyebrows lifting as if finding my tastes reprehensible. Nope. I didn’t have expensive needs, had no desire for a wine cellar the size of a condo on Miami Beach or a staff of God knows how many. I liked my privacy as well as the simple things.

I knew what the man preferred and made two drinks of the same. Boodles with a splash of tonic. What the hell. It was a warm day after all. He remained glancing at the surroundings until I walked closer. At least he’d removed his thousand-dollar shades, even shaking the sand out of his shoes.

“This is nice,” Dante said, accepting the drink.

I cocked my head, staring at him, doing nothing more than taking a sip of my drink, beads of water continuing to drip down onto the tile floor.

“Do you mind if I sit down so we can have a civil discussion?” he finally asked, obviously uncomfortable.

“Sure. Why not?” I rubbed the towel over me before tossing it onto the seat of the leather sofa, easing down across from him. I watched as he placed the unopened file in the middle of the coffee table.

“I know you were promised time off, but we have a special case.”

I snorted, rolling my eyes. “I’ve heard that before. What crisis do we have this time? A missing string of pearls owned by some queen or maybe the Corvette of a rock star? Or maybe you need me to venture into Russia in order to find another gorgeous diamond.”

“I don’t think you should be making light of the jobs that allow you to enjoy a life of… luxury.” He sighed and leaned forward, also aware that I squirreled away my earnings, my various accounts very private and inaccessible even to the Specialists. “Let’s cut to the chase, Jack. This assignment is worth a pretty penny to the organization.”

“Aren’t they always?”

“Not like this. And we’re not talking money as much as… power.” Dante waited until I finally looked him in the eye.

“Power?”

He nodded, offering a sly smile. “The kind only found in Washington, DC.”

“Interesting. I thought the Specialists wanted nothing to do with American politics.” I took a sip of my drink, realizing that he wasn’t going to tell me the entire reason for why the owners were interested and truthfully, I wasn’t sure I gave a shit.

He smiled, lifting his glass in an odd toast. “Times change, my friend. The people responsible for signing our paychecks hunger on a different level.”

“O-kay. Meaning more influence over wealthy and powerful socialites and politicians. Whatever floats their boat. So, what’s missing?”

“A woman.”

I almost choked on the gin. This was something different. “What happened to her?”

“Let’s just say a very bad man has abducted her, the kind that can never be negotiated with.”

“Who is this man?” I had to admit my curiosity was piqued.

“Have you heard of the Serpent?” Dante asked quietly, almost as if fearing someone might be listening to our conversation.

He had to be kidding me. The Serpent’s name came up in various areas of his world, his hunger to own all the gold in the world well known. The way he acquired his fortune was disgusting.

“You mean the pompous asshole who traffics in human life in exchange for the vast majority of shares of gold? Yeah, I know of him.” The Serpent was a pig, the kind of monster that was on another playing field altogether.

“Good. Then you know how dangerous he can be.”

I narrowed my eyes, shifting my gaze toward the folder once again. “I know. He enjoys slaughtering people. His security is topnotch, the men he employs as soldiers almost as ruthless as he is.