surprising him. “She’s rare, Boss. Take away her owing me, she’s still damn good at what she does.”
“Simple, you come to me. You need her for an assassin, I’ll be the one you call. Under no circumstances will she be selling herself. Her body is mine. Every part of her belongs to me.”
“Damn, brought down by a woman.”
Boss chuckled without humor. “Not at all. I can still walk away from you and take my little peace offering with me. I’m not weak, Viko. I’m right where I’m supposed to be. You want to see weak, look in the mirror. You’ve allowed your emotions to cloud your judgment one too many times. You could have taken Renzo, but your thirst for revenge kept it from you.” He shrugged. “What’s it going to be? Island life is starting to irritate me.”
Viko looked at him, his features set. Boss knew damn well he’d hit his hot buttons.
“You knew I’d take the deal. I don’t even know what you’re still doing here. Until Renzo is in my hands, I can still call for Graciella.”
Boss approached him and slammed the key against his chest. “He’s tied to your bed, waiting for whatever you want to give him.”
Viko caught the key as Boss moved away, heading for the door.
“You knew I’d take the deal?” Viko asked.
Boss glanced back. “The drugs killed your kid. I didn’t doubt for a second that you wouldn’t take the deal. I’ve never known that kind of pain. I can only begin to imagine how this case has been for you.”
“I hope for your sake you never feel it,” Viko said.
“Well, I hope for you, when you’ve done with Renzo, you’ll find some kind of peace, any peace.” Boss turned and left. He didn’t look back. There was no need to. Bain was still waiting for him in the boat. The big fucker had lost a little too much weight during his illness and from what his informants said, he kept hitting the gym and eating like there was no tomorrow.
“Did you get what you needed to?” Bain asked.
“Yes, let’s head home.” Renzo was going to die. By his hand or Viko’s, it didn’t really matter. He found an opportunity to save his woman and he took it. When it came to Graciella, he would do everything for her. She owned his heart, and he intended to show her a world full of love, and a whole lot of killing.
****
One month later
It had been a long time since Graciella had worn white. She stared at her reflection and her nerves were completely shot. This wasn’t supposed to be her life, but here she was, living the dream.
Her wedding day.
How had it arrived so fast? There was no time to escape. No way for her to leave, not that she wanted to either. No, in the past month, Boss had shown her a place in his world, and it worked. She wanted to be with him every day. Killer of Kings was an empire with so many intricate details and went so deep into all parts of the world. She had underestimated the sheer size of it.
No wonder Boss controlled it with an iron fist. She never thought she’d be part of something so amazing, so powerful. It felt good to belong. They were all just cogs in a much bigger network, but without it, she hated to even think of what the world could be like.
There was a knock at the door and she called for them to come in. The other Killer of Kings women were so nice but Graciella didn’t exactly know her place with them. They were good girls and they had little in common. It was still a sore subject for her and a constant struggle to find her place among them. Time would help. One day, she’d become accustomed to not being alone in the world.
Twirling, she spun out the skirt.
“You look beautiful,” Xavier said, catching her off guard.
She’d been successfully avoiding her brother for a long time. Until now. She turned toward him. “You think so?”
“You do and you know it.”
“I don’t know. I’m not used to being the star of the show. I’ve been to many weddings. Some of them have ended in blood baths. That’s the way the world goes. Hopefully Boss and I will get to say the I do before then.” She rambled. Why was she so nervous? She pushed some of her hair out of her face.
“I know we’re never going