To Die For - Davidson King Page 0,72

way I could guarantee your safety.”

“Just fucking tell me, Max. What the hell! You’re scaring me.” Just then, there was a knock on the back door. “Who is that?”

“Just stay here, okay?” He got up, went through the kitchen, and answered the door. Ciro came in with another guy I’d seen at the club. “Hey.”

“What are you two doing here? Max, what the hell is going on?”

“You didn’t tell him yet?” Ciro smirked, and I wanted to hit him.

“I was telling him right before you knocked.”

“Well, we’ll leave you two to it.” I watched as the guy went upstairs, and Ciro went into the kitchen. Max came over to me.

“As I was saying. Dorian is going to be coming over here.” I opened my mouth to speak, but he placed his finger over my lips. “Please, let me finish.” I sighed but shut up. “Thank you. I came up with the idea and told Ciro, who thought it could totally work. I don’t think it would work if Dorian had planted roots in this town. He’s fairly new to Haven Hart and has no loyalties with anyone, not even the cops. The fact that he had to get one of his guys to dress as one means he doesn’t have the pull to get one on his side.”

“Okay…”

“So, I contacted him and told him that I hoped he’d learned his lesson from the beating I gave him on Halloween. Really laid it on thick. Then I made sure someone was following us from the hotel to here. It’s why Ciro came through the back.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “And why did you do any of this?”

“Sparkles, Dorian isn’t ever going to leave you alone. You can run, and he’ll find you. He will threaten my family and do whatever he can to keep us apart. What happened on Halloween was just the beginning of what I’m sure our lives will be like if we don’t stop him. He clearly has people watching my family; you saw the pictures.”

“And you think bringing him here will work, how?”

He released a breath before he spoke. “Because if I can get him on my property, I can make it look like he trespassed and then—”

“Kill him?”

“It’s the only way, Sparkles.”

This couldn’t be happening. “And if the police don’t see it that way?”

“You need to trust me.”

I pushed away from him. “This is crazy.”

“I know.”

“You can still stop this. You can—” Just then, the sound of glass shattering cut me off.

“It’s too late,” Max said, and I knew he was right.

Chapter Forty-One

Max

I reached into the end-table drawer and took out the gun I knew was stored there. I had checked that it was cleaned and working the other day. It was registered and legal, and that was what was most important. If I had to make this look like a break-in, then it had to appear legit.

“Is that a gun?” Sparkles whispered.

“Yes, now please be quiet.”

I knew under any other condition he’d bitch me out for telling him to be quiet, but this wasn’t a normal situation, and he understood that. I made sure the gun was hidden and a moment later the door opened, and Dorian and another guy stepped into the living room.

“Well, well, well, the whore and his brainless muscle.” Dorian smiled, thinking he’d cornered me. “I see your family isn’t here, which is a pity. I’d love for them to know that the man you’re fucking is a con artist, a slut, and a liar.”

“You should be counting your lucky stars my ma isn’t here. There’s nothing scarier than an angry Italian woman.”

Dorian laughed and nodded. “I suppose in this instance, the less people the better.”

“Can I ask why the hell you’re breaking into Max’s mother’s house?” Sparkles put his hands on his hips, indignant as ever.

“I came for you, of course. I warned you both, and it seems like you two have been playing me like a fucked-up fiddle. Well, it ends tonight. Sparkles. Unless you want my guy to shoot Max in the head, you’ll get your ass over here right now.” He pointed to the spot beside him as if Sparkles were a dog.

“Oh, I agree,” I said as I brought my gun into view and raised it to Dorian’s head. “This definitely ends tonight.”

Dorian’s man lifted his gun and pointed it at me. And just then, Ciro walked out of the kitchen, his own gun trained on the guy.

“What the hell is all this?” Dorian