Kyler's Justice (Assassins of Gravas Book 3) - N.J. Walters Page 0,66
her dark hair was streaked with threads of silver, but he’d never seen a more beautiful woman.
“I apologize, my love.” He stood and took her hand. It was a joy to have all his children and grandchildren with him.
He’d made a grave mistake with Kyler el Darkos and the king’s blades who had come before him. They gave so much of themselves and had nothing. That the man defended Gravas but felt apart from it had come as a shock.
He was toying with the idea of creating an elite squad to replace the position. That way, they could rotate in and out, allowing them to have lives beyond their work. It wasn’t often he regretted decisions, but not changing this one, accepting that it had always been that way for the course of history, had been a mistake.
One he’d rectified by giving Etta Mortis her life. Her role had been small, her remorse genuine. And as she’d pointed out, he’d gone to great lengths to protect his son, so why would she do less for her sisters?
“There’s still one more loose end.”
“Helldrick.” Steffa was well-versed on everything that was happening. Whatever he didn’t tell her, she learned from their children or her network of friends. Sometimes he believed she knew more than he did.
“Yes.” Holding her hand, he led her out of the room toward their private chambers where the family would have gathered.
“What will you do?”
“I’ll send someone after him. He was a part of the plot against Ivar. And while he’s out there, the children will never be safe.” The littlest one, Maggs, had piercing green eyes that saw more than a child her age should.
“You’ll handle it.” Her unwavering faith in him gave him strength.
“This is going to be a major clusterfuck. There’s no quiet way to do this.”
Even though his brother’s thoughts echoed his own, Kal Marks didn’t spare Garth so much as a glance. No, his gaze locked solidly on the woman currently dancing in one of the gilded cages that hung from the ceiling here in the largest club on the pleasure ship Exos. The flashing blue spotlight made her smooth white skin look the same color, giving her an exotic appearance.
Her long, blonde hair hung down her chest, covering her breasts, much to the dismay of the customers around her, and the skimpy thong barely covered her mound as she dipped and swayed to the pounding music. If anything, the tiny strip of cloth accentuated her nakedness, which was no doubt its purpose. She didn’t look at any of the patrons, keeping her eyes trained on the far wall.
“Are you listening to me?” Garth asked, practically yelling to be heard over the noise. Impatience tinged his voice.
Kal forced himself to turn away and focus on his brother. “I hear you, but we don’t have a choice.” They had to talk to the woman, the dancing vision.
“You sure the information is good?”
Now that was a question, wasn’t it? Digger wasn’t exactly known for his honesty, but he traded in information, and he knew the Marks brothers were always buying when it came to intel on the whereabouts of their missing sister. He also knew better than to lie to them.
“Digger is too scared of Flynn to risk feeding us bad info,” Kal pointed out. Flynn was the oldest of the four brothers, massively tall and mean as a snake. It was well known throughout the Alliance galaxies that the only people Flynn cared about were his brothers.
Cross one of the Marks brothers and you crossed them all.
“I still don’t like it,” Garth muttered.
“Noted.” Kal let his gaze drift over the room, observing the positions of all the guards. There were quite a few of them, as things could get rowdy on the Exos. In fact, Kal was counting on just that.
The music pumping through the sound system was low and rhythmic. That, combined with the mostly naked women dancing around them, was designed to get men in the mood so they’d pay the money to visit the back rooms where women waited to service them. This far out in space the floating pleasure ship contained the only women many of these men would see