Hard to Get (Killer of Kings Book 4)(33)

“I feel like an emotional basket case, but other than that, I’ll live. It was a moment of weakness, but I’m good now.”

“You don’t have to be strong all the time. It’s not healthy,” he said.

“You should take your own advice. How do you deal with your shitty past?”

“I joined the Marine Corps, did my time—it only made things worse. It fucked with my head to the point they wouldn’t let me return after my third tour.”

“But you’re still killing.”

“That’s different. I don’t mind the violence. I appreciate the outlet,” he said. “The gym helps, too.”

He pointed to the living room, inviting her to have a seat.

She shook her head. “I’ve seen this room. I want to see the rest of your house,” she said.

“Right, you’ve peeked in most of my windows, haven’t you?”

Riley shrugged. “You wouldn’t talk to me, so I had no choice. I don’t like mysteries I can’t solve.”

“Okay, go at it.”

She pushed open the door off the main living room, stopping dead in her tracks. “Holy shit!”

Shadow chuckled as he past her, pulling the handgun out of his waistband and dropping it on the counter.

“I thought this would be the kitchen.” She stood in awe as she looked around his vault, the secure room housing his weapons and ammo. He’d been collecting for a long time.

“No way did I expect this, and I imagined a lot of scenarios.” Riley ran her fingertips along the shelving, checking out everything as if doing inventory. “Do you even have a kitchen?”

“It’s in the back of the house,” he said. “Look, I don’t like leaving you alone right now, but I need to meet with Killer of Kings and find out where we stand.”

“I can handle myself. I’m a big girl.” Riley smiled, mischief in her eyes. “Besides, I’ll be busy exploring for a while.”

“Leave me a shred of privacy, please.” He cupped her face, kissing her softly on the lips. “Don’t leave the house, baby. Take a shower, get some sleep. I’ll be back before you wake up.”

Before Shadow left the house, he turned on the exterior security system. If Riley sensed anything suspicious, he told her to call his cell right away. Chains was waiting for him in an abandoned parking lot half an hour away. Shadow was made of questions, and demanded answers.

When he arrived on location, he backed into a parking spot, maintaining a good view of the area. The distant street lights gave a faint glow to the dark parking lot. When he saw the interior lights of a car flick on, he got out of his truck, palming the weapons under his jacket.

“Can you explain what the fuck happened today?” he asked as he approached.

Chains cracked his neck to each side, leaning against the hood of his car. “None of us knew that shit was on to her.” The passenger side of the car opened, and El Diablo stepped out.

“What the fuck is he doing here?”

Chains put up a hand to stop Shadow from pulling out his Glock. “When El Diablo saw you take off, he followed. The contract was worth a shitload of money, and he thought you had another lead. My job was to tail him.”

Shadow had wondered why the fuck Chains and El Diablo were on his ass when he arrived at the bakery, but he’d only had Riley on his mind at the time. If they’d gotten in his way, he wouldn’t have hesitated to take them both out.

“Well the mark is dead, so only I’ll be getting paid.”

El Diablo ran a hand through his black hair. He had an elaborate tattoo on the right side of his face near his eye. The bastard hadn’t said a word.

“What’s he doing here? Boss hire him?”

“I don’t work for anyone,” said El Diablo. “But I came this far, so I don’t want to leave empty handed.”

“You’re far from home. It’s a long flight back to Colombia,” said Shadow.

El Diablo narrowed his eyes, his body mostly covered in darkness. “I haven’t been back there in over ten years. This is where I play now.”

“Great. Just what we need, another psychopath loose on the streets.”

“Watch it, gringo.”

Shadow was fluent in Spanish among several other languages. And this asshole didn’t intimidate him. “Do you expect us to call you El Diablo? Give us a real name or I’ll have to make one up. How about Fred?”

“Fuck off.”

Chains exhaled. “Let’s not do this right now. All I want is hard liquor and pussy. I didn’t sign on to play babysitter to you two fuckers.”

“Boss said something about the mark’s inner circle looking for revenge. Do we have numbers? How much do they know?”

“They’ll be going after the girl again. She has ties to Killer of Kings, and they have her pic and info from the brush at the restaurant.”

“How?”

“He wasn’t worth a fortune for nothing. As soon as his phone went missing, he had his men pull the security camera footage in the restaurant.”

“Well, he’s pushing daisies, so what are we dealing with?”

“Boss wants things cleaned up. There’s a pretty penny for every kill loyal to the mark. There’re at least a dozen that we know of.”