Charming Asshole (Killer of Kings 3)

They both turned to see June had spotted them. She was rushing toward them, and he smiled. It didn’t matter that ten years had passed. He still loved this woman just as strongly as he had back then, if not stronger.

Holding Killian’s hand, he began to walk toward her, and then stopped at the unmistakable sounds of wheels braking. Spinning around, he watched as the black SUV’s door opened, and there was a man with a gun. Pulling his son behind him, he watched in horror as the gun was aimed toward June.

There was nothing he could do. One lone shot rang out, and June fell down. Grabbing one of his guns, he pointed it toward the car, and began firing.

The SUV was gone before he landed a single bullet.

June was on the ground, and his son held him tightly. He’d brought his darkness back to the birthplace of his sweetest memories.

What had he done?

Chapter Four

Killian holstered his weapon and ran over to June, dropping to his knees beside her. He patted down her body, assessing the damage. There was fear in her eyes, pain and confusion. This was all on him.

“It’s okay, baby. Everything’s going to be okay.” He prayed to God he could keep that promise.

“Mommy!” Little Killian was broken and crying, his arms around June’s chest. The scene reminded him of that night he’d found his own mother dead. It gave him pause, his childhood horrors rushing to the surface. He pushed the memories away as he hoisted June up into his arms.

They weren’t too far from the apartment complex, but no way in hell was he taking them home. Boss said there was a hit on June and the lad, so the place would be hot. These two people were now all that mattered, and they were his responsibility.

“Where we going?” asked Killian, chasing along beside him.

“Somewhere safe,” he said.

When they got to his car, he asked his son to open the back door. He carefully laid June across the seats, instructing Killian to get in the front passenger side.

“Killian, I’m scared,” said June.

He turned around in his seat after starting up the car. “I’ll make sure you’re never afraid again. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

Killian left the seaside town without a backwards glance. He never wanted to see it again. Never wanted June or Killian to struggle in that shithole another day.

The highway was dark and quiet at this hour, the purr of the engine not enough to mask June’s muffled sobs. His mind was on overdrive, piecing everything together, trying to figure out how to make things right. He couldn’t do this alone. He needed Killer of Kings.

He pulled out his cell and called Boss. The bastard was as a hard ass, but he’d helped him get his start when he moved over from Ireland. They had an unorthodox relationship to say the least.

“Boss, I was too late, one of them shot June.”

“She alive?”

“Yeah. I’ve got them both. Need a safe house for my boy until we can deal with the problem.” As in fill those assholes with so much fucking lead even the coroner couldn’t identify the bodies.

There was silence on the other end. “Take him to Bain and Scarlett’s house. He’ll be safe there.”

“Any word on who set it up?”

“Still working on the details, but it’s related to that Dead Angels kill from over a decade ago,” said Boss.

“How the fuck is that possible? It was clean and handled.”

Killian barely remembered that hit. He’d taken out the leader of the club after doing recon for a few weeks. It’s when he met June, so all his memories centered on her.

“I’ll be touch when I know more,” said Boss.

As he continued driving to Bain’s place in the country, he glanced over at little Killian. He was looking out the window, not saying a word. Killian wanted to make things better, not worse. He didn’t want his own son to turn out as fucked up as he was.

He hated the idea of dropping his son off at someone else’s place, but things were going to get ugly before they got better and he didn’t want Killian hurt or exposed to more unnecessary violence. The outside lights were on as he drove down Bain’s long driveway, so Boss must have filled him in. He stopped the car and turned to June. She looked pale.