Charming Asshole (Killer of Kings 3)

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak when so many emotions were on her sleeve. June wasn’t used to people being kind or helpful to her, and she certainly wasn’t used to fighting for love. Killian was all she had. After briefly talking with her mother recently, it had only solidified the fact she had no one else in the world besides her two men.

Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door. June was wearing the cutest floral summer dress thanks to Scarlett. She’d used her time to prepare herself emotionally for what was to come. And she wanted to look beautiful for Killian.

“Chains,” said Bain. “Boss better be in that fucking car or she’s not leaving my house.”

“He’s there. Relax.”

“Nothing happens to Killian’s woman,” he said, a very clear threat in his tone. “Remember what he left behind in Ireland? That’ll be us.”

She watched from a bottom step of the staircase as Chains opened his jacket to expose an array of lethal weapons. “I’ve got this, Bain. It ain’t my first rodeo.”

By the time she got to the vehicle, her nerves were heightened. She’d only heard bits and pieces about the owner of Killer of Kings but never met the notorious bad boy.

“Take a seat,” Boss said after Chains opened the rear door for her.

She got in beside him, a full seat separating them, which she was thankful for. The car began to drive away from the house, and she wondered what she’d got herself into. Killian would be furious that she agreed to this.

“Are you sure this is safe?” she asked.

Boss shifted slightly in his seat. His eyes were dark and evil, his long black hair still damp from a shower, loosely brushed back.

“I promised Killian nothing would happen to you, and I always keep my promises.”

She swallowed hard, feeling intimidated in this man’s presence.

“Who would want to hurt me?”

“Someone who wants to use you to get to Killian. It’s not who I’d expected, but I plan to end them today,” he said. “I don’t like being blindsided. In all fairness though, I found this particularly interesting. I think it’ll work to teach Killian a lesson.”

He spoke in riddles to her.

“And then what?”

What did she expect to hear? Did she want him to admit that he would kill another person? He ran his hand over a series of simple bracelets on his right wrist. They were thin leather bands with tiny black beads, a few of them colored.

He noticed her looking. “It’s a personal tally,” he said. “Of kills.”

“Hits by Killer of Kings?”

Boss shook his head. “My kills. This year.”

Her mouth felt dry and scratchy. She didn’t say another word for the rest of the trip.

They were getting closer to home, her old home. When this was all over with, she wanted to settle somewhere far away from old memories.

Boss pulled out his cell and made a brief call. “Put the word out that June Harris is in town, staying at the Loreli Motel. I want two million for a live exchange.”

June gasped. “You said—”

He put a finger to his lips. “Don’t question my methods.”

His cell rang. “What’s going down?”

She strained to hear what the other man on the line was saying, but she couldn’t hear anything more than garbled voices.

“Shit. This isn’t even our fight. Tell Manic to get his sorry ass down there. I’m not the fucking Dead Angel’s bitch.”

He told Chains to change directions.