El Diablo (Killer of Kings 6)

All she wanted to do was to go and curl in bed and pretend there was no such thing as bad men and assassins.

“How do you like the ocean?” Dixon asked.

“The ocean?” Had she missed some of the conversation in her panic? “It’s okay, I guess. Lots of water.”

“I have a yacht. If you ever want to go out to sea, take in the waves and the views, I’d love to have you. Of course, without your fiancé around.”

She chuckled. Was she being hit on?

“Excuse me,” Xavier said. “Thank you for keeping an eye on my woman. I’ll take it from here.” His deep voice dripped of confidence.

“Ah, the elusive Xavier Moreno. You really do have a rare gem in this one. One of a kind.”

“It’s why I got engaged.”

“And a long engagement it is proving to be. We must do lunch sometime, and of course, bring your fiancée with you.” Dixon kissed her hand. “Until next time.”

As soon as he disappeared into the crowd, she whirled on Xavier. “Don’t ever leave me again,” she said.

He draped his arms around her hips. “I got what I needed.”

“And what’s that?” she asked.

“An invite to lunch.”

“You wanted Dixon?”

“Yes. He’s the one I was doing recon on, and it looks like he as a soft spot for my fiancée.”

Chapter Five

He’d called Boss to fill him in on the situation. As soon as he mentioned the mark had his eyes on Xavier’s date, Boss wanted him to use her as bait. He should have expected as much. His boring assignment was turning into much more, but it wasn’t supposed to involve Alesha. He’d brought her along because his only options were leaving her alone at home to call the cops or tying her up in his basement.

Xavier had given her a bullshit story about women and partying hard. The truth was much darker than she could ever imagine. Not to mention he hadn’t fucked around with another woman since hiring Alesha. She confused him. And because of his drinking binge, he’d fucked everything up.

“You only said I had to come along to this event.”

“Well, things just changed,” he said.

She held onto the lapels of his suit jacket, looking up at him with those big blue eyes. He’d done a lot of bad shit in his life, but right now, he wished he’d never hired her. Never introduced her into his wicked world.

“If you expect me to keep playing along, you have to be honest with me. I don’t know what the hell’s going on, and it scares me. You scare me.”

He shook his head. “I’d never hurt you, Alesha.” The sincerity in his own voice surprised him.

“Will you talk to me? Really talk to me? No lies.”

“Not here.”

“Fine. What about the little girl?” she asked.

“Gone.” The truth was there was no little girl. Xavier swore he’d seen his baby sister, wearing the same filthy dress she’d worn the day he’d lost her, but it was only another figment of his imagination. He was fucking losing it.

“Okay. How much longer are we staying?” she asked.

He wasn’t about to tell her he was stalling. Xavier enjoyed having his hands on her much more than he should. He’d fucked everything—young, old, rich, poor. Not a single woman he’d slept with over the years had meant a thing to him. All disposable. His little cleaner with the heart of gold awoke something dormant inside him. He was still deciding if that was a good or bad thing.

“We have to make this convincing first.”