El Diablo (Killer of Kings 6)

“So why not take the information? You only hooked up with your housekeeper for a couple weeks. Doesn’t make sense to me.”

“I didn’t hook up with her,” he said. “How long did it take for you to know your woman was the one?”

Viper smirked, keeping his eyes on the road. “I was hired to kill her. Didn’t turn out as planned.”

“So how long?”

“Couple weeks, I guess. Maybe less.”

“Exactly my point,” said Xavier. “I’ve been searching for my sister my entire life. She’s family, the only piece of my past I want to hold on to. But I’ll sacrifice everything for Alesha. I just did. You should know how it is.”

Viper tapped the steering wheel with a finger. “I never pegged you as a man to give a shit. Didn’t think you had a loyal bone in your body.”

“Well, there you go. I was labeled the devil most of my life because I had no other choice. It was survival of the fittest.”

“Yeah, my childhood was pretty much what nightmares are made of. Seems to be a common thread with Boss’s men.”

Xavier shrugged. “If a guy grew up in the suburbs with a silver spoon in his mouth, he’d be white collar, not killing for a living.”

“Good point.”

The tension between them eased. It seemed choosing Alesha over garnering information had earned him points with Killer of Kings.

They pulled into the front drive of a posh hotel a while later. Boss likely owned it. He controlled half the damn city. Before Xavier could get out of the car, the revolving door revealed Alesha. She stood there in a navy-blue dress, her hair fluttering loosely in the slight breeze.

He exited the car, but stopped abruptly on the sidewalk, worried if she even wanted to see him. Maybe she hated him for involving her in his madness. Maybe Boss had brainwashed her.

They were both frozen in time, staring at each other. She was fucking gorgeous, the sun highlighting her baby blue eyes.

Her mouth opened, but no words came out, and then she ran. She rushed toward him. As soon as she thrust herself into his arms, he picked her arm, twirling her briefly. He held her tight, relief that she hadn’t rejected him filling him with calm. He had her back.

“Xavier.” She kissed him all over the face, dozens of individual kisses.

“Baby, I’m never letting you go.”

“I’ve missed you,” she said, leaning back to look at him.

He lowered her to her feet. “How you healing?”

“I’m fine. What I needed was you.”

“Boss kept me away. I wanted to be here, I swear to you.”

She ran her hands over his chest. “I know. Can we get away from here?”

He glanced over at Viper, and the hitman nodded. “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

This was perfect, a new start at forever. But Xavier couldn’t shake the sinking feeling he was missing something crucial. Boss was complicated and twisted. Xavier didn’t like how easy this was, even if Boss continued to withhold information about his sister. All he knew was he couldn’t make any mistakes. Any more screw ups and next time Boss could keep Alesha from him forever.

They sat in the backseat of Viper’s car together. He ran his hand through her hair, still in shock he had her back. “Did they hurt you?”

She shook her head.

He pulled up the hem of her dress to see her thigh. The stitches were healing nicely. He trailed his fingers lightly over the scar. “I’m so sorry, Alesha.”

“It was my choice. You didn’t want to involve me, so don’t blame yourself,” she said. “Besides, the doctors said I’d be as good as new in no time. A bit of a limp, but I think it’s more habit at this point.”

“I messed up. You’re mine to protect.”