Page 57 of King of the Dawn

“W-Why would he put you on my security?” I asked. “Why wouldn’t he keep me secure?”

Her head fell back, her black shoulder-length hair spiked around her ears. She moaned in irritation.

“I’m gonna lose my commission for this. Ah, but fuck it. I’m an assassin, not a bodyguard. What did he expect, right?” She phrased it as a question, but she didn’t wait for my response. “Right.”

She nodded to herself, then leaned forward in her seat, regarding me up and down.

“Lady, I’m doing this because I owe him a favor, and that’s it. Okay?” She chewed on her lip in contemplation. “Are you in love with the bookshop guy?”

“What?” My eyes went wide.

“Answer the question.” She commanded. Did all of Jericho’s colleagues speak like this? All… bossy.

“No!” I said. “I love Jericho.”

She nodded, as if she expected that answer all along. “Good.”

She fished an envelope out of her pocket and handed it to me. I tore it open in my shaking hands and read the plain words written on the paper.

“He’s divorcing me?” I looked at her in disbelief. “Why?” My heart was breaking. “What did I do wrong?”

“Nothing!” she said, smacking her forehead. “You’re as dense as he is.” She stood up, but even at her full height she only came to my shoulder. “He thinks you want a normal life, so he’s giving you one. He’s divorcing you because he thinks it’ll make you happy. So you can get away from our life and all the danger it is.”

She made bunny ear air quotes with those little phrases and I understood why Jericho both admired her and disliked her in equal measure. She was kind of a bitch.

“But…” I sputtered. “I don’t want that. I want him.”

“Cool.” She shrugged. “He’s at the airport.”

“He’s leaving?”

“Yeah, what did you expect him to do?” She shrugged again. “He thought he was dropping you off with your future husband in that bookshop.”

“What?” I looked around, ready to run to the apartment, then changed my mind. The airport was the other direction. But I couldn’t walk. What was I thinking? I needed a car.

As if reading my mind, Lea rolled her eyes and pulled out car keys from her pocket, dangling it in front of my face.

She clicked the button, and a little Audi S6 beeped to life. “Ride?”

“Yes, please!”

“Cool. But … sit in the front. I’m not a chauffeur.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Jericho

My eyes were heavy. Lack of sleep and general weariness at life had gotten me into this state.

“Mr. Vasiliev,” the flight attendant leaned over me, her voice a gentle whisper. “We’re experiencing a delay. Would you like something to drink while we get up and running?”

She smiled, her tilted little flight cap and perfectly manicured appearance made me miss my disheveled little witch. My heart still hadn’t recovered. It took every ounce of my being to not walk by the large glass window of the bookstore, to get one last glimpse of her, even if she was with another man.

Fucking Ryan.

But that would have ruined her happy ending. And she deserved one after everything she had been through.

I placed my palms on my eyelids and pressed at them until the sting of tears disappeared.

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