Page 115 of Royal Flush

“And her father?”

Santini laughed and backed away, swirling his drink as if we were old buddies once again. “He was a fool. He had no idea his supposed good friends were using him. I knew. He wanted them dead and explained in detail why. So, I did him a solid. In turn, he made another promise his daughter would be mine. Do you know what good that would have done for my organization?”

A few seconds later, he stopped talking altogether as if realizing he’d just divulged his dire plans.

“So you killed him as well. It took a little while to find the plane you came in on, but I did get confirmation. You were good but not good enough.”

When the fucker dared try to pull his weapon on me, I had him against the wall, knocking it to the floor.

“You won’t get out of here alive,” he hissed even as I tightened my hold on his neck.

I could cross the ultimate line or return to my life.

“Oh, no?” I snarled, taking a few seconds to squeeze until his face started to turn red. “That’s where you’re wrong. Time for you to enjoy your penance.”

When I backed away, I yanked my phone from my pocket. I’d recorded the entire conversation, which had been a requirement for the FBI’s involvement.

On cue, they entered the room, swarming the area as they’d done with the entire hotel.

He tried to lunge toward me and two of the agents moved in front.

“Not so fast, Mr. Demage. We have everything we need for your arrest and conviction.”

I didn’t need to hear anything else. I’d send over the voice files as required, but I was finished with playing law and order.

At least to a point.

I was the first to walk out of the room, my brothers following. The hallway was crawling with cops and agents, Santini’s soldiers being jerked from their rooms.

We took the elevator this time, leaving the hotel and walking into the sunshine.

Both brothers remained quiet until we were safely outside, Valerio clapping me on the shoulder.

“You did good, brother. You restrained yourself. Surprising but I’m glad.”

I shot him a look, laughing slightly. “You have no idea how much control I can have.”

“I’d call that a Royal flush,” Gage teased.

“No,” I said as I pulled out my sunglasses. “Call it counting cards.” Which is exactly what I’d done with the man, carefully calculating every response. At least in this regard, I’d won the hand.

Now I planned on winning her heart.

My phone rang and seeing the number of the hospital, I bristled. “Braxton Royal.”

While I expected the worst, hearing the change in Dr. Myers’ voice allowed me to take a deep breath.

“Mr. Royal? Ms. Sinclair is awake and asking for you. And so you’re aware, it would appear your baby is going to be just fine.”

I’d never been a man to celebrate but so much in my life. Perhaps because I’d had so much of it handed to me on a silver platter. Yet as I stared up at the sky, giving God an imaginary fist bump, I had a feeling everything in my future would need to be celebrated.

Everything.

CHAPTER 30

Jasmine

Electricity crackling every muscle and tendon, shifting through my veins like wildfire. It only happened when I was close to one man.

---