Page 72 of Savage Rule

“Right.” I peer out the window at one of the most beautiful views I’ve seen. “Except, I didn’t kill people for it.”

“Didn’t you?” He goes to a wet bar and pours three shots of whiskey. “Pot, don’t call the kettle black. Bad is bad.”

I take the shot he’s handing me stare at it. No fucking way I’m falling for this shit again.

“So, can we talk,” Scarlet says, holding onto her drink too, apparently thinking the same thing I am.

Gideon tosses his back. “Sure. Give me your pitch. Why should I let my right-hand, the woman who knows enough about me to bring down my entire empire, run off with my enemy? And I assume you’ll want money too.”

Scarlet grabs my hand and tugs me to one of the leather sofas placed in front of a large fireplace. Gideon sits on the opposite side, leaning back casually, his arm on the backrest.

“We don’t need money,” Scarlet says. “Just the promise that you won’t come after us.”

“Where would you go?”

“New Orleans,” Scarlet says at the same time as I say, “Costa Rica.”

We look at each other and Gideon bursts out laughing. “God, you two are so fucked. Even if I don’t go after you, Luca will. And he will find you.”

“Not if you tell him where Sofia is,” I say.

His smile vanishes, instantly replaced by controlled fury. “I will never give up Sofia’s location.”

“Take something else. Anyone else,” I insist. “You love Scarlet. I can see that now. This could mean her life.”

“No!” he booms.

“Sofia is nothing to you.”

“I said no! Don’t ask me again, Gunner. Sofia is mine and that is not up for discussion.”

I turn to Scarlet. She’s focused intently on the fireplace, her hand tight around the shot glass. She swallows hard before she speaks without looking at him. “I think it’s me that means nothing to him, Gunn.”

Gideon stands and throws his glass into the fireplace. “Dammit, Scar. If that was true, you’d be dead right now.”

“Fine,” she says, her voice choked. “Then just let us go. I swear to keep all your secrets. You know I will. All I ask in return is that you don’t follow.”

“And in return?” Gideon urges. “What do I get for my loss?”

Scarlet shakes her head. “What do you want?”

“A favor. Each.” He paces back and forth in front of us as he comes up with his plan. “I will let you go, but I won’t lose track of you. So that when I need to, I will call in my favors and you will comply. If you don’t, the price will be Gunn’s life. And this time,I’m not giving you the order, Scarlet. This time, I’ll do it myself. Is it a deal?”

Scarlet and I glance at each other.

“What kind of favors?” I ask.

“The kind that will get blood on your hands,” he confirms. “Why else would I bother?”

“It’s a deal,” Scarlet says. “For me.”

I nod. “Fine. It’s?—”

Gideon’s phone rings and he lifts a finger at me when he looks at the screen. “Hold that thought. I have to take this. Gideon,” he answers the call.

Whatever is being said to him has his brows pinched together so tight they might as well be a unibrow. Then, he lifts his cold hard gaze toward me.

“What?” I mouth.

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