Page 6 of Wed Or Dead

She straightened her shoulders. There were some faint red marks on her neck. Marks that Gage had left. She’d left her own share of marks on him, too. They’d been wild. Fierce.

Happy.

Just like a real honeymooning couple.

She glanced away from the mirror, almost hating the sight of her own reflection.Why couldn’t it have all been true?

Because her life wasn’t a fairy tale. She wasn’t some princess who got to live happily-freaking-after in a castle.

I’ve always been more the wicked queen type.

And Gage wasn’t Prince Charming, no matter how tempting he appeared to be.

Kayla reached for the handbag she’d put in the bathroom hours before. The bag, her clothes, and her weapons. It was almost six a.m. Just minutes away. That meant her call would be coming in three, two, one?—

Kayla answered the phone before it could even fully vibrate in her hand. “The job is done,” she told her boss. The job. Her marriage. Getting close to Gage Riley. She’d done everything she was supposed to do.

“Not quite,” came the rumble of Lyle McKennis’s voice. “But you’re real close, Kincaid.”

Her hands tightened around the phone. Close wasn’t good enough. Close wasn’t?—

“Actually, you’re killing close,” he continued, voice cold and flat in her ear. “You’re the only hunter who’s ever been able to slide under Riley’s radar.”

Because when Gage Riley saw her, he saw just a woman. Not a hunter.

“You know what he’s done,” Lyle said. “You know what he is.”

Yes. She looked up and forced herself to stare into the mirror again. She stared past her own reflection. Gazed at those marks on her neck.

“He’s sleeping now, isn’t he?” Lyle murmured.

“Yes.” Why was her body starting to feel so cold? Numb?

“Then it’s time.” Satisfaction purred through Lyle’s words. “Make sure you use silver.”

What other weapon would she use? Nothing else would work, not on Gage.

“Go kill your new husband,” Lyle ordered, “and give the world one less monster to fear.”

Chapter Two

The knife wasa light weight in her hand. She’d killed before with a weapon like this one, and Kayla had no doubt that she’d do so again. But…

Killing Gage? Ice seemed to fill her veins.

Yes, she knew that had been Lyle’s plan all along. From the first moment, when he’d told her to head into Gage’s bar and to charm her way into Gage’s world. She’d known Lyle wanted her to take out Gage. Another target. Another mission.

She’d always been such a good soldier. No,hunter.

Only the plan had changed for her. Gage was supposed to be a monster, sheknewthat. Lyle had told her all about Gage’s crimes. She’d read his file. Read it over a dozen times.

But when she looked at him, she didn’t see the monster. She just saw the man.

A man who’d wanted to marry her.

So on her thirty-fourth birthday, she’d headed to the chapel with him. And now, with dawn coming, the game was supposed to be over.

She was killing close. Lyle had that bit right. Gage trusted her. This was the time her group had been waiting for. They’d planned this attack for months.

---