Page 45 of His Lovebug

Yes

I smiled despite the seriousness of what was happening. War was a gruff man who’d been a SEAL for half his life.

The drive to Derek’s took about twenty minutes, and when I reached the house, War was already waiting out front. I quirked a smile at him when he shoved himself into the Hummer. War was a big man with wide shoulders and a trim waist. He had more muscles than me and Derek combined, and he still wore his brown hair in a short crew cut despite the years he’d been out of the armed services. Weathered from years in the sun, he was a handsome man, but much too masculine for my taste. Not that I looked at any men for sex other than Quin. Still, since being with my beautiful wife, I’d been...intrigued by other guys. Notattracted, exactly, but I checked to see if Iwouldbe interested if I didn’t have Quin. It had been a self-discovery process.

“Ready?”

“Yes, sir.”

War didn’t usually come on adventures with me. He was Derek’s head bodyguard and was tasked with keeping Kit safe, but he was the closest to the Courtesan and the best.

“Did you see Kit off?” I teased, aware that I was playing with fire. Derek, the poor soul, had no fucking idea how head over heels his son was for War. While I didn’t know if it was the same the other way around, War had subtle interest in his gaze whenever he looked at Kit in return—but it was clear he made a point ofnotglancing in Kit’s direction unless he had to.

That went triple if Derek was around.

War cleared his throat and stared straight ahead. “Yes, sir. Nitro took him to his friend’s house.”

I nodded. “Good. It’s best if he’s safe. Did Kit have questions?”

He snorted. “That boy would trust the devil when it comes to his dad. I told him Derek’s going out of town for business, and he agreed to go. Didn’t need anything else. He likes staying at Leland’s anyway.”

“Trust is not a great thing when you’re the son of a mobster in New Gothenburg.”

War made a sound in agreement.

From there, we were silent. War didn’t bullshit much, and neither did I before I had tohandlea situation. So, we stayed in comfortable silence until we reached Topher’s office in the middle of the city.

I parked the Hummer on a side street and slid from the vehicle before opening the back. Tugging on the bottom of the cargo area exposed a secret compartment, and I pulled out ablack duffel bag. I slipped on gloves before I closed up the Hummer again and met War on the sidewalk.

Grinning, I gestured for him to follow me. We walked toward the parking garage attendant, hiding in his comfy little office. The moment he noticed us, he shot to his feet and touched his hand to his hip, where I supposed there was a gun or Taser.

“I have something for you.” I opened the duffel and yanked out a green tranquilizer gun. The second the muzzle cleared the bag, I shot him in the chest. He grunted, yelled, and fell on the ground, the drugs working already. In situations like this, it was easier to pay someone off, but I didn’t want this guy to have too much information about us. The tranquilizer would fuck him up and leave him with a hole in his memory for the next few hours.

“War, lock down the camera footage while I deal with Topher. Take this in case you need it.” I held out the tranquilizer gun, and he snatched it.

“You know the target has guards waiting for him.” He gave me a sharp look, and I winked.

“I can handle a few of his men. Can you deal with this?”

He grunted in answer and stepped into the small office.

I strode toward the elevator to the right and hit the third-floor button. Royal had sent Nitro to do some research, and what he’d found was very useful. Harris Financial employees parked on the third floor, and Topher had his own special spot. According to employees that Nitro had subtly pumped for info, Topher always finished around midnight, which meant he’d be out soon. I wanted to see his face when I put a bullet in his head.

Simple.

Eloquent.

To the point.

I wasn’t like Topher. I wasn’t trying to make a big deal about how powerful I was. I knew what I had, unlike him. Ifhe’d actually hurt Quin, I would’ve done something a lot more violent.

According to his employees, he always had guards waiting for him—three of them—but like I’d told War, I could handle them.

As soon as I was out of the elevator, I went to the left and found Topher’s car. When I was satisfied he was still here, I leaned on a wall to the right, in the darkness away from the lights directly above his vehicle. I opened the bag again and pulled out my next toy, a Beretta handgun with a suppressor, then closed my eyes.

To my left, a guard exited one of the doors, whistling as he went, completely oblivious that he was about to meet death. He surveyed the garage, forgoing the area where I was currently hiding, and pulled off the radio he had attached to his belt. “All clear. Send the boss out.”

I held in a snort. Lazy guards would get Topher killed.Oh, how sad.

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