Page 43 of King of Hearts

He spit on the floor once he registered the connection he’d been pulling together. “You’re the son, aren’t you?”

I stared at Taylor, her eyes going wide in shock.

“You’re the new leader…the little boy who used the blade?” Her father shook his head, rubbing his chin. “I always wondered what happened to the little boy who knew how to handle a blade so well it struck fear into the hearts of men up and down the coast. They used to call you kis szellem—little ghost.”

“I’m not here to talk about my past, or yours. Let her go. Now.”

I wasn’t in the mood to get into the tangled rumors that had gotten out of hand after I merely defended myself when I needed to. My father used to hand me a knife and tell me to sit outside the door of whatever deal he was brokering.

“So, you’re also the father?” His blond brows raised, and now that I looked at him, he resembled her. She had the shape of his eyes and his nose.

“I am. She’smine. You’re touching something that doesn’t belong to you.” I eyed him again, trying to catch Taylor’s gaze. She was staring, breathing through her nose, her hair wild, mussed, and I could see a tiny trail of blood dribble down her neck; her lip was bleeding too. “You’ll pay for that.” I pointed toward her face.

“She’snotyours. She has been on borrowed time until her twenty-first birthday. She knew she was coming home, knew Markos would be waiting for her. It was all arranged long ago. Her entire future has already been sold.”

Fuck…I hoped to everything holy he wasn’t talking about Markos Mariano. I couldn’t show how much the idea of her going to him messed with me, or how shaken I was by this entire thing. These were big players, and I was drastically out of my league.

“Sheismine. The babyismine.Theyare both fuckingmine!” I yelled and took two steps closer. She was worth something to him; he wouldn’t hurt her. “Now let her the fuck go and speak to me like a man.”

“Give me something that guarantees you won’t kill me,” begged the pathetic piece of trash.

“You’re my child’s grandfather. No harm will come to you as long as you don’t do any harm.”

“A new deal can be made,” he offered, releasing his hold on Taylor.

“You’re not in a position to barter,” I reminded him, drawing closer.

He laughed. “I am here as a courtesy. The man she’s promised to will come for her, and if I go missing, he will bring his entire operation to wipe your fucking pathetic family off the face of this earth. No one will remember you. The Mariano family will come for you. But, if we work together, form a new deal, then I will let her go.”

Fuck. Itwasthe fucking Mariano family. El Peligro had started as a cartel but over the years transitioned into a gang, the largest on the east coast. It would be lucrative for him to ally with us with something as strong as a marriage, but I wasn’t even involved in any of this shit. If I said yes right now, it would mean I was in, back in with my father’s legacy…in with the one stain on my soul that I’d always wanted removed.

Taylor’s flushed face and growing injuries had me dropping the gun and blade.

“Deal. Let her go, let me clean her up, and we will talk about a new deal.”

“You swear it?”

I nodded. “On my family.”

His hands dropped, taking a step back from Taylor, and thank fuck she went along with the ruse and ran to me. I opened my arms, and she plastered herself to my chest, her arm going up around my neck.

Hector came over with a blanket and placed it over her shoulders, tucking it around her.

I wrapped my arm around her protectively.

“We talk tomorrow. Get the fuck out of my house. You’ll be welcomed back for brunch at eleven. Come with three men only. You will be safe. If I go back on my word, you can go to war with my family.”

The man gave Taylor one last look before he nodded at me. They grabbed their dead and injured men and began to leave.

“See that they’re gone, and get some men to clean this place up,” I said to Hector before I turned and cleared the walkway, keeping my arm around Taylor, who was shaking.

Once we were clear, I picked her up and carried her up the stairs, past her room.

“Where are you going?” she whispered, her voice shuddering.

“You sleep with me now.”

I opened my door and walked to the bed. It was larger than hers, with a much nicer headboard and much larger window.

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