Page 85 of King of Hearts

“What do you need?” Hector asked, likely understanding that I wasn’t exactly in the mood to stay on the phone any longer than I needed to.

“Men. Guns. Taylor is currently in the company of Markos Mariano, and we’re going to relieve her of said company tomorrow morning. Be ready.”

“It’ll be done, primo, but I just want to be sure…” Hector began but stopped like he wasn’t sure he wanted to say it.

I walked down the hall and gently knocked on the black door that had a holographic spider sticker set in the center. The man I was here to see greeted me with a nod and led me to a reclined chair in the middle of the room.

“Just say it,” I bit out.

Hector let out a sigh on his end, likely running his hand over his head. “You do this, and it means you’re in…no backing out after this.”

I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it in the corner of the room.

“I know.” I hung up and set the phone aside while I prepared for war.

Chapter Thirty-One

Heartache wasn’t a new sensation.

My heart had been slowly breaking since I was young, since that first time my father shot someone in front of me, my ponytail caught in his meaty fist when I tried to run away. He wanted me to watch, to see what betrayal looked like. He wanted me to be a tool for him, a broken doll he could pick up and place where he needed me as he saw fit.

So this new feeling flaring to life shouldn’t have been new…but somehow it felt different. The loss of a life I had convinced myself I might be able to keep…all it did was drive the hammer into what was left of my heart at a much more damaging pace.

I blinked, watching the rain smear the glass near my face. I’d been leaning against the balcony door for what felt like an hour, tucked away in the Mariano mansion. There was a courtyard three stories below my window, and inside the fortress stood a myriad of foot soldiers pacing the property carrying semi-automatic weapons. Surely, they weren’t always this obsessive or alert…there had to be something that had them on edge, and the hope that flared to life like a tiny match was unwelcome.

I didn’t want to think that Juan would come for me. If he came, they’d kill him, and I’d have nothing left but a broken heart and a baby girl who would likely grow up in the exact same fashion I had.

A small knock on the guest room door had me swinging my head around.

Markos strode in, giving me a small smile. His dark hair was slicked back in a menacing way, the black strands matching his all-black suit and gleaming ebony watch. He’d grown to be a handsome man, but he had a darkness inside him that matched my father’s, so I found myself dreadfully repulsed by him.

“Just checking on you…and…” He looked down at the swaddled babe lying on the bed.

He seemed unsure of how to process her existence, but he was crazy if he thought I wasn’t on to his ruse. He had picked me up at the meeting location the previous night with a comforting arm around my shoulder and a gentle welcome to his mansion. He’d even prepared this beautiful room for me, not pressuring me into his or trying anything reprehensible.

I knew he’d only accepted this as a way to assuage his pricked pride, that or he had another use for me because, for all his faults, I believed Kyle when he said my father wasn’t making a deal with Juan or Markos. That meant Markos was now making his own plans, and he had just picked up two new pawns to use on his gameboard.

“Her name is Alex.” My arms banded across my chest as I looked down at her sleeping form. Markos looked too, but nothing changed in his features; they didn’t soften or transition to anything fatherly. Once, when my mother was feeling maternal and opened up about how she knew Charlie was someone she could trust, she had said she knew based on how he looked at me, someone who wasn’t his child. She had told me he was the only man she had ever met who didn’t look at me like I was a ticket or a price tag. She said his features would transform entirely when he watched me, and said it was the same way he looked at his own daughter.

I had doubts back then about that statement because he loved his daughter and treated her like she had hung the moon and sun. Now, comparing how Juan had looked at Alex to how Markos looked at her, I understood what my mother meant. Juan looked at Alex like she was his, his to protect, to love, to raise. Markos looked at her like she could prove to be useful, but he wasn’t sure how yet. I wouldn’t give him the chance to find out.

“How are you settling in?” Markos moved his greedy gaze to my cleavage, slowly perusing my form in a sensual way. I was still healing and hadn’t hit my six-week mark, so there was certainly no way I could have sex…but I wasn’t sure if Markos was the kind of man to care about details like that.

“I’m okay.” I shrugged.

I had only told Markos that I needed to get away from my father and would find a way to secure all the original terms of his contract regardless of what my father said. Markos had said we’d discuss it, but for now he was happy to resume the planned marriage.

“Well, I wanted to let you know that we received something today. I’m hesitant to give it to you, but…” He pulled out an envelope, looking down at it with his dark brows caved in question. “I think it might help you put whatever happened behind you and get closure so we can move forward. I’m planning to have our ceremony take place this weekend.”

My brows arched, hitting my hairline. “So soon?”

“I think it’s best we do not tempt your father any more than we have.”

I looked down, ignoring his smarmy smirk. Something about him made my skin crawl. I hated not knowing what plans he had for me, what assurances he’d made for himself where I was concerned.

“What if that’s from my father?” I gestured toward the letter.

Markos gave me a little scoff with a lift of his shoulder then he handed it over to me. A leaking black heart was stamped into the middle of the white surface.

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