Page 56 of Ride with the Devil

As a Sinner, there are rules I have to live by.

As Luca, I have my own.

I’ll break them all for her.

Because I’m also Sinner who’s been a disciple of Lincoln Crewes ever since I made a deal with Devil. I followed him, and being a part of the mafia life has led me to my very own Lilith.

Kylie Ferguson.

A temptation in the flesh created perfectly for Luca St. James, she could do absolutely anything—and I’d find a way to justify it.

Just like I do now.

“You didn’t kill him.”

She gives me a look of pure exasperation. It’sadorable. “I was going to. I heard what he did to that homeless guy fifteen years ago. How he got his nickname.Devil. I was even gonna hack his head off when I was done.”

Reaching out, grabbing my girl, I squeeze Kylie to me. “Please, for the love of everything that’s fucking holy, never repeat that again.”

“Don’t worry, ace. That was when Winter was paying me to get Devil. I’m on Devil’s side now. Or I will be if he gives me a chance to explain.”

I pull back, my heart suddenly pounding. “You are? You’re loyal to the Sinners now?”

In our line of work, loyalty counts for a lot. And, well, she didn’t kill the boss.

That should count for something, right?

She shrugs, then leans in, snuggling as close to me as possible. “Well, I’m on your side so I guess I’ll root for the Sinners, too. But I have unfinished business with Johnny Winter. He paid me half up front for a dead Devil. I missed my deadline, but I pride myself on completing every job. Well, except for one. There was this fire of the West Side, but the target didn’t do, and then my client disappeared afterward?—”

“Mickey Kelly,” I supply. “He threatened Cross’s girl. Said he was going to go after Genevieve next, and Cross… he didn’t like that idea.”

“Well, he didn’t hire me for that hit, I’ll tell you that much. Winter, either. Right now, it’s just Lincoln Crewes I was supposed to hit. It’s why I had the strychnine on me along with the knife and my hummingbird figurine. If I couldn’t get him down on my own, that would have done the trick.”

“Strychnine?” I ask. It sounds familiar, but fuck if I know what that is.

Kylie nods. “The lip gloss that’s in my jacket pocket. It’s really a poison solution in case I get in trouble.”

I blink. Devil looked her over. Besides the cash, all she had was a tube of lip gloss.

“That waspoison?”

“It is.”

Is… because she has it stowed in the pocket of the jacket tossed on the floor in the basement. “Wait. Are you telling me that you could’ve poisoned me at any point?”

“Apart from all the other ways an experienced hitwoman like me could kill a sweetheart like you, ace? Oh, yeah. I mean, just so you don’t feel left out, Iwasgonna use it on you once I got bored of you. To get you back for drugging me.”

Holy shit.

I can’t believe I ever felt worried for Kylie. If anyone was ever in danger here, it’s beenme.

Same thing with my worry that she was pretending to be someone else to hide that she was also the Hummingbird. No way. She’s still Kylie, just with a killer secret.

And, fuck, I think I know why I was so upset. Not because I want to be all-holier-than-thou. Nope. It’s because it’s fucking hot as hell that my girl is an assassins.

Especially when she pats my chest in that way she has before telling me, “You’re lucky I decided I like you, ace.”

Is that what she thinks?

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