Page 8 of The High Priestess

The door is shut, and after it’s locked, we remain in place until the container is safely loaded onto a ship that will take the man to Australia.

My eyes flick back to Santiago. Even though he’s a criminal, the man suffers from a bleeding heart. The only reason I alignedmyself with him is because he despises sex slavery almost as much as I do. He’s made it his life’s mission to take down the Rojas cartel, and I figured I’d hang around to help him do that.

But over the past two years, I’ve gotten to know Santiago well, and the man has grown on me. He never shuts up, and I don’t have much to say, which works well for our friendship.

Looking like he doesn’t have a care in the world, Santiago saunters closer to me, and noticing I’m wound tight, he lets out a chuckle and says, “Relax. We won’t run into any problems today.”

I nod, my body remaining tense.

He leans back against the SUV, his eyes resting on the ship. “We’ll head home tomorrow for the meeting with the other alliance members.”

I nod again.

From my peripheral vision, I see him looking at me. A few seconds later, he murmurs, “Bad day?”

I quickly learned not to bother hiding my bad days from Santiago, because he’ll pester me until I give in. I also don’t get angry anymore, since his concern comes from a place of love.

When I nod, he says, “Just twenty minutes, and we’ll head back to the hotel and get drunk.”

The corner of my mouth lifts. “We don’t need to get drunk.”

He nudges his shoulder against mine. “Pussy?”

This time, I let out a chuckle. “Contrary to popular belief pussy isn’t the solution to every problem.”

“Yeah, but it sure as hell helps to relieve tension.” His words are closely followed by a bark of laughter. “Fine. I give up. What do you want to do?”

I turn my head to meet his eyes. “Kill someone.”

“Bloodthirsty little shit,” he mutters as he pulls his phone from his pocket. “I’ll check with Enzo to see if he knows of a target you can take out for him.”

A smile tugs at my lips as I glance over the area again.

Since Santiago formed an alliance with Enzo, Leo, Dominik, and Ilias, I’ve helped the members out when they needed someone killed.

Once the ship finally leaves the harbor, Santiago signals with a wave of his hand that we’re heading out.

I walk to the SUV at the back of the convoy of vehicles and climb inside. After I set my weapon down on the passenger seat, I wait for the other SUVs carrying Santiago and his guards to leave before I follow them at a safe distance.

I always lag behind, so if someone were to attack, I’m not directly involved. As a trained sharpshooter, I can better protect Santiago from a distance while his guards remain close to him.

As we drive in the direction of the hotel, I’m agitated and bored.

For a moment, my thoughts threaten to spiral down a dark path, and once again, the image of Ronnie lying dead beneath a man as he rapes her rips another gaping hole in my already tattered soul.

I force my thoughts into a different direction, thinking of the upcoming meeting at the island. There isn’t much for me to do when everyone gathers on the island, and it makes time crawl by.

Thinking about the alliance members and their companions, a face pops into my mind.

Cassia Dimitrou.

When we helped Dominik secure his factory after it was taken by the bratva, the woman who’s next in line to take over the Greek mafia managed to impress me.

She looked terrified out of her fucking mind, but still, she saved Santiago’s and Dominik’s lives.

And then I had to save her life when part of the building came crashing down. At the time, I simply reacted, but after theadrenaline from the action wore off, I found myself thinking a little too often about Cassia.

Yeah, she’s beautiful, but it’s the vulnerability I saw in her eyes that threw me for a loop. It’s a rare thing to see in the underbelly of the criminal world.

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