Page 210 of Hate Mates

When Marcus gets to the final page, his eyes grow wide with concern. “This is your plan for revenge? She’s innocent in all this,” he says disapprovingly.

I narrow my eyes as I scowl at him. “So was my dad. A life debt must be fulfilled. I’ve just not yet decided how to fulfil it,” I say cryptically.

Miles, Marcus’ Head of Security, who has been standing silently in the background, observing our interaction, steps forward when he catches sight of one of the pictures on the final page.

“That’s my sister,” he snaps, looking at me with fury in his eyes.

I slowly nod, not backing down under the weight of both sets of eyes that are now glaring at me. “From the research I’ve done, they met when your sister was at university for a brief time.When Courtney dropped out, they didn’t see each other or speak for a while, but they’ve recently just reconnected. They meet to get coffee sometimes, that’s all.”

Miles turns his attention to Marcus, and I’m grateful his heated gaze is off me for the time being. “I don’t want Courtney involved in this.”

Before Marcus can respond, I cut in. “She won’t be. I’ll keep her, and anyone else, out of it. But Sophia Kincaid is how I get my revenge, and you once told me that you wouldn’t stand in my way when the time came.”

Marcus shifts uncomfortably, wincing as he looks from Miles back to me. With a reluctant nod, he lets out a sigh. “Nobody else gets dragged into this, Benji. It’s between you and Gary and Sophia Kincaid. Take your revenge, then get the hell out of Blackthorn. Go back to Hillsdale, back to your life, and do the job I pay you to do.”

I give him a small smile as I stand. “Thank you.”

Marcus stands too, his lips turning down into a frown. “Remember, Benji, revenge may not be the cathartic act you think it is. The dead stay dead, and our demons remain. I wish you luck all the same.”

He reaches out his hand and I shake it, letting him know how much I appreciate his approval. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to move forward with my plan. Well, I would…it would just piss off a lot of people.

“Thank you,” I tell him as I start to smirk, before adding, “Sophia Kincaid is the one who will need your luck.”

ONE

Benji

After months of research, I thought I knew everything there was to know about Sophia Kincaid, who has changed her name to Kingsley to avoid having people recognise her as a mafia princess.

I’ve scoured social media, stolen all of her educational information, and I’ve hacked her phone and emails too, learning everything there is to know about her. Yet, after following her around for close to a month now, she’s blown all of my preconceived notions out of the water.

For a mafia princess, she’s vastly under-trained. I’ve been getting closer and closer, not even trying to stay hidden anymore, and she still hasn’t noticed I’m stalking her.

People are able to get the jump on her all the time, and although she screams like a girl, I’ve not once seen her pull a weapon. As far as I can tell, she’s not armed at all, which is baffling to me, as I was taught to carry a blade from childhood.

When you grow up in our world, your family is bound to have a few enemies. You never know who will want to use the kids to get to the parents, and knowing Sophia hasn’t been trained for this very scenario annoys the fuck out of me.

Why wouldn’t her father train her the way mine trained me?

As usual, I push all thoughts of my dad from my mind so I can focus on the task in hand. Even though Sophia clearly isn’t a mafia princess, it doesn’t mean she’s shy.

She’s got a smart mouth, and every university class I’ve observed her in, she always manages to start a debate. It’s obvious that she’s intelligent, and she loves to argue. It’s easy to see why everyone loves her.

People seem to flock to her; just to say hi, or to ask how she is. She always smiles and talks to each person, like she cares about them all. She never once seems bored by being in the presence of others the way I am.

Then when night falls, a very different side to Sophia comes out, and I’m quickly realising this is the part of my job I look forward to the most.

As you’d expect with a university student, she goes out a couple of nights a week, but what caught me off-guard straight away was that she often goes out alone. For someone who is usually surrounded by people, this struck me as odd—until I learnt why.

When Sophia leaves the house at night, gone are the sweet skirts and shy smile. In their place is a vixen. She dresses sexy and sultry, and she takes what she wants.

Tonight, Sophia is wearing a tight black mini-dress that looks almost like a bandage. It’s wrapped so tightly around her sexy little body, I can see all of her curves. The dress is off the shoulder and accentuating the swell of her tits over the neckline, making her neck look long and elegant.

The dress stops much higher up her thighs than it should, showing off her creamy legs, which are made to look longer thanks to the black stilettos she’s wearing.

Her long hair falls in waves down her back, stopping just above the curve of her arse. In the sunlight, her hair almost looks ginger, but under the moonlight, it’s a deep auburn colour that frames her pale face perfectly.

She’s added her usual sultry makeup, which makes her look older than nineteen. The dark shadows around her eyes bring out the forest-green colour, making them almost sparkle, and the red lipstick she’s added gives her the perfect pout.

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