Page 23 of Claimed By the Villain
“I’d do the same for Amber[8].”
“Now that you know your Jackie’s safe, let’s figure out how to settle the score with whoever tried to send you to hell early. Tell me everything you remember.”
I pause for a few seconds before answering.
“The mission seemed simple. Kill a Bolivian drug dealer. He wasn’t a big target.”
Beau raises an eyebrow.
“You’re wondering why the hell I took the job, right?”
“Yeah. Your price tag isn’t exactly low.”
“Payment was made upfront, in full.”
“Anonymous client?”
“Anonymous, yeah, like most of them. I was hired through the dark web, like ninety-nine percent of the time.”
“We need to try and trace it.”
“Almost impossible.”
“Nothing’s impossible. Keep going. What else do you remember?”
“I was in a small Bolivian town, about five kilometers from my target. I wasn’t going to stay more than one night. Booked the hotel last minute, too.”
“Not even the client would’ve known where to find you?”
“Beau, I’ve been in this game way too long to make rookie mistakes like that.”
“And yet, they found you.”
“You think it was the client?”
“I’m sure of it.”
“Why?”
“They blew up the entire hotel, Lucifer. The whole damn building went up in flames. They wanted to make sure you were dead.”
“I remember the explosion, and I remember escaping… but how’d you find me?”
“You dragged yourself, God knows how, into the woods. I’ve got eyes everywhere, especially on close friends.”
“You’re saying you spy on me?”
“I’m saying you’re never alone—and you never will be, Lucifer.”
It’s strange hearing that. I’ve always considered myself completely alone—even with Jackie, I could never really get close.
“Like I was saying,” he continues, “you walked into a trap. Now we need to figure out why someone wanted you dead.”
“Does it matter? All that matters to me is that my hidden enemy just signed his own death warrant.”
“It matters to me. Could’ve been one person or several. We need to know who gave the order.”
“Whoever did it made a mistake.”
