Page 29 of Scarlet Mark
A beat of silence followed. “I… I’m sorry, but you have me at a loss. I sent my emissaries to retrieve Amara. Is she all right?”
Ah, so that was how he wanted to play it? “Your former fiancée is fine. Your men, however, are not.”
“Has she done something?” he asked, his voice hardening.
“Amara? No. She’s feisty but harmless.”Unless equipped with a syringe of ketamine.
He cleared his throat. “Look, Killian. I don’t know what she’s said to you, but she’s a master manipulator. Don’t make the mistake of listening to her. Everything she’ll tell you is a lie.”
My eyebrows rose. “Is that what this is about, then? Why you considered me a loose end?” It was the only explanation I could draw from him sending this many men to take me down.
“A loose end?” He actually laughed, the sound smooth. Too smooth. “Is that what she has you believing?”
I smiled, amused. His deception was flawless. If hisemissarieshadn’t been packing hardcore artillery, I might have been tempted to believe him. But my instincts weren’t wrong. He’d sent these men here to kill me, not her.
“Oh, she’s gotten to you,” he continued, sighing. “I’m so sorry, Killian. She is quite good, though. She played me as well. We can still work this out, you and I.”
“Yeah? What’s she worth to you?” I asked, curious.
“I’ll double the reward on her head,” he said immediately.
I whistled. “Well, that is an impressive offer. But we still have a problem.”
“Whatever it is, I can fix it.”
“Can you?” I countered. “Because I have to say, fucking with a Cavalieri was not one of your wisest decisions. However, I do have a suggestion, if you’re interested.”
“Name it.” He sounded so sure of himself, as if trying to have me killed was an everyday business deal.Righteous prick.
“Next time? Send an army. A trained one.”
Movement in my peripheral vision had me hanging up the phone and switching focus. I dropped the device and moved toward the nearest dead body to retrieve a gun, then aimed for the path beside Amara’s fleeing feet.
She froze, the bullet barely missing her leg. “The next one goes in your calf, Amara,” I called to her. “Now get in the fucking car.”
Because she had a hell of a lot of explaining to do.
A man like Jenkins didn’t send a group of thugs to retrieve a runaway con-artist bride. And he certainly didn’t risk pissing off the head of the Tabella Della Morte by taking out one of his assassins with a shitty hit.
No, there was something far more pressing happening here. She’d mentioned the auctions, suggesting he’d bought her at one. Fine. That was damning evidence, but still her word against his.
Which told me that little truth was only the tip of the iceberg.
Amara knew something far more deadly to the senator’s reputation. Something important enough for him to try to kill me just for having spent some time with her.
I sent a bullet into Boris’s skull before tossing the gun to the ground.
This place needed a cleanup crew. Stat.
Pulling out my own phone, I sent a text to the team lead who handled these issues. I included a set of coordinates and the number of casualties. They had contacts all over the world on standby specifically to address these types of situations.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Amara slid into the passenger seat. The high beams made it impossible to see her inside, but I suspected she would be trying to get into my weapons stash right about now.
Good luck, sweetheart. There were two containers, both of which would only open for my fingerprint.Gotta love technology.
I was also surrounded by an array of discarded firearms, most of which were actually quite impressive. They’d make good gifts for the cleanup crew.
The straightening of her shoulders as I approached the driver’s side confirmed my suspicions.
