Page 20 of Blood Ties

“Now what?”

“Now you reach out to your contacts and I reach out to mine. We find out who she hired and we eliminate them and her. How you proceed will determine if you end up on that list,” he added the last as casually as one would the weather.

“Meaning?”

“You tell her how you really met her, and I let you live,” he calmly stated.

I scoffed. “You realize you’re in my home, right? What’s to stop me from killing you first?”

“Because, as I said before, that’smydaughter and I promise you, if I die at your hands, I have conditional responses in place. And I don’t think you want to explain to her how you killed her dad.” He finished his drink and quietly set the glass down, then pushed back and stood upright.

“How am I supposed to tell her she was my target before I fell for her?” I asked him, bordering on desperation. The fact that I’d admitted I fell for a woman in the span of a few weeks didn’t slip my attention. And I also had to admit to myself that I was starting to fall for her before she even knew I existed. Another fucked up part of our situation.

“I’m giving you until the end of the week to tell her the truth,” Matt ground out between gritted teeth. “If you can’t be honest with her, you don’t fucking deserve her. You reach out to who you need to, and I’ll reach out to who I need to. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

With that, he walked off toward my other spare bedroom as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

Jesus fucking Christ.

I called Facet the minute Matthew Bulgari retired to his room for the night. After making sure it was a good time, I filled him in on what had transpired.

“Bro, I’m sorry. I was on a job and we had shit for signal. We literally just pulled back into civilization,” Facet explained.

“I’m not mad at you, man. I’m just pissed at the situation.”

“So… you and the target, huh?” he asked, and I could hear the humor in his voice.

“I didn’t say anything about that,” I grumbled.

“You didn’t need to,” he countered. “And I honestly can’t believe you’re still able to call me—hell, I’m surprised you’re alive. That’s one bad motherfucker.”

“He said he was a paid mercenary.”

Facet gave a choking laugh. “That’s glossing over it nicely. Matthew Bulgari is—well, was—one of the top assassins in the world. Not to mention, high-risk extractions, and who knows what else. I’m not kidding when I said he’s a seriously wicked dude. I cannot believe I didn’t look into this one better. I… Jesus fucking Christ, I have no excuses.”

“It was a fucked up job all the way around. I shouldn’t have agreed to it. We both slipped. The blame doesn’t lie on your shoulders alone. Now what?”

We talked for a while longer as we strategized our next moves. By the time I ended the call and went to my room, I was dead on my feet. Except I could smell Nivea everywhere.

And as I dozed off, in my head, I heard those little noises she made as she came.

“I want to go to my loft so I can finish my project,” Nivea insisted over coffee.

“No,” her father insisted before I could even open my mouth.

“Dad, I’m a grown ass woman,” she argued, bright blue eyes flashing like the hottest part of a flame.

“Yes, you are—a grown ass woman with a price on her head,” he quietly agreed.

“We don’t even know that for sure,” she shot back.

“Actually, I know that for a fact,” I interjected, immediately realizing I had fucked up.

Her gaze narrowed as her nostrils flared. “How do you know that?”

Matthew cut in. “I’ve confirmed it.”

Though Nivea’s skin was pale to begin with, she went positively ashen at his confirmation. She placed her mug on the table with trembling hands.

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