Page 14 of Lethal Hearts

“My odds are much better then you think,” Don Juan said.

Her heart skipped a beat as he pulled out a small handgun tucked inside his suit jacket. Of course he would keep a gun in his jacket, she thought desperately.

Then all this—agreeing to marry Mikhail and retrieving her father—did her actions mean nothing? Was she and her father going to die anyway? That didn’t seem fair at all. A door closed and opened. It was eerily silent outside the hospital corridors.

“Point that gun at my future wife again, Juan, and you’ll never see the light of day,” said a cold voice. Relief washed over Harper as she spotted Mikhail entering the room, his face filled with cold fury.

****

The moment Juan Garcia turned and changed targets, Mikhail moved. Mikhail doubted the head of the Garcia Cartel had seen any action lately. He was the kind of man who didn’t want to get his hands dirty, now that he was at the top of the food chain.

Mikhail closed the distance between them, and disarmed Garcia in three moves. Garcia cried out as Mikhail flung the gun away and twisted his hand at an awkward angle.

“Release me this instant or face the consequences,”Garcia yelled.

“Let me think about it a moment,” Mikhail said.

This bastard still believed he had the upper hand, despite the fact his life was now in Mikhail’s hands. It was tempting to kill Garcia where he stood but Garcia didn’t deserve such an easy way out. Mikhail eventually decided to release the scumbag.

He hated to admit it, but Garcia was right. There would be bloodbath between their two groups if Mikhail decided to put a bullet between Garcia’s eyes right this instant.

Garcia gripped his sprained hand and gave him a glare which meant absolutely nothing to Mikhail. Big bullies like Garcia didn’t scare him, not when Mikhail was the biggest monster in the room.

“What did you call that bitch earlier?” Garcia demanded.Good, Mikhail thought,the old bastard had been paying attention.

“My fiancée. I intend to make Harper Valenti my wife,” Mikhail simply said.“This hospital is filled with my men, Juan. I’ll give you credit for arranging that little distraction outside and for having the guts to enter the hospital alone. That’s the only reason I’ll allow you to live.”

“Allow me to live?”Garcia sputtered in indignation.

“I’ll only give you five seconds to walk out. If the timer expires, your life is forfeit and let me assure you, I don’t care how many men will have to die because of your foolish actions. I have men to spare,” Mikhail said, giving Garcia an icy smile.

The last part was a white lie. Despite his black reputation, Mikhail did give a damn about the men and women who worked for him and their families.

“You heartless monster. I pity you, child,” Garcia said those last words to Harper.

Mikhail started counting down.“5, 4, 3…” Mikhail didn’t need to finish. At 3, Garcia scurried out the door like a rat. Raul entered the room looking rather chastised and embarrassed.

“Boss, what do we do with Garcia?” Raul asked.

“Let him leave in peace. I’m a man of my word, after all,” Mikhail said. Raul gave him a nod of acknowledgement before exiting the room.

“I didn’t know a man like you was capable of mercy,” Alfonso Valenti finally spoke.

“Father, Mikhail didn’t let him go out of mercy,” Harper explained.

“My fiancée is right,” Mikhail said.

He stood next to her and slid one possessive arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. Alfonso narrowed his eyes at the sight but said nothing. Good. Mikhail wanted Harper’s old man to continue being afraid of him.

Mikhail felt zero respect for the man who basically orchestrated the fall of his empire. Harper explained her father made terrible decisions in the end, but failing his daughter and the men and women relying on him only amounted to failure in Mikhail’s eyes. He had no shred of forgiveness for weak men.

“Harper understands me, even though we haven’t gotten to know each other that well,” Mikhail said. He looked fondly at his wife.“Tell your father why I allowed Garcia to walk out of here alive, darling.”

Harper frowned at the pet word he used, but didn’t remark on it. She glanced back at her father.“Mikhail believes he needs to suffer. Killing him now would be too easy.”

“That’s right. Garcia apparently likes games. So do I,” Mikhail said.

“You’re both crazy,” Alfonso said with a shake of his head.“You, daughter, for agreeing to marry this madman, and Mikhail for thinking you can toy with someone of Don Juan’s stature.”

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