Page 87 of The Savage King

The stakes are high.

Trusting anyone else becomes too risky.

But we need to get Isabelle back. Firstly, because she doesn’t deserve this. Secondly, Mia is still healing after being shot and deeply grieving over her entire family being killed while being out of her mind with worry about Isabelle.

Which makes Connor unbearable.

Which makes my life hell.

“Listen, Decker is good, but he can’t navigate his way across Mexico with a blonde bombshell—”

“Would we call her a bombshell?” Connor asks, leaning his hip against the side of the sofa where Mia is curled up under a blanket.

I’m sitting opposite her in an armchair and not unhappy about being so close to the wall-mounted electric fire.

It’s unseasonably cold.

“No, we would not.” Mia frowns.

“As I was saying, he can’t hide out from the entire fucking cartel. Look at this.” I lift my phone.

Isabelle is front page news after her father and fiancé—the one no one knew she had—went public about her being missing.

“Still can’t believe she’s engaged,” Mia says, shaking her head. “Never once did she mention this Todd guy, nor did she wear a ring. It’s weird, don’t you think?”

I shrug.

Mia twists her head. “Babe, we need to help them.”

I force back my grin when Connor’s jaw tenses. I’ve known him a long time now, and no one impacts him the way his new wife does. He’d move planets for her if she asked.

The good thing about Mia is, that despite being a mafia princess—or at least she was—she is very pragmatic. She doesn’t take advantage of her influence. I know she’s aware of it. She’s used to being around influential people.

I respect her for that.

Connor has more power than most people on earth. He’s wealthy, connected, and has a personal sense of authority that very few know how to weld.

It’s why I wanted to work with him. Or one of them. Still, that’s a story for another day. Today I want to bring my fellow Marine home, and I strongly sense he needs backup.

“Mia’s right,” I say. “I’m going to Mexico.”

“The fuck you are,” Connor says, dropping his drink on the side table. “I need you here. Decker is fine. He’ll call if he needs us.”

I cross my arms. I might technically work for Connor Barrett, but we both know I’m here because I want to be.

When it comes to our Dark Kings’ work, we are a team. Sure, he pays the bills, but without all of us, he never would have discovered who Carlos was.

“Fuck,” Connor curses when I don’t say anything.

“Think about it,” I say, reaching for my whisky. “The odds are against him. He needs backup.”

Connor walks around the sofa and sits down, pulling Mia’s legs over his lap.

“I’ll go with you,” he finally says.

“No!” Mia cries. “No.”

“Babe, I’m a Marine,” he says, rubbing her legs as I watch his jaw grind again.

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