“What are you doing right now?” Luna asked as she plucked one of the cupcakes from the box and slowly peeled the paper away then taking a big bite.
“Currently? Listening to you eat.”
“Fuck you,” Luna said around a mouthful of food, though the words came out garbled, making her laugh.
“Are you offering?” he asked.
So this was the game he was playing. “Maybe.”
“Let’s not make promises you’re not prepared to keep, love.”
A muffled voice sounded in the background, the feminine tone making Luna smile as she sucked frosting from her fingers. “Tell Aidra I said hi.”
He relayed the message. “She returns the sentiment. Unfortunately, I have business I need to attend to, and I assume you’re still meeting with Keanu today?”
“You know he hates when someone uses his name,” Luna said, remembering the way Skorpion’s face would twist up when someone did. “But yes, I am.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
“Very soon?”
“Very soon.”
Luna smiled. “I’ll see you then.”
“Te amo, mi pequeña luna.”
She wasn’t given a chance to respond before the call ended, and she was left looking at the screen with a stupid grin on her face.
It was hard not to be intimidated by Skorpion at first glance.
He was massive, with broad shoulders and enough muscle that it looked like he could bench-press a car. Looking every bit the mercenary he was, most didn’t know he spent more time than he didn’t on a beach somewhere catching waves.
The first time she met him, she hadn’t known what to expect, especially when she’d crossed paths with him by accident.
Five years ago …
“He wants me to come in?” Luna asked, looking from her phone to Kit, who was lounging back against the headboard with his eyes on the newspaper in his lap as he scanned the obituaries.
For the past three mornings, he’d been going over them, searching for names that he wasn’t willing to share, no matter how many times she asked.
“Is that a problem?” he asked, not looking up from his research. “You knew that was inevitable, no?”
Of course, she knew she would have to walk through the doors of the compound eventually—if only because she would have to accept assignments in person with Zachariah since she was reporting to him—but she hadn’t thought it would be so soon after Lawrence.
A lot had changed in very little time now that she’d completed her first assignment for Uilleam. And more than just her new job, things had changed between her and Kit as well.
I love you, he’d said with all the conviction in the world.
After finding Cat, she’d felt lost—like everything she had been preparing for had failed. In her mind, she’d thought she would learn what it would take to survive in this world of theirs, and once she had, she would be able to get revenge by not only killing Lawrence and taking away everything he held dear, but she would also be able to save her best friend.
She may have accomplished the first, but the second …
Kit reminded her she couldn’t have done anything about that—that no amount of planning in the world could have prepared them for what they found—but it didn’t make her feel less guilty.
In fact, the guilt had only increased because she had made it out. She had found happiness despite the odds and had even managed to find love in the process, but her friend hadn’t.
She wasn’t sure how long it would take to move past it, but she hoped she could.
“I just thought …”
Kit let the paper fall from his hands. “You thought because you’re with me that you wouldn’t have to follow the same rules listed in your contract?”
Well, when he put it like that … “Maybe?”
His smile was soft. “Our situation is unique, yes, but Uilleam and I agreed to keep our business separate, and regrettably, you’re his business.”
“Right.”
“Don’t worry,” he said kissing her forehead. “You’ll do fine.”
“I should get dressed then.”
Luna didn’t waste time, she showered quickly and dressed in record time. Before long, she was on her bike and leaving the château, following the directions on her phone.
The actual “Den” was massive—a ten-thousand-square-foot compound that housed not just sleeping quarters for the mercenaries, but a multitude of training facilities that were as terrifying as they were effective.
Luna tried not to stare in open admiration—no one else seemed surprised at how state of the art the facility was—but it was hard not to gawk at the tall ceilings, the gleaming silver doors, and the sheer number of people who were inside.
Kit had told her who to look for, not that she had needed him to. Despite not meeting with the man very often, she still knew that Zachariah was in charge and spent most of his days inside the compound—it was practically his second home.
In her search for him, though, she hadn’t expected to come across the glass room at the end of the hall she’d been walking down or the massive man sitting hunched over a table inside of it.
Until that moment, Luna hadn’t known what a mercenary would look like, only had a vague idea from Kit and the Wild Bunch.
To her, they were all lithe and distinctly male—with only a few being an exception to this—and had the sort of skill that made them vital to Uilleam.
The man in the glass room, while lethal, didn’t fit into that mold.
He was at least Kit’s height, if an inch, but he was easily double the size of him. Luna was sure that the man’s arm was bigger than any one she had ever seen before.
In a word, the man was terrifying.
Luna had almost passed him without drawing his attention when he suddenly looked up, as though sensing her there watching him.
For no more than a few seconds did he stare at her, and in the next breath, he was pushing off the stool he’d been sitting on, booted feet carrying him across the floor and through the doors.
As he neared, she could hear the slight jingle of the chain that connected to a loop on his jeans, and once he was finally upon her, she could smell the ocean on his skin which only added to the rich bronze of his skin.
Whoever this man was, he definitely liked to spend time around water.
Tipping his hat up with a finger, he then folded his arms across his chest as he regarded her. “You must be the new girl.”
Girl.
Luna could tell from the way he emphasized the word that it was meant as an insult, that he was testing her in some way, maybe to see if she would react.
But she didn’t.
She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“New, yes,” Luna said, ignoring his jibe. “Where can I find Za—Z?” Luna asked, nearly forgetting that she wasn’t speaking about a friend, not when she was in this place.
Outside of these walls, he could be Zachariah, her husband’s uncle, but inside he was just Z, her handler.
He didn’t frown nor did he give her a look that told her she needed to move along and stop watching him like he was a sideshow performer.
He looked just as curious about her as she undoubtedly did about him, but he wasn’t as careful about his assessment of her as she was with him. And, there was nothing critical about the way he observed her.
His smile was boyish despite his hardened face, and when the corners of his mouth tipped up, his eyes crinkled.
“Skorpion,” he said, extending his hand, the size of it easily dwarfing hers.
It was at the tip of her tongue to give him her name, but she remembered quickly that it wouldn’t be the name he knew her by. “Calavera.”
“You’re a tiny thing. What’s he expect you to do?”
Luna might have taken offense, but something playful in his eyes told her he was attempting to get a reaction. “I’d guess everyone seems tiny next to you.”
His smile
grew. “Maybe so.” He nodded, seeming to make a decision about her. “I’ll show you around, then you can see Z.”
They had been the best of friends ever since, and as the months and years passed them by, their relationship had changed.
He was more like a brother to her now, than a friend or a colleague—an oversized bear of a man who didn’t understand the concept of personal space, like a golden retriever trapped inside a grown man’s body.
“It’s been too long,” Skorpion called as he eased out of his car—a muscle car that sat low to the ground with gleaming black paint and a growling engine. “You didn’t stay long enough last time.”
He swept her up into a hug, her feet flying off the ground as he did so.
“Jesus, Scar, put me down,” she said, even as she laughed, her hair flying around her face as he released her. “I’m glad you’re available.”
He shrugged, throwing his much heavier arm across her shoulders as he walked her back to the bungalow. “I can always make time for you.”
Skorpion dropped down on the couch once they were inside, resting a booted foot on the table in front of him.
“What has he told you? The Kingmaker, I mean?” Luna asked as she went over to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer from inside and brought it back to him—he lived on a diet of beer and seafood.
“About what you’re doing here? Fuck all, but I have a good idea.”
If no one else, she had been honest with him about her life before the Den. She hadn’t gotten into specifics—no one needed those details in their head—but she had told him enough that he got the general idea.
“He has a plan, but—”
Skorpion scoffed, tipping his bottle to his lips and draining nearly half of it before he said, “He always has a plan.”
“First part of that plan involves a man named Agustín Contreras.”
“Name doesn’t ring a bell.”
She explained everything she knew about him from the little Uilleam had told her, her impression of him, and the secondary information she’d found through Winter.
But as she neared the end of her recount of what happened at the club, Luna forgot who she was talking to and slipped up by mentioning the agreement she had made with Agustín.
“Wait, don’t try to skip over that,” Skorpion said, setting his bottle down on the table. “You agreed to go out with the guy to get Uilleam information?”
Not him too … “It’s not that big of a deal. Do you remember when Grimm was holed up in that brothel for three weeks to get information on that arms dealer? It’s the same thing.”
Skorpion’s easy mood disappeared as his expression shifted to something slightly terrifying. “He ask you to do this?”
Luna realized too late what her words implied, so she quickly tried to amend them. “I don’t have to sleep with him, and Uilleam isn’t forcing me to do anything. He tried to talk me out of it, sort of. It’s just a meeting, nothing more.”
Skorpion arched a brow. “You think your man’s gonna understand that? ’Cause I tell you, I wouldn’t understand it.” He shrugged a shoulder. “I’m selfish that way.”
“It’s the job. Not to mention the quickest way to get this done. Uilleam wouldn’t have gone to him in the first place if he didn’t need him for something, and since we both know who he’s most loyal to, I imagine he would have walked away at the slightest hesitation.”
“Yeah?” Skorpion laughed. “Good luck explaining that.”
“You’re the worst.”
“Telling it like it is. Now, what’s the rest of this plan?”
Luna thought of Kit, and the touch of guilt she felt at keeping a secret from him. Since she had spoken to him this morning, she was sure that he would call again.
And if he didn’t, she would call him.
But the last thing she wanted to do was tell him about Agustín.
What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
Certain details never had to get to him, and she would try to make sure of it.
But she couldn’t worry about that at the moment. Instead, she focused on Skorpion and gave him the details he wanted.
The waitress delivered his food with a smile, hesitating a bit longer than necessary as she waited for Kit to engage with her further than a polite thank you, but after a few seconds of hovering and he didn’t speak, she went on her way.
Kit had only just laid his napkin across his lap then picked up his knife and fork when Elias finally appeared, dressed as he always seemed to be in a linen suit with his hat in hand.
One might not have expected the man to be a mastermind, not with his slight frame, hair that was beginning to gray, and the usual smile that was on his face, but Kit knew looks were deceiving—especially with this man in particular.
“Fashionably early as always, Nix,” the man said as he took the seat opposite him, dropping his hat on the edge of the table. “I hope you didn’t go through the trouble of ordering for me—I had an early breakfast.”
“Or because you think I may have poisoned it?” Kit asked as he cut into his steak, his own smirk growing. “If I were going to kill you, I’d be much more creative.”
Of course, a number of poisons existed that would have made his death not only painful but slow and deliberate as well—Kit had even used a few before.
Once, he’d had a strain of a powerful and lethal neurotoxin that was altered to only affect the person with a specific DNA profile. And despite having a rather painful, public death—one where the CDC was called in to investigate—no one else had been harmed.
Those were the fun days.
Elias didn’t bother denying it. He just changed the subject. “I see your brother has arrived safely in Los Angeles … with company.”
“You wanted him to go forth with the job, no? He’s done that.”
“I’m not questioning what he’s done—I’m merely wondering whether he’s left with his company.”
Kit smiled. “Calavera, you mean.”
“Your wife,” he said in return, as though Kit were in denial of this point.
“For now, at least.”
A single brow rose as Elias regarded him, trying to wager the validity of that statement. Kit’s expression didn’t change.
Elias was in the business of information, and undoubtedly, he would know about his meeting with Luna back in New York weeks ago. He also knew that she was angry with him and had left, but he didn’t know that things had changed.
Kit wanted to keep it that way.
So long as he thought that everything was the same, that Kit was doing whatever he could to honor their arrangement and keep Luna away, the less likely he would pay too much attention to her or his moves.
“Trouble in paradise?” Elias asked smoothly. “Marriage counseling not go as intended?”
He really shouldn’t have made it as easy as he did.
“There’s still a number of questions that I can’t answer just yet,” he said as an explanation.
Because not only did he need the element of surprise when it came to the others he and Uilleam planned to implement in their plan, but because even Kit hadn’t worked out all the details just yet.
He still had a number of missing puzzle pieces to find.
“Then what business does she have in California?” He opened his mouth to speak again, but the waiter returned, delivering his food without comment and quickly moving on. “I highly doubt The Kingmaker decided to use her to take out Caesar Rivera unless she has developed the skill of a sniper in the last month.”
“Unlikely. As you’re aware, my brother does as he pleases. If I tell him to do one thing, he will go out of his way to do the opposite. It’s best to let him do as he wishes.”
“That’s not how this arrangement works. Should he venture too far off that leash I instructed you to give him, it doesn’t matter that he didn’t want to do as you bid, you’ll suffer for his actions.”
Kit set his knife and fork down on the plate in fro
nt of him, sitting back without taking his eyes off Elias. “Don’t worry yourself, Elias. Neither my brother nor my wife will be revealing her identity to anyone.”
“I want to believe that, I do, but you and your brother have always thought you were more clever than you are. A trait you learned from your father, undoubtedly.”
Kit blinked in surprise, too caught off guard to shield his reaction. No one mentioned their father, ever.
Not because they feared Kit or Uilleam’s reaction, but because most liked to pretend Alexander Runehart hadn’t existed at all.
In many ways, he had been a bogeyman of the underworld just as much as he had been a tyrant over his family.
“What was it they used to call him? The would-be king? One who grew mad over the years?”
A bullet to the head had been a mercy in the end …
“Are you trying to incite my rage?” Kit asked, genuinely curious.
“Merely trying to remind you that the past isn’t as buried as you and Uilleam like to think. Some fear what you and he have become, but some of us aren’t so easily quelled.”
Elias speared a piece of the translucent ravioli from his plate and chewed it, watching Kit all the while.
Retrieving his wallet from his back pocket, Kit pulled four twenty-dollar bills from inside and placed the money on the table. He waited until his wallet was back in his pocket and he was ready to leave before he spoke.
“Understand me, Elias. When this comes to an end, and believe me it will, I will personally see to it that I remove the heart of the person you love most and let you hold it a moment before I take yours out with a boxcutter.”
Kit climbed to his feet and his good mood returning as he watched Elias swallow reflexively, another ravioli left untouched on his fork. For the time being, the threat had rendered him mute.
Grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair, Kit pulled it on as he ventured out the front doors. Aidra was already waiting for him.
“How was your meeting?”
For once, Kit wasn’t leaving in a dangerous mood—he could even manage a smile. “Pleasant.”
Den of Mercenaries Page 88
