Her Vengeful Embrace

by Katee Robert

  And she still didn’t know why.

  She took a careful breath. “He played me. For three days, he gave me the runaround with a bullshit story about Bueller being a proving ground for me to take the role as his heir.”

  Kenzie snorted. “He had to know you’re too smart to fall for that shit.”

  “It didn’t matter if I fell for it or not. He wasn’t there for me.” She pressed her hands flat to her thighs. “While I was occupied and distracted, he set up meetings with the Romanovs, the Nakamuras, and the Prietos.”

  Cami cleared her throat. “But Dmitri and Keira Romanov were here during the Wild Hunt. They seemed to be… Well, not totally evil.”

  “They’re the New York Romanovs.” Ryu rubbed his hands over his face. “They’re part of the overall Romanov family, but they mostly operate separately since Dmitri took over. The Russian branch of that family is more extensive and significantly more dangerous. Which is saying something.” He lifted his head. “That’s why he gave you the correct coordinates for the new camp. Even if he didn’t manage to kill you, that’s guaranteed to distract you while he gets his play lined up. We attack the camp, we leave the island undefended.”

  “The camp itself could be the trap, too.” Luca’s gaze was on something long since buried in the past. “He’ll have planned for all options.”

  That’s what she thought, too. There was still the assassin to contend with as well. It was probable that, since she was still alive, the contract remained open. The others had to know. She took a deep breath. “There’s more.” Amarante quickly filled them in on the assassin and the rest of what happened, carefully leaving out mention of Tristan. Kenzie shot her a sharp look as she finished up, but luckily her sister didn’t feel the need to put her on the spot. She’d pay for that later, no doubt.

  Luca sat back. “We can’t keep him out.”

  “I know.” If the Warren couldn’t, they stood no chance. They might see him coming, but she had her doubts about that as well.

  Kenzie gave a wicked grin. “I have an idea.”

  Liam sighed. “If it’s got that look on your face, it’s either brilliant or scary as fuck.”

  “Why limit me? I think it’s both.” She turned that look on Amarante. “I think you should call in Lust. Or maybe not her, since her skillset won’t match this. Maybe Wrath or Greed would be better fits. If you’re right and this guy is Chimera from the Typhon Guild, then he’s the very definition of a high stakes target.”

  Liam cursed. “I was right. Brilliant and scary as fuck.”

  Cami was looking at Kenzie as if she was crazy. “You’re going to start a guild war.”

  “On the contrary. It’s not personal if we’re paying. It’s just good business.”

  Ryu started rubbing his temples the way he did when that impressive brain of his was thinking hard. “It might be the best option. Typhon’s reputation is too important for them to call off a hit, even if we’re willing to pay through the nose for it. If anyone can find this guy and take him out, it’s one of the Virtuous Sins.”

  She took a careful breath. Her friendship with Lust might not survive taking on this contract. How could it when things would be forever changed between them?

  So be it.

  “I’ll call Lust.”

  Chapter 19

  It took several hours before Amarante managed to make it to her room. She dropped into the chair next to her desk and stared at the phone. She and Lust were friends after a fashion, but they hadn’t spoken since the Wild Hunt a few months ago. That length of time without communication wasn’t rare, but this year one of the Virtuous Sins had competed—and lost—in the Wild Hunt. Tempers were bound to be sore, and she hadn’t bothered to check in with Lust after the fact. She should have.

  Amarante took a deep breath and dialed before she could stall longer. The line rang and rang. It wouldn’t surprise her if Lust didn’t answer. She tended to disappear while she was on jobs, and that meant leaving her personal phone behind. Each Sin had their specialty, but Lust was one of the only ones who inserted herself into her mark’s life in order to get close enough to kill. It was entirely possible she was on one of those jobs right now.

  Equally possible that she was pissed at Amarante.

  Finally the line clicked over and her warm voice came through. “I’m surprised to be hearing from you, Amarante.”

  So, it would be like that, then. She breathed out a sigh that wasn’t quite relief. “Cora.” The slightest of hesitations. “Lust.”

  The warmth didn’t quite leave the other woman’s voice, but when she spoke again, she was crisper. “Not a social call, then?”

  “Unfortunately, no.” Worse, after spending the night with Tristan, she didn’t know if she could go back to her rare times with Cora. She cared for the woman. The sex wouldn’t work if she didn’t. But she didn’t love her with the same insane desperation that she felt for Tristan.

  Love.

  The very idea should be laughable. Tristan was the enemy, the betrayer, the one who would always turn his back on her. She was a fool to care for him at all, let alone love him. But Amarante tried very hard not to make a habit out of lying to herself. To others, maybe, but never to herself.

  She loved Tristan. She’d never stopped loving him, even when he tore her heart out of her chest and took it with him. Even knowing he was almost certainly still working for Zhao and not to be trusted. Apparently she was a fool, after all.

  “Pity.” Now it was Cora’s turn to hesitate. To sigh. “Do you want to talk about what happened with him?”

  She almost said no, but in the end, who would understand quite like Cora? “How did you know?”

  Cora laughed. “That’s a silly question, and you know it. Criminals gossip more than anyone else. Even though you were discreet, one of Sloth’s little birdies heard a rumor that Death had her head turned by a certain blond. He’s the one, isn’t he?”

  No use denying it. Cora was the only one who knew the full story of Tristan. “Yes.”

  “Hell.”

  “That sums it up nicely.” She gave herself a shake. “In the end, it’s immaterial. I left him at the Warren, and I have bigger problems than my heart.”

  “I’m sure you siblings have already ripped you a new one for doing something so foolish as to face down Zhao alone, especially since I’d bet good money that you went there intent on killing him.”

  She cleared her throat. “That’s immaterial, too.”

  “Amarante.” Even though she couldn’t see her, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that Cora had a resigned look on her gorgeous face. “You know I’m here for you.”

  “I know.”

  “Okay.” She blew out a breath. “Okay. If you’re not calling to catch up, then this is business?”

  Once she went down this path, there was no going back. Her friendship with Cora would be forever altered by this messy business. As much as she hated the thought of that, ultimately there wasn’t a choice. Her family mattered more than anything, and this would keep them safe.

  She closed her eyes. “Yes.” There it was. No going back now. “How much do you know about what went down in the Warren?”

  “Lots of meetings with you and Zhao. He bolted early without warning. You and Tristan spent a significant amount of time holed up together. And the whole Warren went into lockdown for about twelve hours. Even Sloth couldn’t get into their system during that time.”

  Did Nicholai know that the Virtuous Sins had eyes inside his system? If they did, it was more than likely others did as well. Maybe that was how Chimera got in, rather than a traitor. She’d decide later whether or not to pass that information on to him. “A man tried to shoot me in the face. The Warren is nearly one hundred percent sure that they’ve positively identified him as the Chimera, operating out of the Typhon Guild.”

  Cora whistled. “They brought out the big guns for you.”

  “Yes.” She tapped a single finger on her desk. “He’ll keep coming fo
r me until he’s completed his assignment, and if he can get into the Warren, he can infiltrate the island.”

  “Definitely. Getting into the casinos might be a little harder, but I don’t expect you’re going to do something smart like bunker down and wait this out.”

  “We’re going after Zhao.” She couldn’t tell Cora the rest—Zhao’s plans and his familial relation to her. As much as she trusted the woman, in the end Cora answered to her handler and her sisters. If a hit ever came in on Amarante or one of the other Horsemen, she wouldn’t have a choice if their company took the contract.

  Cora sighed. “That’s what I thought.”

  “I need him dead, Cora. I don’t care what it costs.”

  Silence stretched out between them and Amarante found herself holding her breath. Cora might say no. It was within her prerogative. It might even be preferable. Yes, it would complicate Amarante’s life, but in the end she was confident in her abilities. If not for the compressed timeline, she’d have handled this herself. As it was, she couldn’t afford to be distracted.

  Finally, Cora said, “This isn’t a job for my skillset. I’ll have to take it up the line.”

  “I suspect it will fit with either Greed or Wrath.” Greed specifically took out targets that were considered impossible by anyone else. The more challenging the target, the better. And Wrath? Wrath made examples of people. Amarante had never met her, but she had a terrifying reputation. At least, terrifying for those who ended up on her list.

  “Yes.” The warmth filtered out of Cora’s voice, leaving her coolly professional. “I’ll have an answer within the hour.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. You haven’t seen the bill.” She hesitated. “You were right to call me, Amarante. Even if this changes things. It was the right call.”

  “I know.”

  “Keep your phone close.” Cora hung up.

  Amarante set the phone down and released a long breath. For better or worse, it was done. She pushed to her feet, feeling a hundred years old. There would be no rest once things got rolling, but she needed to take what sleep she could tonight. At the top of her current priority list was a shower, though.

  She walked down the short hallway to her bedroom, each foot taking more effort than it should to cross. An hour. She’d have an answer from Cora in an hour, and then she could sleep. It wouldn’t be enough to save her from nightmares—not tonight—but it was better than nothing.

  She was so tired, it took two full steps into the room before she realized she wasn’t alone. Amarante blinked at the figure lounging against her bed. “What the hell?” She dove for her dresser and the gun she kept there…only to come up empty.

  “I know you’re pissed, but shooting me seems a little extreme, even for you.”

  That voice. She knew that voice. She stalked to the light switch and flicked it on. Sure enough, Tristan sat on the edge of her bed, her guns dismantled on the comforter next to him. He’d found all six of them, which meant he’d been here for a while. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kill you right now.”

  “You love me.”

  Her heart beat unnaturally loud in her ears. “I said give me a good reason.”

  His smile didn’t falter. “I love you, too, you know.”

  He did not just say that. “You’re not capable of love.”

  “Apparently I am.” He shrugged as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on her. “I know I fucked up—more than once—and I know that apologizing won’t do shit to make things right. I am sorry, by the way.” He spread his hands. “So I’m going with the next best thing.”

  Surely her head wasn’t actually spinning on her shoulders, no matter what it felt like. “The next best thing,” she repeated.

  “Yes.” He gave her a wicked grin. “I’m going to give you Zhao’s head on a platter.”

  This was a trap. It had to be a trap. There was absolutely no way that Tristan had spent exactly three days with her and suddenly developed the kind of love that would make him turn his back on Zhao. If he was even capable of that emotion—and the jury remained out on that—he would have felt it when they were younger. He would have chosen her, not money and power. He didn’t then, and he certainly wasn’t doing it now. “Get out.”

  “Unfortunately, that wasn’t one of the options.” His smile fell away, his gray eyes going serious. “I know you won’t thank me for saying it, but you need me, Te. His compound is just as much a fortress as the Warren is. More so in some cases. You’ll never dig him out of it without help. I am that help.”

  She can’t trust him. She would be worse than a fool to trust him. He betrayed her time and time again, and now he somehow managed to sneak into one of the few places she felt safe. “How are you here?”

  “Not with the help of friends.” Tristan made a face. “I didn’t take Nic for someone who had a stash of roofies on hand, but here we are.”

  “That’s not an answer.” Not only is he on the Island of Ys, but he’s here in the very center of their home. It shouldn’t be possible.

  Tristan stood slowly, his expression serious. “I plotted my way in here months ago. Before you ask, it’s not information I shared with Zhao. But I figured I’d have to get to one of you eventually, and I like to be prepared.”

  “Get to one of us.” She seemed incapable of doing more than repeating what he’d said. “You figured out a way into the hub to kill one of us.”

  “Whoa, hold on there.” He held up his hands. “Maybe some light kidnapping. I wouldn’t kill one of your siblings, no matter how big a pain in the ass they are. I sure as shit wouldn’t kill you.”

  “Some light kidnapping.” Damn it, she was doing it again. She took a step back and reached out for the knife she kept in a sheath behind the dresser. He’d missed that one. “Get out.”

  He didn’t move, didn’t even look at the blade in her hand. “You need me, Te. You can like it or not, but you need me. I fucked around long enough. I’m not going to let that bastard murder you when I just found you again.”

  “Found me.” She practically spit the words. “You always knew where I was. It’s never been a secret.”

  Another of those shrugs that meant absolutely nothing. “Yeah, I did. But I assumed that if I showed up, you’d cut my throat.”

  “A correct assumption.”

  He lifted his hands and dropped them. “I didn’t think there was anything left to chase down, so I moved on with my life as best I could.” He glanced away. “I didn’t know he was behind Bueller until recently.”

  “And yet you still stayed.”

  “No shit, I still stayed. He was gunning for you. You think my leaving would be an asset? I’d be flying as blind as you are now. No matter if he changes his codes, I’ve spent a fucking decade ensuring he wouldn’t be able to cut me out whenever he felt like it. That time and effort can work in your benefit, but you have to let me help.”

  “I don’t have to do anything.”

  He cursed. “If you don’t, they’ll die. You’ll all die. You don’t stand a chance without me.”

  That’s what she was afraid of. If there was a way to get to Zhao in his compound, they would have found it by now. She would have struck weeks ago instead of going through the farce at the Warren in an attempt to murder him, even at the expense of Amarante’s life. Now, with him working with the other families they’d managed to make enemies of over the years, the timeline had compressed. They’d only get one chance at this. “There’s no way I can trust you.”

  “There’s no way you can afford not to.”

  Chapter 20

  Tristan found himself holding his breath as Amarante studied him. He’d laid out his argument in a way she couldn’t ignore. Whether she actually went on to ignore it was up in the air. The woman could be logical and icy calm, but she hadn’t displayed it as much since meeting her father. Zhao would be counting on his presence—his history—to throw her off her stride enough that he’d have the advantage. T
ristan couldn’t let it happen. One missed step and he’d lose Amarante for good.

  He didn’t even truly have her yet, and he’d lose her.

  Finally, she crossed her arms over her chest. “My brothers will most likely try to kill you.”

  He shrugged. “I expect no less.” He didn’t have many people he cared about in this world—he sure as hell didn’t have an actual family—but he could imagine he’d react the same way in their shoes. Though Tristan wouldn’t try to kill anything. He’d simply take care of the threat.

  Amarante sighed. “My sister might actually kill you.”

  This time he couldn’t quite pretend indifference. Kenzie—War—was a key component in boosting the Island of Ys to its current place of notoriety. She was loud and brash and had played the White Stag in every Wild Hunt they’d conducted except one, acting as bait to the hunters who came to the island in search of whatever prize that year offered. Beyond that, she was the ringleader of the main events they offered the rest of the time. Fights and fucking and all sorts of revelry. One crossed War at their peril, and even Tristan was wary of the woman. “She’s got quite the reputation.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “If we survive this, I’ll let you have a go at her in the ring. I won’t want to hear any bitching when she knocks you out in the first round, though.”

  “Nah, I’d rather go into the ring with you.”

  That got a reaction, a tiny twitch of her lips. “I don’t fight in the ring.”

  Understanding rolled through him. “You can’t pull your punches.”

  “Something like that.”

  Tristan grinned because he knew it would aggravate her. “You managed to do it with me.”

  “That’s not what happened.”

  He took a slow step toward her. “Yes, it is. You forget, Te. I know you. I’m good, but I’d wager that you’re better. If you wanted to rip out my throat any of those times we went round in the Warren, you would have done it.”