AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Cade sidestepped so the door wouldn’t fall on him, and Damian hissed out, “Goddamn it. This place is a rental. I ain’t never getting my deposit back.”
Finally, Cade put his gun away, and while Damian went to inspect the damage, I walked over to Cade and asked, “How’d you find me?” That was the million-dollar question, wasn’t it? Out of everything that could’ve happened, out of everyone that could’ve shown up… why Cade?
Not that I was complaining, because I wasn’t. Who could ever complain when the semi-grumpy, sexy as sin assassin came to save you?
Chapter Two – Cade
I took to watching her place after our little talk. It wasn’t strictly her place, though; it was the Moretti family’s place, at least while they were here in the city. A fancy hotel in downtown Cypress. And since the unit was so high up, watching it wasn’t easy. Luckily I’d found an empty office space across the street and rented it out myself. Not quite the same floor as their unit, but close enough.
Someone wanted Giselle dead. Someone had shot her, miraculously missed anything important, and now put out a hit for her, requesting my family take the job from the Guild.
I’d talked to her out of a professional courtesy. The girl and I had history, as much as I didn’t want to admit it. She… she really was too young for me, but the sadness in those amber eyes made her seem older.
Her history wasn’t a good one. I’d been her first. Her first chosen. Out of a twist of fate, we’d met twice at the Playground, and ever since I couldn’t seem to get the girl out of my head. It was like I knew I shouldn’t want her, but I couldn’t help myself. Like I’d gotten a taste and now all I could think about was getting more. More, more, more; I’d never have enough. Never have my fill of her.
I didn’t trust anyone with her, least of all that Luca Moretti. Not Luca, not Rocco, not even that Zander guy. Whoever was out to get her, I’d find him and put a bullet in his head. I’d do it for her, but I’d also do it for myself, because even though she was technically a married woman now, she was mine.
I know, I know. I shouldn’t think like that. It wasn’t right. It’d only end up disastrous for me. Falling for a girl who was now a married woman? Fucking stupid as hell.
But…
But.
That morning, I had a meeting with my father. Isaac Cunningham, the head of our family, the man currently trying to get onto the Black Hand. I had to tell him… I had to inform him I was canceling the contract, that our family could not accept it, even though I already had. We’d lose some standing with the Guild, but that was a small price to pay for refusing to kill the girl you might be in love with.
My father was in the room we’d changed into a study, and he’d looked up from his desk the moment I’d walked in. He looked a lot like me. Add twenty years to me, and I imagined I’d look just like him. The same blond hair, the same emerald eyes, the same hard cut jaw and discerning glare.
The Great Dragon.
And the look he gave me when I walked in told me he already knew what I was going to say, but he’d still force me to say it, to admit it out loud. To admit my failure. It wasn’t often I failed, let alone refused a job.
I didn’t sit across from him. I stood, my arms folded over my chest.
“Well?” My father cocked his head at me as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, waiting. “Let’s hear it.”
“I’m turning in the contract, on behalf of every Cunningham,” I told him point-blank. “None of us will be killing Giselle Santos.”
“It’s Giselle Moretti now, from what I hear,” he muttered. He set a hand on his knee, his fingers tapping. “I trust you know how stupid it is to involve yourself with a married woman. It will not end well for you, son.”
“She did not want this marriage.”
“Women in our circle very rarely do, but they have a duty to their families.” He let out a harsh sigh, and then leaned forward. His hands were now flat on his desk. “I won’t say I’m surprised. I’m not. However, I do think you need to stop and take some time to yourself, Cade. Refusing a job, a job you’ve already accepted on behalf of our family, is something you’ve never done before.”
I never met anyone I didn’t want to kill before. Life had tossed me one hell of a curve ball.
“I don’t want this to become a habit,” my father finished.
“It won’t,” I promised. “I’m meeting with the Lioness today to tell her.”
“She won’t be pleased with you, but you already know that.” He got up and walked around his desk, coming toward me. He set a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it as he said, “Look, if this is what you feel you must do, then I’m behind you one hundred percent. Do I wish you would’ve come to terms with your… feelings for the girl before accepting the job in the first place? Yes, but I also know sometimes we can’t help it.”
He leaned closer to me, his voice dropping to a whisper as he added, “If I may give you some advice: make it worth your while. Don’t waste this opportunity. You want the girl? Go after her. She’s no longer Miguel Santos’s heir, so she’s fair game all around, even if she is a married woman.” He gave me a crack of a smile, released my shoulder so he could pat me on the back, and then wandered over to his desk, sitting down once more.
Now that… that was not advice I thought I’d receive from my father.
“Now, I’d get the hell out of here if I were you,” my father advised. “The Lioness doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
No, that she did not.
