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“Because we know which location he resides in, we confirmed that we have the blueprints of the building in our possession. My father might have been a moron for dealing with Franko, but at least he kept tabs on the asshole.”

Sienna goes over Franko’s daily and nightly routines, and I’m shocked by how precise he is. We easily form a basic plan just from the information given, but Franko has escaped us multiple times now. We need our plans to be flawless.

“Let’s see these blueprints. Skylar and I need to get to work.”

Twenty minutes later, we’re huddled over the conference table, going over it again. The architectural blueprints of Franko’s penthouse are laid out between us. He owns the whole damn building, and fortunately for us, he has no idea we now know that.

“The security sweep occurs like clockwork every fifteen minutes, according to Sienna’s thorough notes and videos,” I explain, pointing at the service shaft with a rough finger. “I’ll cut the main circuit breaker power by deactivating it from the basement. The backup generators will take exactly forty-five seconds to kick in. This is your opportunity to manually ascend the cable to the top floor.

With brown hair falling over his eyes, Skylar leans in, his gaze dissecting the map’s details. He absently plays with the pendant on his necklace. “Forty-five seconds is a joke. I only need thirty. After I enter the maintenance hatch, I’ll use the custom digital loop to bypass the hallway’s cameras.”

Our back-and-forth banter is present even in our planning. I love that we can do something like this together. My mind drifts to the future. Once Franko is gone, will he still be willing to kill? I watch his hands as he traces the escape route. The same pretty hands that were wrapped around my cock only a few hours ago. “And Franko?” I ask.

“He drinks a single glass of bourbon on the rocks at 11:15 PM,” Sienna says, a cold, calculating stillness settling over her features. “His personal security detail stays outside the main door to the elevator until their shift is over.”

The lighthearted banter vanishes, and the room feels suddenly heavy. Thick with tension. Sienna had to live with the piece of shit, and I’m just glad we got her out of there.

Skylar nods, making eye contact with me. “I’ll be waiting in the shadows, already inside behind his desk, syringe in hand. No noise. No blood. Just my white amethyst sedating him.”

I nod. “And I’ll cause a distraction once you inject him. Thanks to their stupid protocols, they’ll be rushing to check things out rather than securing their man.”

Skylar grins maliciously. “I’ll shove the piece of shit down the laundry chute. Once we have him, we’ll take him to my favorite little spot.”

I gaze at him, and a deep, frightening familiarity washes over me. I’m not falling for this man—I’m in love with him. For a long time, I existed in isolation, certain that the darkness of my life would be too much for anyone else to handle. But Skylar doesn’t just handle it, he thrives in it.

“And what if the guards suddenly switch things up and enter the room?” I ask, testing Skylar’s resolve.

Skylar’s pretty brown gaze locks onto mine with a look so intense that it steals my breath. “Then I trust my sexy hitman to pay attention to his comms and come for me. Like a damsel in distress,” he quips.

Fucking Minx.

A light touch of his fingers on my arm conveys a secret promise. “You’ll come for me, won’t you, my handsome brute?” His tone is so suggestive, it’s hard to miss the double entendre.

“Always,” I rasp, my fingers capturing his, the weight of my promise settling in my chest. “Every factor is accounted for, Sky. We’re ready.”

After finalizing our plans, Alessandro asked if he could borrow Skylar for a moment. At first, I was nervous, but as I peer over at them laughing and chatting, warmth settles over me. I never considered Alessandro to be one of my best friends, but in all honesty, he might be my only real friend.

And now, with Skylar by my side, the familiar weight of loneliness lifts, taking some of the lingering dark shadows out of my heart.

Sienna is several feet away, peering down at the lively casino life below us. I walk over to her, propping a hip against the railing and leaning on it next to her. “Can I ask you a question?”

Sienna nods, turning to face me. “Sure.” She offers me a small smile. “What’s up?”

“In your letter to Alessandro, you mentioned something about giving Fluffy a bath. Alessandro said that’s your way of saying you want him to drown? Why drowning?”

A wicked smile crosses her lips, and I get the feeling Sienna might be a little like us. “He’s afraid of water. It’s his greatest fear.” Something about that statement rattles around in my head. It sounds familiar. I make a promise to myself to look into it later. Meanwhile, a tempting idea springs to life.

“That’s good to know.” My own mouth curves into a cold, malicious grin. “Very good.”

Skylar and Alessandro join us. Alessandro holds his hand out for Skylar to shake. Right when Skylar’s fingers wrap around Alessandro’s, my friend speaks. “You look like her, you know.”

Skylar jerks back as if he’s been slapped. “What?”

“Your sister. You look like her.”

Skylar looks frozen. Startled. I immediately walk to his side and wrap a protective arm around him. His gaze whips over to mine, our eyes locking. He leans heavily against me, but doesn’t say anything. It dawns on me then; I still don’t know her name. Every time Skylar mentions her, it’s just ‘my sister,’ but now, the way I see his reaction, I wonder if he’s withholding her name on purpose.

I glance at Alessandro, silently seeking answers. But there’s a sad look on his face as he continues to stare at my man. “I hope Franko gets everything he deserves,” he says, tone hushed.