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“And in case you were considering making a move against me anyway out of desperation and no small amount of rage, keep in mind that there are a dozen of my men between my office and the exit alone. Not to mention those stationed on the periphery. Too many for you, even on your best day.” He places his glass down and pushes off his desk, strolling over to me one slow, measured step at a time. “I understand you abhor being caged, but you’ll have to endure it for the time being. The sedative will assist with that.”
“Why do you want me caged? Why did you bring me here?” I demand, as much as I can actually issue a demand with any real conviction in my currently weakened state.
“To do what you do best, of course?”
“You want me to kill someone for you?”
“Let’s not forget that you owe me a kill now, don’t you?”
“Don’t you have your Gatekeeper army for that?”
“I can’t be getting my hands dirty on this job.”
More than a little intriguing, given that getting his hands dirty is definitely his thing, and a talent of his. “Why not?”
“That’s on a need-to-know.”
“You want me to do a job for you, then I need to know. Look what happened when you refused to give me the full details and scope of the last job you sent me on.”
“Indeed. It went precisely to plan.”
He perches on the couch right beside me. “Dealer required a push. He’s been on the periphery for too long, lost some of his edge. You were that gentle persuasion. Not to mention, he’s known for doing his best work when the stakes are raised.”
I scoff. “He won’t work for you.”
“Let me worry about that.”
“If you think you can use me as leverage to force his hand, you’ve really overestimated his feelings for me.”
“I very much doubt that. However, you aren’t my leverage.” He reaches out and plays with a lock of my red hair, making me cringe. When I move to jerk away, he grasps my jaw hard, forcing me still, my eyes snapping to his. Those creepy eyes of his burn into mine as he tells me more than a little smugly, “You’re just the bait, beauty.”
A grunt escapes me as he increases the pressure, the warning there clear. “Be a good girl, or you’ll force me to make your limited-time stay here unpleasant.”
Limited-time?
“Fine,” I grunt against his constricting grip. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
A gleam of victory shines in his eyes and he releases me easily. He doesn’t budge from his all-too-close proximity to me on the couch cushion right beside me though. No, that’s an act of intimidation he wants to maintain. He’s not stupid. He knows how dangerous I am. If it wasn’t for the heavy sedative impacting me so profoundly, he’d be a brutally beaten unconscious heap on his office floor by now and I’d be well on my way to battling my way through his soldiers.
As it is, he’s forced me into a disadvantage. That means I need to play it smart, not strong. For the time being.
“I want you to do what you’re known for. Your extreme covert approach. Under no circumstances can this trace back to me or my organization. The political ramifications would be catastrophic.” He stares down at his right hand, fiddling with the chunky ring on his index finger, an onyx opal gem nestled in a silver setting. He’s oddly pensive for a moment, before he looks back at me, his expression hard and determined. “The target is Julian King.”
I start at his words. “What?” My voice comes out as a weak croak. That’s how shocking it is that he’d ask me to do this.
“You heard me. He’s become a problem and rather unexpectedly resilient.” He mutters under his breath, “Just like his father.”
“I can’t touch King. You know that.”
“Right, yes. Your relationship with Cavalno.”
“Yes.”
“You made him, didn’t you?”
“He made himself.”
“But you assisted, years ago. He was one of your first clients. You dragged him to the top, eliminated the competition, his enemies, all of it. Beforehand, he was little more than a foot soldier in the Cavalno Syndicate, just his father’s errand boy. In fact, I’d say he is the greatest success story of your career.”
