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DEAD TO ME
Staringdown at Dubrovnik from the vantage point of the city walls, I smirked at a job well done as I dismantled Coop and tucked it inside a custom-created briefcase that, from the outside, screamed ‘socialite chic’ not ‘hitman basic wear.’
Making sure my beanie still covered most of my brow line, I rearranged my gaiter so that it was covering the bottom half of my face again. The only part of me that was visible was my eyes. With the temperatures hovering above freezing, I didn’t look out of place and my ID was as safe as houses.
With that complete, I hiked the strap over my shoulder and adjusted my stance to balance Cooper’s heavy load, then I headed toward the exit where a man was anxiously checking his watch.
A massive tourist hotspot, the attraction had closed an hour ago, and while I’d already paid him off for letting me pass by unchecked, I tossed him some more Croatiankuna,enough to make his wife a very happy woman, gave him my thanks, then jogged down the steps that took me toward the center of the old town.
I wasn’t bullshitting Star about being tired—my jet lag was unreal—but when my cunt-faced, twatwaffle cousin had contacted me and said that Muñoz was on the loose, I knew I couldn’t leave my girl out in the cold.
Sticking to the shadows so I could yawn, I forced myself to focus and then slipped through the alleyways. Though I wanted nothing more than to dive face-first into the mattress back at my hotel room, instead, I made my way to Muñoz’s nest.
The fucker liked to think he was a top-tier sniper, but the proof of his uselessness was in the fact that he’dstayedalive this long. Only the very best like The Whistler, Eagle Eyes, Dagda, (unfortunately), and I had survived the hunt that was currently going down.
Governments around the world had been pitching us against each other, killing too many of my brethren in exchange for cold, hard cash.
Star had gotten on Muñoz’s bad side years ago—he’d just been waiting for an excuse to erase her—but not on my watch.
From twenty feet away, I found his corpse perched on a set of stairs. Slumped over his weapon, his arms tumbling slackly over the edge, and with what was left of his face burrowing against the traditional stone, I peered at him with no guilt, mostly irritation.
Using the shadows again to shield my movements, I drifted toward his position and clambered up the stairs.
A few tourists staggered past, ridiculously drunk for so early in the evening, and I dove into the wall, pressing my hands to the craggy stone, forehead brushing it, as I monitored their path via their rowdy laughs, grateful when they eventually got the hell away from my murder scene.
Ducking out of sight, I started to pat Muñoz down with my gloved hands.
Rigor had nothing to do with the stiffness of his body; it was just that fucking cold.
Retrieving his cell phone and a keycard, I slipped the latter into my pocket and then twisted his face to the side. Half of it was missing whichcouldpresent a problem with the Face ID scanner…
Yay!
When it unlocked, I grinned happily then moved into the settings to switch off his security preferences, using his face a couple more times to facilitate the process.
With his cell and keycard in my possession, I left the fucker alone and slipped away as silently as I’d approached.
When my phone buzzed, I grimaced as I saw Temper’s name on my Caller ID.
In my mind, Temper was proof that you couldn’t choose your family, just your friends. I had more familial sentiments for Star than I did my pain-in-the-ass cousin.
Knowing what I did now, I answered the call. “Saving her ass hasn’t made her forgive you.”
She hissed in my ear. “Shit. She told you?”
Moron.“Of course she did. What the fuck were you thinking?”
“I didn’t betray her,” she argued. “I was acting in her best interests.”
“The only person whose interests you care about is you,” I retorted.
“Not true. I think of America’s best interests all the time.”
Groaning, I muttered, “The shit you say, Temper, is like you think people can hear you and you dare not be anything other than patriotic.”
“You never know who’s listening in, Cin.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose as I sought patience. “What do you want?”
