Disguised to kill the mafia heir

eo's

e's upper balcony, the breeze toying with

he maze garden with all the calm of a man watch

hedge wall. A body slumped like a discarde

thing they'd encounter. Where's the fun in t

p the lawsuits away. Not that anyo

rying to prove they were worthy of the De Luca syndicate. No. I'd

live to brag about it. The kind of men with gr

d maybe i will spare their lives. Mercy,

a boy who could have been in his twenties. It was almost laughable. The kid had tried to fight-g

y slump against a rusted barrel. "He'd hav

n build, and sharp movements, came face to face with the sa

owed m

ing... off. Not

ed. And the ap

twice his size. The crunch of bones-heard even from my perch-

hell w

race, it reminded me of something I'

ut the image of that "boy's" body langu

right then-this one

hated it. Distractions are for amateurs. I don't do "curiosity." Y

in the maze,

ll, I w

ire strung low between two stalks. A hidden pressure plate clicked harmlessly unde

oss

this... flexible. This precise. And the size of him should have been a disadvantage. I

-my mouth curving into a smir

danced through it. And finally, he stepped ou

op, the strap snapping

butler had dumped on my desk. I wasn't looking for anyone in particular-at least, that's

men twice his size to shame. Flexible both in movement an

of it all felt like a challenge to me. Or maybe because I'd alrea

e and headed t

re gathered like strays after a storm. I gave th

ake a few jaws clench. "You've signed up to work in hell. If you t

t on the crowd. Th

rising steadily despite the strain. His physiq

ce in his features-male, yes, but with a certain androgynou

co were

he fuc

ugh to watch the flicker in his gaze when he r

ived that trial," I said,

ar, no deference. Just anger. A quiet, burning anger that I co

"What's the matt

p, almost amused. "N

felt watching him fight. That magnet

his neck-not to break it. Just to feel the pulse under my

gaze rake

d silk, "even though you were the first to cross the fini

words landed clean, cutting

ticked u

iron tang of blood and the grit of dust, something else threaded in. Subtle, int

y con

asked, voice dropping low enoug

st kn

as sharp, cutting in a way that made m

n anything, but because that scent

hing for the memory of violet eyes and a night I hadn't b

I was, star

pening. "Since you're so sure of yourself, F

arrowed. "

was almost uncomfortable, then

e-on-

enjoying the wei

th