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I could never kill someone important to Enzo. I doubt my truth will score me bonus points, so I keep silent.

“Must suck for you that you’re out of commission.”

“Ouch.”

“Is my brother still on that list of yours?” she asks, and I can hear the love and worry for him laced in her suave voice.

No, he’s not. I purse my lips, hating that she knows that. My chances at redemption are slim to none.

She circles me and then stops in front of me. “You know what he told me shortly before you ambushed him?”

I grit my teeth, not wanting to hear what she has to say.

A small, sad smile touches her face as she continues, “You’ll like her. Just give her a chance. Just like you, she’s surviving in a world of men.” She inhales deeply. “My brother loved you, Luciana, to the point of not caring about anyone else. He planned to make you part of our family.” She exhales a long breath. “I wanted to be wrong. But we’re not similar. I endure and you take the easy way out. I face my demons every day, knowing what was taken from me can never be returned. But there’s one way we are alike. We’ll never know love again from the ones we wanted most.”

“You’re too young to be this pessimistic.” Women in our lifestyle have it the hardest. Men pay with their blood. We pay it by forsaking our innocence.

She shrugs. “You’re one year older than me. We could have been friends in another life.”

“Why are you here?” It’s clear she has a mission. The small talk proves it.

“I’ve obsessively searched every bit of information about you. You never miss your mark. My brother should have died on the spot. I guess he was lucky…” She doesn’t sound so sure. She eyes me as if checking for something.

Sighing, I squeeze my eyes shut for a few seconds. I want someone to believe that I loved him. I did my best with the cards I was dealt—I am not only a soulless killer, but for a while I was a woman in love. And a woman in love does everything to keep the one she loves safe.

“Wow. You knew what you were doing. It had to look like that, right? Plus, you knew about the pendant.”

I glare at her, done with this talk. We’ll never be friends. I don’t need to atone for my sins in front of her. She can believe what the fuck she wants. I blew my chance with him and his family, regardless.

“I won’t tell him. He needs to believe that you betrayed him because if he forgives you, he’ll have a bigger problem. Losing the respect of his men.”

“Are you done?” I ask, wanting her gone. Her presence affects me deeper than I expected.

“Not yet. I warn you, Luciana. My brother won’t kill you. But I will.”

I arch an incredulous brow at her. “Can you?”

I doubt she could kill a fly. She has an aura of goodness surrounding her.

“Someone owes me a life, and that someone won’t hesitate to do that if I asked him.” Turning around, she walks away, leaving me with a lot of questions.

If I spend more time here, I will go insane.

Is that his grand plan because it’s starting to work. Without a source of natural light, I have no clue what time it is or how many hours have passed. I could have been here for hours or days.

My bladder is killing me, the pressure so hard I can barely hold on. It can’t be longer than a few hours, but being stuck alone in my head is a bigger torment than anything else. That’s why I planned my kills thoroughly, having plans B and C in place just in case something goes wrong.

I’ve never enjoyed spending time not working because I would have to look at my life and ask myself,Is this it?That’s why coming to Reno worked against me. It gave me time to discover something different, to live a life that was fuller, brighter—worth living.

I wouldn’t have stopped being who I am, but gained more. Even if I married Enzo, I would have never given up being a sniper. That would have been a waste of my talent and hard work. The what-ifs are the worst, slowly eroding my sanity.

The door creaks open, saving me from the agonizing thought process and derailing my attention, thankfully.

Enzo struts into the room. I roll my eyes to rile him up and maybe put me in a state of mind where I don’t focus on howgood looking the asshole is, or how my stupid body clenches in response, craving things from him he’ll never give me again.

“Release me.”

“Ask nicely.”