Page 2 of Burn the World Down

I watched Bastian win the game. With a disgruntled noise, Landon threw his cards down.

“I warned you,” I said.

“I’ll get him next time.”

Cole, never a man of many words, snorted. The former freelance assassin started shuffling the cards again.

“Where’s Alessio?” I asked.

Bastian shrugged. “Off somewhere on one of his jaunts. You know how he is.”

The former Mafia enforcer and assassin had gotten out of the life, but he still ran a few side jobs from time to time.

“And Rafe?” Rafe Archer was the last of our gang.

“I think he’s on the Riviera, or the Amalfi,” Bastian said.

I shook my head. The former MI6 assassin liked traveling. He also loved art and fast cars. He and Bastian had a competition going for designer suits.

“He should be back at the end of the month,” Bastian added.

Landon leaned forward and rapped his knuckles on the table. “I’d better get back to the clinic.”

I raised a brow. “It’s eleven o’clock at night.”

He rose with a powerful move of his hard-packed body. He’d come through the Army, into Delta Force, then into black ops. He didn’t talk much about his old work, but I knew it had left its mark.

Landon had gotten out and gotten a medical degree. Now, he healed instead of killed.

He ran a clinic on the Strip that welcomed anyone. Well, except for people Landon deemed on the wrong side of his moral code. He helped the homeless, the not-quite-legal, the poor, the rich. Once, he’d been known as the Blade, but now he used his impressive knife skills on the operating table.

“Night,” Landon said. “Catch you later.”

Watching him go, I sighed. “I’d better go, too. I’m running a course with the Avernus security team tomorrow.” Behind the scenes, I did security consulting for the casinos. Mostly here atthe Avernus, but I did a few very quiet jobs for some select casinos. It paid well and it got me out of bed.

Mostly, I didn’t care. Mostly I felt tired, empty.

I reached up and rubbed the stubborn tightness in the muscles at the back of my neck. I’d thought leaving the business would be a new start for me. But two years later, I felt…nothing.

I didn’t want to go back, and I didn’t miss it, but retirement was boring as fuck.

“Some female company might brighten your mood,” Bastian suggested. “I know a few ladies who’d be happy to party with you.”

I made a sound. “I don’t need you to find me a woman.”

“Seriously, a decent fuck would help loosen you up.”

I growled. “I neither want, nor need, a female parade like you do.”

Bastian shrugged. “Your loss.” He paused and tilted his head. “I could find you a blonde who looks like that old picture you carry in your wallet.”

Shoving to my feet, my chest tight, I shot Bastian the finger. “I’m going to the head.”

I stomped to the bathroom, and heard the low mumble of Cole’s voice. “Lay off him.”

“I’m trying to help,” Bastian said.

I shoved the bathroom door open. The inside was as slick and stylish as the rest of the casino. Black, glossy tiles contrasted against the bronze fixtures. Round mirrors glowed with bronze lights. The floor was a mosaic of bronze, gray, and black hexagon tiles.