Page 53 of The Hitman's Prince

He was alive because I loved him.

Jacob and Caspian were downstairs because I loved him. Because if it was only him and me…we’d both fucking drown in it. We needed a distraction, and they were perfect for me. For him.

For us.

The aftershocks of my orgasm rippled through me as Orion came back, sucking in a lungful of air that hurt him. He coughed and sputtered, chest heaving as he regulated himself into a normal breathing pattern.

With his eyes blinking open into awareness, I dragged my cum off his stomach and traced it across his mouth, pushing my fingers down onto his tongue and feeding it into the back of his throat where it belonged.

Orion hummed, happily sucking the offering.

My chest constricted, and I climbed off of him, stretching out on the bed beside him and pulling him against me. He settled easily, with a tired—but content—groan. I kissed the back of his neck, reaching down and palming the heat of his untouched arousal through the damp material of his boxer briefs.

“Tomorrow we’ll set rules,” I said. “And then we’ll take down the Moore family for good.”

Chapter 39

Caspian

Iwoke up Monday morning with a headache big enough to bring down a building. Groaning, I rolled onto all fours and covered my head with the pillow, elbow knocking into a body. The body made an unhappy noise, and the memory of the previous day and night came crashing down around me like the building had finally fallen.

I was basically a captive in Vince Angelini’s townhome, sharing a bed with a man masquerading as a priest who was most likely being positioned to overthrow the man who slept soundly a floor above us.

Oh, and I was still supposed to kill him. Vince, that was.

Probably Jacob and Orion too, when all was said and done. But so far, Vanessa had been singular in her focus. I’d failed the first attempt at Vince, and being given a second chance to get it right had been an act of mercy forus both. For me, because it meant I was still alive, and for Vince, because no one would kill him as painlessly as I would. I hoped now, under his roof, that it wouldn’t come to that, but I didn’t see a way out.

“Turn off your fucking alarm,” Jake grumbled from beside me, reaching out and smacking the back of my head.

Was that the noise?

“Shit.”

An incessant beeping was coming from somewhere in the sheets, and I realized my phone must have fallen out of my pocket at some point in the middle of the night. I was still dressed, my clothes rumpled, but fastened. I must have just…fallen asleep beside Jacob. My fingers brushed across the cool metal case of my phone and I swiped the alarm off without even looking, tossing it on the nightstand before falling onto my back and covering my face with my forearm.

“How do you think this is going to end?” Jacob asked, mirroring my pose on the other side of the bed. We didn’t touch, but I was certain we had overnight. My body was too warm to just be from the blankets.

“Either really well or really not well.”

He snorted a laugh. “What are you going to do about Vanessa?”

“I have no idea.”

“You know you can’t kill him, right?” Jacob rolled to his side, propping his head up in his hand. I could feel himlooking at me, so I let my arm fall away from my face. “If you do, Orion will kill you. And if he doesn’t…”

Jacob trailed off, not needing to say the rest.

“What?” I asked him anyway. “You will? Jacob, if I kill him, I’ll kill my fucking self with the next shot.”

“Just…” He reached for me, fingers flexing, and he stopped himself before he touched me. The restraint was impressive, and with the mask of a fitful sleep over us both, I did see the appeal of a man like Jacob. He was dark and handsome, average height, with soft hair and penetrating eyes. One of those men who looked good enough to be a threat.

Definitely too pretty to be a priest.

“Just what?” I asked.

“Just don’t,” he said.

“We both know it’s not that simple.”