Page 68 of The Hitman's Prince

“There’s lots of reasons for me to die,” I repeated. “But if you think my time here is finished?—”

“I’d be mistaken,” he answered before I could.

“Exactly.” I traced my tongue across the front of my teeth. “I need…Daren.”

“I told you no.”

“That’s not what I meant,” I snapped, grimacing and rubbing an itch on the side of my neck. The office was cold, I realized, with no fire stoked against the far wall and Orion tucked safe in bed instead of kneeling at my feet.

Fletcher remained quiet on the other end of the line, but I could hear the growl building in the back of his throat. Or maybe it was Gideon beside him, ready to remind me how he’d earned his nickname.

“His father, his uncle…it’s time to chop all of these threats off at the head,” I said. “I need to know if the Mandevilles are also a threat. I’m not interested in dragging this out any longer.”

“Luca’s father has already pledged his loyalty to us,” he said, and relief rolled over me like a wave.

“Will it hold?”

“He knows what will happen if it doesn’t,” Fletcher said.

I imagined a double-patricide would have that effect on some people.

“Good. Would you just have Daren on alert? If he hears?—”

“If he hears anything, you’ll be the next to know. But, Vince…are you sure you can trust Jacob? He was, until very recently, in on the whole plan to have you murdered. Are you certain this isn’t part of the Moore plan?”

Fletcher understood enough of what was to come, I could trust him to make the right decisions and keep the right people safe. The only thing left now was to act, and then wait. I’d thought about the answer to Fletcher’s question more often than not, but there were things a man simply couldn’t fake, and the way Jacob looked at peace on his knees in front ofme…that was one of them. That knowledge aside, I appreciated Fletcher’s concern, and wondered if some day we might be…friends. More than friends, but maybe not in the way he was more than friends with Daren Moore. Just enough of friends to count when it mattered.

“I’m certain of his loyalties, Fletcher,” I answered, pushing away from my desk. I was suddenly tired and in desperate need of more sleep. “And don’t forget, everyone has their part to play in someone else’s plan until they realize the only thing stopping them from writing their own is themselves.”

Part Four

The Bitter End

Chapter 51

Orion

It had been a week since Vince told me he planned to let Caspian kill him. And it had been a week since everything had…settled. I lit him fires every night, sometimes he let me suckle on his cock until dinner, sometimes he didn’t. He’d been tentative about touching me—and Jacob—on account, I imagined, of how intense the bruising from the paddling had been. Even after years of play—and sometimes abuse—I’d never been as thoroughly sore on my backside as I was since that night. I’d also tried to change my limits in the afterglow of an orgasm, which would have been ill-advised on a good day. Either way, the bruises and the ache had left me almost constantly hard.

Jacob was in very near the same state, on edge and frustrated by the whole thing. Vibrating with need because of the arousal, but also because of the impending upheaval to our lives.

Again.

The four of us were at the dining room table eating dinner, the freshly replaced window reflecting the streetlights against the far wall, when a knock at the door and a subsequent text message announced Daren’s presence. He had Luca with him, because of course he did, but their smaller and fairer third was also in tow. Bellamy Marchant, an unremarkable man with hair like sunshine who trailed behind Luca like they were walking into the wolves’ den.

At their arrival, Jacob and Caspian both glanced at me, the latter far more nervous than the former. After the attack at the house and Vince’s subsequent plan, Caspian had gone to Vanessa directly, received a new timeline with a promise her aim would be more accurate next time if he failed again. He assured her he was working to get close, that he had to get through me and Jacob first. She believed him, or not…we’d find out one way or another sooner rather than later.

“I don’t imagine you’re here for dinner,” Vince said, greeting the trio with handshakes.

They settled in at the massive table, looking weary.

“No, but it smells delicious,” Daren said. He reached under the table and took Luca’s hand in his, and from the corner of my eye, I watched Jacob do the same to Caspian. I arched a brow at him, and he smiled at me, a soft and secret thing.

Fuck him for a thousand different reasons, but most of all, fuck him for making me care about him. Fuck himfor making me invested in an outcome where I had three people to worry about and not just one...not just Vince.

“You’re here because it’s time,” Vince said.

Daren nodded.