Page 45 of The Mafia's Bride

He keeps that unsettling smile plastered on his face, but one eyebrow lifts. There’s a pause, and I can see the gears turning as he runs the calculations, dissecting my words without bothering to ask for context.

He’s a killer, but he’s smart. The worst kind.

“You’ve got a problem at the docks.”

How did he?—

“Killian,” I say, narrowing my eyes but the fucker’s smile just grows, irritating me further. “Why would you say that?”

He takes another inhale from his cigarette, tossing the blazing butt at one of my men. The soldier jumps back before it touches him.

Now I really want a smoke.

“Call it a hunch.” He winks. “Regardless, you’ve got a problem. And you need to handle it before Ace’s shipment gets here. Especially if anything happens to her stuff?” He whistles. “That’ll be bad for the family dinners.”

“What do you want?” I growl because I’m done playing this sadist’s game. “You’re on my territory. I have every right to put a bullet into your head for disrespecting me.”

If I could do it without causing a scene, I would.

Killian Linwood is no friend.

“Here, let me make it easy for you.” He takes out a gun, matte black, shoving it into my hands. It’s a sturdy presence, foreign in size but not in weight.

Quickly, he turns the safety off, pushing the barrel into his forehead, intense look marring his face. He doesn’t blink, just stares as if I don’t hold his life in my hands. “Go ahead, heir. Pull the trigger.”

He’stauntingme to pull it. He knows damn well if I do, it could be war.

I don’t know what his connection to Ace is, but he was hired directly by her father. There’s a loyalty there I can’t quite make sense of. And if I end up killing the clan’s prized hitman, what does that do to our truce?

I dig the tip in just enough to see a flicker of discomfort cross his deadly eyes, before I drop it into his hands. “Just tell me what the fuck you want.”

He smiles that damn smirk again. “Don’t tell Ace I’m here on her behalf, and I won’t let it slip that you’ve got some… logistics to work out on your end.”

“Fine. Deal. Now,leave.”

The killer nods, laughing to himself as he returns to the car. A decidedly large car that seems made for someone else. Especially with the dead head moth hanging from the mirror.

“Oh, and heir?” I meet his black eyes, glaring at him even as my men move to surround me. “Handle your problems before the shipment date. There’s only so much family will protect you if Ace’s goods are stolen. I wouldn’t want to be on that receiving end.”

“Get the fuck out of here, Linwood.” I flip him off and don’t bother to wait until he drives off. My men will watch him. Now I’ve got a ticking clock over my head.

I need to figure out who’s tipping off our enemies about our incoming shipments and fast. Otherwise, Ace’s shipment will be taken, and I’ll be the next casualty in this turf war.

The need to expend this anxious energy sizzles under my skin. I’m stuck, without a way forward and that is not like me. I plan, I coordinate, I attack.

I have nothing right now.Nothing.

I need to do something, talk to someone. And there’s only one person I want to see.My wife.

18

LEX

Sloane made it her mission to avoid me ever since our wedding night.

I gave her time to adjust to her new role in this life. Her phone was confiscated, and she was forbidden from speaking to anyone except me, Nico, or Maria. Even they were told not to engage with her unless absolutely necessary.

The look Maria gave me would have sent me to Hell if I let it. But this was for her own good.