Her Deadly Little Secrets (Kings & Queens Will Rise #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

EROS

“It’s unfortunate that it had to come to this,” my uncle, War Marino, tells the chief of police. We had a last-minute meeting with him, one he didn’t know we were having until we walked into his office.

I'd closed the blinds that peered out into the rest of the police station. We didn’t need an audience for this, but they too needed to know there are consequences for their actions.

I didn’t even bother locking the door. No one would dare to enter. Especially with my cousin Naomi standing outside. She might be a tiny thing, but one glance from her could slice a man in half.

"It doesn't have to," Chief Hawkins stutters. The man is in his mid-fifties and has been at the job for years now.

When he started, he had a lot more hair. It didn’t even bother to turn gray. He’s gone completely bald. I didn’t know the top of your head sweats, but his is glistening at this point. That rush of adrenaline of what’s to come is obviously coursing through him, growing by the second.

"We are only as strong as our weakest links. You know that," I tell Chief Hawkins.

"They are your responsibility, just as it is mine to make sure my men"—War glances at the closed door, his oldest daughter on the other side—"and women stay in line. It would be my head everyone would come for otherwise."

He's not wrong. At least at the moment. War is still the head of the family, but in time he will slowly step down. He has already started to make a few of those moves, handing different responsibilities over to people within the family.

War has done his best to clean up the Marino name. Of course you can't be all clean in this business. That's not how the world works. Someone still has to make sure the streets don't run full of chaos with gangs getting out of control. Drugs are killing whole communities.

No, you can't fully stop these things, but you learn to guide them, to keep them in check. That's our responsibility and part of the deal we have. An unspoken one that we all understand.

One of Chief Hawkins’ sergeants was helping cover up a new drug that was trying to hit the streets. It was a mess that we have to clean up, and right now we're plugging all the holes. This being one of them. Not only that—another family entered into our territory, one that this man helped.

We can’t have that. Disloyalty isn’t tolerated. Especially when it puts the safety of our family and community at risk. War has worked hard to polish up the Marino name, and he doesn’t appreciate someone lending a hand to try to tarnish it. There has to be consequences.

"I swear, it's handled. Clark is done for," Hawkins tells us. Idiot still has a glimmer of hope that he'll get out of his punishment. That won't be happening. Not when I enjoy giving it out and do it so well. It's why I'm standing here, after all.

"He is done for." I reach into the pocket of my slacks, pulling out the badge covered in blood and tossing it on his desk. "We had to handle it." Hawkins audibly swallows. "Now put your left hand on the desk," I order him. His brown eyes widen in fear. I relish it.

"Please—"

"Fight me and it will be your right hand. I'm being courteous."

"Careful, Hawkins. Eros isn't as patient as I can be."

"I think that comes with age, old man." War gives a slight shake of his head.

"Maybe so." He straightens his tie. "A good woman can give you that too." I suppose so in his case. The women in this family are rather persistent. Yes, that's the word I'll use for them.

"Hand." Hawkins lays his shaking hand flat on the table. With the cut he gets every year from the Marino family, he can suck it up. I reach into the front pocket of my suit, pulling out the hammer.

"Wait!" The real panic starts to set in.

"Not going to break it. I know you still need it." That's when he sees the glint of the nail. I don't drag it out like I would on others. He's taking his lick, and I'll give it to him.

I'm quick, with one smooth move already driving the hammer into the nail before he feels it pressing into his hand. He screams loudly for all to hear, but no one comes. I flip the hammer over, using the claw, I pull the nail back out, letting it hit the table, leaving a trail of blood.

That scar and the mark it leaves on this desk will be a visible reminder of what happens when you cross us.

"I'm glad that is handled," War tells him. "I'll see you at the New Hope benefit next week." With that, War turns to leave. His daughter fills the doorway as he passes through it.

"I hope you're up to date on your techniques," Naomi says before following her father. Her tone is flat, her expression blank. You never know if she's joking or dead fucking serious. I swear she’s the scariest Marino out of all of us.

Everyone in the pit busies themselves as we walk through the station. No one even glances our way. They heard the screams, but they ignored them because they didn't want to be next.

War doesn’t care for it when it comes to these measures. He says he’d rather rule with respect than fear, but there is often no choice. I don’t give a shit if it’s fear or respect you have for me. Just do what you’re supposed to, and I won’t grace your doorstep.

When we step outside of the station, Nix, my little sister, is there leaning up against my SUV. The man talking to her clearly has no fucking clue who she is. Not to mention she’s fourteen, but my baby sister has a thrill of her own. We all have them. Hers is being in love with love.

I don’t say a word. I simply grab the short fucker by his hair, but in fairness, everyone is short compared to me. I yank him backwards.

“You can’t afford her,” I tell him before slamming his head into the passenger window. He crumples to the ground. Bulletproof glass hits differently. He’ll be out for a few hours.

“I’m not expensive.” Nix puts her hands on her hips.

“All women are expensive.” I flick my gaze to War in Naomi’s SUV, which is behind mine, except they have a driver. “Go,” I order her. My phone goes off at the same time.

“That is so sexist.” Nix glares up at him.

I understand why she’s in love with love. Nix sees our parents and wants that too. As one of her brothers, it’s my responsibility to set the bar as high as I can, and hopefully no fucker can live up to it. If they do, then maybe they stand a chance.

“Go ride with War,” I tell her, seeing the message on my phone.

“Is that them telling you that Kinsley is okay?” Nix tries to peek at my phone screen. The man on the ground groans. I give him a kick. The fucker must have a hard head.

"Yes." My brother's girl got wrapped up in all this drug shit. The girl is fucking nosy. If you're going to fall for a girl, brother, maybe don't pick one who wants to report the news.

I'm still on the fence about her, but it doesn't matter. When a Marino man falls, it's hard, and there's no going back, so Kinsley is now going to be my family.

"Then you're good. You can take me home." Nix's bouncing on her heels, a ball of energy. She's the spitting image of our mother with her blond hair and bright blue eyes. All sunshine and happiness. That must be wearing. It makes my head hurt.

“No. They have her, but there are other things to deal with.” I slip my phone back into my pocket.

“Are you going to the hole?” Nix’s eyes light up. Okay, she might not be all sunshine and happiness. The hole is where sunshine and happiness go to die.

So like I said, she is just like our mom. Our mom will charm the pants off someone, but if they do her wrong, she’ll stab them. And I mean that literally.

“Go.” I use a firmer tone with her, one that she knows better than to push back on. Her lips press into a thin line, letting me know she’s not happy about my command, but she steps off toward the other SUV. How she manages to stomp in heels, I have not a fucking clue, but it is impressive.

“I love you, asshole,” she snips at me. “Don’t die.” Nix gives me a bright smile paired with the middle finger before slipping into the vehicle.

“She’s going to be a fucking handful,” I say to myself, shaking my head before rounding the front of my SUV and sliding into the driver's seat.

It takes a chunk of time to get out of this part of the city. The Marinos own property all over, but outside the city and past the river is the family estate. It’s massive, and over time, more and more homes are being built. I’m starting to think the place is a fucking compound.

Our family is close. My grandparents had three kids and adopted one, which is my father Z.

He ended up marrying their own daughter Cosima, my mother.

My parents had four of us. I’m the oldest with two younger brothers and last but never least, our little sister, Nix.

Then you have my uncle Ronan, who I spend the most time with, who is also married with a daughter.

Then, of course, Uncle War and his wife, Tova, who have four kids of their own.

This family is multiplying. The Marino instalove curse has now been passed down to us.

It's what happened for all the Marino men and my mom. Supposedly, when we find our one, we fall immediately. I wasn’t truly convinced until it happened to my brother, Jax.

He was the first to go. Didn't see that shit coming.

I thought maybe in time he would find someone, but it happened in a blink of an eye.

I'd bet anything that Naomi and I will be the last ones standing.

We're different. Always have been. I can't explain it; I just know it, and so does everyone else.

It's part of why I'm closest to my Uncle Ronan.

He's the most like me. We have a taste for blood, and we're way too fucking good at bleeding a person dry until we've gotten everything we want from them.

That's why I'm the one on my way to the hole. A place no one ever wants to go. There hasn’t been a person that has ever gone in alive and come back out the same way. Unless you are a Marino. My phone goes off again, and I hit the answer button on my steering wheel.

"Eros." I answer.

"Do you know who your target is?" Target? That's what we're calling this now? Is that a polite way of referring to a victim? Is Mac getting soft on me? She’s my cousin, who also happens to be a super hacker computer genius. One that can get you most information with a few keystrokes.

“No, I haven’t fully read all the details.”

“Yeah, because I don’t have a lot on her.”

“Her?” That gives me pause. I can’t say I’m opposed to getting information out of a woman.

Anyone can be a horrible human. That includes females.

The thing is that typically it is men that are fucked in the head.

There have been a few women who caused issues in the past few years, but that was more in Naomi’s territory.

“Yeah, she was kidnapped with Kinsley. They’re friends from school.”

“And you think this schoolgirl is involved in all of this?” If anything, someone was using her, and she doesn’t really know shit. Not that it matters. Everything has been handled. We might as well just toss her back.

“We’re not sure. There have been red flags, and I can’t figure out who the fuck she is.” Mac is practically shouting the last part.

Everyone has a digital trail these days, and Mac can always find it. I suppose that’s what happens when you’re the prodigy child of one of the world’s best hackers. If she can’t get a digital pulse on this girl, then that’s a huge problem and this trip to the hole is necessary.

“How can there be nothing on her?” That’s not possible, especially if she’s enrolled at Golden Prep. You have to have a lot of fucking money, be connected to a powerful person, or be a genius to be able to step foot into that school.

"There is one record, but I don't think it's real.

It's all been made up. The print appears old, but it's not. Whoever she is, including the people she lives with, it’s not real.

It looks scary real. Like, I double-checked my shit because that's how good it is. But it’s not fucking real.

She's not real, and I'll die on this hill.

I don't care that Kinsley says she's good or whatever. "

"Kinsley isn't one of us."

"Hey, she will be, but that's for another day."

"I only meant she can't read people. She's normal." The girl grew up with two fancy-ass doctor parents. This is all new to her, and she's gotten a crash course.

"Right? I mean, she did fall in love with Jax." Mac laughs at her own joke. Jax isn't even there to hear it. At this point, he's likely got Kinsley back home and tied to his bed so she can never leave or be kidnapped again.

That's terrifying, if you ask me. And I don't fucking scare easily. If ever.

To have someone in your space all the time sounds like your own personal hell.

You'd have to wear a mask all the time, so they don’t see all of your parts.

Then, maybe it's only me that does that.

There is a facade you present to the world.

I know I have to use one to blend in at events.

I'm not particularly good at it, either.

"Just find out who she is. Can you do that?" Mac asks.

"Give me thirty minutes," I tell her. I'm already pulling up to the hole.

It's not far from the Marino estate, which everyone calls the farm.

The hole was built long ago. It is what it sounds like. It's in the middle of the woods, almost like a bunker.

I step out of the SUV, walking over to the hidden landing and pulling the fake grass covering off before entering in the code. The lock pops, and I spin the top, pulling it open. I glance down into the darkness.

It's a good thirty feet down. I hit the light on the stairs that go straight down on a ladder. When my feet hit the ground, I see a small girl tied to the chair that's bolted to the floor.

Fucking hell. She still has on her school uniform. The checked skirt with the white polo is such a contrast to everything. Slowly, I creep around to the side of the room.

"I know you're awake," I tell her. She'd tensed up the second my feet hit the floor. I pull off my suit jacket, tossing it on the table that is lined with all types of tools before I roll up the sleeves of my button-up. I know I shouldn’t, but I always get an adrenaline rush when I come down here.

Yet this time it feels different. Something is off.

A whimper sounds from her, but she quickly sucks in a breath, and I know she's trying to get herself under control. I don't smell any urine. That's new. The first thing most do is piss themselves.

“This can be easy or it can be hard,” I tell the girl. What was her name?

“It feels like it’s going to be both.”

My fingers pause over the crowbar. Her voice is delicate but sweetly smoky. It gives me pause not only because of that but because I actually thought that. I turn back around, and in two long strides I’m in front of her. Bright blue eyes meet mine.

Oh, this girl is fucked.

She’s also all mine.