Prologue
MAGNUS
Peering through the spotting scope, I tracked the movements of our target across the park, going for their morning jog like always.
They had no idea that today was the day they would die, but none of them ever did.
No one woke up in the morning wondering if someone put a hit out on them, but for this poor schmuck, that’s exactly what happened.
Only an idiot would try to blackmail the CEO of an oil company and make sure they knew you were the only person with the information.
Moving my gaze to the right slightly, I caught sight of the wind indicator.
“Slight breeze coming from the southwest, target arriving at the first mark in three... two... one,” I murmured to Jaxson sprawled out beside me on the right side of a high-powered sniper rifle.
He exhaled as he smoothly pulled the trigger, hitting the target right in the heart, dropping him like the dead weight he was.
“Target is a confirmed hit,” I reported, lowering the scope.
We eased back from the edge of the roof we were camped on, a thousand yards away from the park.
We’d followed this guy for two weeks, trying to pick the perfect place to make this hit happen.
The client had given us specific rules we had to follow, and one of them was he wanted to help lobby against assault rifles hence, the sniper kill.
He owed a senator a favor and was taking out the trash and scratching a back at the same time.
I had to commend the man on making the most out of his purchase, even if I’d rather have dealt with the matter in a less noticeable way.
Jaxson packed up his gun into the custom case that looked like a guitar case as he slung it over his shoulder, pocketing the shells. “Now what? That was the only job we had this week, right?”
“All the others we would have to leave the state, if not the country, and we agreed we didn’t want to do that right now,” I reminded him.
I was the leader of our trio, but we made choices about our work together.
However, if it wasn’t the right fit, we’d take a vote.
It was our livelihood, and we were fucking good at it.
The problem with being so good was that jobs were becoming boring.
At this point, we only took contracts that were going to be a challenge, would get us a favor, or were too interesting to pass up.
This one had given us a hefty favor with a powerful man, and that was going to come in handy if things went sideways in the criminal empire here in the US.
“Can’t we go do something fun? Why does Dax get to cause all the trouble around here?” He sighed. “You know she really should call us in to help out with her little problem. One call and we could take the asshole out like that,” Jaxson said, snapping his fingers together.
I glanced back over my shoulder as I held the elevator door open for him, hitting the button for the hotel lobby. “You know exactly why she won’t call us.”
“Seriously, is her giving us a chance with her best friend really that big of a deal? I know she’ll be perfect for us. All we need is a shot to prove it.” Jaxson huffed as he leaned back against the elevator wall, tipping his head back to watch the numbers decrease.
Looking at my brother was like looking in a mirror seeing as we were identical triplets in every way but our eye color.
In many ways, it made our job easier and gave us endless chances at reasonable doubt if we ever got caught.
They could never prove who it was that pulled the trigger or stabbed the victim when we all matched down to our haircuts.
Each of us kept our golden hair in a simple military crew cut we did ourselves.
We even dressed similarly in jeans and T-shirts, maintaining the illusion.
Everything we did was to go unnoticed in the world around us until it was too late for anyone to realize who our victims were.
The work wasn’t for everyone, but orphaned at the age of thirteen and having to survive on the street lest we were split up, you did whatever it took.
It turned out we had the same crazy gene our mother did, but we put it to good use instead of trying to drown it in drugs and alcohol.
“One of these days, she’ll bite off more than she can chew, turn to us for help, then give in to our one demand,” I commented as we stepped out into the lobby, spotting our third sitting at the bar.
Ghost was the youngest brother, by all of four minutes, and the smoothest sweet-talker known to man. It was his efforts that got us the key to the roof we now needed to get back into the hands of the owner.
Plopping down beside him with Jaxon on the other side, I slipped the keycard into Ghost’s palm as I motioned for the bartender to pour me whatever he was drinking.
“All go well?” Ghost asked, resting his elbows on the bar.
“Easy. Too easy. It wasn’t even fun,” Jaxson shared as he crossed his arms and rested his head on them. “The money better be good for all this work and no play. Long-range is the cheap way out, and they don’t even see it coming.”
“Aww, is Jaxy-poo still grumpy because of the job we turned down the other day?” Ghost teased.
Jaxson lifted his head, glaring at Ghost, flipping him the bird.
“Fuck you, like you aren’t the slightest bit concerned.
I still don’t understand why we can’t just swoop in and settle the matter.
It’s about time we made ourselves known instead of sneaking around.
Those bastards invaded her home, for fuck’s sake.
We haven’t even done that… while she was there. ”
I couldn’t help but smile and shake my head at the fact we’ve had this same argument for the past few days. “I told you we should have taken the job so no one else would have. By turning it down, we practically sent them to her doorstep.”
At this comment, Jaxson shot up and punched me in the arm. “If we did that, she’d never trust us or believe we’d never let anything happen to her.”
“Yes, but at least she’d know we exist,” Ghost pointed out. “I’ll be back. I have a key to return. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t while I’m gone.”
“That’s a stupid thing to say. He’d do just about anything if he found it interesting.” I sighed and tossed back the double shot of whiskey the bartender set in front of me.
Swiveling on the barstool, I leaned back on the bar behind me and watched people coming in and out of the hotel in the heart of Beverly Hills. The vibration coming from my pocket pulled my attention away from the people watching.
Only an extremely select group of people had this phone number, so I knew I couldn’t ignore it even though I didn’t recognize the number.
“Yes,” I stated.
“Magnus, it’s Weston.”
There weren’t many things that could surprise me, but this right here was delightfully unexpected. “What can I do for you, Weston? Your girl finally get in over her head?”
“No, yours did,” Weston explained.
My gaze flicked over to meet Jaxson’s questioning green ones. “Tell me everything.”
“Betting you heard some people got beef with Dax.”
I grunted my affirmation, wanting him to speed things along. Had we missed something important while working on this job? We’d made sure to stay close to the area if we needed to step in.
“Seems the De Leon Cartel and now the Mad Dogs are gunning for Dax. Unfortunately, we didn’t figure this out until they tried to use Harper as bait to catch Dax.
They attacked Harper in her own house, Magnus,” Weston explained.
He told me things I already knew, but we didn’t know where Dax had taken her last night.
“She’s fine, so you can stop your growling.
Dax handled matters and brought her back to a secure location.
Thing is, Dax won’t be able to keep her head in the game if Harper’s in trouble.
That’s where you come in. We need someone who can keep an eye on her until things cool off. ”
“Where are they right now?” I demanded.
“Yeah, so about that… they took off about a half-hour ago after Dax caused some ridiculous distraction involving a helicopter.”
I couldn’t help but snort at that, knowing it was absolutely Dax’s style. “We’ll agree to help, but only if we get to protect her how we see fit with no argument from Dax.”
“Man, you know I can’t guarantee that. Harper is like her sister, which means she is crazy fucking protective over her, as you know.
I’m going to have my balls cut off for even calling you guys in on this, but I know there isn’t a better option than you guys to look after her.
” Weston paused a moment, then continued, “You guys already got the job offer, didn’t you? ”
“And turned it down for obvious reasons, hard to convince a woman to be yours when she’s dead,” I reasoned. “I’ll deal with Dax when we find them. You have to be ready for the fallout because we’ll do whatever it takes. Even if we have to steal Harper away from Dax.”
“Good luck, really. Harper deserves someone, or should I say three someone’s, who will be devoted to her. I’m getting tired of seeing her heart being played with. Maybe that’s just my own romanticism talking now that Dax and I are finally together.”
“About goddamn fucking time that shit happened. It was painful to keep watching,” I teased. “Now you worry about dealing with your woman, and we’ll finally get the chance we need with ours.”
Hanging up the call, Ghost rejoined us, but I motioned for him to follow me as I tossed down a hundred to cover our drinks with a generous tip.
Outside the hotel, we walked a few blocks to where we’d parked our Hummer.
I kept my silence until we got in the vehicle, then turned and grinned at my brothers.
“Our day has finally come to make Harper ours,” I announced.
Ghost gaped at me. “What the fuck happened while I was gone?”
“Just got off the phone with Weston. It seems they need to get Harper somewhere safe, and he called us in. All we need to do is deal with Dax, then hopefully convince Harper to come with us willingly. But I’m not above some forced proximity working in our favor,” I explained.
My brothers grinned at me, giving each other a high five as I started the car. “Jaxson, find our woman, will you?”
“With fucking pleasure!”