Epilogue
“Imight have fucked up.” Luca runs his palm over his face and leans back in his office chair.”
I watch him from across the desk, see the myriad of worries that cross his features. Fucker has never been this upset over any decision he’s ever made.
“The casino was too big, Luca. You were right to hesitate. It would have required too much man power. And loss,” his wife tells him.
“We turned our backs on him, so he went to Gideon. Fuck!”
“We can’t be sure about that,” Carina says.
“Marco Tadesco was found with two pennies. I saw the damned report myself.”
Carina turns to me as if I can dispute that. But I can’t. In fact, I wish we’d never hacked the system to get the photographs of the scene before Gavin somehow got the documents sealed.
The news reported nothing more after the initial attack by Marco. Just that renovations were still underway and the casino would be closed for several months.
Only the investigators who actually saw the bodies know what happened. And now, so do we.
“Even if Gideon helped Gavin,” Carina reaches across the desk and places her hand on his forearm, “We’ll get Gavin back. He’s one of us.”
Luca shakes his head. “And we lost Rowan too.”
“He was already gone,” I toss in. “I mean, Gideon’s his brother. We all knew he’d switch sides eventually.”
“Sir,” a knock at the door has us all turning. Hansen, Luca’s head of security is at the door. “Mr. Maxton is here to see you.”
“Let him in.”
Arran Maxton walks in with a scowl already firmly in place. He looks at Luca, then at me. “Where’s Noah?”
“Not here,” I state the obvious and grin.
He ignores me. Grabbing a chair from a corner of the office, he drags it closer to the desk and drops into it. “For the record,” he says, “I feel fucking awful doing this. If Skye finds out I’m spying on Maisie, she’s going to skin me alive.”
“You’re not afraid of a little woman, are you?” I tease.
“Another comment like that, and I’ll take your key to our house away from you.” Carina practically growls at me as she takes the phone Arran is handing her. She reads the messages he’s intercepted. Texts sent to and from his sixteen-year old sister-in-law’s phone. “Shit.”
“Exactly.”
“What?” I ask, needing to know what the hell they’ve discovered.
When Gideon Black abducted Skye and sent her to spy on Arran, Maisie stayed with Scarlet, his assassin in command. Maisie has remained tight lipped about what happened during their time together, but it’s easy to see she’s been afflicted by some sort of Stockholm Syndrome, or whatever the fuck that’s called. After running away and getting into trouble, it was Scarlet she called for help. What’s worse, it seems to go both ways because the assassin came to the rescue.
A few days ago, Arran discovered the two have been keeping in touch through encoded messages. An opportunity for us.
“If Gideon helped Gavin take back The Red, he did it without that cunt,” Carina says. Harsh words, but well deserved since she did kill her twin.
“Where is she?” Luca asks, craning his neck to see the screen.
Carina slides her fingertip over the messages as she reads. “He’s sent her on a mission a week ago. She’s in New Orleans. Alone.”
We all look at each other.
“What’s in N’alins?” I ask. “Or who, I guess?”
Luca frowns as he mulls it over. “Enzo Marcone controls that area.”
“You think he’s working with Gideon?” Arran asks. “His family has ties in New York. Maybe they want more control here.”
“I don’t believe so. We’ve never had beef with them.”
“Or maybe Marcone is the target,” Carina suggests.
“His name isn’t on the list. In fact, I don’t recall seeing anyone from that area involved in The Ferryman’s business.” Luca sits back and steeples his finger under his chin in thought. “I’ll put in a call to Enzo. He should be aware that she’s there.”
“I could go and check it out,” I offer. All of their eyes turn to me. “What? I’ve been itching to take that female out for a while now. This could be my shot.”
“As much as I’m sure the thought turns you on,” Carina chides, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.
“She’s alone. In a city far from her boss.”
“Exactly,” she says. “Suspicious as hell.”
“Carina is right.” Luca takes the phone from his wife and reads the texts. “If we send someone, they will also be alone in a city far from here. I smell a trap.”
“Or maybe she’s not alone at all. She might have Sofia with her,” I suggest. “Think about it. If you’re hunting Gideon, why would he have her with him?”
Luca narrows his eyes on me as he considers this. “Fine.”
“Luca!” Carina exclaims, but he pats her arm.
“If Scarlet took Sofia to New Orleans, we have to find out,” he tells her.
“I’m a big boy, Carina.” I grin and wink at her. “I can take care of myself.”
“What you are is stupid.” She huffs. “But I’m not going to stop you.”
“Your mission is to determine if Sofia is with Scarlet,” Luca says grimly. “If she is, get my sister to a secure location. Then do whatever the fuck you want to with that bitch.”
The idea makes my smile widen. “Yeah. I’m in.”
* * *
Two days later, I’m living it up in The Big Easy. Fuck, I love this place. Why hadn’t I come sooner? I’m made for this shit!
Got a place down on Bienville Street. Smells old and the landlord told me it’s haunted. But I’m not too scared of ghosts. Got plenty of my own.
I get cleaned up, ready for the night, ready to prowl the streets in search of the crazy blonde. According to the texts between her and Maisie, she’s in the Quarter. It’s not that big of a town and Scarlet seems like the type to enjoy some mischief. Nowhere better for that than Bourbon Street.
To my surprise, my search doesn’t last long at all. Guess I know her better than I thought.
Once the sun set, I went out, enjoying the partygoers and the displays of unbridled carnality at some of the bars. Not even an hour into the night, I spot my leather-clad nemesis sashaying down the sidewalk with a pep in her step that tells me she likes this place as much as I do.
Scarlet peers into every doorway she passes, dancing when the music hits just right, moving on when it doesn’t.
Damn, if she wasn’t my target, I might still follow her.
Several blocks into our walk, she finally chooses a place and enters.
“I.D.,” the bouncer at the door says when I make to go inside too. I give him a look that makes him clear his throat and motions me to go inside.
By the time I pass a set of red velvet panels, Scarlet is nowhere in sight.
“Hello handsome,” a pretty server greets. “I have a table close to the stage if you’d like it.”
I nod and she escorts me through the club, all the while I scan the faces in the dark, searching for hers.
“What can I get for you, hun?” the girl asks me.
“I’m looking for a blonde. She came in shortly before I did,” I tell the waitress when I sit.
She leans in close, the way they do in loud places like these. “Was she wearing all black? Black pants, black turtle neck?”
“That’s the one.”
“You’ll see her in a minute.” She tilts her head toward the stage. “Can I get you a drink while you wait?”
“Water.”
Her brows arch, but she nods. “Water it is.”
I’m hyper aware of everyone around me. With Scarlet nearby, I have to be. Hence, water instead of alcohol.
The stripper currently on stage finishes her dance and exits. Then, the announcer comes on to present the next one.
“Tonight we have a little surprise guest for you. Someone we don’t get to hang out with often. She’s a good friend of ours and she’s promised us one dance. We take what we can get. Everyone, give it up for Peaches!”
The song Closer by Nine Inch Nails begins to play loudly and the crowd goes wild as a blonde dressed in leather pants and corset over a sheer black turtle neck suddenly appears. Scarlet.
She sways toward the center pole, spinning on it a few times. Though she remains dressed, the way she undulates as she dances seductively, entrances everyone. When she turns to the audience and drops down slowly onto her knees, her green gaze catches and locks onto mine.
Her red lips pull into a smile that could bring most men to their knees. Fortunately for me, I’ve got a smile that renders most women helpless too.
Slowly, she comes down the steps, her eyes on me the entire time. I let myself take her in, her fit body in that tight-as-a-glove outfit. It’s got no room, but I’m sure she’s armed. A knife most likely. That only makes it hotter.
She stops in front of me, her smile widening. With her palm on my chest, she forces me to sit back to make space for her. Then she straddles me, and fuck, how can someone so evil smell so good.
“Hello, Peaches.”
“Why, I do declare, it’s Gunn with two Ns,” she says in a southern accent. “Don’t tell me you came all the way down here for little ol’ me.”
“Just for you, baby.”
Her arms come around my neck as she begins to dance on me. “I’d ask if that’s a knife in your pants, but I can tell you’re just that happy to see me.”
I give her my most wolfish grin. Of course, I’m hard. Hell, I’ve been like this since I saw her ass in those pants. “What can I say, sweet peaches. The thought of your neck in my hands gives me a hard on.”
“Oh come now. You’re going to hurt my feelings.”
Groaning when she grinds her core over my dick, I say, “I’m going to do a lot more than that. So why don’t we take this somewhere private. You don’t want witnesses to your demise.”
“My demise!” She throws her head back and laughs.
When she looks back at me, her amused smile is still there. I return it because she amuses me too.
Then she does something that surprises me, and makes my cock go from a bulge, to fucking steel.
Licking her lips, she runs her fingertip over my left dimple. “I’m going to lick this before you die.”
My mouth goes instantly dry. “I want to hurt you.”
Scarlet leans in, pressing her breasts to my chest, and whisper-moans in my ear, “I might let you. But you’ll have to catch me first.”
And because I love the chase and the thrill of the hunt just as much as the kill, I let her go, giving her a head start.
This is going to be fun.