Pushing to my feet, I shook my head and trudged toward him. “Thirty minutes, at most.”
“That’s impossible.”
“You still standing was a long shot when I walked through the door, which means your odds have improved substantially, so I suggest you work that luck with whatever higher power you believe in to make it happen.”
There was a hint of a smirk on his face. “I’ll try my damnedest. Meet you back here in thirty, then.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re coming?”
“Of course. Honestly, it’s what I should have done from the jump.”
I gave him a nod, picked up my gun, and headed for the door. Walking past the threshold, I stopped and turned my head, not meeting his gaze. “Santino, if you fuck me over, I’ll have your head.”
He chuckled. “I know you will.”
Thirty-Two
SILAS
Cotswold, England
Cillian sat at a table in front of a small cafe on a corner street. He wore dark shades and tapped his fingers against the iron surface almost rhythmically. When Santino told me he’d be at his Hilford Manor Estate, I knew this was my one chance. Having visited in the past, I knew the location well. Hilford was where he came to clear his thoughts. It was his place of peace, where perhaps he thought he’d find redemption for the sins he’d committed outside the walls of his sacred palace.
His shoulders slumped more than the last time I’d seen him. A part of me couldn’t blame him. He’d lost both of his children in a span of two months. That kind of shit weighed on a man. Maybe I’d feel an ounce of compassion for his predicament, but he was not someone deserving of empathy. The sons and daughters he’d murdered, bought, sold, and maimed over the last two decades would take several lifetimes to atone for.
I wouldn’t sit here and pretend I wasn’t as damned—as if a spot in hell next to my former boss wasn’t already carved with my name. But I was determined to make sure he’d get there before me.
Life looked a little different these days. The potential of something good, something more, had bloomed from darkness. And I wanted everything that opportunity could offer. It was why I was here, risking it all for a chance at a future I thought I’d never have.
Risking it all forher.
She’d once asked me if we got to come back. If severing our ties to this life would bring us peace and absolve the sins of our past. I didn’t know what the answer to that question was. My hands were far too drenched in blood to delude myself into thinking a happily ever after was in my cards. But it was a future worth exploring.
Cillian tossed some bills on the table, stood up, headed for a black sedan, and quickly slid inside. As the vehicle pulled out, I ran across the busy street, where I hailed a taxi and spouted off the general direction. My knee bounced in the back seat. Nervous for the first time since my days as a rookie.
“I need you to tail that car.”
The older man’s aged green eyes found mine in the rearview mirror, a question brimming on his tongue, but he chose to remain quiet and simply nod.
“Stop here,” I said as we arrived just outside the property gates. I gave the man a hefty tip for his silence and compliance, which earned me a grin and another nod. While security on the estate wasn’t as heavy as in the city, I knew Cillian never traveled without protection. He was the type of pussy who always needed someone else to get their hands dirty in his name.
I moved around the outside perimeter, careful to stay in what I knew were blind spots. Reaching a sewage grate, I pulled at the bars until it gave. The water was foul, and I was ankle-deep. Swallowing hard, I shuffled forward.
“Doing this for Leni,” I repeated as I waded through the water. The tunnels passed underneath a storage cellar. “Fuck,” I cursed as the heat and lack of fresh air had sweat rolling down my forehead.
Tearing off my shirt, I wiped my face and tossed the damn thing to the side as I came to a fork in the tunnel. It had been such a long time since I’d seen the plans for the manor and updated security, so I threw up a prayer and chose to move left.
It wasn’t long before a faint light cast down through a squared metal grate a couple of feet in front of me and above my head.
I jumped and grabbed hold, pulling myself up to view the room. As far as I could tell, it was vacant, and the odds of anyone in that cellar were slim to none.
My feet hit the water with a loud splash, droplets of filth reaching my mouth. I secured my bag of weapons and ammo, and I leaped again, this time with open palms, popping off the metal on the third try. My muscles strained as I pulled myself up past the edge, and I made a mental note to keep up with my training and lifting when this ordeal was over. Fleeting thoughts of lifting Leni onto my shoulders, her pussy in my face, made the edges of my mouth pull into a smirk. Thinking of her sent a wave of heat to my dick and fueled my resolve with renewed strength.
No sooner had I gotten my footing, the impact of a heavy body barreled into me. We rolled twice before his right hook connected with my chin.
“Hey, Si, remember me?”
Sterling was a cocksucking, slimy prick. He couldn’t have been happier when Cillian turned on me. It was his chance to become second in command. He caught me again, knuckles to the corner of my right eye. But it would be the last. I went for his throat and squeezed. His eyes bulged and reddened as he clawed at my hands. Flipping us over, I kept my grip tight while my other fist opened up against the bones of his face. I was too fucking high and rabid to feel a thing.
