Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
At least, that was what Dev had thought until a third man came running down the alley from the opposite direction. He was tall and lithe like Kai, but his hair had been buzzed short to his scalp. His narrowed eyes swept over Dev and seemed to judge him as insignificant, because he immediately turned his attention over to Kai.
Dev drew in a deep breath to warn Kai that a third person was about to attack, but the words never left his throat. Kai was already turning. His elbow crashed hard into the newcomer’s noses, instantly coating his face in blood. The man shouted and staggered, his hands covering his face for a moment.
Kai never stopped moving. Grabbing the wrist of the second man holding the knife, he forced it into the guy’s stomach before releasing him. The first attacker made the critical mistake of hesitating, staring just a second too long at Kai. The assassin punched him hard in the jaw, rocking him off balance and spinning him around.
In the blink of an eye, Kai had the man on his knees in front of him, a long knife held pressed to his throat tight enough to cause a trickle of blood to slip down to soak into the collar of his shirt.
Kai’s eyes snapped to Dev. The cold, hardness had returned, but Dev had no complaints. The assassin had just taken out three assailants in a flurry of moves. There was no sign of him bleeding. Just some sweat sliding along the sides of his face.
“You okay?” he bit out.
Dev could only nod. He was utterly tongue-tied. How…how had Kai done all that? He’d almost made it look easy. Not that Dev would ever make the mistake of believing what he’d just seen came from anything other than years of hard work and dedication to his craft.
The steady clomp of heavy heels on pavement drew their gaze down the alley. Dev’s eyes widened to see a tiny woman in a clingy black dress approaching them on thick, chunky heels. Her lovely heart-shaped face was twisted up in a look of disgust. Unlike the third man who approached, she didn’t spare Dev a glance. Her dark eyes were locked on Kai.
“I believe the agreement was that you’d never come to this city,” she said, the same disgust on her face lacing her voice.
“I am not here because I wish to be,” Kai snapped. “Give me the answers I seek, and I will leave.”
The woman shifted on her heels, moving as if they were a part of her body. She crossed her arms over her chest, frowning. “A price has to be paid for this trespass.”
Twisting the hair of the man in front of him in one fist, Kai jerked his head back until a cry of pain escaped him. The blade sawed deeper into his flesh, sending a fresh stream of blood down his neck. “I spared the lives of these three. That seems more than ample payment for this visit.”
The woman sniffed, her eyes barely moving to the three men. “Obviously weaker elements. You’re doing us no favors by leaving them alive.”
“I’m not taking out your trash.”
She made a show of rolling her eyes before tapping one long red fingernail on her lips. Dev had little doubt that she already had something in mind but was drawing out the moment to make Kai twist a bit.
“You owe us one contract at our discretion at a time of our choosing.”
Dev’s eyes snapped over to Kai to find his lips pressed together into a hard, thin line. The muscles in his jaw jumped as if he were grinding his molars together.
He must have waited too long, because the woman’s harsh laughter bounced off the walls of the alley. “If not, we can kill you…” she paused, her eyes finally sliding over to Dev to pin him like a moth in a bug collection, “and your friend.”
“Done!” Kai instantly snapped and Dev’s stomach sunk a little.
He hated to think that Kai might be agreeing to something horrible just to keep him safe. How much crap was he dragging this poor man through thanks to some lunatic targeting him?
“Neutral ground,” Kai demanded.
The woman was already walking toward a black town car with darkly tinted windows. “Fine. Fine,” she agreed with an absent wave of a hand in the air. “The park. Twenty minutes.” Dev watched her climb into the back seat of the vehicle, and it pulled away into evening traffic.
When Dev looked at Kai, the assassin had already released the man he was holding and was moving toward him. His narrowed eyes swept quickly over him from head to toe, checking to make sure that he wasn’t hurt. Dev flashed him a weak smile. It was all he could manage. His mind was reeling from the run, the sudden attack, and Kai’s frightening skill.