Halfway through, his thumb went back in and I climaxed, right then and there.

This guy.

He was going to be the death of me, one way or another.

I could feel him laughing against my neck as he turned me over and slid in from the front—missionary style now. I wound my arms and legs around him. We were almost having sex like a normal couple.

A little while later, Raize carried me into his bedroom, shutting and locking the door.

I glanced at the clock next to his bed. Two in the morning. We’d been going at it for hours, and as he left the bed, my body shivered. This was ridiculous, because I wanted him back inside of me.

He went into his bathroom and turned on the water.

I closed my eyes, burrowing into the sheets. I hadn’t moved when he padded back into the room.

He went to his closet. “I’m going to deal with Jake.”

I sat up, watching him by the light from the bathroom.

He slid on some black sweatpants and bent over to tie his shoes. He straightened to pull a black Henley over his head and down his arms and chest. He smoothed it out, taking me in.

I was naked. His eyes flared, and he cursed under his breath. “This changes everything. You know that, right?”

I couldn’t even begin to imagine how things would change. “Yes.”

He shook his head, his eyes rolling to the ceiling as he reached for the nightstand and grabbed a gun. He checked the magazine before putting it in the back of his pants. Then his eyes flashed at me again. “You put a gun to your head.” He looked at me for a moment. “Don’t ever fucking do that again.”

He stalked from the room, shutting the door behind him, and I collapsed back on the bed.

Had I just sold my soul to him? Because that’s how I felt, but even now images of us flashed in my head—me against the wall, working his dick. Him bending me over the desk. Us sideways, and then all the other positions in his bed.

I was wet all over again.

Sick.

I was sick.

Was I sick?

But I got up, walked naked to his bathroom, and took a shower.

I didn’t care.

32

Ash

I woke up when I felt the bed move.

Raize leaned over me, kneeling on the bed. “Want to start crossing names off your list?”

That got me awake, wide awake.

I sat up. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

He went to the closet, grabbed new clothes, and started changing. The clothes he pulled on were still black, but they were tighter, more form fitting. The hood of his long-sleeve shirt was a mask he could pull over his face.

My mouth went dry. I hugged my knees. “What’s going on?”

He sat on the bed, pulling boots on.

“What do you think is happening?” He stood and began moving around the room, grabbing things, putting them in a bag. He tossed a second bag on the bed next to me. “You need to put all your personal items in there.”

“We’re running?” I’d not anticipated that.

“I got two guys out there who want to switch allegiance to me. What do you think that means in this world?”

“Someone’s going to die.”

“I gotta make a choice. No way am I going to trust them to go back and change their minds. They either get dead or their bosses get dead.”

He went back to work, removing a section of the wall to show a safe. He opened it and my eyes almost bugged out. I got up and went over to have a look. Money. Weapons. He had passports, driver’s licenses.

I felt like I’d just had sex with Jason Bourne.

He kept stuffing everything into the bag. When it got full, he grabbed another from the closet and tossed them by the door.

My head was spinning. Again. “You’re going to kill Carloni and Bronski?”

“Yep.”

He moved around me as I stood in just a T-shirt that fell to the tops of my thighs. I grabbed the end of my shirt, wringing it in a ball. “What’s that mean?”

He had another bag ready to go and stopped behind me, tossing it to the door. “That means we’re going to war.”

I whirled, my heart in my throat. It was a common sensation by now. “What does that mean?”

He paused and let out a soft sigh. “Your list aligns with my boss’ timeline,” he said flatly.

“You didn’t tell him—”

“No. I went to Roman. I reported in, and he decided it was time. I left that team behind for surveillance on Marco. They called in, said Carloni was down in Texas.”

I stumbled back, but he caught my hand.

“Carloni made a move. He might’ve done it behind my back, I don’t know. Maybe Carloni found out I’m really working for Roman, not the brother Carloni answers to. Again. I don’t know, but Roman made his decision. I got the order to take Bronski and Carloni out.” He was quiet. “You gotta pack everything you want because when we leave this house, it’s going to get torched. Everything is going to change.”

He tossed the mattress, flipping it over and shoving aside the frame. There was another safe in the floorboards, this one much longer. Raize began pulling out gun after gun.

We were going to war, and he had an entire arsenal for us.

33

Ash

I’d never been in a mafia war before. That’s the stuff you see in movies, but being one of the foot soldiers, I didn’t know what to expect. I thought we’d kill Bronski right away, but that didn’t happen. We were five weeks in, and my experience was as follows: we’d set up somewhere, we’d wait, Raize would get a call, he’d go off—sometimes he took Cavers, sometimes Jake, and a few times me.

Then he’d come back, usually bloody, and we’d change locations.

Repeat.

Basically, Raize got his orders and then he gave us orders. We followed them.

What had changed was that our shit was out in the air—not that any of us talked about it. And the it was Cavers’ first boss, Jake being under Carloni’s control, and the relationship between Raize and me. But nevertheless, there seemed to be an easier camaraderie between all of us.

Raize no longer cared if I rode alone in a vehicle with Cavers.

Cavers said more than a few words here and there.

Jake went back to telling jokes every now and then.

And something inside of me was thawing.

The only one that hadn’t changed was Gus. He got pets from everyone. He’d plop his head in anyone’s lap, and that human was obligated to rub his ears.

34

Raize

I went to the coordinates I’d been sent, and an hour later, headlights came toward me.

This was how my meetings with Roman Marakov always began. Three cars drove up this time. Sometimes it was one, sometimes two, sometimes a truck and a guy gave me a phone. This time, all three cars circled around me, and when they came to a stop, Roman’s head of security got out of the front seat in the third car. He walked around and opened the back door.