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Merciless KingLawless Kings, #5
A sexy STANDALONE contemporary romance in the Lawless Kings series. Two years ago Van King killed a man and saved my life. I’ve thought about the handsome private investigator every day since, fantasized about what would happen when I finally saw him again. And when I do, it’s far from the reunion of my dreams. A copycat serial killer wants to finish what I barely survived. Van rushes to my side once more, and shows me the man he truly is: protective, possessive, merciless, especially when it comes to me and my safety. He thinks I’m afraid of him. But I’ve loved Van from the moment his dark, enigmatic gaze met mine. |
Excerpt:
PROLOGUE
Van
The florist walked by my car and I watched her as she headed for the door of her apartment building. It was late and I didn’t like that she was always alone. My interest in her over the last few months had become a problem. I recognized it. Didn’t stop the anticipation when I knew she was due home, the worry that she’d get there safe, the knot of lust in my gut when I eventually saw her.
London Rivera was not the reason I was staking out her apartment, but she’d made the job I was on a whole hell of a lot more interesting. Her neighbor was my target. The client who hired me, high profile. Mine and my brother Hunter’s PI business, the King Agency, had been up and running just over a year. With Hunter stuck in prison, I was working my ass off to make the business successful. When he got out, I wanted him to have something good waiting. If things went well, this job could bring us in a lot more cases like this. Most of it was evidence gathering, following the guy and staking out his place to keep track of his movements.
London had hit my radar the first day I parked up outside her building.
Like now, she was carrying flowers and wearing a brightly colored dress, the fabric skimming her curves, which she had a lot of. I liked curves. I was a big guy and when I took a woman to bed, I liked it hard and a little rough. I liked my women to have wide hips, lots of ass and tits. I wasn’t interested in a woman I was worried about breaking. There was no chance of that with London. But it wasn’t just her body that had me captivated. It was every fucking thing. I watched as she tucked her thick dark hair behind her ear and smile at Calvin, her doorman. The guy beamed back, like the clouds had parted and he’d been bathed in light and warmth.
This was not an uncommon response. That was the affect she often had on people, from what I’d observed.
She laughed at something he said, and it carried over to me. Soft, husky, genuine. Even from my spot across the street I could see her face flush with color. Another thing about London, she blushed a lot and was kind of awkward in her interactions with other people. London was sweet. Shy. And if I had to take a guess, pretty fucking innocent. Definitely not for a man like me. I should absolutely not have looked her up, but I hadn’t been able to help it. Which was messed up and not something I’d ever done before. If they weren’t a target or a client, I didn’t give a fuck about someone’s past or who they were.
London had somehow gotten under my skin and I’d broken my own rules.
I watched as she disappeared inside, until I could no longer see her through the glass-fronted doors when she climbed in the elevator. We had the hall on her floor wired as well as our mark’s apartment, the one next to hers. The ding of the elevator come over my earpiece, along with the sound of her soft humming as she walked down the hall. She said something to one of her neighbors, the elderly woman across from her place.
“I’m ordering pizza tonight. You know I can never finish it on my own. Why don’t you come over and we can watch your show together?” she was saying.
Yeah, fucking sweet. I’d noticed her neighbor never had visitors and it was obvious London worried about her. They made plans to meet up in an hour, and then I heard the sounds of her going into her place. Our mark hadn’t come home yet and the equipment we used had incredible range. With how thin the walls between apartments were, I could actually hear the odd muffled sound through the wall. Could hear her talking. She’d mentioned a goldfish before in one of her hallway conversations, and the idea of her talking to it had me grinning.
The tone of her voice changed. No, I couldn’t hear what she was saying but the tone she was using was higher, and she was speaking faster…
The muffled sound of another voice came through, deeper. Unmistakably male.
That’s when London screamed.
I shoved my door open and sprinted across the street, almost taking out Calvin as I pushed him out of the way, and rather than wait for the elevator, took the stairs two at a time. I didn’t slow as I ran to her apartment near the end of the hall. I kicked the door in…
London was on the floor with a guy standing over her. He had a knife, and her blood was all over it. Fuck. There was blood everywhere. A sound escaped me, raw and unfamiliar.
Her attacker turned to me, eyes wild.
I pulled my gun and shot him between the eyes.
Ignoring him as he crumpled to the floor, I rushed to London, slipping on the blood around her—so much fucking blood. I yanked off my shirt and tried to staunch it, but there was more than one stab wound. The elderly woman from across the hall moved into the doorway.
“Call 911,” I barked at her.
I looked back down. London’s blue eyes were on me, and fuck, I could see the life draining from them.
“Stay with me, London. Stay with me. Help’s on the way…” Her lids started to slide shut. “Come on, baby…you’re not going to die. I won’t let you fucking die.”
That’s when she stopped breathing.
Van
The florist walked by my car and I watched her as she headed for the door of her apartment building. It was late and I didn’t like that she was always alone. My interest in her over the last few months had become a problem. I recognized it. Didn’t stop the anticipation when I knew she was due home, the worry that she’d get there safe, the knot of lust in my gut when I eventually saw her.
London Rivera was not the reason I was staking out her apartment, but she’d made the job I was on a whole hell of a lot more interesting. Her neighbor was my target. The client who hired me, high profile. Mine and my brother Hunter’s PI business, the King Agency, had been up and running just over a year. With Hunter stuck in prison, I was working my ass off to make the business successful. When he got out, I wanted him to have something good waiting. If things went well, this job could bring us in a lot more cases like this. Most of it was evidence gathering, following the guy and staking out his place to keep track of his movements.
London had hit my radar the first day I parked up outside her building.
Like now, she was carrying flowers and wearing a brightly colored dress, the fabric skimming her curves, which she had a lot of. I liked curves. I was a big guy and when I took a woman to bed, I liked it hard and a little rough. I liked my women to have wide hips, lots of ass and tits. I wasn’t interested in a woman I was worried about breaking. There was no chance of that with London. But it wasn’t just her body that had me captivated. It was every fucking thing. I watched as she tucked her thick dark hair behind her ear and smile at Calvin, her doorman. The guy beamed back, like the clouds had parted and he’d been bathed in light and warmth.
This was not an uncommon response. That was the affect she often had on people, from what I’d observed.
She laughed at something he said, and it carried over to me. Soft, husky, genuine. Even from my spot across the street I could see her face flush with color. Another thing about London, she blushed a lot and was kind of awkward in her interactions with other people. London was sweet. Shy. And if I had to take a guess, pretty fucking innocent. Definitely not for a man like me. I should absolutely not have looked her up, but I hadn’t been able to help it. Which was messed up and not something I’d ever done before. If they weren’t a target or a client, I didn’t give a fuck about someone’s past or who they were.
London had somehow gotten under my skin and I’d broken my own rules.
I watched as she disappeared inside, until I could no longer see her through the glass-fronted doors when she climbed in the elevator. We had the hall on her floor wired as well as our mark’s apartment, the one next to hers. The ding of the elevator come over my earpiece, along with the sound of her soft humming as she walked down the hall. She said something to one of her neighbors, the elderly woman across from her place.
“I’m ordering pizza tonight. You know I can never finish it on my own. Why don’t you come over and we can watch your show together?” she was saying.
Yeah, fucking sweet. I’d noticed her neighbor never had visitors and it was obvious London worried about her. They made plans to meet up in an hour, and then I heard the sounds of her going into her place. Our mark hadn’t come home yet and the equipment we used had incredible range. With how thin the walls between apartments were, I could actually hear the odd muffled sound through the wall. Could hear her talking. She’d mentioned a goldfish before in one of her hallway conversations, and the idea of her talking to it had me grinning.
The tone of her voice changed. No, I couldn’t hear what she was saying but the tone she was using was higher, and she was speaking faster…
The muffled sound of another voice came through, deeper. Unmistakably male.
That’s when London screamed.
I shoved my door open and sprinted across the street, almost taking out Calvin as I pushed him out of the way, and rather than wait for the elevator, took the stairs two at a time. I didn’t slow as I ran to her apartment near the end of the hall. I kicked the door in…
London was on the floor with a guy standing over her. He had a knife, and her blood was all over it. Fuck. There was blood everywhere. A sound escaped me, raw and unfamiliar.
Her attacker turned to me, eyes wild.
I pulled my gun and shot him between the eyes.
Ignoring him as he crumpled to the floor, I rushed to London, slipping on the blood around her—so much fucking blood. I yanked off my shirt and tried to staunch it, but there was more than one stab wound. The elderly woman from across the hall moved into the doorway.
“Call 911,” I barked at her.
I looked back down. London’s blue eyes were on me, and fuck, I could see the life draining from them.
“Stay with me, London. Stay with me. Help’s on the way…” Her lids started to slide shut. “Come on, baby…you’re not going to die. I won’t let you fucking die.”
That’s when she stopped breathing.
