Page 56 of Ruthless Sinner

“This’ll be a very simple one,” Marco said. “Vincent and dear old Dad want to know they can trust me to be responsible? Well this is me showing them.” He looked at me. “I’m responsible for Kennedy. And I’m going to take care of her, and this situation.”

Toby nodded. “All right. I’ll let him know.”

I looked up at Marco as Toby left. “What are you doing to do?”

“We’re going to do what your handler wants,” Marco replied. “We’re going to kill you.”

CHAPTER23

Marco

Jade took some persuading. “I don’t want my club to be known as a dangerous place for its dancers.”

I assured her that this was all staged, and that she was welcome to let everyone know it was staged as long as she ensured they stayed quiet about it to any cops. I didn’t care if the rest of our world knew that Kennedy had made it out—I cared that the cops declared her legally dead so that they couldn’t do anything about it when she showed up on my arm a few months later.

Kennedy texted her handler again a few days after their phone conversation, telling him that she really didn’t feel safe, that I was growing moody and dangerous, and that all of her questions were being shut down.He has to know who I really am,she told Johnson.I’m scared for my life. Marco’s violent and unstable.

She sent this text while lying in my arms in bed, so I snorted at the message contents. Violent? Only to my enemies. Unstable? Definitely not.

The response she received back?You’re so close. We can’t pull you out now.

Fucking prick.

Now it was time. Kennedy was supposed to meet the scumbag at work again, this time through the back alley—the fact that he agreed so readily only confirmed what we already knew. If he’d been a decent handler he would’ve gotten her from her apartment and bundled her away to safety, say in D.C. but instead, he had her meet him at her place of work. He was hoping she would die there.

Thanks to all of my previous encounters with women of the night, I knew someone who was a wizard with outfits, and we got Kennedy a bullet-proof corset to wear with a pair of cute panties. I wouldn’t have trusted some random guy not to go for a headshot, but since this would be me doing the shooting, I knew I’d hit the corset.

Vincent had tried to convince me to give the job to one of our sharpshooters, but I wasn’t going to put Kennedy’s life in anybody’s hands but mine. I loved her. I trusted myself to keep her safe, not some guy just doing it for the money—no matter how loyal to the Russo name he was.

The old guy arrived on time, just like a fuckin’ cop, and walked down the alley. From my perch up on the roof I could see him take out his phone. A moment later, Kennedy exited the back door, obviously in receipt of whatever text the guy sent.

“You’re not leaving much to the imagination,” Johnson said.

We’d put her in that outfit, specifically so that he would know she wasn’t wearing a wire. Didn’t need to, when we’d put a bug underneath the dumpster right next to them.

“It’s my job,” Kennedy replied. She did a good job of sounding scared but trying to hide it, bravado covering genuine terror. “Please, are you going to get me out? I feel like he’s going to kill me any day now. The only time I’m allowed to leave his apartment is to come here, so nobody suspects something because I’m not at work.”

“Are you sure he’s not watching us right now?” Johnson said. “He’s known to be very jealous. You meeting another man secretly… at work…”

Kennedy looked around, but like she was trying to avoid Johnson seeing her do it. “N-no, he said he had to take care of something tonight. A cleaning job.”

“A cleaning job? Did you get the details? The DA is hoping to pin him for murder, after all.”

“Whose murder?” Kennedy whispered.

“What was that?” Johnson asked.

“Whose. Murder.” Kennedy’s voice grew hard. “Because from where I’m standing, I’m pretty sure the victim is supposed to be me.”

“We would never do that to you,” her asshole handler said, trying to soothe her—probably for the sake of the wirehewas wearing. “And for God’s sake keep your voice down. You—”

I shot Kennedy in the stomach.

The Kevlar corset protected her, but the impact of it burst the blood pack we’d secured on the underside next to her skin. Blood slid down, dripping out from the bottom of the corset, staining her pelvis and legs, while also blooming across the fabric.

Kennedy gave a small, wheezing noise.Don’t move, baby girl, don’t move.I hit her again, higher up, in the chest.

Just like we’d planned, on the second hit she allowed herself to sink to the ground.

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