Page 167 of The Sweetest Devotion

Fuuuck.

“Did you know about me?” Dice asked.

“I knew she was beingforcedto marry some weirdo,” I answered.

Dice took this information and sat with it.

“I never knew yourrealname,” I spoke up some more. “She said you had a business you inherited from your father and even that doesn’t make sense from what I remember about you.”

Dice peered at Beans before focusing back on me. “My late father was a billionaire casino owner in Vegas. He was a ‘happily married’ man when he preyed on my young mother and I was conceived. Despite his immense wealth, he threw her a few scraps when she decided to keep me.

“When my mother’s heart couldn’t take the rejection and pain, and she died, I was left a ward of the state when daddy dearest didn’t come to my rescue.” A tight smile tugged on Dice’s lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I won’t bore you with the rest.” He tapped my knee with his Sig. “That’s not what this is about. Now, is it?”

My legs were tied to the chair as well, making me unable to kick this motherfucker in his face like I wanted.

“No, I guess not,” I responded.

“I thought I recognized you from the pictures. Seeing you up close, that’s when it really dawned on me,” Dice said with a shake of his head. “I remember you from around the neighborhood. You never really bothered anyone. You seemed like a good guy.”

He knew of me as I knew of him. The world was way too small, because I still couldn’t believe he was the guy Kennedy was being forced to marry.

“Have anything to say for yourself?” Dice taunted, watching me.

“If you kill me, leave her alone. Walk away and don’t bother her ever again,” I wagered.

A smirk crossed Dice’s face. “He’s willing to die for her, and she’s willing to die for him. What do you make of that, Beans?”

“How romantic,” he said in a bored manner.

That remark got Dice to smile as he stared into my eyes. “Nah, don’t knock it. Passion happens to the best of us. I’d never let a woman die for me, but I’d kill for that type of loyalty. That type ofdevotion.”

He dug into his pocket and pulled out two clear red dice. He rolled them in his palm, causing them to clack against each other, before releasing them onto the floor. While I didn’t see what came up, he angled his head to read the outcome.

“Huh.” He collected his dice and put them back into his pocket.

My brows furrowed in confusion, trying to make sense of whatever was going on.

Dice stood up, towering over me in my position bound to my chair. “Untie him.”

Beans did as told. He took a bowie knife and cut me free, first my legs, and finally my arms and hands. The weight of the ropes slipping away gave me a sense of freedom, but there was still one problem standing in front of me.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“It’s your lucky day, Keith. You get to live.”

That seemed too easy. “Just like that?”

Dice shrugged, as if it were that simple. “I’m a man of principle. When I take a life, I look at a few simple things: will they be missed, if the world is a better place without them, and if they deserve to die. And as much as I’d love to put a bullet in you for fucking what was mine, you don’t meet the criteria.” He rattled the dice in his pocket. “They were in your favor.”

It sounded like bullshit, but I’d go with it.

He was tucking his gun away, and that was all I needed as I took a step forward.

Dice regarded me, tracking my movement.“At best, you only get in a cheap shot. And then Beans gets in akillshot.”

I didn’t like those odds, but fuck it.

I swung on him, punching him dead in his face, sending his head snapping to the side.

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