Leandro carries me away.
I fear that I’ll never see Esteban alive again.
18
Hitman
“Cia,fuckbitch.Areyou okay? What’s happening? Christos demanded I stay here and bailed on me.” Bianca throws her arms around me, hugging me.
I stand frozen, still reeling about what happened at the hotel.
“She’s in shock. Just give her some space. Can you get a glass of water?” Leandro guides me toward the couch in the sitting room of the family suite at our hotel near the airport.
He grabs a blanket and wraps it around my shoulders, sitting close to me. “Just focus on getting your breathing under control. I know you’re afraid. Esteban was stupid for putting you through that. He’s too full of himself. Thinks he’s invincible. He could’ve gotten you killed.”
My hands quiver and I don’t respond, waiting for Bianca to return from the small kitchenette. She brings me a bottle of water and cracks it open, pouring it into a glass. Plopping down on my other side, she ignores Leandro about giving me space and smothers me with her arms, pulling me into her boobs.
It’s enough to make me laugh, my voice raspy.
“That’s better. Now take a drink and tell me what the hell is going on. This was supposed to be a vacation and keeping off the radar of the media.” Bianca helps me take a drink of water until I clutch the glass myself.
I want to tell her that it feels like another assignment given to us by the King’s Court, but I know better than to say anything in front of Leandro.
“I think we found out who’s been trying to deal shitty product in LA.” I lick my lips and sink back on the couch, resting my head on the cool wall.
“Whoever it is, is out of their damn mind, trying to mess with...” Bianca shuts her mouth, flicking her gaze to Leandro and back to me. “Leandro and Christos better take care of it, is all I mean. I don’t want to worry about fucking overdosing on shit product. It’s like they purposely want to kill people.”
Except the woman who died had some of Esteban’s product. Yet he denies that’s why she died.
I guess we’ll never really know.
All of our phones buzz, drawing our attention away from each other. I pull mine from my purse and glance at the screen.
Esteban: We’re back. Open the door. We had to rush through the lobby. Christos doesn’t have his room key.
I hop to my feet before Leandro and Bianca and rush across the room, yanking the door open. Leandro grabs me and holds me back protectively, and I realize what a stupid mistake I made. I didn’t even bother to look through the peephole to make sure it was really Esteban.
“What the fuck? Give her to me.” Esteban closes the space and practically rips me away from Leandro to engulf me in a hug. “Come here, mamacita. I’m okay.”
“Don’t get fucking pissed at me for doing my job. The job you have made difficult.” Leandro fists his hand, looking ready to punch Esteban.
Christos gets between us and him, surprising the hell out of me. “That’s enough. We don’t have time to fight. We have bigger fucking problems.”
His words send a wave of ice through me, and I shiver, peeking at Esteban. But he doesn’t react, keeping his face expressionless.
“There’s been a hit put on Stacia. We managed to get that out of one of the bastards, who somehow knew we were here. We think it was the PI. He must’ve told whoever hired him that Stacia isn’t missing. It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Christos adds, tightening his jaw.
“So it wasn’t even about the drugs?” A million thoughts swirl through my mind. I struggle to comprehend everything going on. But a hit on my head? What the actual fuck? I didn’t do anything. How can someone want me dead?
Esteban touches my cheeks, resting his forehead to mine. “Just take a breath. We’re going to figure things out. I have an ID that we can look into. We just need to head back to LA.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. We were supposed to stay until Talon found the PI and ensured he didn’t tell anyone. But if there’s a hit on me? It means he failed. I wonder if he even knows.
A hand touches my back. “We’re going to get the shit in control. No one can get within reach of you, astéri mou. It’ll be safer in LA. We own the city.”
“Sorry if I have a hard time believing you, Christos,” I snap, struggling to keep myself together.
“If you don’t believe him, then believe me. We’re here for you. We’re all in this together.” Esteban kisses me, not even caring that he makes Christos and Leandro frown.