Page 27 of Reaper's Desire

"She's traveling, it seems. She's in Santorini. I'll be heading there tonight."

"Do that." Maddox's voice takes on an edge. "Stalling on a Capetti contract is not something I would recommend."

"I'm not stalling."

"Then what are you doing?"

The question hangs in the air between us. I could tell him the truth. Could admit that I'm compromised, that I fucked the target, that I can't stop thinking about the way she looked at me when she came.

But that would be suicide.

"I'm doing my job," I say instead. "The target is in Santorini. I'm heading to Santorini. The contract will be completed."

"It had better be." His voice drops, the warning in it absolutely clear. "Because if it's not, the Capetti family will send someone else. And they won't just kill the target, Julian. They'll kill you, too. For refusing the contract. For wasting their time. For making them look weak."

"I understand."

"Do you?" He doesn't wait for an answer. "The Capetti family doesn't tolerate failure. They don't tolerate excuses. And they sure as hell don't tolerate contractors who get cold feet. Youaccepted this job. Now you finish it, or you die. Those are your options." His voice is sharper now.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you cared, Maddox."

He lets out a harsh breath. "Just tell me again you understand."

"I said I understand."

"Good." A pause. "You have a week, Julian. After that, I can't protect you. After that, you're on your own."

The line goes dead. I stand there for a long moment, the phone still pressed to my ear, staring out the window. I set the phone down on the windowsill and press my forehead against the cool glass.

I'm fucked. Completely, utterly fucked. I don't want to do this… and I see no way out of it. If I don't kill Isabelle, the Capetti family will send someone else. And then they'll kill me too. For refusing. For failing. For being weak.

But if I do kill her?—

The thought makes my stomach turn. I close my eyes and see her face. The way she looked at me in that nightclub, her eyes bright with alcohol and desire. The way she felt beneath me, her body arching, her nails digging into my back. The feeling of her delicate throat beneath my hands, her life held between them.

The horror that flooded through me in that moment. The realization that the woman I'd been obsessing over, the woman who'd made me feel something for the first time in years, was the same woman I'd been hired to kill.

I should have done it then. Should have tightened my grip and finished the job while I had the chance.

But I couldn't. And now I have to go to Santorini and track her like prey, so I can finish the job now. All the while, I keep going back and forth on a decision I've already made, trying to find a solution that doesn't exist.

What the fuck am I doing?

—

The flight to Santorini is short. The plane is half-empty, the other passengers mostly tourists heading to the island for vacation. I sit in the back row, my carry-on bag at my feet, and stare out the window at the clouds below. I think about what I need to do next.

I thought I was going to go back to Barcelona and then to New York, which would have meant being able to get any of my weapons that I wanted. But all I'll be able to get out here is a handgun and maybe a knife. A hunting rifle, if I'm very lucky. Definitely not a sniper or anything that would enable me to take her out at a range where she'll have no idea what's happening, most likely. I might be able to sneak up on her, take her out quickly… but I was hoping for something much more detached than what I'll be able to get.

Still, it's everything I need to kill Isabelle Montague. I've done more with less.

The thought sits heavy in my chest, a weight I can't shake.

Maybe I can buy time. Figure out who ordered the hit and why. Find leverage I can use to negotiate with the Capetti family, to maybe get them to call off the contract. But even as I roll the thoughts over in my head, I know I'm lying to myself. There's no negotiating with the mafia. There's no leverage that will make them change their minds. Once a contract is issued, it's absolute. The target dies, or the contractor does. Those are the only options.

And I've known that from the beginning.

If it comes down to it,I tell myself,I'll finish the job.If I can't figure anything else out, I'll do it, because that's the only path forward. The only one that makes any sense at all, when I really think about it.