Chapter 1

I kill people for a living.

One night, in the middle of a hit, I crossed paths with another top-tier killer, catching his wife cheating.

"My wife is young. Of course she'd get distracted by the occasional pretty face.

"Cute, isn't she?

A low chuckle rolled through the dark.

"Say yes, and you're dead."

I went still. That voice sounded exactly like my helpless, clingy husband.

*****

After cleaning the scene, I snapped the hidden clasps at my waist and thigh into place and dropped from the window.

Anna spun the wheel. "Shade, we just got a last-minute assignment. The higher-ups want us to take out a target."

I leaned back in my seat, eyes shut, and said nothing.

Only when the car stopped outside the target's hotel did I open my eyes and frown at the all-too-familiar building.

A year ago, I slept with Nicholas here. I walked into the wrong room. That was all.

Anna handed me the key card. "Simon specifically asked for you. What? The lunatic impresses girl with bonuses and bounties?"

I took the key card, a corner of my mouth lifting. "Too bad my heart's already taken."

Anna snickered. "You mean that mixed-race from last year? Didn't you already take him to bed?"

"Yeah, and I wouldn't mind a repeat."

"If Simon finds out, you really think he'll leave enough of you to bury?"

Simon could go to hell.

I hummed under my breath as I swiped the card. In the middle of the room, a man sat tied to a chair, his wrists bound behind him and a rough sack over his head.

Maybe it was the memory of this place. Whatever the reason, a clean kill felt too fast.

I eased the door shut and crossed the room, reaching for the sack. "Let's see which poor bastard pissed Simon off."

The man opened his eyes, his face perfectly calm. My smile vanished.

Damn it. Nicholas? Thank God I was holding only the key card and not a gun, or the image I'd built so carefully would have shattered on the spot.

"You crossed Simon?"

He recognized me, but barely reacted. "Who's Simon?"

I drew a slow breath and dialed Simon's number. The line clicked open almost immediately, but silence stretched between us.

"Explain," I said.

"A gift."

"What?" I had no idea what he meant.

"He climbed into your bed on purpose a year ago, so I brought him here for you to finish. Don't disappoint me, Shade."

I let the silence sit for a moment, then hung up.

"Got it."

I returned to the living room. Nicholas lounged back in the chair. "Your boyfriend's generous, delivering me straight to your door. What am I? His gift to you?"

He wasn't a gift. He was the target. My patience thinned. "As if I'd ever fall for a sadistic monster like him."

Nicholas let out a breath and smirked as if he'd just remembered something.

"Didn't I give you enough that night a year ago?"

Everything sounded dirty coming from him. Worse, my body was listening.

I held his gaze, poured a glass of water, tipped the drug in, grabbed his chin, and made him drink it. Within minutes, the flush crawled up Nicholas's cheeks.

"What did you give me? Why does it feel like I'm burning?"

I glanced at the bottle. It was a sedative. I hadn't made a mistake.

I got Nicholas onto the bed, tucked the covers around him, and searched the room.

I dialed Simon after I made sure the room was clean. "Where are you?

"All taken care of?"

"Yeah."

"Good girl."

Nicholas woke to the sound of running water in one of my safe houses and found a chain locked around his ankle.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, he looked up through the hair falling over his eyes. "So you're still into the whole captive-lover thing?"

I wasn't. Until now. Simon would slit his throat open the second Nicholas walked out that door. "The chain gives you room to move. Just not toward the exit."

"What do you want from me now? Wasn't once enough? Did you enjoy it, watching me fall apart for you?" His eyes went red-rimmed.

So the untouchable Nicholas had been a virgin. I walked over and stroked his hair.

"Not even close. I couldn't let you go. So I brought you back."

The thought of him dating someone else made something ugly twist inside me.

"You belong to me, and only me."

Nicholas's ears flamed red. Apparently, I'd made him furious.

And just like that, I started living the dream, keeping a prize hidden from the world.

Every day I put down my targets clean and quiet, and came home to a light in the window and a table set for me.

Nicholas was tall, devastatingly handsome, and very well endowed. Beneath me, all he could do was cry, satisfying everything I wanted from a lover.

We married soon after.

Anna quipped, "Who falls in love with the one who caged them? Shade, he's not in his right mind."

"Is that so? It feels real enough to me."

As if on cue, Nicholas called. "I miss you, honey."

Warmth bloomed in my chest. "I just finished up. I'll be there soon."

"I'll run the bath. Just hurry up."

Anna stared at me in horror. "How the hell did you train him like that? Shade, I'm almost impressed."

Nicholas met me at the door and buried his face against me. "You're finally home."

I tilted his chin up and searched his eyes. There it was, love, brimming in his gaze. How could anyone call that fake?

"I missed you too."

I knew Simon would find out Nicholas was still alive. It was only a matter of when.

A headache pulsed behind my eyes as I stared at the fiery red flowers on the dining table.

Even the card taunted him: [You're only a toy she uses to pass the time. I'm her soulmate.]

Nicholas looked crushed, and I moved to comfort him. "There's nothing between us."

"Someone's after you."

At least being pursued sounded better than cheating. I could work with that.

"Let them. I'm not going to him. I want you. Only you. You know that."

Nicholas had always coasted through life without a hitch. I was the one thing that had ever cost him anything.

I was going to make it worth it.

The medicine finally pulled Nicholas under. Once the apartment was quiet, I called Simon.

He sounded delighted and gave me an address. I hung up, collected my gun, and headed out.

Simon waited, but I never appeared. He called as the first fireworks bloomed over the river. "Shade, where are you?"

Beneath the burst of color, I squeezed the trigger.

Anna answered breathlessly. "Shade! This had better be important."

It was.

"I've got a small situation," I said.

"Talk."

"Simon's dead."

After a moment, I could hear the rustling sounds of her getting out of bed.

"You call that small?" Anna said.

She handled the scene, thorough and efficient, but she couldn't help herself. "What made you move on him?"

"He sent flowers to my husband and nearly wrecked my marriage."

"That's it?"

I nodded. Anna bit back a smile. "You actually like him? I thought it was just a game."

I said, dead serious, "It was never a game. I've liked him since back in school."

Anna was at a loss for words.

"Shade, a killer and a civilian. You know how that story ends."

"I chained him to my apartment. I think we're past the part where I consider the consequences."

I came home to find Nicholas exactly as I'd left him.

My husband was so fragile; he hadn't even built up a tolerance yet. I slipped into his arms and closed my eyes.