We assembled on the ground and prepared to move out.

Crow ignored every phone call he received. It was probably Pearl wanting to know what was going on.

But he didn’t have the strength to tell her.

The tracker showed that she was in the palace I’d infiltrated just a week ago. She was on the second story in a bedroom.

I didn’t want to think about what might be happening to her at that very moment.

“I’ll move in with my team. The two of you stay back.”

Crow looked at me like I’d just said something incredibly offensive. “All three of us are going in there.”

There wasn’t time for an argument, but Crow and Cane wouldn’t blindly follow orders like the others. “The two of you stay back with the other men. I know the palace better than you do. I already researched the place before I hit it the first time. I know how the patrols work. I know where the guards are. I’m gonna hit them hard. But I need to go alone. Because if I don’t make it…then you need to move in. It’ll catch them by surprise.”

Crow still looked pissed, like he didn’t like that idea one bit. “We should give it everything we have.”

“This is my fault, and I’m taking responsibility for it. Vanessa is my woman, and I will get her out of there. I’m not going to risk either of you unless I absolutely have to.”

“Griffin, Cane and I aren’t concerned with our lives right now—”

“Trust me.” I held his gaze, needing him to back down. “Vanessa isn’t my wife—she’s so much more than that. I will get her out of there. They can shoot me as many times as they want. Those bullets won’t stop me. Let me get her out of there and back to you. You can take it from there.”

Crow still wore his enraged expression but didn’t say anything more.

“This is personal now. I want to slaughter every single one of those men until that palace is a graveyard. I don’t want to be worried about you behind me. I don’t want to be concerned with anything else other than murder. This is what I do best. No offense, but you have no idea what you’re stepping into.” I’d killed more men than Cane and Crow combined. I was half their age but had decades of more experience under my belt. “This is my fight. Let me fight it.”

Cane turned to his brother, allowing him to make the final decision.

Crow took thirty seconds before he gave his answer. “Get my daughter out of there, Griffin.”

That was exactly what I was looking for.

I turned away without saying goodbye and proceeded on foot with the team of six men. Most of them were snipers, and they would take their positions and cover me as I entered the grounds. Two of them would come with me, covering my back so I could focus on my front.

We moved through the darkness and approached the entryway to the palace, which sat on a cliff and overlooked the valley. I had a shotgun slung over my back, a pair of Uzis, and two of my favorite blades.

The blades weren’t for effectiveness—but for blood.

I snuck over to the entryway, moving through the bushes and getting past the front guards. They were on either side of the door, both wearing rifles and oblivious to the threat under their noses. They looked at the mountain, missing the brigade of men hiding to the left.

I pulled out my blades and stabbed the first one in the neck, making his throat fill with blood so he could barely make a shriek. His heavy body started to fall just as I descended on the second guard. He was quicker than the first, but not quick enough. He pointed his assault rifle at me but didn’t pull the trigger.

Because I sliced his throat so deep I hit the bone.

He crumpled at my feet, his gun clanking against the ground.

Other men heard the sound of their fallen comrades, and that’s when the war truly started. Gunfire erupted from both sides.

The men could handle the perimeter, so I dashed inside, coming face-to-face with more men who were prepared to blow my brains out. One man fired right at my chest, hitting the vest that protected me. The momentum of the bullet made most men jerk, but it didn’t stop me at all.

I pulled out my pistols and began the bloodbath.

I shot two men in the head, not wasting any bullets by missing my mark. Then I grabbed my shotgun and moved to the next group of men.

I dashed up the staircase and got into a gun battle with five men. They all aimed their bullets at me, but the bullets flew past, destroying the painting on the wall. I peeked over the rail and fired down in return, hitting the two idiots that were out in the open. I took them down with a few rounds and then proceeded to the last three.

When another man ran through the entryway, he had the best shot at me.

I shot him first, hitting him in the hand so his gun flew across the room.

He shrieked and gripped his wrist, holding his now-deformed hand. Blood poured from everywhere, and he moved to his knees, in too much shock to respond.

I took the stairs one at a time as I approached him, my gun lowered.

“Mercy…” He fell back as I came closer to him, slipping on the blood from his hand.

“Sorry, I don’t speak English.” I didn’t waste a bullet, and instead, stabbed him in the neck, killing him viciously like injured game that was being gutted.

His cries died away the second my blade sliced his throat in half.

I moved to the second floor as I heard the gunshots continue outside. Vanessa was down one of the hallways. I knew exactly where she was because I’d memorized the map. But there were other men here by now, men who would attempt to relocate her or ambush me.

I was right. They ambushed me.

Three men came out with rifles. I picked up the grenade from my belt and tossed it down the hallway.

The explosion was enough to make the ground shake. It wasn’t close enough to Vanessa to hit her, but she certainly would have felt it.

One of them jumped out of the way before the explosion could touch him. He was crawling away, coughing as he reached for his gun.

I pulled out the knife again, preferring a clean death that saved my ammunition. I stabbed him in the back, right through the heart and lung.

He collapsed, slowly suffocating and bleeding to death.

I left him there instead of putting him out of his misery.

I turned down the hallway and proceeded to Vanessa’s room, so much rage in my body that I could barely think straight. All I wanted to do was kill everyone in that palace, kill their wives and children. I wanted to wipe out this entire organization, make their enemies laugh at them for the poor decision they made. “Baby, I’m coming!” I kept my pistol out, ready for anyone who might jump in my way. I didn’t care about giving away my position anymore.

I wanted them to know exactly where I was.

I found her door and tried the handle, but it was locked.

“Griffin!” Vanessa’s terrified voice shouted through the door.

“Baby, I’m here.” I pointed the gun at the lock and fired until the metal snapped apart. Then I kicked the door down, finding one of the men huddled in the corner, practically pissing himself. I pulled out my knife and came at him, watching him scream.

“Griffin, no! Leave him.” Vanessa tried to sit up, but she couldn’t move, not with the handcuffs that secured her to the bed. “Not him.”

I didn’t know why she was defending this man, but there wasn’t time to ask. I moved to the bed and tugged on the chains, trying to free them with my strength.

“I have a key…” The man from the floor pulled out a silver key and tossed it on the floor.

I kicked his rifle away and grabbed the key. I unlocked one handcuff then handed her the gun. “Watch my back, baby.”

“Okay.” She held the gun with her right hand, keeping her eyes on the door.

I worked the second lock until I finally got it free.

Vanessa pulled the trigger, and a body collapsed to the floor behind me.

I didn’t turn around to check. “Good shot, baby.” I finally yanked the cuff from her wrist, enraged when I saw how red both of her wrists were. There wasn’t time for kisses or tears. Pandemonium spread all around us. I had to focus on getting her out of there before I could celebrate.

I pulled her to her feet then unfastened my vest.

“What are you doing—”

“Shut up and listen to me.” I tied the vest around her and secured it, even though it was too big. I put the gun in her hand. “Stay behind me.”

“I’m the one with the vest—”

“Baby.” I burned her with just my gaze alone.

She shut her mouth.

I moved first into the hallway, my shotgun raised. “Crow, I have Vanessa. I’m gonna take her to the front. Pull up so I can throw her in.”

“Copy that,” Crow said, the sound of relief in his voice.

I led the way, my shotgun raised and loaded. I listened to Vanessa behind me; she was breathing loud but kept her gun up the entire time. I moved down the hallway I’d just walked along, and when I reached the entryway, I fired at the two men on the ground floor. I shot the first one dead.

Vanessa got the second one.

We moved down the stairs and out the front door. There were still gunshots everywhere. “Stay behind me, Vanessa. Crow, how far are you?”

“Forty-five seconds.”

I grabbed the loaded rifle from the dead man I’d killed earlier. “We’re ready.”

“Approaching,” Crow said.

I saw the blacked-out SUV approach, and I knew we had to make our move now. “Let’s go. Stay behind me.” We moved out the front door, hustling fast so the gunmen wouldn’t notice us right away.

The SUV stopped, and Cane opened the back door.

I practically threw Vanessa inside. “Take her out of here.”

Vanessa turned around when she was inside, the blood draining from her face. “Griffin, no!”

“Get your ass in the car,” Cane said. “You got your revenge.”

“No. Not even close.” I grabbed the door.

Vanessa was about to jump back out of the truck. “Griffin!”

I slammed the door shut and turned away, heading back into the palace to finish this once and for all. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night until every man in that palace was dead. Only when every single one of my enemies was eliminated would I find peace. They all deserved to die for what they did—for taking my woman.

Every. Single. One.

The son was on his knees in the middle of the room, his guard of men dead around him. Brains splashed across the tile, and men continued to bleed from the holes in their chests. He was bleeding from the mouth where I’d punched his teeth out. His face was so discolored from my punches, he was barely recognizable.

I stood behind him, watching the life leave his body. “I’m going to slit your throat just like I did with all your other men. And when I’m done…” I circled around him, moving to his face so I could stare at his black eyes. “Your wife and two sons will be next.”

“Please…”

“If you wanted to keep them safe, you shouldn’t have touched my woman.”

The fight returned to his gaze. “You killed my father!”

“Who was a murderer and a terrorist. If I didn’t kill him, it would have been someone else. Vanessa was an innocent person. So don’t give me that bullshit.”

“Not my family…”

“You shouldn’t have touched mine, then.” I pulled out the blade, the knife that had killed most of his men that night. “And I will kill them exactly the way I’m going to kill you, the way I executed all the men who surrendered. I put them on their knees, yanked their heads back, and sliced their throats down to the bone. You’re next, asshole.”

He started to shake. “Don’t. Touch. Them.”

“What are you going to do about it?” I kneeled in front of him, holding the bloody knife in my hand. “Huh?”

His jaw was clenched tight as the blood poured down his chin.

“That’s right,” I said. “Nothing. You will do nothing because you’re my bitch now. You will die in the room that used to be your throne. You will be powerless to protect the ones you love. I will never be powerless. Any man who ever touches my family will pay the full price in return.”

“Mercy…”

“You forfeited mercy the instant you touched my woman.”

“Please…” He started to cry, tears running down his face. “My oldest son is only five…”

I didn’t feel any pity in my heart, none at all. “It’s sad that an innocent child will die because his father became too arrogant. You really thought this stupid plan of yours was going to work? I’m a hitman. I’m paid to kill people. It’s nothing personal. But asshole, you made this personal.” I pointed the knife at him.

He no longer seemed afraid of his own death, just for the safety of his family. “Not my children…not my wife.”

“You touched my woman.”

“And I’m sorry for that…”

“Oh, you’re sorry?” I cocked my head to the side. “She was chained up in a room like a goddamn slave. For that reason alone, I’ll kill your entire family. Your mother is still alive, so I’ll throw her in there too.”

“No!”

“Enough with the small talk.” I pressed the edge of the blade right against his throat. “Last words?”

He held my gaze as he breathed hard. Acceptance slowly entered his puffy eyes, along with the resignation. “My family is innocent. Please—”

I sliced his neck and let him fall to the floor.

I wiped my blade on his shirt then returned it to the sheath before I walked away. The gunfire had stopped because the war was over. All the men in the palace had been killed, and most of my men had survived. Any backup that might have been coming to the son’s aid had driven away, knowing there was no one to save.

I walked past the graveyard of bodies, kicking aside limbs when they got in my way. Vanessa had been saved, and I’d killed everyone who remained behind. But my blood lust wasn’t satisfied. He took my family away from me, the most important person in my life. She was my whole world—and he touched her.

I wasn’t finished yet.

I would track down the rest of his family—and burn them alive.

I walked to the entryway of the palace and found the last man that I hadn’t killed, the one Vanessa asked me to spare. I never had a chance to ask why he was worth saving. Since I didn’t know what her reason was, I let him live.

He stared at me, visibly starting to shake now that every man in that palace was dead. He slowly crept away, his hands in the air in the form of surrender.

It was hard for me not to kill him, almost impossible. But I didn’t pull my knife because my woman had requested that he live.

She better have a good reason.

I stepped outside as Crow spoke into my ear. “Griffin, are you there?”

I’d turned off the headset during battle, knowing he would just try to talk me out of staying. “I’m here.”

“Are you alright?”

“More than alright. Everyone is dead.”

He sighed over the line. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“How’s Vanessa?” I hadn’t even gotten a chance to kiss her.

“She’s staring at me right now, crying because she knows you’re alright.”

I wanted her tears to soak into my t-shirt. I wanted to taste those tears on my tongue. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and tell her I would never let anything happen to her again. I wanted to apologize…for everything. “Tell her I love her.”

“She knows, Griffin. You just proved it.”

And I wasn’t done yet.

“We’re at the rendezvous point with the chopper. We’ll wait for you before we take off.”

“Don’t bother.”

Crow was quiet for a moment. “Do you have other arrangements?”

“I’m not done here. There’s some business I have to finish. When I’m done, I’ll head home.”

“Griffin, what business?”

“I killed the man who started all of this. But I promised I would kill his family—because he touched mine.” I’d never been a moral man. Life and death were boring to me. Everyone experienced both, so if death came prematurely, it didn’t matter to me. I’d never killed a man’s family in my life, not out of vengeance. But this man crossed a line no one else ever had. They touched my woman, the person who should be untouchable. They took her when I wasn’t there, knowing they wouldn’t have been able to get to her through me. It was pathetic—and it pissed me off even more. If I’d been there, Vanessa wouldn’t have had to go through this at all. I wasn’t sure what the men did to her, and I wasn’t even prepared to think about it.

“Griffin,” Crow said gently. “I understand you’re angry—”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

“But killing his family isn’t right,” he said.

“They took Vanessa.”

“Which was wrong. But don’t kill an innocent family—”

“I don’t care, Crow.” I’d made up my mind, and I wasn’t going to change it. “You can keep talking to me, or you can go home back to your wife. I suggest you do the latter.”

Crow was quiet for a while before he spoke again. “Vanessa wanted to talk to you.” He handed the radio over.

I was staring at the mountain from the front of the palace, the sun rising in the distance and casting the landscape in beautiful colors. The Atlas Mountains started to come alive as the smell of blood rose into the air.

Her beautiful voice sounded over the line, heavy with tears. “Griffin…”

“Baby.” My heart softened slightly, but not like it did before. I was still too livid to think rationally, to love her the way I usually did. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. They didn’t hurt me.”

“Good.” But that didn’t change my rage.

“Don’t do this…”

“I have to, Vanessa.”

“No, you don’t.”

I wasn’t going to change my mind. Fear and respect were the same in my world. If I wanted no one to fuck with me ever again, I had to scare them shitless. “It’s how it is, baby. Go home with your family. I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Griffin…” Her tears were heard over the phone. “I don’t want you to do this.”

“I love you, baby. But I don’t care what you want.” I was being harsh to the woman I loved because I couldn’t think clearly. I was so enraged by what these people had done to us. If they’d tried to kill me, I would have brushed it off without caring. But to touch my woman…was an idiotic move.

“Griffin, you killed all the men there. That’s enough. Don’t hunt down a woman and her kids. You took your revenge and protected me, but going after innocent people will just make you a monster.”

“Maybe I want to be a monster.”

“No, you don’t.”

“They took you. It’s only fair.”

“Don’t be like them, Griffin. You’re better than this. This isn’t you…”

“Maybe you don’t know me that well.” All I wanted to do was kill and kill some more.

“I do know you,” she whispered. “I know you better than anyone. You’re still angry right now, as you have every right to be. But this doesn’t solve anything. You killed the men who crossed us. You accomplished your goal. Now come back to me so we can go home and be happy together. Killing innocent people isn’t going to make you feel better. It’ll only make you feel worse. Not right away, but eventually.”

I stared at the mountain, silent.

“Griffin, please. I need you right now. I need you to hold me and kiss my tears away.”

I breathed hard, my chest rising and falling as I greeted the rising sun.

“If I’m the most important person in your life, then you need to listen to me. I’m telling you that I need you. I’m telling you not to hurt those innocent people. I’m telling you, commanding you, to get your ass over here so we can go home. Don’t make me tell you again.” Sassiness mixed with tears came over the line, sounding like the woman I fell so hard for.

But I still wanted to keep killing.

“Don’t you want to marry me?” she whispered.

The odd question caught me off guard. “Yes.”

“Then prove it. Come home with me, and let’s do it.”

“They deserve to die…”

“No, they don’t. And if you do kill them…I won’t love you the same way. The man I love is hard and vicious, but only when he needs to be. The rest of the time, he’s loving and devoted. He’s protective of the less fortunate. Don’t turn into someone else, someone I didn’t fall for. You’re better than this. I know you are. So don’t make me ask again. Come to me now—and let’s go home.”

I’d accomplished the impossible by slaughtering all the men in that palace. I only spared one man and butchered all the others. But the reason I did all of those things was because of the woman I loved. She fueled my rage as well as my joy. If this was that important to her, then I needed to let it go. I had to remember why I did all of this in the first place—to save my woman.

“Griffin?” she whispered.

I resisted the rage burning in my blood and focused on the woman asking for me. She needed me, and killing more people wouldn’t give her what she wanted. I folded, subdued by the need in her voice. “I’m coming.”