Page 4 of Heart of a Villain

Need you airport.

Trouble.

Atlas

We’ll be there.

She hurried through Stockholm Arlanda airport, clutching her bag and scanning faces with every step. Julien had initially suggested the more private Bromma airport, closer to the city center, but she needed the people. She needed the bustle, the movement, the cover.

Someone bumped her shoulder.

She almost let out a scream until she heard the apology and found herself looking at the top of the head of a man who’d reached down to pick up a book. Uttering one herself, she continued on.

Then she spotted them—one familiar face and two others she knew were with him simply by the way they commanded the space around them.

She ran.

One of them, another blond, except this one had green eyes, made a motion that she took to be him opening his arms, so she dashed into them and latched on tight. Rather than shove her away or try to peel her off his frame, he patted and stroked her back.

“Hi, Sayeda,” Julien greeted. “Long time no see, sweetheart. By the way, the monument you’re holding onto? His name’s Gage.”

Now that she was safe, the shaking set in. “More brothers?”

“Yeah. This,” Julien gestured to the man beside him, “is Mike. Same mother, same father—obviously.”

She looked up into a pair of pretty dark eyes surrounded by glossy black hair. Mike started to smile, but then his expression mirrored what she’d seen on their faces ever since meeting Nik in Morocco.

“Holy shit,” he said. “You look…holy shit.”

“There’s one more thing.” Julien glanced off to the side before his gaze returned to her. “Is there someone following you?”

She clutched Gage tighter. “Yes.”

“Did he give you that cut on your face? That burn on your forearm?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Let him follow you.”

“He’s—”

“Dead,” Gage finished. “As far as we’re concerned, love? He’s dead. Now, let’s get you home.”

BALLAD OF THE ENFORCER

Beware the blade of the enforcer.

Beware the long end of his gun.

If you see his dark hair,

from far or from near,

I fear it’s far too late to run.

Beware the blade of the enforcer.

Beware, keep your eyes on the ground.