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Stepping up beside the bed, my gaze sails over Preston, listening to the subtle beep of the heart rate monitor and wanting to get this over and done with as soon as humanly possible so I can get my hands on a proper job. I reach down and flick the switch, turning off the life support.

The beeping continues, and Preston’s eyes spring open, his brows furrow as he takes me in.

What the actual fuck is happening? Shouldn’t this motherfucker be dying?

Preston looks at me as though I just kicked his dog and reaches up, taking the mask off his face. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Uhhhh . . .” I go to reach for the syringe in my pocket, because clearly I’ve gotten my wires crossed somewhere, when a deep, rumbling laugh fills the room, and I whip around to see Raiden stepping out of the shadows.

Has he been here this whole time?

He steps up to the other side of Preston’s bed, his gaze raking over me, and more specifically the stupid shirt I should have ripped off me and burned along with a Raiden-shaped voodoo doll. “Hmm . . . interesting,” he says. “I’m gonna need that back.”

I scoff and refuse to meet his eye, crossing my arms over my chest. “You should have thought of that before putting it on me,” I sneer. “No take-backs.”

“Who . . . Who are you people?” Preston demands, clutching his chest as though just the mere sight of us makes him uneasy, but judging by the look in his eyes, he’s not sure why. On the outside, both Raiden and I look like everybody else. Normal, everyday clothes and faces, but hefeelsit. As he should.

Raiden offers Preston a comforting smile before gesturing toward me. “This is Kiara, the woman who just accepted the hit your ex-wife put out on you. Luckily for you, she’s not very good at her job since she just mistook your oxygen mask for you being on life support. Good news is, with the flick of a switch, you’ll be able to access the six channels the hospital offers on your overhead television.”

“What?” Preston starts to panic as my gaze shoots down to the outlet I’d just switched off, and I follow the power cord attached to it, only to find it attached to the other end of the hospital television.

Ahhh fuck.

“NURSE! NURSE!” Preston starts to call as Raiden steps closer.

“Hush now. No need for the dramatics,” Raiden says, already reaching for Preston’s IV line and lining up a syringe with the rubber port. “This’ll all be over in no time.”

“What?”

He pushes the syringe, emptying the clear liquid directly intoPreston’s bloodstream, and I fix Raiden with a hard stare, not only pissed off, but also irritated that he was able to take such an easy kill from me. Hell, it’s embarrassing. That never should have happened. I was too cocky. Too confident, and despite the fact that whatever toxic blend of medication Raiden just gave Preston hasn’t taken effect yet, there’s no denying that this one is already over for me.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“You told me to touch up on my skills, Firecracker, so I figured why not go all the way back to basics,” he says, capping the lid of the syringe. “I just didn’t expect that this is what I’d find when I did. Gosh, babe. That’s embarrassing. I thought you said you were the best? Because from where I’m standing, you look like a rookie who couldn’t even handle the most basic hit. What’s the matter? Did something shake your confidence?”

“Fuck, I hate you.”

“Yeah, you’ve mentioned that a time or two, yet you’ll still drop to your knees if I ask.” Preston’s body begins to convulse, and Raiden chuckles. “Oh, look, Firecracker. That’s what you looked like when you were coming on my cock yesterday.”

Okay. I’m actually going to kill him this time.

I reach for the blade inside my boot, and Raiden shakes his head, tsking at me as the heart rate monitor flatlines. “Nu-uh. Not in here, babe. Have a little respect. This is a hospital.”

I blanch, and he simply laughs as he walks around the hospital bed, only to clutch the back of my neck and press a kiss to my cheek,just as he’d done yesterday. “Might I suggest a little more training?” he says, his thumb stretching to my jaw and brushing over my skin. “After all, if you want to get anywhere near the level of the Iron Viper, then you’re going to have to clean up whatever the fuck this shit was. I like your determination, though. Keep up the good work.”

He winks, and with that, he starts to make his way out of the room, only he pauses at the door and glances back, his fingers lingering on the handle. “See you at home, love,” he murmurs, his eyes shining with silent laughter as he slams his hand down over the emergency call button, setting off alarms at all the nurses’ stations throughout the floor and activating a flashing light just outside the room.

“Fucker!”

I go to run, but he pulls the door closed and wedges something under it, locking me in, and as the panic begins to soar through me, I whip around, trying to figure out what the fuck I’m supposed to do.

Raiden is gone in the blink of an eye, but I wouldn’t expect anything less, and as I glance up at the ceiling panels, trying to work out how quickly I could escape through there, the nurses arrive at the door, grabbing the handle and frantically trying to get in.

They peer at me through the window. “OPEN THE DOOR, YOUNG LADY.”

Fuck. Showtime.

I force tears to my eyes and start to overexaggerate my panic. “HELP! THE DOOR IS JAMMED. I NEED HELP! HE’S NOT BREATHING. I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO. PLEASE! DON’TLET MY UNCLE DIE.”