Read Online Lace and Bullets: A Hitman Romance by Marie Carnay - Free Book Online

Michael Watson had been so sweet in prison. He’d cried when they mentioned his girlfriend, talked about his mother and her homemade pie. He’d even told her about his little girl and how he couldn’t be there for her first day of school. All because of George Davenport.
    Mia gripped the sheet so hard her knuckles blanched white. She turned to face Damien. “Do you think Marcelo had something to do with his girlfriend’s murder?”
    “I’d bet money on it.” He let the window blind close and stepped up to the bed. “He was probably skimming. Pocketing a little of the cash for each deal before he gave it to the corner boss.”
    “I take it that’s a no-no?”
    “It means you’re not loyal to the cartel. It can get you killed.”
    Mia swallowed. “Or your girlfriend.”
    “Now you’re getting it.”
    Oh my God . Her life was a million times removed from Damien’s. Her biggest worries were whether she had studied enough to ace her exams or whether she put enough gas in her car to make it to class on time.
    Not whether a drug cartel would kill her significant other because she’d stolen from them. She shivered and pulled the sheet up higher. She really did live in a sheltered bubble.
    “My father was right in the middle of it all, wasn’t he?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then I’m not sorry he’s dead. Not one little bit.”
    Damien’s face stayed even. “Just because he’s gone, doesn’t mean the DA’s office is any cleaner. It could be worse.”
    Mia thought about who would take her father’s place and she shook her head. Steven might be an asshole, but he wasn’t dirty. “Not everyone is a scumbag.” She reached for him. “You need to help me.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “With all that you know, you and I, we could go to the authorities. You could get the cartel taken down. They’d all be arrested. We’d clean up the city. Be heroes.”
    Damien’s laugh rang hollow. “This is real life, babe, not the movies. Things like that don’t happen to people like me.”
    “With me backing you up, it could.”
    He walked to the door. “That’s where you’re wrong. Half the police department is on the take. The DA’s office is full of crooks. No one in this town gives a damn about stopping Marcelo or helping out all the people he’s hurt.”
    “You just haven’t met the right people.”
    “Don’t you get it?” He stalked toward her, waving the folder in her face. “People like Watson and me, we don’t count. We’re throwaways. No one gives a damn if we live or die.”
    “That’s not true.”
    He cocked his head. “Oh, really?”
    Mia rose up on the bed and waited until he met her gaze. His gray eyes smoldered in the morning light.
    She meant what came next. “I care.”

9
DAMIEN
    H e couldn’t tell if Mia was naïve or blind. How did she not see the corruption all around her? If a cop wasn’t on the take, then he was destroying evidence or cutting out early and getting paid double to look the other way.
    The DA’s office was even worse. They cherry picked the cases to make examples of. Prosecuting this perp, letting that one walk, making a deal with another. If you threw enough money and influence around, you could get them to tap in front of the jury to a dance you choreographed.
    He’d seen it over and over with the cartel. Got a heavy who had landed in jail? They would push money to the right prosecutor and he would be out with a misdemeanor assault charge and time served. One of the main traffickers get pulled over with a kilo in the back? If he snagged a dirty traffic cop, the officer would get a taste and send him on with a warning.
    Enough of the bottom feeders got jail time that on the surface everything seemed fine. That’s how it worked with Marcelo. You earned your place in the cartel and worked your way up. If they needed to make an example of someone and appease the so-called good guys, a higher up would take the fall.
    No one was safe. Especially not a gorgeous girl with a