The deck of Bowman's ship had become a slaughterhouse under the open sky.Valentina cut through the crowd of pirates like vegetables. She twisted into a tight somersault over the heads of two stunned guards to escape their tackles.She ripped a loose pipe free from the railing mid-air and drove it through the throat of the nearest man before her feet touched the deck.The momentum carried her into a low spin.Valentina's leg sweep took two men off their feet, and two precise strikes to the throat finished them before they dropped dead.Blood sprayed across the metal deck.The green dress she wore, already torn at the seams from the violence of her own movement, clung to her like a second skin. She moved through the carnage as if dancing to music only she could hear.Another man lunged at Valentina with a knife. She caught his wrist, twisted until the bone gave with a wet crack, and slammed his skull into a turret hard enough to cave it in.From his throne, Bowman gripped the armrests u

The chopper touched down on the soft sand near Palmgrove Resort's private beach, The rotors kicked up a swirl of sand and sea spray, then wound down into silence.Jack stepped out and made straight for the outdoor shower station tucked between the dunes and the edge of the resort.Blood, sand, and dried salt crusted his skin from the fight with Bowman's army, and he wanted it gone before he saw his wife."Sir, you smell like a burning ship," Valentina said behind him.He stripped off his shirt and stepped under the cool spray, and the water washed Bowman's blood off him.Valentina followed him without a word, her steps light on the sand. She peeled off her torn green dress in one fluid motion, let it drop to the ground, and stepped fully naked under the next shower.Water ran over her curves, down her full breasts and the smooth line of her hips. Her body was raw, erotic power, the kind that would have driven most men out of their minds.Jack kept his eyes on his own arms and scrubbed

Jack finished his errands ahead of schedule and walked the short path back to the resort's main gate, the bag of gifts and flowers in one hand. He was grinning like a fool.Maybe Juliet was already waiting.What met him instead was a giant of a man in a sharp suit, standing well over six feet. The problem was that he was way too familiar."Vandrake," Jack said, his steps slowing. "What are you doing here?"Vandrake bowed low, his expression serious. "Young master…"Like Valentina, he was one of the four in the Dark Prince's inner squad, the Diabolic Four. Where she was the Queen of Spades, he was the King of Clubs. A club tattoo marked his bicep, hidden now under his suit sleeve."Sir, you must come back to Springfield."Jack waved a dismissive hand, his brow furrowing."I have a beautiful wife waiting at that gate. Didn't I tell Dad I am never coming back? He and Mom even attended my wedding. What's with this return thing again?"Vandrake's face stayed grave, so Jack pressed further.

The tour bus rolled through gray hills in the early light of dawn, and Sparta City rose out of the mist ahead of them. It looked more like a fortress than a city.Watchtowers stood along the ridgelines. Anti-air guns stood in the parks, dressed up as public sculptures. A great wall ran around the whole metropolis.Jack studied it all through the tinted glass from the last row of Selena's private cabin.A familiar weight landed softly in his lap.Selena had crawled across the seat and curled up against him in a silk robe that barely covered her. She smelled of vanilla."Chief of my security," she purred, walking two fingers slowly up his chest. "Talk to me.""Do you have any idea how long I've waited to have you contractually obligated to stay within ten feet of me at all times?""Within reach of you," Jack corrected, catching her fingers before they reached his collar. "The contract says nothing about being underneath you.""That's practically the same thing."She wriggled closer."Thi

Selena's arm was hooked through Jack's like it belonged there. She wore sunglasses, a hood and a scarf over half her face so that fans wouldn't recognize her."If you're meeting a woman on a hill at six in the morning, I have the right to see her. And kill her."Jack didn't answer that. She had acted like a spoiled brat all night until he allowed her to escort him to the orphanage in the morning.They were most of the way up the eastern hill when he stopped walking.Selena bumped into his shoulder. "What?"He was looking past the rooftops at the crown of the hill, where a trail of smoke was climbing into the morning sky. It was rising from exactly where he was going.Jack broke into a run.St. Mirabel's orphanage stood at the top of the hill behind a rusted iron gate. It was three stories of gray stone, and the whole eastern face of it was burning.Flames poured out of the second-floor windows in long orange tongues.Two fire trucks stood in the lane with their hoses up, and the water