Hard Bounty (The Snake Eyes Series Book 5) Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Snake Eyes Reading Order

  Hard Bounty: A Bad Boy Bounty Hunter Romance

  Chapter 1: Archer

  Chapter 2: Lilah

  Chapter 3: Archer

  Chapter 4: Lilah

  Chapter 5: Archer

  Chapter 6: Lilah

  Chapter 7: Archer

  Chapter 8: Lilah

  Chapter 9: Archer

  Chapter 10: Lilah

  Chapter 11: Archer

  Chapter 12: Lilah

  Chapter 13: Archer

  Chapter 14: Lilah

  Chapter 15: Archer

  Chapter 16: Lilah

  Chapter 17: Archer

  Chapter 18: Lilah

  Chapter 19: Archer

  Snake Eyes Reading Order

  Also by Tabatha Kiss

  About the Author

  HARD BOUNTY

  A BAD BOY BOUNTY HUNTER ROMANCE

  SNAKE EYES | BOOK 5

  TABATHA KISS

  Copyright © 2016 by Tabatha Kiss

  All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form

  without written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction intended for mature audiences only.

  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  All characters detailed within are eighteen years of age or older.

  No characters engaging in sexual acts are blood-related.

  WARNING: This novel contains explicit descriptions of

  erotic and sexual acts that some may find offensive,

  including perverse adult language.

  Reader discretion advised.

  tabathakiss.com

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  please click here: hyperurl.co/tabathakiss

  The SNAKE EYES Series

  Stand-alone Romances.

  Interconnecting Stories.

  One Unforgettable Adventure.

  READING ORDER

  #1: Bodyguard: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance

  #2: The Hitman’s Dancer: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance

  #3: Love and Wargames: A Bad Boy Hacker Romance

  #4: Bloodlines: A Bad Boy Secret Baby Romance

  #5: Hard Bounty: A Bad Boy Bounty Hunter Romance

  #6: COMING SOON!

  HARD BOUNTY

  A BAD BOY BOUNTY HUNTER ROMANCE

  SNAKE EYES | BOOK 5

  BY TABATHA KISS

  Rule #1: Never fall for your target.

  Rule #2: Did I stutter?

  ARCHER

  I’m a bounty hunter.

  I do a job and I get paid. That’s all that matters.

  Or so I thought.

  I’ve been hired to capture Lilah Hart. Smart, beautiful, but absolutely deadly in every way.

  People say she’s a monster… but I like that in a woman.

  I’ve waited a long time to get her in chains and I won’t let her go.

  No matter how much she begs me.

  LILAH

  I’m an assassin.

  I do a job and I get paid. That’s the way it’ll always be.

  Or so I thought.

  I’ve been hired to kill Archer Allen. Strong, handsome, but absolutely annoying in every way.

  People say he’s the best… but I can’t stand him.

  I’ve waited a long time to get him in my sights and I won’t let him live.

  No matter how much my heart tries to stop me.

  Chapter 1

  Archer

  Bloody hell.

  I step one foot inside the Zappia casino and my nose twitches from the stench of blood.

  “Hold it.” A large man blocks my path. His young eyes flick with nervous caution. “The casino is closed. Leave now.”

  I hold up my hands. “I ain’t here to gamble, mate. I was called here.”

  “You’re the hunter.” He nods, quickly realizing who I am. “Mr. Zappia said he was expecting you.”

  I say nothing.

  He clears his throat and extends an open palm to me. “If you’re carrying, you need to give it up now. No weapons in the casino.”

  “Since when?” I scoff.

  His eyes twitch but he keeps his hand out. This kid is either new around here or very creeped out. Maybe both.

  I don’t push it. I reach behind me to retrieve my pistol from my belt. “What happened here?” I ask him.

  He takes the gun from me. “Mr. Zappia is upstairs,” he says, sliding out of my way. “He’ll tell you what you need to know.”

  I move to pass him but he juts out ahead of me again.

  “Wait—” His eyes fall to my chest. “You need to raise your shirt.”

  I keep an annoyed eye on him as I reach to untuck it from my belt. “Looking for wires, mate?”

  “Not exactly.”

  Tattoos. I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s been three months since Snake Eyes was exposed but a worldwide manhunt for its members is still a top priority.

  I pull my leather jacket aside and present my bare chest to him. His eyes instantly fall to my abs where the now infamous cobra tattoo would be if I were a member. I’m not — but it’s oddly flattering that he assumes I am. As horrible as they are, Snake Eyes members are the best of the best.

  Or were, I suppose.

  “All right,” he says. “You can go.”

  I take a step around him towards the stairs, my eyes scanning from one corner of the empty room to the other. It’s strange seeing a casino during the day when the tables are empty and the air doesn’t smell like cigar smoke and cheap booze.

  It’s even stranger when it’s a damn crime scene.

  I ascend the stairs towards Zappia’s office and I get a better look over the catwalk. The higher I climb, the more bloodstains I see. They’re scattered around the room, mostly hidden behind tables. I count six total — make that seven.

  What the hell happened here?

  “Allen…” Enzo Zappia greets me in front of the office doorway. His face is sunken and gray; black circles surround his eyes, making him look far older than our late-twentysomething age group. He’s seen some shit, that’s for sure. “What are you doing here?”

  I shrug. “Your old man called me.”

  “Is that Archer?”

  Enzo glances over his shoulder. “Yeah, Pops.”

  “Bring him in.”

  We step inside and I notice Enzo limping towards the couch in the corner. His foot is wrapped up in a white bandage; thick, red blood seeping through the straps. He plops down but I stay standing in front of Zappia’s desk.

  The old man glares up at me from his chair, looking far worse off than his offspring. Broken, defeated. Barely even breathing.

  “Mr. Zappia,” I greet as politely as possible. “I know it’s taking longer than we agreed but I just got a lead on Hart’s location. It won’t be long now.”

  His eyes shift in his skull, floating from exhaustion as if they’ll suddenly detach and roll out of their sockets. He looks at Enzo for a moment before staring up at me again.

  “Let him go,” he finally says.

  Enzo leans forward. “Pops…”

  Zappia silences him with a look. “Archer,” he says to me, “Dante Hart is no longer your concern.”

  I furrow my brow. This is a far different tune than the one he sang when he hired me. Back then, he was angry, full of vengeance, and extremely willing to line my pockets with every dollar he had in exchange for dragging Hart back here by his toenails. “S
ir, if I may ask…”

  “I am old,” he says, licking his pale lips. “I am tired and I am finished. Six months ago, I had my homeland taken from me and my middle son disappeared without a trace. Last night, my youngest was gunned down in front of me… and I can’t say he didn’t deserve it.” He falls quiet for a moment. “I deserved it.”

  Enzo stands up, grimacing from the pain in his foot. “Pops—”

  “Your contract is canceled,” Zappia tells me, ignoring his eldest son. “You will be compensated for your time and expenses, plus more if you don’t find that sufficient.”

  I glance at Enzo. He stares silently at the floor with white-knuckle fists.

  This is far from what I expected when I received his call this morning. I expected to beg for more time with a gun to my head. I’m not sure if I’m more thankful to be alive or more disappointed for losing a top-dollar client.

  “That’s more than sufficient, sir,” I say. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Zappia says nothing more. He turns in his chair, sinking a little further down into it. A little more and he’ll fuse with it completely. Maybe he’s better off that way.

  I turn and walk back out onto the casino balcony. As I descend the stairs, I look to the floor again, wondering which of these bloodstains belonged to Marty, the youngest Zappia boy.

  The guard by the entrance pauses and reaches behind his back as I head his way. He silently hands me my gun and I offer a nod of gratitude before pushing open the entrance and stepping out into the thick, Chicago air.

  Bloody hell is right. I don’t envy the Zappia family but I don’t pity them, either. Blood and heartache are what you should expect when you’re the most powerful mob family in Chicago but I saw the surprise in Zappia’s eyes. He didn’t see this coming at all.

  Oh, well. I guess I need to find a new client.

  “Allen.”

  I pause, hearing Enzo’s deep growl behind me in the casino entrance. He hobbles over to me, frowning and wincing, and I have half a mind to wrap a hand around my gun’s grip. “Enzo…” I say.

  He halts in front of me. “Find Dante Hart.”

  “You heard the old man,” I say. “I’m fired.”

  “Well, I’m rehiring you. Whatever my father offered you for Dante, I’ll triple it.”

  I raise a brow. “Why?”

  “Because I want you to put a bullet in his fucking skull,” he seethes, “and I want the twins, too.”

  The twins. Elijah and Lilah. Dante’s little brother and sister. I’ve been tracking them myself the last few weeks during my search for Dante. A whole family of Snake Eyes agents, each of them deadly in their own way. I’d rather not run into them again but if the price is right…

  “What do you want them for?” I ask.

  Enzo glances around, growing impatient. “Dante killed my little brother and I’d very much like to return the favor.”

  “And Lilah?”

  “That girl is a monster,” he says, his gaze twitching over his shoulder. “I saw it with my own eyes. She slit the throats of six men without making a sound. I’ve see a lot of fucked up things in my life, but…” His voice falls and his spine visibly tingles with disgust.

  I glance at the casino doors, doing everything in my power to conceal the admiration in my eyes.

  “Well,” I take a step back, “I wish I could help you, Enzo, but I don’t kill. I capture. Even if I did, you’re talking about killing three Snake Eyes agents and that’s worth a hell of a lot more than triple the original bounty.”

  “Name your price. Do what you have to do…” he steps closer, “but bring her to me. Alive.”

  I recoil from the stench of his infected foot and body odor. “Fine.”

  He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a business card. “You contact me through the number on the back only. This whole arrangement is off-the-books. Understand?”

  I flick the card between my fingers before stuffing it into my jacket. “I understand.”

  Enzo spins around and limps back through the entrance.

  I exhale a thick breath, thinking hard about what he just asked me to do. I’m lucky to be alive after my last encounter with the Hart twins. If I’m going to walk back into the snake pit to shackle Lilah for good, I’m going to have to be smart about it. I doubt she’ll let me walk away again.

  I climb into my motor home across the car park and slam the door behind me. My eyes scan the place, from the driver’s seat to the washroom to my bed in the back, instinctively checking for stowaways before I sit down at my table in the kitchenette and open my laptop.

  Unfortunately, I haven’t the slightest idea where the twins are. Once I stumbled on a possible location for Dante, I lost track of them back in Los Angeles. I didn’t need them anymore. They could be anywhere now.

  I pull out my phone to check my alerts. Tracking the Harts in the first place wasn’t easy, but it got a little simpler once I dug a little into their family and discovered that Lilah has a credit card in her dead grandmother’s name. Not the smartest of cons but, as someone pointed out to me, she’s probably leaving a trail on purpose. I haven’t the slightest idea why that is but if she’s dropped a breadcrumb recently, then that’s a solid clue as to where they’d be right now.

  My alerts are empty. No new charges since Los Angeles.

  The only other lead I have is their childhood home in Geneva Lake, Wisconsin. I was heading there today when I got the call from Zappia. Every minute spent riding in the wrong direction is another opportunity for them to disappear for good, but if Dante is hiding out there, then there’s a chance the twins might be, too…

  I glance longingly at my bed in the back but there’s no time for a nap. It’s two hours to the lake. I can sleep once I’ve got her.

  Her. Lilah Hart. Petite, cute. Hair the color of fire with eyes to match. Our brief interaction included us in handcuffs, her knocking me senseless, and slipping free of said shackles — all within the span of about twenty seconds. Needless to say, she left quite an impression.

  I reach behind me and slide the pistol out of my belt again. It’s not mine, truth be told. It’s hers. Lilah dropped it back in Los Angeles. I’m not sure why I kept it but I feel an odd jolt of excitement at the very thought of returning it to her.

  I meant what I told Enzo. I don’t kill. Never have. If he wants Dante and Elijah dead, that’s his problem, but I’ll nab Lilah for him. The price is fair and, hell…

  It might be a little fun.

  Chapter 2

  Lilah

  Water slaps against the dock beneath me. An old, metal rowboat drifts away with each gust of the warm breeze before getting tugged back in by the ancient rope still clinging to it.

  I hug my knees as I stare out across the lake. The sun rose about an hour ago and the world has been glowing ever since. I breathe it in, taking comfort in the fact that this view hasn’t changed in the twenty years since I first saw it. I wonder if it could say the same about me.

  Definitely not.

  “Hey.”

  I flinch, recoiling away from the sudden voice in my ear. “Dammit, Eli…”

  He kneels beside me with that smug smirk on his face. There’s only one person in the whole world with the ability to sneak up on me and that’s my twin brother, Elijah.

  “Couldn’t sleep?” he asks me, running his fingers through his overgrown, chestnut hair.

  I sigh. “Oh, who could with that racket going on all night long?”

  He winces with a casual glance at the house behind us. “They certainly are… affectionate.”

  “It’s disgusting.”

  Elijah chuckles. “You’re just jealous.”

  “No,” I argue, picking up my coffee mug. “I just think they could be a little more considerate. Also, they’re using Gram and Gramp’s bed and that is just weird.”

  “Can’t argue with that.” He settles into a seated position. “You think it might be time for us to pack up? Give them their space for a litt
le while…”

  I nod. “Oh, yeah.”

  “Good. I already brought our bags down. We’ll leave after breakfast.” He nudges my arm, the classic signal that he’s about to drop some wisdom on me. “And Dante deserves some happiness after everything he’s been through. Lucy couldn’t have come at a better time if you ask me.”

  “Phrasing,” I joke.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Yeah,” I smile and down the last sip of my coffee. “I know. Dante and Lucy forever. We’ll carve it into a tree.”

  “Where do you want to go?”

  It’s a heavy question. We used to be able to wander the world and go wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted to. With Snake Eyes exposed, that’s a little more difficult to do.

  “St. Louis?” I suggest.

  He tilts his head and nods. “Sounds good to me. It’s been a while since we’ve seen them.”

  We stand up off the dock. I brush a little bit of dirt off my pajama slacks as we trudge through the solid bushes of weeds between the lake and the house. I have half the mind to stick around and help clear this place out but there’s no telling what tomorrow will bring. There might not be a point in making this place as beautiful as it used to be if we have to drop everything to be on the run at a moment’s notice.

  But that’s the life that chose us.

  Secrets always see the light of day and something as big as Snake Eyes couldn’t be kept hidden forever. Gun to the head, I’d have to admit that I felt a sudden rush of relief the moment the news broke.

  Terrorist group exposed. Global manhunt for members. If you have information, contact the FBI immediately.

  We aren’t terrorists. At least, not in the ways most think we are. We provide a service to those who can afford it. Intelligence. Covert ops. Assassinations. Every major power in the world has dipped their toe into Snake Eyes at one point in time but no one will admit it. The Boss has kept a record of every transaction since the group’s inception; every name, every target, every dollar exchanged. It was called the master file.