Hans (Alliance, #4)

by S.J. Tilly

A girl like her should wear… Nothing. A girl like her should wear absolutely nothing, and she should spend her nights on her back with her thighs spread, her hands pinned, and her body heaving… underneath mine—where no one else can ever lay eyes on her.

And then she repeated it back. Just as simple. Just once. Hans. And I haven’t fucked anyone since.

Hans, the Scandinavian fantasy I didn’t know I had. Please, pretty please, swing me up over your shoulder and carry me off to your bedroom. We can pretend it’s a Viking encampment. You’re the main warrior dude, and I’m the princess you just stole from your enemy to claim as your own…

This is my most used selection. And it’s a selection. Handguns, knives of varying lengths, a grenade… the usual.

“I don’t—She doesn’t…” I scrub a hand down my face. “She wasn’t there before. I fell asleep…” Karmine drowns out my words with her full-body laugh. After several long seconds, she finally takes a breath, and I level her with a bored look. “You done?” She brushes a tear away from her eye. “Christ, Hans. You can’t just Goldilocks this girl and expect a happily ever after.”

Mr. Cantrell faces me. “Whatever it is, I’m sure she did it.”

“They seem nice.” I can’t help myself. We’re nearly eye level like this, so I can perfectly see the expression she gives me as she deadpans, “They seem insane.” “That too.” I smirk, then switch so I’m on the other knee.

“I eat everything.” Hans’s rough voice fills the room. I have to stop my eyes from rolling back. I eat everything. Jesus take the wheel. “Good.” Mom’s face lights up. “Cassie’s father is the same way.” She smiles over at Dad, who is placing a pitcher of orange juice and a carafe of coffee on the table. “That’s how I first caught his attention. With my cookies.” Hans makes a noise that sounds suspiciously like a snort. “Not true.” Dad grins. “It was the way you filled out the seat of your pants.”

“I’m in the house directly across from Cassandra’s.” Hans uses my full name, as he always does, and I don’t miss when Mom widens her eyes. But Dad just nods. “Makes sense.” Wait, what? “What do you mean?” I ask. Dad lifts his brows. “Well, you work from home and don’t ever go out to actually meet people, so someone falling into your lap was really the only way this was ever going to happen.”

He shakes his head while he turns onto our street. “Grizzly Bear?” “You started the whole animal thing.” I shrug. “And if you’re gonna prowl around all gruff and angry…” “Gruff and angry,” he repeats slowly. “Like a bear,” I confirm. “But then I guess when you’re being all sweet and stuff, you’d be more of a teddy bear.”

“Wh-what are you doing?” I gasp even as I feel his exhale on my most private parts. “A bear’s gotta eat,” he growls.

Lacy fabric twists around one wrist, then the other, tying them together. My hot neighbor just cut my underwear off and is using it like a rope to tie me up.

I read the words. Charred Sweet Corn Cookies. “Ah, Christ.” I shake my head. “Why, Butterfly?” I nudge one, and it slides across the pan. At least they aren’t stuck.

I’ve already shown her too much of my hand with the whole surveillance thing. I don’t need to add shoe sniffer to the list.

A man with a basement full of guns and camera angles of my house, who also keeps body bags in his truck, has to be a red flag. Right?

“So…” I drag the word out. “Is there a reason we’re taking the corpse on a joy ride? Do cops like delivery service on murder victims?”

“Uh-huh.” I can hear her damn eye roll. “You get the guy before he could touch your porridge?” “Porridge?” Cassandra whispers, but not quietly enough. “I’m not fucking Goldilocks,” I grumble to both of them. “Can we focus?”

“Okay, then.” Karmine accepts her answer. “So, what happened? Did you get him to say anything before he died?” “I didn’t⁠—” “That was also me,” Cassandra cuts me off. “It was an accident.” “Well, this keeps getting more and more interesting.”

And it belongs to The Alliance. An organization run by three ruthless men. Nero, the unhinged devil who has been the known leader of The Alliance for years. King, the rich guy turned mobster. And Dom, the head of the Chicago mafia who married his way into the deranged family last fall.

“I dunno, explosives are usually pretty convincing.” I’m still a little salty about him standing feet away from my fucking wife covered in grenades. “I knew I wouldn’t have to use them. You three seem mostly civilized.” I hate that I’m tempted to smile. “That why you think I’ll help you now? Because I’m mostly civilized.”

“Look,” he starts with a placating tone that doesn’t do anything to lift my annoyance. “If I had the time to drive to Chicago and dump the body onto Dom’s private elevator, I’d do that. But I’m kind of in a hurry. And I thought maybe we could be friends.”

I think he’s yelling at me for arguing with him, but his hand darts up to grab mine. Then he forcefully presses my palm into his thigh. Making me touch him. His don’t was because I let go of his hand. God, he really is crazy. I squeeze his thigh. Maybe I’m a little bit crazy too.

Cassandra looks over at the backpack filled with her clothes. “I forgot to change.” She starts to dig through the clothes I’ve selected, then slowly turns to me, lifting out a pink lace thong and matching bra. “Do you know how long I looked for these? I wore them like once, and then, poof, they disappeared. I thought I was going crazy.” I lift a shoulder. “Oops.” “Oops?” She lets out a snort. “It’s a good thing you’re cute.” Cute? She stuffs the underwear back in the bag and zips it up. “Guess I’m crazy too,” she mumbles.

Cassandra turns to me and lifts a brow. “No? I killed a man tonight.” She ticks the points off her fingers. “You have a room in your basement full of weapons and cameras aimed at my house. I watched you throw a dead body over a fence in the middle of nowhere. You’ve admitted to stalking me. You followed me to Mexico, where I saw you kill two men, but I know you killed more. Raging jealousy had me ready to fight more than one woman tonight. And now I’m happily going with you to a hotel for the night rather than calling the police, like I probably should have when I first shot that arrow.” I don’t like this list. “Oh, and I gave a fake witness testimony to the Mexican police.”

“Because I’m a gentleman,” Hans repeats. “Yep.” I start walking, pulling him along with me. “Until we get to the room, of course. Then you’re going to fuck me like the brat I am.”

There’s a man, about my age, working the front desk, and his eyes are locked on Cassandra’s bare legs. And if this douchebag doesn’t stop staring at my woman, I’m going to need a second body bag tonight.

I answer and put it on speaker. “Quick work.” “Had my best guys on it,” Nero replies. And I wonder if he’s talking about him and King. “So, the dead guy—nice shot, by the way.” “Thanks,” Cassandra responds automatically, then slaps a hand over her mouth. There’s a beat before Nero speaks again. “Well, this just got more interesting. You a part of the hit crew that saved Dom and Val?”

“Part,” I repeat. “And then what? I owe you a favor and we just keep trading?” “Don’t knock it till you try it.” He says it like he’s no stranger to trading favors. “Plus we could always use another boogeyman at our disposal.” “Boogeyman?” Nero snorts. “What? You think your name makes people think of fucking sprinkles and ponies?” “Sprinkles and ponies?” Cassandra snickers.

“Come over.” I squeeze Cassandra’s hand. “My girl is with me.” Nero makes a sound of dismissal. “And my wife is here. You’re not fucking cool.” I roll my eyes. “I’m not bragging. I’m trying to tell you that if you cross me and she gets hurt, I will end you.” “Yeah, yeah. Death and destruction. I got it.” I shake my head. “We gotta stop at my place first. Then we’ll head over.” “Try not to get killed.” Nero ends the call.

I probably could’ve learned more details about the whole house explosion thing if I hadn’t spent the first half of the car ride giving Hans a blow job, but honestly, I have no regrets.

“Hans.” I place my hands over his. “I think I’d forgive you just about anything.” He sighs. “Unless you cheat on me,” I tell him. “If you do that, I’ll chop your dick off.”

Our hands slide from my face as we look at the three men walking down the steps toward us. They’re all tall and built, like Hans. And they’re all handsome, each in their own way. The dark-haired, dark-eyed one who looks a little feral. The one with rich brown hair and an air of arrogance. And the one with all the tattoos, buzzed hair, and an amused smirk. The leaders of The Alliance. And of-fucking-course they’re all in suits.

All three of them are intense, but Nero is the wildcard. The most unhinged. Or at least that’s what the rumors say.

But Cassandra is mine. She’s mine and that makes it different. It makes me want to protect her. To stand between her and everything sharp in this world. It makes me crazy. We’re just turning to follow the guys when Nero lowers my tailgate. “Are you fucking kidding me?” he snaps. And I can’t stop my smile. King barks out a laugh. “At least he has good taste.” “The best money can buy,” I reply. “On a fucking truck.” Nero shakes his head as he puts his hands all over the locks that cover my truck bed, recognizing the thumbprint readers as one his company, Nero Security, produces. “A plain-ass fucking pickup truck.” “Sometimes it’s better to blend in.” I state the obvious. King leans against the side of my truck and sighs. “You know he’s not gonna let this go until you show him everything.” “I assumed as much.” I look down at Cassandra. She grips the side of the truck, opposite where King is, before letting go of my belt. “Go show off your toys.”

Dom is watching us closer than I care for, but I move past him and stop beside Nero. “Promise you’ll leave everything where you find it?” Nero rolls his eyes. “I’m not gonna steal your shit.” Dom scoffs from my other side, and I assume there’s some sort of joke I’m missing.

King leans over the side of the truck to look closer. “How often do you find yourself needing to blow up your own shit?” Cassandra snickers. “You’d be surprised,” I reply. Dom reaches into one of the side compartments and pulls out the thick black material. He shakes it out and lifts his gaze to look at me. “Really?” I lift my shoulder even as Nero reaches to take it from Dom. “See?” Nero pulls the zipper down a few inches, then slides it back up. “I told you he had nice body bags.” “Yeah, I fucking heard you the first four times.” Dom snorts. “And I’ll say to Hans what I said to you.” He turns to face me. “A man who travels with his own body bags is either very meticulous or very insane.” I shrug again. He’s not wrong on either account.

I grip the tailgate and start to lift it closed. “We done?” Nero tucks the body bag under his arm. “I’ve seen enough.” King straightens. “Not sure how a truck full of hidden explosives and all this other shit makes you feel more trustworthy, but it kinda does.”

Val snickers. “And since Aspen is hooking up with my husband’s second in command, it’s only a matter of time before they become official, and she lives out her own happily ever after.” Savannah snorts. “Any time I want to piss King off, I remind him that he’s gonna have two sisters married into the Chicago mafia.”

“Wait, who blew up Cassie’s house?” Dom asks, and I finally turn toward the men’s side of the island. Hans sighs. “I’m the one who blew up her house.” I place my hand on his thigh. “Um…” Dom looks back and forth between us. “On purpose?”

“Good find,” Karmine hums. “Wasn’t my find,” I admit, just as King replies, “I do my best.” “My, Hans, what talented voice acting you’ve mastered.” Her sarcasm is heavy.

Dom leans toward the phone in my hand. “Dom here. I’m a big fan of your work.” “Aww, thanks.” I can picture her dramatically pressing her hand to her chest. “I’m a big fan of your wife. She’s kickass.” Dom smirks. “I know.”

Dom rubs his hands together. “I love it when armies collide. Now we just need a target.”

“I just killed five of his guys,” I cut in, remembering I haven’t told Karmine about the houses yet. “And it wasn’t exactly under the radar.” Nero snorts, probably thinking about the exploding houses. “So he knows that I know he’s after me.”

“Ridding the world of this Gabriel asshole helps everyone.” King lifts a shoulder. “And I’m not sure we were ever that good at hunting you.” I think of all the times I had to dodge them and their men. “I don’t think you were as bad at it as you think.” “No?” King lifts his brows. “I spent six hours in a fucking dumpster outside of the deal you busted in Minneapolis last summer.” Nero makes an impressed face. “That makes me feel a little better.” “Happy to help,” I deadpan. “If it makes you feel more trusting in our sudden cooperation, we didn’t just decide to loop you in yesterday.” Dom slides his hands into his pockets as he rocks back on his heels. “We’ve been talking about it since January. But you didn’t exactly have your phone number written on that grenade you threatened us with.”

“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t aiming for some sort of team-up. I just didn’t want to deal with you guys trying to kill me every time I went out on a job.” Dom laughs. “Well, saving my life kinda put you on the fast track to friendship. And these dummies do whatever I say, so⁠—” Nero jabs a punch at Dom’s side, cutting him off. “How about we figure out how to kill this French prick first? Then we can make friendship bracelets around the campfire after.” King turns back to the computer.

But now I know he ate everything because of his infatuation with me. I could have given him a container of gravel and he probably would have eaten it.

“Cassie made them,” Payton says in a cheery voice as Nero reaches for one of the cookies. And that’s when Hans’s expression changes. And he throws one of his knives.

Dom A knife flies past me. Reflex has me jumping back and drawing my gun. “Hans!” Cassie shouts. And Toto starts barking his ass off. Payton scoops up her dog, causing him to quiet, as Cassie hurries around the island to her deranged boyfriend, who has another throwing knife in his hand.

Hans’s jaw is clenched tight, and Cassie steps directly in front of him, putting both her hands on his chest. “Baby, we’re guests here. I made these for everyone.” I move my gaze over to King and mouth the word Baby. He just rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “But you made them.”

He might not be a bad guy, but this dude has probably killed more than any two of us combined. And he seems just as fucking unhinged as Nero. Maybe more. Which is saying something.