The Reprobate

THE REPROBATE TEXAS SAFEHOUSE 5 SILVIA VIOLET The Reprobate (Texas Safehouse 5) by Silvia Violet Copyright © 2023 by Silvia Violet Edited by Susie Selva Cover Art by Cate Ashwood All Rights Reserved. No part of this eBook may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Published in the United States of America. The Reprobate is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are fictionalized. Any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. CONTENTS 1. Fox 2. Darren 3. Fox 4. Darren 5. Fox 6. Darren 7. Fox 8. Darren 9. Fox 10. Darren 11. Fox 12. Darren 13. Fox 14. Darren 15. Fox 16. Darren 17. Fox 18. Darren 19. Fox 20. Darren 21. Fox 22. Darren 23. Fox 24. Darren 25. Fox 26. Darren 27. Fox 28. Darren 29. Fox 30. Darren 31. Fox 32. Darren 33. Fox 34. Darren 35. Epilogue Marchesi Universe Books About the Author Also by Silvia Violet 1 FOX I accepted a glass of whiskey from Lucien, the head of the Marchesi family, and tossed most of it back in one go. I’d been working with the Marchesis for close to a month. After assisting them with solving a problem involving a family member and my best friend from the marines, they asked my boss, X, if they could have me on loan for a while. Now another mission was over, and we were safe. I couldn’t exactly say the good guys won, but the lesser of two evils had been dispatched. How often was there truly a good side anyway? If there was one thing I’d learned on my missions both in the marines and as a freelance black-ops agent, everyone was always in it to gain something. My moral code had been lax enough when I signed on to do ops for the all-powerful X, and it was even looser now. There were still lines I wouldn’t cross, but I wasn’t afraid to do things most people would shy away from. There was just one thing in my past. One time when I crossed my own line, but I tried my best not to think about that. Ever. When my phone buzzed in my pocket, I pulled it out to see who was calling. It was X, probably wanting details on today’s takedown. “Excuse me,” I said to Lucien. “I have to take this.” I answered the call as I walked through the French doors into the elaborate courtyard behind the Marchesis’ home. “I was going to send you a report later tonight. We’re still celebrating.” “If you’re celebrating with the Marchesis, you won’t be in any shape to write up a report tonight.” He had a point, but I didn’t acknowledge it. “I received enough of a report from Lucien. That wasn’t why I was calling.” I didn’t like the seriousness in his voice. “What’s wrong?” “I’ve got a new assignment for you. It starts tonight.” “What? I was supposed to get some time off after this last one.” “This is important.” “I’m sure it is, but don’t you have other people you could assign it to?” “What are you going to do with your time off anyway? Spend it drinking with Devil and Angelo Marchesi?” “So what if I am? What difference does it make to you? I get the work done when I need to.” “You do, and that’s why I’m sending you on a new assignment.” I considered my options. No one really said no to X, but if I pushed it, he might go with somebody else, but would he choose me again when another job came up? I wanted a break, but I also needed this kind of work. I wasn’t suited to anything else, and these missions allowed me to blow off steam in a way nothing else could. Are you sure it needs to start immediately?” “Randall, I need you on this assignment.” “Wow. Real names and everything. All right, Xavier, I’m in. What have you got for me? “Perhaps after this assignment we’ll have to do some reeducation around respect.” I huffed. “This isn’t the military.” “Exactly, and I’m not bound by any of their rules.” I frowned at the phone. “Are you threatening me?” “Stop talking,” he barked. “Mmm. That’s kind of hot.” X groaned. “Don’t even go there.” “I’m just teasing.” He was seriously fucking hot, but I knew X was happily coupled up with an adorable hacker. Not that I wouldn’t go a round or two with both of them if they offered, but they weren’t offering. “So what is this urgent assignment?” “An… associate of mine has come across some goods that need to be kept in the right circles.” That was cryptic as fuck, but I was used to that shit from him. “He needs to deliver a package to my people, but his secret is out, and a number of high-ranking criminal bosses want to get to him before he arrives at his destination. You are going to make sure he gets where he’s going in one piece.” “You’re sending me on a babysitting job?” “It’s a protection job, and it is extremely important. The information he has could either hurt a hell of a lot of people or help them.” “How deeply are you involved?” “The man you’ll be protecting went to school with Anna.” X’s sister, Anna, was a US senator who never backed down from an argument, and X guarded her fiercely. She likely had better security than the president. She was several years older than X, which meant this client was close to fifty, and no doubt, he was filthy rich. People from X’s family only went to the finest schools. So why was this man involved in the transfer of dangerous illegal goods? I knew why X had started his vigilante work,