BENDETTO SNACKED ON STAR FRUITS with his feet propped on the king’s desk. Juice ran down his chin, which he wiped away with the back of his hand. Three of his men had dragged in a beaten and bloodied woman, her hair in tangles around her face, and wrists tied behind her back.

“How long have you worked in the palace?” Bendetto asked as if he were addressing a child. The woman slumped over and her knees buckled. The men pulled her up by her hair. She screamed.

“How long?” he asked again.

“Eight years,” she whimpered.

“Your role?”

Her eyes flashed in defiance and she clamped her mouth shut. Bendetto nodded to one of his men, who then gripped the woman’s throat. She choked through it, her knees giving way again, but the soldier held her up by her neck. Sobs from the other side of the room caught Bendetto’s attention. Three other servants huddled against the wall, two women and a man, watching his display of power. The older graying woman held a tissue to her nose, trying to swallow back her cries. The other woman, smaller and prettier, kept a fierce gaze, but her face had paled.

“She’s just a cook,” the older woman cried. “Please, leave her alone. She’s innocent.” The other girl pulled her back and shushed her.

“Innocents die every day.” Bendetto guzzled a glass of champagne. Now emptied, he threw the flute into the corner to shatter against the stucco walls. “Including those that are too pretty, and sneaky, to leave alive.” His guard released the woman’s throat and she coughed, doubling over for a gasp. “Tell me, chica, what you found so interesting in my bedchamber.”

The woman shook her head and tears billowed out of her eyes. “Nothing. I was just clearing the dishes, my normal duties. That’s all.”

“A cook who also clears the dishes? Even the Peralta’s don’t burden their staff with two duties. You were searching for something.” Bendetto leaned back in the satin wingback chair and flicked his fingers over the table, splattering juice everywhere. “What did you find and who did you tell?”

“Nothing, I swear,” she sobbed.

“They found notes in her room.” One of the soldiers squeezed the handle of his rifle. “Detailing the layout of our men in the palace and watch schedules.”

The woman shook her head again, eyes wide.

Bendetto rubbed his chin and studied the shaking woman. My, what a wonderful actress. He’d known the Royal Guard had secret agents all over the island, despite the dozens they’d already killed, and one posing as a servant would make sense. He stood and rounded the desk, leaning on the top. “Who are you working for?”

“Y-you, sir,” she hiccupped.

“Are you feeding information to the princess?” he asked on a whisper, his voice deceptively sweet. “You’re her agent, aren’t you?”

“N-no, sir.” Tears streamed down her face and she kept her eyes down. “Just a cook. I swear.”

Bendetto sighed. So boring. Not an ounce of bravery among them. “You have hopes for a more important role in the palace, don’t you?” Bendetto asked pleasantly, but only made her shake more. “Let’s see if we can give you something more fitting of your womanly talents.” Bendetto smiled. “She’s all yours, Perez.”

The soldier sneered with a dark gaze and grabbed the woman by the hair. She screamed, along with the other three servants. Gray-hair lunged forward to protect her, but the man pulled her back and squeezed her against the wall. “She’s innocent!” she screamed over his shoulder.

Perez yanked the first woman out of the room, her shrieks echoing down the hallway beyond the closed door.

“If you want to survive, I suggest you stop thinking and do as you’re told.” He picked up his lit cigar from the desk and flicked the ashes onto the floor. “Or I’ll slit your throats, piss into your mouths and watch it dribble out your necks.”

A soldier ushered the other servants out another door, Gray-hair still crying into the man’s shoulder.

The last soldier stepped forward, annoyance plastered on his face. Bendetto chewed on the end of his cigar, well aware of what questions were about to be asked. Raul Lozano resembled his father way too much; dark, sleek hair and soulless eyes. “We secured the palace for you days ago. Peralta is dead. When does the next phase begin?”

“When all of the Peraltas are dead,” Bendetto growled.

“You’re running out of time, Bendetto.” His voice lowered. “And you’ve lost Luna de Azul. If my father doesn’t receive your payment in time, you know the consequences.”

The pretty servant woman paused in the doorway and shot a look at the pair. But she quickly averted her gaze and disappeared into the other room. Bendetto rose out of his chair and grabbed the butt of the pistol in his holster. “Lozano will receive his payment, along with your trigger finger wrapped in a little bow if you dare threaten me again, Raul. You may be his youngest son, but I control this island.”

Raul’s eyes flashed and his lip curled. “With his army.”