Tempted by the Sinner

“Shock and awe,” Maksim repeated. “Is this American thing?” He looked at Don Leone. “Is this make sense to you?”

“I want to kill as many of them as we can in a short period,” Vince said. “Tonight, I think would be best. We take the combined strength of our crews, roll on every known Jalisco hangout, and kill everyone. Slaughter them, make them know they can’t operate in our city anymore, make sure they never recover from it.”

“He means this?” Maksim asked and stared at Don Leone. “He really thinks this is good idea?”

Don Leone stared at his son and nobody spoke. The silence quilted the room and I leaned forward, my hands on my knees, my heart racing.

“He means it,” Don Leone said. “And he’s right.”

“What?” Maksim asked. “This absurd. Jalisco good business partner, bring many drugs into country, good for everyone.”

“The Gulf will step up,” Vince said. “I’ve already contacted them, and Ambrose is back in New York, making sure they’re going to follow through. But first, we have to clear the Jalisco out.”

“There will be some delays in product,” Don Leone said. “We’ll have to weather that.”

“You both mean this,” Maksim said, shaking his head. “We make oath and now you want war. This not what we discussed.”

“You’re in this now,” Vince said. “Whether you want to be or not. You made this deal, and the Jalisco will hear about it. We can squeeze them out, make it slow, but they’ll come at us sooner or later. They won’t sit back and wait.”

“Yes, but that does not mean we have to attack now,” Maksim said.

“My son is right,” Don Leone said. “The Jalisco have proven themselves to be untrustworthy. If we allow this to stand, others might begin to believe we’re weak. We have to hit them and hit them hard, end the war tonight if we can.”

Maksim gestured with his hands like he was pleading for something then dropped them and shook his head.

“Madness,” he said.

“Already refusing to work with us?” Vince asked.

“Nyet, Vincent, nyet,” Maksim said. “I’ll come and I’ll kill Jalisco. Do not concern yourself with my men. We have been blooded, born into killing, and we will come and kill again.”

“Good,” Don Leone said. “Very good. Go call your men together, Maksim, and I’ll call mine. We’ll gather here in the great hall and put together a plan.”

“It has to be tonight,” Vince said. “If we wait, they’ll have too much time to plan.”

“Tonight,” Don Leone agreed.

“Tonight then,” Maksim said. “We go hunting tonight.”

The Russian turned and strode to the door. Don Leone followed him, and the two older men spoke in low tones as they left, not even sparing a glance in my direction.

Once the door shut, I heard Vince let out a grunt.

“Fuck,” he said.

“Are you okay?” I stood and walked across the room. There were blood droplet stains on the rug where Don Leone and Maksim had cut themselves.

“I’m okay,” he said. “I just didn’t think that would work. I didn’t think Maksim would agree.”

“But he did,” I said, stopping just in front of him. I reached up and touched his chest with my palms. “This is the right move, isn’t it?”

“I think so,” he said and a deadly little smile came to his lips. “When did you get so goddamn bloodthirsty, little journalist?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I think you’re having a bad influence on me.”

He leaned down and brushed a thumb along my lips, sending chills along my skin. “Good,” he said, and kissed me.

I kissed him back. I put myself into that kiss, his tongue, his lips, his muscular body. I threw myself into it and moaned as he pulled me tight against him. I wanted to forget the explosion, the fear I felt, the horror, the anger.

But most of all, I wanted to feel the thrill of knowing that he listened to me.

We broke off the kiss and I stared into his eyes. I touched his cheek, felt the stubble there, ran my fingers down it. He caught my hand and held it against his face, leaned into my fingers, then kissed my tips.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go get ready.”

“For what?”

“For whatever comes.” He hesitated, squeezed my hand. “I might not see tomorrow. If I don’t—”

“Stop,” I whispered. “Don’t.”

“If I don’t, I want you to know something,” he said, rushing his words out. “I want you to know that I haven’t felt this way about a woman before. I’ve never wanted someone like I want you.”

“I feel the same way,” I said.

“Good.” He kissed me again, released me. “Now, come on. We’ll have a little privacy until everyone gets here.”

“What should we do with our time?” I asked.

He smirked, slapped my ass, and led me to the door.24VinceI sat behind the wheel of a borrowed black sedan, my Glock in my lap. Dante sat in the passenger seat, staring straight ahead, and Mona was in the back.