Bratva Sinner (A Possessive Mafia Romance)

“You can’t have the girl,” Luke said. “There’s no negotiating on that.”

“We might be able to work something out if you hand over the dossier.” Park tilted his head. “What’s it about her, anyway? You really want to piss off my Don over some girl?”

Luke tensed. “She doesn’t deserve any of this.”

Another charming laugh. Park seemed to be really enjoying himself. “Nobody deserves anything, you know that. So the girl’s dad fucked up, does that mean she should pay the price? Of course not, but unfortunately this is how things work in our world. My Don needs someone to pay for this, and the girl’s the perfect victim, or sacrifice, depending on how you look at it. He wants the city to know what happens when you fuck with the Lionettis and steal from them, and not just to you, but to your whole damn family.” Park leaned forward to stare at me. “No offense, Cara. Really, I’m sure you’re a nice person, it’s nothing personal.”

“You want to kill me,” I said, my stomach doing flips. “Feels pretty personal.”

He shrugged and leaned back. Luke put a steadying hand on my knee.

“I understand your Don’s position,” he said. “But you need to understand mine. I have the dossier and I have Cara, and I’m not going to give over either without some serious assurances. The girl’s off limits, but the dossier might come home if your Don’s willing to negotiate in good faith.”

“I’m here because my Don’s willing, but come on, Luke. These are the terms. You want to get through this unscathed, you hand over Cara and the dossier and maybe my Don will find it in his heart to pay you a little something for your trouble.”

Luke barked a laughed and shook his head. “You know me, Park. I don’t do anything only for the money.”

Park smiled and shook his head. “I know that, but come on, I think this is maybe one of those times where better sense should prevail.”

“Never was good at that, either.” Luke stretched his legs. “Is that it then? Your boss wants Cara and the dossier, not alternatives?”

“Seems like the alternative is violence, and neither of us want to go down that road.” Park’s smile was slowly fading. “If you don’t try to play along, the Don’s going to send someone much less sympathetic next time.”

“I figured that, yeah. And what’ll happen to you?”

“The Don doesn’t punish his loyal Capos when some stubborn Russian won’t do what he’s told. Otherwise we’d all be dead.”

Luke laughed and squeezed my thigh. “If your Don can give me assurances that he won’t hurt Cara, then I’ll consider handing over the dossier. But if her blood’s the only thing that’ll make him happy, then we won’t ever reach a deal. Make sure he understands that I don’t mean this lightly.”

Park sighed and rubbed his face then snapped his paper. I jumped and hoped he didn’t notice as he stood up.

“I’ll let him know how you feel,” Park said, extending a hand. “It was a pleasure speaking again, at least. I suspect I won’t be seeing you again, and in that case, I just want to say good luck.”

“Thanks, Park.” Luke shook his hand. “Here’s hoping your Don finds some mercy in that cold, black heart of it.”

Park laughed, winked at me, then walked off. Luke didn’t move, only watched him go, before leaning back against the bench.

I felt like my feet might fall off, or like my hands might shake so hard they’d break into tiny little pieces. Luke looked exhausted and he looked at me from the corner of his eye.

“How’d that go?” he asked.

“I was hoping you’d tell me.”

He tightened his grip on my leg. “It’s hard to say with Park, honestly.”

“How do you two know each other?”

He waved a hand in the air. “A while back, the Morozov and the Lionetti families were closer than they are now. We did some jobs together.”

“You seem like friends.”

“Maybe we were, but it’s been a long time. And anyway, loyalty to the family always trumps loyalty to anyone else, so friendship won’t go too far if the Don tells him to come murder me.”

“Do you think they’ll listen?” I asked, squirming side to side, suddenly feeling very exposed. “He made it seem like the Don really wanted me dead.”

“Don Lionetti’s not a soft man, to put it mildly. If he wants to make an example of you, I find it hard to believe that he’ll stop just because I’m asking him to back down. The dossier’s important though, and he might decide that it’s worth losing a little face to get it back.”

“But you don’t know for sure.” I leaned toward him and put a hand on his arm. “Let’s get out of here. I’m feeling really anxious.”

He stood up and took my hand. I walked close to him, keeping my head down like someone might start shooting at any moment. On the way out of the park, I spotted German sitting on a nearby bench. He nodded and crossed his legs as we walked past, then stared in the opposite direction like he didn’t know us at all.