Bratva Sinner (A Possessive Mafia Romance)

She sighed. “Here I was thinking you were a big softie.”

“Sorry to disappoint you.”

“I think you still might be.”

I put my hand on her thigh. “Don’t be so sure, princess.”

“What do we do now?”

I squeezed her leg then let it go. “You heard the man back there. The Lionettis think the dossier could be the end of them, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Well, my Pakhan wants me to hurt the Lionettis. So I think it’s time that we hurt the Lionettis.”

She chewed on her lip and nodded slowly. “All right, I think I know where this is going.”

“I’m sure you do.” I tapped on the steering wheel and drifted along a side street. “Find someone from that folder, and make sure they have enough firepower to do some damage. Can you do that for me?”

“I think I can handle it.”

“Good girl.”

18

Cara

Mercy looked good on Luke.

After that shootout, I was starting to think I was trapped with a soulless murderer, with a beast from my nightmares, with a real-world devil and monster and demon. I was terrified that he’d turn on me and rip me into tiny pieces, all because it served his purposes.

But then he saved Maher.

It made no sense. Not really, not even after he explained it. Maher was his enemy and always had been, and the man had a strong incentive to try to get some revenge one day in the future. It would’ve been safer to kill Maher and move on.

But that isn’t what Luke chose to do, and I still couldn’t make myself totally understand it.

At least it made me think maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t as broken and evil as he seemed.

We parked outside of a gray stone home on the outskirts of Chestnut Hill on a small side street with large mature oak trees casting long skirts of shade across the manicured lawn. The driveway was long and winding, and the house was set back from the street. It was vaguely Victorian-style with crosshatching along the front and new, modern windows. The door was rounded at the top and a huge American flag flew from the front.

“Are you going to tell me who we’re visiting today?” Luke killed the engine and peered at the house. “Someone rich, I’m guessing.”

“Someone comfortable.” I opened the dossier and held up a photo.

Luke asked me to pick out the target, but he hadn’t been specific. He gave me free rein, and I figured if we were going to hit the Lionettis, we might as well go big.

His eyes went wide when he saw the photo. It showed an older man, buzz-cut hair, thick mustache, heavy chest and shoulders, railing that bored-looking prostitute from behind.

“Fuck, no,” Luke said, shaking his head. “Nope, that’s a terrible idea.”

“It’s a great idea. Think about it. Who can really hurt the Lionettis?”

“Cara, you don’t understand.”

“I think you don’t understand. You want firepower and money? Here you go.” I waved the picture in his face.

He grimaced and looked at the house. “Police Chief Bryant James is a very, very bad idea.”

I grinned and tried not to laugh. I knew he wouldn’t like this, which was why I refused to tell him until we were at the house. I found Chief James’s address online, which was surprisingly easy probably because he’s a public official, and insisted on taking a drive before we made any decisions final.

“He’s the perfect idea. Of all the people in this folder, he’s the one man that can do the most damage to the Lionettis. I guarantee he’s going to want to hit them really hard if he has the chance.”

“And he’ll take us down in the process.” Luke rubbed his face with both hands. “No, Cara, we’re definitely not doing this.”

I leaned toward him, eyes glittering with joy. “How much time do you think we have?”

“Until what?” He leaned back in the seat, arms crossed, looking annoyed and petulant.

“Until the Lionettis roll through and kill everyone? Because I can tell you, I think it’s days or hours, not weeks, and I’d rather not get murdered after surviving all this so far.”

He grunted and looked out the window at the house. “There’s nobody else?”

“Of course there are other candidates, but none of them are as remotely powerful as the chief of police.”

“You’re almost as insane as I am, you realize that, right?”

I had to admit he had a point.

“You want to back down? Fine, go ahead, back down. I guess we can figure out something else to do.”

His jaw worked before he shoved his door open. “Fine, you want to get us both killed, let’s go and get us both killed.”

I laughed and followed him up the winding driveway. The house was quiet and covered in shade from massive trees. He hesitated then angled toward the front door, and I wondered how he’d start—he couldn’t exactly hold up a picture of the chief banging some dirty broad and expect open arms. He rang the bell twice then stepped back to wait.