Dangerous Flames (Mafia Hearts) (7 page)

She
glanced out the window. Had he gotten lost? He’d never been to
her house before. The extra minutes gave her another chance to check
herself one last in front of the large mirror, even though her looks
should be the last thing on her mind.

“
Calm
down, Gabi,” she said to soothe her nerves. “The makeup
doesn’t matter, neither does your hair.” As long as
everything went according to her plan, she’d have several days
alone with Mikolas then she’d worry about how she looked.

When
she’d called him, she hadn’t expected him to be available
within an hour. Such a short amount of time hadn’t given her
much time to prepare for their departure, but none of that held any
more importance than her make-up. Only the hidden handgun mattered.

And
so did the ringing doorbell.

After
taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, she pulled the door open to
see Mik, dressed in his usual attire, dark wrinkle-free slacks, a
grey and blue striped dress shirt and black shoes, standing on her
porch.

Her
breath caught in her chest as she stared up at him. A compliment
about his appearance lingered on her tongue, but she couldn’t
find her voice long enough to say the words. Focus, she thought. The
kidnapping needed to be executed quickly to be effective.

Forcing
a smile, she said, “Come in.” She pushed open the door
and stepped aside to let him pass through.

“
Thanks
for inviting me.”

“
I’m
glad you came.” She led him into the formal living room. It
probably had been the first time anyone, including herself, had even
sat down in there after she’d moved in. Just like the formal
room at her parents’ house, Gabrielle believed it should be for
special, but this room provided the easiest exit. “Want
something to drink?”

“
What
do you have?”

“
I
have wine and champagne. Fine labels on both.”

He
smiled. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you,
but bottled water sounds great. Any of that fancy stuff?”

“
Make
yourself at home. I’ll be back in one minute.” She walked
into the kitchen, but instead of going to the fridge, she quietly
pulled open the kitchen drawer.

****

Johnny
swung his gaze from one picture after the other in an attempt to calm
his nerves. Sinking into his second persona needed to happen before
the heavy office doors opened, which would be at any moment. Johnny
no-last-name was who he needed to become. He already had changed his
clothing, styled his hair differently, added some glasses, plus
changed his name as part of his disguise. Now he just needed to
feel
like Johnny.

He
closed his eyes to let all the power muster through his body. When he
opened his eyes, he stood up straighter, and crinkled his eyebrows
closer together as he eyed the pictures of celebrities who visited
Lady Eve Casino that lined the walls. Each woman in the picture had
one of her arms draped around the shoulders of the casino’s
owner, Anthony Regusa.

Johnny
glanced down at the plush midnight-blue upholstered chair and
contemplated sitting in it, but if he did, he’d only last a
second before he started pacing again. He might as well stay on his
feet while he panicked. He knew what the Mafia boss wanted. Mr.
Regusa never demanded a meeting under pleasant circumstances.

Curly’s
untimely death hadn’t hit the twenty-four hour old mark but was
about to cause the heat to get cranked up on high under Johnny’s
ass. The boss wanted Enrico dead long before Curly’s demise. Of
course, Mr. Regusa knew Johnny held some connections to the Medini
Family, but Johnny refused to reveal how deep in the other family he
happened to be, and seemed fine with working for both of the high
profile crime Families.

This
boss doubled the pay for him to be a spy, which was why he now stood
in the lobby of the boss’s office. Johnny hadn’t warned
the Regusa Family about Curly’s hit. Honestly, Johnny couldn’t
have revealed the info when it came right down to it. How was Johnny
to know in advance that Mikolas had the orders to kill Curly Joe
before it had happened? Enrico usually picked one of them to handle
the specifics of the job, rarely discussing hits with the other men.
People showed up missing. Their deaths were usually well executed,
never pinpointed to a particular killer.

Johnny
had lucked out when he’d arrived at the Medini mansion to
overhear Enrico confirm the job had been completed by Mikolas. He
didn’t know for sure who Enrico had been talking to, but
guessed the person on the other end of the call had been Enrico’s
underboss. No worries, Johnny had all the info he needed for this
appointment.

He
had to give it to Mikolas though. That man sure possessed a pair of
brass balls to pull off a hit as risky as Curly Joe’s. The
Don’s son on his own property? Johnny smirked. Mikolas might
have more skill than Johnny, but he’d take Mik out if push came
to shove. Mikolas Russo would be dead longside his boss, Enrico
Medini.

Maybe
luck had finally arrived for Johnny, making Mr. Regusa summon him to
add another hit to his list. Mikolas Russo? Even if he wasn’t
added to the list, if Mik got in the way of Johnny’s huge
paycheck, he’d take out both marks, Mikolas and Enrico, at
once.

The
office door opened, pulling him from his thoughts. A beefed-up
bodyguard motioned with a wave of his hand for him. Johnny jammed his
fists into his pockets and stepped forward.

“
Mr.
Regusa says to pat you down.” The bodyguard cocked his head
toward the wall. “Face the wall and spread your legs.”

“
Fine.”
Johnny knew the drill. It wasn’t like this was new. He had to
go through this bullshit each time he visited Mr. Regusa. He placed
his palms flat against the ivory colored wallpaper and spread his
feet far apart. The bodyguard’s thin hands patted Johnny’s
sides, over his ass and then starting at one of his feet and went up
his legs.

Anger
boiled through Johnny. He was doing them a favor by betraying his
original Family, and they’re treating him like this? Bullshit.

“
He’s
good,” Mr. Regusa said in a gruff voice. To the bodyguard he
ordered, “Wait outside while we attend to business.”

Johnny
watched as the bodyguard left the office before turning back to Mr.
Regusa. Fear of the boss clawed through him like a savage beast.
Forcing himself to be strong, Johnny replaced his hands in his jean
pockets while looking the Mafia boss square in his rock-hard, dark
brown eyes. There wasn’t time to be scared while dealing with
these ruthless men or he’d find himself with a bullet in his
dome.

“
Why
isn’t there an obituary in the paper for Enrico Medini?”
Mr. Regusa’s thick arms folded tight over his chest, a
substantial cigar hung out of his mouth, while hate radiated from
him.

“
I
can’t just walk up to him and pop a bullet into his head.”
The words slipped out, and he couldn’t take them back. He had
screwed up big time.

Mr.
Regusa’s giant hands slammed down on the wood desk. “Why
the fuck not? That is what he did to my son.” His voice boomed
through the office like an explosion.

“
I’m
really sorry about Curly Joe.” Total lie. He didn’t give
a shit about Mr. Regusa anymore than he cared about anyone in the
Medini Family. He held his hands up as if to fend off a giant beast.
“In exchange for additional time, I’ll give you some more
information.”

“
I
don’t like this.” Mr. Regusa’s cheeks deflated as
he leaned back. “What do you have for me?” The soggy
cigar stuck to his bottom lip with saliva as he talked, the stench
swirled in a cloud of smoke around the Don’s fat head. The only
thing that mattered though was the fat stack of cash he handed out
for jobs well done.

He
sucked in his breath and slowly let it out. What he had for the man
was huge and hopefully would put him, once again, on the right track.
Johnny’s pulse raced as he said, “I know who murdered
your son.”

For
the first since entering the room, Mr. Regusa put the cigar down to
rest in the gold ashtray. He meant business now. “Who did it?”

“
Mikolas
Russo, Leon Russo’s son.”

A
slow grin spread across Mr. Regusa’s face. “How much time
do you need?”

His
heart swelled with excitement, knowing his plan had worked. “A
week. Two at the most, but I assure you, the completion of the job
will be well above your expectations.”

“
Tell
me everything you know about the son-of-a-bitch who killed my son.”

Yep,
Mikolas Russo would be dead soon and he’d get paid to do it.

****

Mikolas
had tried to envision the inside of Gabi’s house many times in
his life, but never in his dreams would he think it looked like this.

The
room was white, but the pictures on the mantle were cased in glittery
pink frames. The center picture caught his eye first. In the photo,
Mikolas stood with her, both fifteen years old. He’d wanted to
put his arm around her so bad that day but didn’t have the
balls so she had put her hand on his shoulder. He looked as though he
would run away from her at any second while she wore a look of
innocence. Mikolas remembered the party as if it had been yesterday.

The
other pictures were of her over the years. Some were in Italy, some
Paris, and one of the pictures was of her in an evening gown standing
beside someone famous. He knew the face, but couldn’t remember
the movie star’s name. They were standing in front of the
Picasso Museum in Spain. What a life she’s had for just being
twenty-five. Could he provide her with anything close even if she
chooses to go with him? He doubted it.

“
Mikolas?”
Her voice sounded like an angel’s.

“
I
missed out on a big part of your life, Gabi. You look absolutely
beautiful in this picture. I have to tell you something before I lose
my nerve.” He turned. “I’ve loved-”

The
.22 glistened underneath the florescent lighting.

His
heart caught in his chest. “What the hell is going on?”
he asked as his hands rose in the air. He took a step back.

Chapter Five

I
put fear into the eyes of a member of the Mafia
.
I’m
doing well, she thought, now keep him scared. She forced herself to
ignore the sentence he had been about to say before he had seen the
gun. It had sounded like he was going to tell her he loved her. High
hopes? Delusional? She wasn’t entirely sure that was the case
anymore. Things were changing between them at a rapid pace.

Kidnap
him now. Love him later.

“
Let’s
go.” She cocked her head toward the door.

He
tried to take a step in her direction. She brought her free hand up
to help steady the gun. She couldn’t let him notice her
trembling hands. If he figured out how scared she was, this entire
thing would be over.

He
slowly slid his hand to his side. She wasn’t stupid. He had a
gun on him somewhere.

“
How
about you put that gun on the floor and kick it on over here?”

His
hand remained against his side. It would only take a split second to
have a face-off with him. Sure, she knew how to shoot and felt
comfortable around firearms. Her father had taught her as a child,
but she’d lose if forced to go barrel-to-barrel with Mik.

The
Google instructions said to disarm the kidnapee and remain in
control.
She
could do that.

“
That’s
the only time I’m asking nice, Mik.” She deepened her
voice in an attempt to sound tough even though the temptation to rush
into his arms almost overwhelmed her.

“
You’re
going to hurt someone. If it’s not me then it’ll be
yourself.” He moved his hand from his side, but held it out
toward her as if he intended to snatch the gun from her. “Give
me the gun.”

“
Don’t
move or I’ll blow your ass away,” she ordered. Hopefully
he didn’t notice the slight tremble in her voice.

He
crossed his arms over his chest. The mocking smile had left his
delicious mouth. “What’s this all about, Gabi?”

“
Right
now, you’re pissing me off. I said to put your gun on the floor
and slide it over here.”

He
yanked his shirt to reveal a holster secured around his toned chest.
She smiled, knowing that her instincts had been correct as he
withdrew the Glock and slowly set it on the floor in front of his
feet. His gaze locked with hers. “Tell me what this is about.”