King of Malice: A Dark Mafia Romance, page 13
“Not if the poison only entered his bloodstream.”
Her tenacity should have tried my patience. It hadn’t. “While I’m not in a habit of poisoning my enemies, there are almost always residual cells indicating poison in the skin and organs.”
“How educational of you.”
The kitchen had an open front, several cars already driving by, but when headlights pulsed inside the front, high beams centered on the kitchen, I shifted quickly toward the light switch, flicking it off.
She issued another strangled sound until I walked closer, squeezing her shoulder. “Be very quiet, omorfiá.”
To her credit, she followed my orders as I removed my weapon, inching close to the door. When the vehicle shifted, the lights no longer shining in the main window, I crouched low and headed toward the banquettes aligning the front wall. While there was no way of identifying the driver, when the dark sedan pulled under the light, through the rain I noticed a woman in the passenger seat. The driver quickly pulled away and I watched until the taillights faded from view.
Exhaling, I took the opportunity to scan the location again, unable to detect anything out of the ordinary. Blue-hued lightning lit up the sky, the electricity not nearly as potent as what I felt around Whitney.
Just returning to the kitchen clutched at portions of my heart I didn’t know existed. She was softly crying, immediately trying to mask her emotional breakdown as soon as she’d heard my footsteps. Hot hatred, the need for violent revenge pulsed into my bloodstream. Within minutes, my blood had been turned into ice.
I rubbed my palm across my scraggly beard then dropped in front of her. “You can’t break down on me, Whitney. At least not until we step foot on the plane.”
“You’re being chased by bad men, enemies who want you dead because of something my father did, a man who’d cared nothing about me his entire life. His last act before being carted off to hell where he belongs was to involve me in your psychotic episode where dozens of people have already died. I think I earned the right to freak out.”
Her utter hatred of her father surprised me. Even if he’d abandoned his family early in life, most children sought the reason, working through their anger after time had passed. She acted as if she’d wanted to kill him herself.
Everyone had secrets, including those considered innocent flowers.
The almost silent buzz of my text indicated Constantine and his men were close. “Maybe so.”
“What’s happening?”
“I called someone I trust to get us to a private plane.” As I pulled Whitney to her feet, I could feet every violent beat of her heart. Even as her lingering perfume assaulted my senses as it had done so many times before, I reminded myself we were in a dangerous, volatile situation. With none of my own backup, using Constantine’s men could present a crisis for both of us if the Armenian had sent an army.
I glanced at my phone and took in a sharp breath. Along with providing a description of the awaiting SUVs, Constantine had sent a warning.
“What’s wrong?”
“We’re not alone, which means getting us out of here is going to be dicey.” Constantine’s soldiers had detected at least three sentries combing the streets. “Take my hand and don’t let go. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
I grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the back door, keeping my other hand firmly wrapped around the weapon before slipping into the darkness.
We made our way down the back of buildings, rain pelting our skin. She didn’t whine, didn’t try to pull away as I moved to the edge facing the street, stopping short. Within seconds, the SUV pulled up to the stoplight at the opposite corner.
“Get ready,” I told her. I glanced from one side of the street to the other. “Run.”
Seconds later, I noticed three sets of headlights coming from the opposite direction.
I had a bad feeling about this.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
CHAPTER 12
Whitney
Gunfire.
It came from every direction, the rain blurring out any chance at seeing anything clearly. But the horrible sound was deafening. I’d been unlucky enough to watch someone shot in the street in broad daylight only two blocks from my high-rise office building a couple of years before. While the scene had given me nightmares, this would keep a dull thrumming in my brain for months.
If I lived that long.
There were no clear definitions regarding those who obeyed the laws of humanity and those who’d turned their backs long before.
I’d watched the young man begging for help, blood pooling under him as people walked by and over him. While I’d been across the street, traffic coming in both directions, I’d fought my way through the chaos to try to provide assistance. After calling 9-1-1, I’d screamed for help.
And no one had offered it. Not for a single second.
He’d died, his blue eyes staring at me, his hand wrapped around mine. I hadn’t wanted him to leave this world without hearing a kind last voice, so in my horror of what was happening, I sang to him. I sang a freaking song to a man dying on the sidewalk in front of a posh women’s clothing store. At least as he’d taken his last labored breath, a smile had crossed his face.
I liked to think I helped him find a ride to heaven.
How ridiculous was that?
As we raced for our lives, the entire world had pulled to a stop as if we were in a cartoon, watching as the bullets headed in our direction. The screaming little voice in the back of my head reminded me that this was no Saturday morning show, more like Netflix after hours. Still, the horror of what I was facing had yet to register.
Maybe it was because of the crappy day I’d just had or the realization that the man who’d fucked me several times was a monster. Or maybe I was so numb my brain had become an iceberg.
I vaguely registered several men piling from the SUV, returning fire. I also knew that Phoenix had shoved me in front of him, making himself the target instead. Wasn’t that sweet? A maniacal laugh almost pushed up from my throat. Obviously, I’d cracked enough that the reality of what we were facing wasn’t terrifying like it should be.
“Get her in the car. Now. Now!” Phoenix’s voice left a dull echo in my mind.
I wanted nothing more than to choke back sobs, feeling sorry for myself but there weren’t any tears. Maybe I refused to allow a single additional teardrop to fall. Fuck him. Fuck his need for revenge. Fuck his hatred of my father.
Even as the angry bitterness swirled in my mind, the pinging of a bullet into the black SUV was a solid reminder of just how much danger we were in. We. There was no we. There was the monster then there was the fool.
“Goddamn it,” another deep voice yelled from the other side of the vehicle. “You know how to initiate a party.”
Suddenly, there were no more shots coming from the other side of the block. I threw a look over my shoulder, the sight of several bodies dumped onto the street and across two hoods of the three cars not nearly as horrifying as it should have been.
“Yeah,” Phoenix hissed before pushing me inside.
“Tyler, you and the others start the process but get a cleanup crew out here to help you,” the other man said as both he and Phoenix jumped inside, the driver seconds after that.
I kept my eyes on the windshield, marveling at the efficiency of the four men as they dragged bodies from the street, dumping them into the unknown cars, preparing to drive them away from the scene.
“Are you hurt?” Phoenix asked.
How many times would I hear that? How many times had he asked the same question to the people he cared about? I slowly turned my head, blinking rain from my eyes. “Would it really matter if I was?”
I could sense the two men in front were amused by my less than approving attitude.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend?” the second guy asked.
“News flash. I’m not his friend. In fact, I’m not anything,” I started. Then I threw another hateful look in Phoenix’s direction. “Oh, wait. That’s right. I was just a game piece in a round of roulette. Or was that five card stud?”
The man up front in the passenger seat laughed, the low rumble reminding of the first time I’d heard Phoenix’s deep baritone. “She reminds me of Jade. I’m Constantine.” I wasn’t certain if the man thought I should be impressed he’d introduced himself.
I wasn’t.
“I will assume you’re another mafia asshole?” The question slipped from my mouth before I could stop the words.
“Whew,” Constantine muttered. “I’m from the Thorn family out of Kansas City. You’ll need to ask my wife whether I’m an asshole or not. Granted, after the fight we had earlier today, she’d likely answer yes.” The man was nearly as attractive as Phoenix, and it was obvious they’d worked together before.
“I’d be happy to let her know what you do in your off time,” I told him.
“Whitney has a way of getting under your skin.” Phoenix threw me a look.
Constantine chuckled. “You might have difficulty handling her. I brought towels. You’ll find everything else you need on the jet.”
When Phoenix handed me a towel, I didn’t bother looking in his direction. Maybe I wanted him to toss it at me, which would make me feel somewhat better for hating him after he’d saved my life.
Twice.
But he gently laid the plush towel across my legs. The simple gesture dug at my heartstrings. Why did I still care in the least about the man after what he’d put me through? As I pulled the towel to my face, I closed my eyes, trying to block out what they were saying.
“Did you detect more of the assholes?” Phoenix gritted out, keeping his voice low as if worried about what I’d hear. I almost laughed at the thought. I’d never make it away from him alive.
“No, but the shitheads we just eliminated didn’t come from Philly. They’re locals.”
“Shit,” Phoenix snorted. “I didn’t know the Armenians had a stake in your area.”
Constantine snickered. “It would seem the Midwest is the new mecca. I’m dealing with the freaking Cosa Nostra. The Russians are active again. The Poles. There’s even a well-organized chapter of Sinaloa Drug Cartel taking up residence down the street from my office.”
“Jesus, man. Maybe you need more muscle. I can lend you a few after this shit is over with.”
The way the two men were sharing anecdotes turned my stomach. Just another day in la-la land.
“It’s the cost of living. It’s much cheaper than New York or LA.”
I finally glanced at Constantine, so many questions racing in my mind as to how his wife could tolerate his criminal activities.
“Are you really comparing cities with regard to the cost of living for mafia guys?” I asked, my tone still demanding.
“And their families,” Constantine teased. Then he threw Phoenix an amused glance. “She had no idea who you were.”
“Not until the train derailed.”
My God. Now they were talking like I wasn’t in the back of what I had to guess was a bulletproof vehicle speeding toward a jet while the henchmen constantly looked for other bad guys. I hadn’t fallen into a nightmare. I’d drifted straight to hell.
“Contrary to what your friend believes, I’m not in the habit of waking up one morning and telling myself that today is the day to track down, seduce, and betray some powerful mafia guy. That really just isn’t on my bucket list.” I’d thrown the statement out as if it would mean anything.
Now the driver chuckled, Constantine taking a deep breath.
And I felt the weighed heat of Phoenix’s stare, firecrackers in his eyes. I was being foolish, the rational side of me incapable of pulling back into the shell I’d allowed him to drag me in.
I was no fool. In the hierarchy of a closely knit organization such as the type of group Constantine mentioned, the number one aspect of surviving the intense scrutiny was respect. I’d disrespected Phoenix in front of an equal in his field of debauchery. I would certainly be punished for it later.
So what?
“You’re cold. You’re terrified. And you need answers,” Phoenix said gently, much more so than I could ever have imagined before the nightmare began. “We will talk, Whitney, but at this point, we still aren’t out of danger. Do you understand?”
The seconds seemed to tick by as I locked eyes with his. For a few crazy ticks of my heart, I could hear his laughter from our game of one-upping the other. I could also see images of his eyes the way they devoured me while he was driving his cock deep inside. And I tingled from the crackle of current that had yet to stop running through both of us, replacing every molecule.
Letting it go would be difficult, but I was determined to do so before the ache in my heart grew any deeper. “Yes.”
“Good girl.” When he squeezed my leg, so much of me swooned inside, butterflies tickling at my senses. But those same butterflies suddenly turned into ferocious man-eating insects, teeth with razor sharp points, the creature wanting nothing more than to drive them into his neck.
But I remained quiet, maybe out of respect.
Maybe out of rage.
Or maybe because I couldn’t stop shivering, terrified that I’d never be able to rid my mind or my heart of the man who awakened me.
“What are you going to do about your issue in Philly?” Constantine asked.
“Unfortunately, I’ve yet to lay out a plan.”
“I’m certain retaliation will be in order.”
Phoenix laughed. “You don’t fuck with my family. Isn’t that our motto?”
“It certainly is mine. It seems like you’re ready to grow that family.”
I heard the teasing sound of Constantine’s voice and wanted to be sick at my stomach.
But I wasn’t.
Phoenix’s body was too close, the warmth too intense and I was forced to take a deep breath. Shivering, I glanced out the window, wondering if there was a way I could jump out of a rolling vehicle. Now there wasn’t just one man to chase after me, there were several, at least six. I wiped water until the towel was as soaked as I was.
As the driver rolled onto the interstate, their business discussion continued, but I managed to tune out. I leaned my head against the window, blinking as the lights of the city passed by in flashes of vivid hues.
I closed my eyes, exhaustion replacing the wired adrenaline I’d felt for hours. As I clutched the towel, another series of images floated into my mind.
All of them with Phoenix emblazed in a shimmer of gold, his eyes filled with hints of lust. I did what I could not to think about him.
Eyes the color of a spring forest.
Rugged hands that held me with ease.
Soft, full lips almost hidden by the dark beard he’d started to grow.
And the intense passion as he drove his cock deep inside.
No. I refused to go that that dark hole any longer.
As the hum of the engine drowned out the voices of men who had no fear of danger, I allowed the warmth of a shadowed abyss to pull me further under the murky waters of sleep.
Maybe when I awakened, the nightmare would be over.
Phoenix
We’d gunned down nine men in the middle of a dark street. I’d protected her on instinct, Whitney, the girl with a caustic mouth and a lust for life. As I turned my head, her even breathing indicating sleep, I felt a sharp sense of knowing. Keeping her should be out of the question but I couldn’t imagine letting her go.
“What are you going to do with her?” Constantine asked as the driver pulled toward a set of gates, using his thumb to allow entrance.
“I need to find out if she knows anything,” I answered, hearing little conviction in my voice. I was finished with being surprised at my thoughts and actions, but what we’d face wouldn’t be easy. She was still the enemy, and I was hers. Nothing would change that scenario.
And my family would push hard against anything but terminating her life.
That wasn’t acceptable on any terms.
“What if she doesn’t know anything?” Constantine had always been the reasonable one of the Brotherhood, the founding father of an unholy alliance. I’d heard him spout off words of wisdom several times to men who embraced their power as they did every other aspect of their lives. With measured caution.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, it would seem that you’ve landed yourself a significant problem, my friend.”
I’d once laughed at the thought of any of the men involved becoming a friend. We were all set in our ways, refusing to back down or take orders from anyone. Asking for assistance was always risky given secrecy that helped keep us alive. But over the years, the seven of us had learned to trust one another. While the rules established long before I’d gotten involved still applied, there hadn’t been a single incident where a brother dared to tread on another’s territory. The consequences were too great.
“I can’t afford to become involved.”
Constantine snorted. “That’s what each one of us have said more than once. I never wanted to care about Jade. She was the single person who could destroy my freedom, let alone my empire.”
“But you married and had kids.”
“That we did. And I couldn’t be happier. Take a piece of advice from an old married man. It changes you. The relationship provides a level of stability I didn’t know I was missing. When Jade came into my life like a firestorm, I was at a point of destroying the last of my goodness and humanity. The little firecracker refused to be shoved aside or told what to do. My life is much richer with her in it.”
I threw him a look, chuckling at his words, ones he would never have said a couple of years before. “She has every right to hate me after I deceived her.”
“But did you really? Other than not telling her the full truth about who you are? Didn’t you share a part of yourself that was as honest as you’ve been in a long time?” His grin was the same one I’d wanted to wipe off his face the first time I’d met him.
