Page 52 of Killer Love

“The best.”

I breathe a quiet laugh. The American pretty boy is cocky. Can’t say I’m surprised.

Fox assembles his rifle back together as I look on, watching his hands work with quick, expert precision.

“I’ll get through the gate,” I say. “You watch my back and move up when it’s clear.”

“Okay.”

I shake the nerves from my hands. Roughing up idiots in chairs is one thing. I can’t say that opportunities to infiltrate private estates come up often in my life as a mafia bodyguard. I’m usually on the other side of this, keeping people out who shouldn’t be in.

But Sofia is in there. With my son. Nothing else matters more than that.

I look down at Fox. If he’s nervous at all, he’s not showing it. If he feels anything at all, I can’t tell.

“You’ve done this before,” I note.

He glances up at me as he reaches for his masked stuffed into his bag. “Yeah.”

“A lot?”

“A few.”

“Did they end well?”

“Sometimes.”

I narrow my eyes at him as he slides the mask over his head. “What’s that for?”

“I can’t be recognized.”

“You do a lot of jobs in Italy, comrade?”

“A few.”

I sigh. Now I know what it feels like to be Yuri trying to talk to me most of the time. “Please don’t shoot me.”

“I’ll try.”

He throws the rifle strap over his shoulder and stands up, his eyes scanning the trees for the best place to go. Without a word, he reaches up and hops to grab a low-hanging branch. He easily pulls himself up and climbs to a better position like a damn monkey.

“You’ve done this before,” I say again.

“You never had a treehouse?” he asks from his branch.

I shrug and walk off toward the gate, taking big breaths to kill the last of my nerves.

As I approach the gate, I add a strut to my step, slightly dragging my toes to make a little bit of noise.

A guard stands on the other side and spins around as I draw near, his finger wrapped tight around the trigger of his rifle.

“Oy!” I shout. “Let me in.”

He raises his brow at my convincing, drunken eyes. “No.”

“Pul-lease?” I slur and lean against the gate. “I was just here. You recognize me, yes? I left my keys.”

He reaches for the radio on his belt.

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