Page 37 of My Merciless Don

“This is so stupid.” I murmured to myself as I turned into my street. Marco and I didn’t even live that far apart. I was surprised we hadn’t run into each other before this.

I couldn’t help feeling stupid for being hopeful about the possibility of seeing him again, even if by accident. I slammed at my chest, over and over, “Fucking– get over yourself.” I gritted my teeth, cursing the tear that escaped my eye. “He’s just another mark!”

Much as I tried to convince myself that I wasn’t hurting, my body would not be deceived. My muscles were literally aching as I reminded myself that this had been the aim all along. Get an in to the Cosa Nostra, steal their secrets and their money, and maybe even bring them down eventually. Be all you can be and all that, like the poster said.

I parked in the underground garage and walked slowly towards the stairs, trying to compose myself before I saw Kylie. I loved her, she was my right hand, but I didn’t need her to know I’d caught feelings for the mark. She’d lose all respect for me.

I keyed in the code and stepped into the apartment we used as a base. Kylie got to her feet, a huge expectant smile on her face. “There she is.” She exclaimed.

I cocked an eyebrow at her. “No balloons? Where’s the confetti? All I get is a shout?”

Kylie laughed. “I can run down to the bakery and get you a cake if you want.”

I dropped down into the chair. “Nah, just gimme my laptop and let’s get this show on the road. I need a long hot bath and to wear my own clothes again, so hurry up.”

She handed me my machine, sympathy in her eyes. “That bad huh?” she looked me up and down, “Those sweats don’t look too terrible.”

“Yeah, cuz I’m hot. Nothing looks bad on me.”

“Also modest,” she said drily, “Very modest.”

I powered up the laptop and took the chip from my bracelet, inserting it into the port replicator. I connect it to the laptop and let it boot up, holding my breath. The program ran its course as I helped it along by clicking on ‘yes’ or ‘ok’. Finally, we were in the system and all I had to do was divert the route of the payments from the central Cosa Nostra account to my own offshore accounts. In addition, I went into their meeting minutes, downloading those as well as all their records.

Leverage.

If you were going to steal from the mafia, you needed it.

“All done?” Kylie asked.

I nodded. “All done.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

MARCO

“Someone has definitely accessed our accounts. I’m looking for the breach and trying to close it. If it’s Audry’s virus, it’s really flown under the radar. I thought I had unbreachable firewalls. My bad, there’s no such thing.” George babbled.

I stood over him, arms crossed, pondering my feelings. At the lack of surprise that she’d done this. Of course she had. I knew she was a thief when I brought her home. There was really nobody to blame but myself.

The blood thrummed in my veins, and I knew in my soul that if I had to go to the ends of the earth, I’d find her again. I felt like a predator, sniffing the air, preparing to run its prey down. Everything was sharper – my vision, my thoughts, my reaction times. I was ready to go, just waiting on a direction.

“Follow the money and you’ll find her.” I said to George. I could see his fingers trembling. He was probably waiting for me to come down hard on him. But all he’d done was what he was told. Of course, I’d have to talk with him – calmly – about his security protocols and closing the barn door when the horse had already escaped, but other than that, I did not intend to mete out a punishment. Ruling by fear was great for some, I guess; I preferred to cultivate loyalty. “Go slow and be thorough.”

He looked up and nodded, determination in his eyes. “Yes, boss.”

I nodded once, firmly, and then turned and left. George would get it done. I had faith in him and his abilities. Also, his sense of self-preservation. One failure might be a mistake, but two was a bad decision and I couldn’t afford those.

I walked towards my office and stood staring out of the window. Shit was about to hit the fan so I couldn’t understand why I felt so alive. The thought of having to run Audry to the ground should have filled me with rage and bitterness. Instead, I’d never felt so alive. This was the most exciting my life had been in years.

Audry had me on my toes and she could keep me there easily. I hated to admit it, but she was exactly what I needed to wake me up from the fugue I’d been living in. I felt as if life had restarted the day she stole from me and now, it was all systems go.

I suddenly felt as if everything I ever wanted to achieve, was within my grasp, as long as I got her back. There was a knock at the door and I turned towards it. “Come in.” I said.

Valerio came in, caution in his eyes. “Hey.”

I nodded at him. “Hey. What’s up?”

“We managed to identify how she scrambled the security cameras. It was done remotely from a site about six miles from here. We’re running down an address.”

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