Page 7 of The Enforcer

“Anything.” The poor kid was sweating bullets. I could certainly have that effect on people. Or maybe his reaction was based on seeing the weapon sticking out of my holster.

“You’re going to tell your uncle that his poor decision of working with Kenneth was something that is unfortunate, but will not affect the deal we established months ago.”

I allowed the words to hang. “That’s it?”

“That’s it. Now, that isn’t so difficult, is it?”

“No, sir. I’ll tell him. I can’t promise he’ll listen to me.”

I patted him on the shoulder once again. “You leave that part to me. Okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

Shit. I’d never felt so old. I couldn’t be more than ten years older than the guy, yet I felt ancient. I smirked and both Luca and Elias followed me to the door.

“What do you want us to do with him?” Elias asked. He had his arms in front of him, his hands crossed and he was stepping from one foot to the other.

“An eager beaver?” I threw out.

“I’ve grown bored with America.”

“You and me both,” I told him. “We’ll be back in Athens this time tomorrow. What do I want you to do?” I glanced back at Ricky and sighed. “Spáste éna dáchtylo. O pónos prépei na eínai mia axioprepís ypenthýmisi.”

Break a finger. The pain should be a decent reminder.

“Yes, sir.” Elias could break more than one given his strength and size. I headed to the door, Luca following me.

Once the cool air hit me, I took a deep breath. Sadly, the area smelled like stale booze and damp cigarettes. Not particularly appetizing.

Marinos moved toward the back door of the SUV, prepared to open it and wait until I was inside. A flash caught my eye and I turned, yanking my weapon into my hand at the same time.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The gunshots came from the shadows, figures moving closer. I fired off a couple of shots in the direction of the sound, unable to see if I’d caught any of the bastards.

“Get down!” Marinos yelled, his massive body barreling toward me.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

His body stiffened just as shots came from a different direction. The hit was hard, slamming into me near my breastbone. I tumbled backward, knocked to the ground by my soldier. The heavy weight of him knocked the breath out of me, agony scorching every muscle and tendon.

Panting, I struggled to roll him off while keeping cover behind the SUV. Both Luca and Elias were on me quickly while Luca continued firing off round after round.

I was tossed into the back of the vehicle, Marinos shoved in beside me.

“Get us out of here!” Elias yelled to Luca as he jumped into the front seat, immediately starting and gunning the engine.

The pain was coursing down my chest, the anguish sending flashes of white light across my periphery of vision. The gunshots continued, the SUV hit at least three times.

I rolled Marinos over, the lights of passing businesses allowing me to see the vacant look in his eyes.

“He’s dead!” I roared and was forced to clutch my heart. Fuck. This wasn’t good.

“We’re getting you to the hospital, boss. Just hold on.”

The words Elias issued were garbled, the pain biting into my brain. I struggled to sit up, but my body wouldn’t respond.

“Boss. Are you okay? Hold on. We’re…”

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