Page 10 of Hustler in the Mafia

La mia piccola cocco.I wondered what she was up to. I really hoped she hadn’t sneaked off. I shuffled out of the chair. “I’m off.”

He stood up and gathered his files together. “Bring the Albanian in.”

“No.”

His hands halted, and his sharp gaze pulled to mine. A million excuses ran through my mind. He followed her. He could have killed her. He could have fucked her.Fuck. Maybe he fucked her already. Raped her. But I couldn’t tell him any of that.

I guess it was my lucky day. Because the man who brought me in and gave me a life to live for decided yet again to trust me fully. Even though I was unworthy of it right now.

“Fine. Get rid of him then.”

I nodded and stalked over to the door.

“Marco.” His stern voice hit my back, and my hands involuntarily clenched around the handle.

“Sì.”I didn’t turn around. Didn’t trust my poker face right now.

“You’ll have your reasons, I am sure. When you’re ready, you’ll tell me.”

It wasn’t an order, even if he wanted it to sound like one. It was a reassurance that no matter what, he still had my back.

With a nod, I strode out the door.

My boot-cladright foot rested on my left knee. The green iron bench was cold on my ass, but I couldn’t say I felt it. I was all hot and burning with silent rage. The Albanian I’d tied to the tree was getting on my fucking nerves.

One, the fucker had a thick layer of meat on him. I’d busted my knuckles in several places, taking him down. Two, the filth coming out of his mouth was riling me up. The uncontrollable rage I had lived with until Antonio calmed me down was throbbing in my veins. Only a thin layer of control kept it veiled from the world. Someone should have warned the fucker about this.

“She’s a fucking liar! A thief. She stole my—”

“Careful,” I admonished quietly, my gaze on the speck of filth under my nails and intent on taking it out with my sharp-edged knife. Couldn’t stand filth. Reminded me of all the filth I had come across in my previous life. Made me wonder why the mud coatingla mia coccodidn’t bother me, then.

“Watch. Fucking bitch.”

My gaze shot to him. He was going to get himself killed. Sooner rather than later. I wanted it to be later. Much, much later.

“She thinks she’s too fucking good. She wanted to suck me off but didn’t want to fuck.”

My hand fisted around my knife.Deep breaths, Marco. Slower means more pain.

His bloodied eye watched me intently. “Why would a nice man like you want to get involved with her? She’s a fucking whore.”

Fucker. I swirled my arm and flipped the knife. Why couldn’t he have given me the pleasure of killing him slowly?

With a sigh, I got up and strolled over to him. The seeping bloody hole in his throat and my knife in the middle of it looked like an artwork but didn’t bring me any pleasure. Nor the bulged-out eyes of a dead man. I should have cut him to pieces and put him on a barbecue. Now that would have been a better way of killing him. Instead, I was resigned to pulling my knife out as red sprayed my clean white shirt and black suit.

“See. Not such a nice man, after all,” I told the dead man as I wiped my knife clean on his sweat-soaked shirt. Holding the knife up as a mirror, I cleaned my face. Couldn’t have my woman seeing my fucked-up face.

I found my men where I’d left them fifty meters away. “Get rid of the body.”

A pang of anticipation filled me as I made my way to my house. This was the first time that I was looking forward to going home. The question was if she was going to be home or prove she was, in fact, a bird and that she’d flown away.

CHAPTER SIX

MARCO

The door swung against the wall as I stepped into my tiny foyer. A smell in the air told me something was cooking. My heart thumped in anticipation, but my feet were lazy as I strolled into the kitchen and foundla mia piccola coccoin it.

Fuck!My heart zapped like the metal paddles of a defibrillator had touched my chest.She was here.In my home. In the fucking kitchen. Cooking. Wearing one of my shirts. The shirt touched her knees. I’d never wished I’d been shorter until now. If I’d been shorter, I would have got a more interesting show.What the fuck am I thinking?

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