Page 3 of Dangerous Secrets

Ben points up and looks toward the ceiling with a massive grin. “There…”

I peer over my head toward the ceiling where the ladies sit on large trapeze swings ready to be lowered to the stage below at a moment’s notice. It’s a genius idea, but we never rehearsed this, so I’m hoping he knows what he’s doing. When I bring my eyes back down to earth to look at Ben, Tony is there with my large feather in hand.

“Forgot this,” he mumbles and thrusts it into my hands.

I glower at him and take it from him, then shove it in my bun and turn, ready to take the stage. The music from the previous song ends and the curtains close. I hurry out to my mark as the intro to my song plays. Tony stares at me from the wing where he stands next to Ben. One of them is here to cheer me on, support my career. The other one is just a nuisance and if I had my druthers, he’d be handling some grunt work for Mickey. I just have to put up with him until a few more jobs are done and then the boss will see my true value. Maybe I’ll rank up or something.

The crowd hoots and whistles as the curtains rise and the dancers descend. I begin to sing, squinting against the bright spotlight, and in no time the dancers join me in step just as we have rehearsed countless times. Their new entrance has added a flare to the show that catapults my creative energy to new heights. I find myself hitting notes I’ve never attempted before and I feel like I’m on cloud nine until I look to where Rome was seated and notice he’s gone.

He never leaves during a show. He’s always here to come backstage when it’s over. I try not to let the disappointment affect my performance, forcing a smile and pouring even more effort into my seductive touches lavished upon unworthy masculine figures who ogle me.

One song passes, then the next, and I’m just going through the motions. It’s obvious to Ben, because when I return to the stage for the part where I drape myself over the piano, he’s there in the wing with his fingers pushing his cheeks up in a forced smile. His prompting reminds me to paste my smile on, but it doesn’t remove the frustrations stirred by my brother or Roman’s disappearance.

I should have learned by now that all men let you down eventually. There isn’t a single male in the human species who can consistently show up and be trusted. It’s why I am who I am today. A killer. I’m sure if Rome knew, he would have taken me out by now, but that’s why I keep myself hidden as my name indicates. L’ombra isn’t just an alias; it’s me. My alter ego. The truest sense of my personality and who I really am in this world.

I am a shadow beneath the feet of all these men who think they control me, but soon, they will all see that I’m not attached to them, and if they don’t respect me, what lurks in the shadows will come out to bite. And that thought brings a genuine beaming grin to my face, energizing me to sing louder, dance harder, and collect more tips.

I refuse to let any man bring me down or distract me from my job, even Roman Gusev. And especially my brother.

3

ROME

Dominic and I stand over Matvey’s bed as the heart monitor beeps rhythmically. He has stirred a few times, though Brewster—our vet and the only doctor we will ever trust—has kept him pretty sedated. The bullet that pierced his chest nearly killed him. If it hadn’t been for the quick thinking of that damn reporter, my brother would be dead. I’m not fond of the idea of keeping her around since she is likely the one who led him right into this situation, but his last words before passing out were not to lay a hand on her, and Dominic, the oldest and our leader, is very strict about that honor code. A man’s last wishes must be respected.

“He’s struggling,” Dom says, rubbing his beard. He’s been up for forty-eight hours straight watching over Matvey, whom we also call Matty. He’s older than me, but in his critical state, he feels like my little brother; I want to fiercely defend him and take vengeance on whoever the monster was that did this to him.

“He’ll be fine. We have to stay positive.” I glance over my shoulder as the vet pops his head in then promptly backs out. He knows better than to interrupt us when we’re here talking. Family business what it is, Brewster is lucky he’s even alive. There have been so many run-ins and he’s covered so much up, if he even slips one word of any of this to the authorities, Dominic will have no choice.

“Detective Akers found more intel that suggests the men who did this may be directly linked to L’ombra. One of them may even be him. Either way, this was definitely a couple of Italians, and I’m putting you in charge of finding out.” He eyes me for a second as Matty’s hand twitches and clenches, then he relaxes. “How is the hunt for The Shadow?”

I’ve learned the hard way that I cannot hide anything from him. He has eyes and ears everywhere. My brothers have all had their moments of stupidity, thinking their lies went unnoticed, but Dominic knows all, and I can’t take a risk. Not when my brother’s life depends on it.

“I almost had him; I swear.” I lick my lip and remember the smack to the head that drew blood. My hand unconsciously touches the scab in my hairline, now a few days old. “Out behind The Flatiron I was watching. I followed the detective’s tip that L’ombra was supposed to be there. When a dark van pulled up and three people got out, I approached it. I took a beating as two of them distracted me, and the third got into the building. I left before any cops showed up. Clipped one of them in the shoulder with a round.”

Dominic’s head nods. He’s not entirely thrilled; I can tell by the way his forehead has deep furrows. But he’s not angry with me either. At least, he’s not lashing out.

“We’re getting closer but not close enough, Rome. We need to put this to bed. I’d like to have this settled before Dad is gone. It will give him peace as he crosses over.”

Dad, suffering from severe Parkinson’s and most recently a cancer diagnosis, is only breaths away from dying it seems. I know as much as Dominic how much it would mean to him to know his boys are handling the business as he would. No stone left unturned; no string left hanging. But some things are outside my control. If I had a few men with me, we’d have taken L’ombra alive that night. As it is, the man remains a literal shadow—untouchable.

“You know, Dom, when all this started with our issues with the mole infiltrating the family, I thought we’d weed him out and be done. I didn’t realize it would lead to all of this.” I move my hand in a sweeping gesture. We’ve suffered so much in the past year—one of our best men turned out to be a mole. Several of our soldiers sacrificed their lives. We’ve gained a few good men, but we’ve also been put under scrutiny with the NYPD and now this report Matty has hanging around. If her source turns out to be L’ombra, we are all screwed.

“None of us thought it would go this far, and all we want is resolution now, before it gets worse. We know our mole was working with the Italians, and all we want is to remove anyone within that family that has intel on ours.” He turns and walks out of Matty’s room, and I follow him, heading toward his den. His shoes squeak on the marble floors and the faint hint of tobacco hangs in the air behind him. “We’ll never end the feuding between our families, but we can try to put a stop to the nonsensical killing that’s been going on, and my money is on that assassin. He’s stirring up trouble by setting fires we’re too busy putting out while he kills us off one by one.” Dominic stops and faces me abruptly. “Stop him, Roman. Before you’re next.”

The pressure is on, though I feel like it always has been. I walk behind him silently as he continues to his den, then stand in the doorway. He pours himself a drink and sits down on one of the large leather couches. I have the chance to end the warring that’s been happening for more than a year now with a single bullet—if I can determine which of those putrid mongrels is the assassin. I can’t just go haphazardly shooting, which is why they chose me for this job and not Sven. Doing that would only make things worse.

We need precision and finesse, and we need it done quickly. I don’t have time to waste at all, but for now I have to take it, even if it means another body drops before I isolate our target and find a way to take him out.

“And this lounge singer you’re so infatuated with…” His words hang in the air as he sips his whiskey. I look up at him as he says, “Lay off a while. You need to focus on your job. You’ll have time to get laid after.” He sits behind his desk.

I want to protest but he’s right. Still, I believe I can handle Bianca and still do my job successfully. I just have to balance how many nights I spend with her. I’m sure Dominic understands the carnal needs of a man.

“I need you to bring Dad here. He should be able to spend a few minutes at Matty’s side—you know, in case he dies.” Dominic chokes out those last few words. It’s been on all of our minds lately. We know that the assassin has been tasked with killing us all. It isn’t a light thing to think about our brother dying, and it’s even heavier knowing the rest of us will fall one by one unless I can finish my job.

“Of course,” I tell him, turning to go. He mumbles something I don’t understand but my task is clear. I just have to focus on killing an invisible enemy before he kills me and my family. Easy peasy.

I make it across town to Dad’s house where he’s on hospice and back with two of his nurses in tow in under ninety minutes. He’s hooked to several IV’s and the nurse carries an oxygen tank with her. He’s barely coherent but I understand why Dominic had me bring him here. If we move Matty, he’ll likely die. The vet told us his stitches will tear and who knows if we’ll cause internal bleeding.

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