Page 3 of The Holy Ghost
Idid neither.
Ididn’t justify my kills or cheat onanyone. I slept like a baby at night because my conscience had beensilenced the night Frankie left me. My soul died that samenight.
No, I was herein Neil Hansen’s Garden Grovemini-mansion, waiting in the shadows, because Neil’s littleembezzlement problem? Yeah, that was due to the fact that Neilliked to gamble.
And he likedto gamblebig.
However,because Neil was also the CEO of Hansen and BelmilchFinancial-Grandy Belmilch was the CFO-his murder was sure to bring a lot of media and lawenforcement attention. It was why Luca didn’t trust this hit to oneof his many other shooters.
A monthago, after Ciro had gotten a hold ofgood, ol’ Neil, it was clear within the following week that, evenafter Ciro’s handiwork, the man couldn’t make good on hiseight-hundred-thousand-dollar debt to the Benetti Family. AndGrandy Belmilch wasn’t just a CFO; he was a smart CFO. After doingmy homework, I knew there was no way Neil would be able to embezzlethe amounts he needed without Grandy catching wind of what he wasdoing. And once I took that information to Luca, he made thedecision to make a topnotch example out of good, ol’Neil.
The sound ofthe front door slamming shut told me two things; one, Neil’smistress didn’t get thecomforting she thought she was going to get and, two, I couldfinally get down to business.
Again, becauseI did my homework, I knew theexact layout of Neil’s home and his fading footsteps told me he washeading into his study. But, to be fair, I also knew this becauseNeil was a creature of habit, and he always drank his finestwhiskey in his study to wind down after getting his dick suck byhis trainer.
Now, usually,I just went in, shot the sonofabitch, anddisappeared. But I tookoffense to good, ol’ Neil ignoring Ciro’s warning. Most people gotsome quick get-right after being on the receiving end of one ofCiro’s visits, but Neil’s gambling problem outweighed his survivalinstincts this go-round.
I creptsilently into the study. Neil’s back was to me as he poured himself another drink, nodoubt hoping it wouldn’t be interrupted by another pregnantmistress. My dick almost got hard as the tumbler slipped from hishand and bounced on the carpet as the tip of my gun met the back ofhis head.
“Goodevening, Neil,” I chuckled. I mightnot have a soul, but I did find joy in the littlethings.
“Uh…”
I took a stepback and eased off the pressure of the gun, so he could turn around and see his fate. Again,normally, I didn’t play games like this, but I wasfeeling…irritated having to wait so long to off him. When he turnedaround and saw me, his eyes widened, and though we’ve never met, heknew who I was.
I smiled.
“Ipromise-”
I tsk’ed atthe poor man. “Now, now, Neil,” I sing-songed, “I’ve heard all about the promises you make. Iheard them all from Ciro Mancini as a matter of fact.”
“But-”
I shook thebag out of my back pocket with my free hand, and I had it over hishead and a bullet in his brain before he could beg some more.Letting hisbody fall, I heldonto the bag and stuffed it in my back pocket to get rid of laterwhen I got rid of everything else. Now, some might think it wasmorbid to carry around a bag with brain splatter in it, but thatkind of shit stopped bothering me years ago.
Sneaking out the way Isnuck in, I jumped the back yard into the adjoining yard of thevacant house next door. In the dead of night, no one would see me,but I took great care in everything I did. Nothing would lead thecops to my door.
They didn’tcallme The Holy Ghost fornothing.
Chapter 2
Francesca~
Istared at the twenty-seven cents onthe table, and it was all I could do not to visibly cringe whileother customers were still around. I didn’t want to feel ungratefulfor the change, but I never understood why people did that. It wasinsulting and unnecessary. However, scooping up the change alongwith the dishes, I reminded myself that every little bithelped.
It wasn’t thatI was starving or anything like that. I got paid a decent wage atBrighton’sSteak House and,usually, the tips made it possible for me not to have to livepaycheck-to-paycheck. But I knew my customer service was worth morethan the change I just dropped in my apron. I wasn’t one of thosepeople who thought I was owed a tip, so I made sure to do my bestto earn one. I was all smiles and politeness, even to the rudecustomers.
Plus, Ienjoyed my job. Was it what I saw myself doing for the rest of mylife? No. But life doesn’talways turn out the way you expect it. A couple of the girls knew Iwas only a semester away from getting my degree in BusinessFinance, and they always encouraged me to go back to school, but Iwas a realist.
Or maybe I was justa loser.
Either way,school wasn’t in the cards forme right now. Or ever if I was being completely honest. I justdidn’t have the…drive anymore. When I had graduated from highschool, I had been young and eager to conquer the world. I wasgoing to go to college, get my degree, and make a good life formyself. But when that dream died, carving out a nice, quiet,low-key life had become the goal, and I’ve been living it for thepast six years.
I finishedcleaning off the table and took the dirty dishes back to thekitchen. We had busboys forthis, but I liked to keep busy, and being a Tuesday evening,Brighton’s was slow.
“I need somerich, handsome, single stranger to stop in for dinner, fall madlyin love with me as soon as he spots me from across the room, andcarry me away from thislower-class, change-counting life,” Mona muttered as she dumped atray of dirty dishes on the counter beside me.
I laughed. “Isaw the pictures you posted this weekend,” I informed her. “Youwouldn’t be living a lower-class, change-counting life if you didn’t buy top-shelf liquor everyweekend.”
