Page 45 of Secret Baby for the Mafia Boss

We both strode down the steps, and neither Andrei nor Damien bothered giving us a glance, though I knew they had each heard what we’d done upstairs. Nadia lay crumbled in a ball at their feet, bleeding from more places than she had been when we’d gone upstairs. For the first time, I didn’t particularly care. I’d asked Viktor to have mercy on her, and she’d repaid him by trying to kill us both, so whatever she endured now was deserved.

She looked up at me with a pleading expression. “Please,” she begged. “I had no choice.”

“I don’t care,” I told her honestly. “After what you did today, I don’t care even a little bit.”

“Damien,” she begged, looking up at her brother. He, too, looked indifferent.

“You’re a cold-hearted bitch, and the world will be better without you,” he spat down at her.

Viktor didn’t say anything for a long moment, and when she looked at him, he held her gaze. Words went unspoken between them in a way that told me all I needed to know about Viktor’s decision.

He wouldn’t have mercy on her.

“Andrei, demand a meeting with the new Irish boss, and don’t take no for an answer,” he said. Still looking at Nadia, he continued. “Dump the dead men on his doorstep this evening. To request the meeting, nail the God damned note to Nadia’s chest, and let her bleed out on his porch.”

When he’d said he was done pulling punches, he’d meant it.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Viktor Nikolaev

The conference table was nearly empty—only Andrei at one of my sides and the Italian Commission chairman across the table. His bodyguard sat at his side. Though we didn’t bother saying anything, there was no tension between us. It was a formality that he came. He and I knew how to stay out of one another’s way. I kept to the Brighton Beach area, and he kept to the city.

The Irish, on the other hand, intruded on all our territories. If getting rid of the head of the beast were the solution, this meeting would end in bloodshed. But it wasn’t that. The Irish chose their bosses based on brutality and strength, and any new boss would rally that with a campaign of merciless killing. Ciara was the easiest, most logical target for that, and this boss had weaknesses that could keep him in line.

“Do you anticipate he’ll come, or should we get started?” Lucchese asked, leaning forward. His bodyguard kept his eyes fixed on me and Andrei, but neither of us made an intimidating move.

“He’ll be here,” I assured.

I’d tried calling the meeting on civilized terms, and he’d forced my hand. Damien now kept the man’s daughter in the next building over, tied and gagged. The young girl hadn’t put up much of a fight, and we left her unharmed… for now. Bringing families into this brutal life was tasteless, but I did what I had to do to keep my own family safe, and nothing else was dragging the man out of his territory.

If he didn’t show, I’d have to follow through with my threat to kill his daughter. I would do it. If it spread the message not to mess with me or my family, I’d do whatever I had to do.

A few minutes later, Alex Byrne strode through the door, looking as vengeful as I’d anticipated. “Where the fuck is she?” he asked, his fists clenched.

“Don’t be ignorant,” I told him, cooly leaning back. “Take a seat, and we can settle this amongst ourselves.”

Byrne looked at the Italian boss and bared his teeth in a feral expression. “What the fuck is he doing here?”

“Sit down,” I demanded again.

Though it seemed to hurt his pride, he did as I instructed before speaking again. “This meeting isn’t continuing until I have my daughter.”

I’d expected nothing less. “The moment you walked inside, she was brought to your vehicle and left there,” I told him. He stood and made his way toward the door. “We will retrieve her again if you don’t attend the meeting. Feel free to check through the window if you must.”

He hesitated before veering toward the window and relaxing. He made his way back around the table, taking a deep breath as if to replenish his composure. “I know why you called this meeting,” he said. “But I don’t understand whyheis here.”

Lucchese looked Byrne up and down without reacting in the slightest. “I imagine I was brought here for the same reason as you: to tell my men not to pursue Nikolaev’s wife.” He looked at me with raised brows. “Isn’t that correct?”

I nodded. “That’s precisely why we’re all here.”

“And,” Lucchese continued, crossing an ankle over a knee, “You want me to hear whatever threats you plan to deliver just in case me or my men get any ideas of doing something similar. I have no interest in starting a conflict that will cost me more than it’s worth in life and lost business.”

I nodded, looking at where Byrne sat. “Do I need to deliver my threats, or have you seen enough of what I can and will do? Your oldest daughter was easy to take. Do you want me to show you how easily I can strip you of your younger daughter? Your infant son? What aboutyourwife?”

“If I call off the hit, my men will consider me weak. I could be overthrown.”

“You shouldn’t be in charge if you’re not strong enough to hold onto power or to defend your own people.”

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