Page 2 of Twisted Embrace

“Listen to me. Please. Important.”

I’d learned many things about Igor over the years. His successes. His failures. His gambling problem. I made it my mission that anyone who worked in my employ or as an informant had a full, deep dive background check.

“Why would any scrap of information you have matter to me?”

His sobs echoed throughout the warehouse, loud enough they grated my nerves. “Trust me… important.”

Now he piqued my interest. “How so?” Trust wasn’t allowed in my world just like weakness, but I was curious.

When he grasped my shirt for a second time, I didn’t pull his hand away, leaning down so he could mutter whatever mystery was worth dying for.

When he whispered his dying secret as well as found the audacity to ask for a favor, ice ran through my veins. I took a deep breath before yanking his arm away. Then I stood over him, playing the odds in my mind whether or not he was telling the truth. If he was, then the final nail could be placed into a coffin of the Bratva.

“Pu… lease.”

Never had I promised anyone anything in my life. That I gave it a second thought was not only unusual, it could also prove to be deadly. “Where?”

“New…York. Help. Please.”

What he’d thrown out was scintillating, enough so I was more than interested. If the man wasn’t lying like the sack of shit he was, the information could certainly prove to be useful.

“I’ll do my best, Igor. That’s all I will promise you.” I couldn’t care less for his gratitude or anything else at this point. I was late and that wasn’t acceptable.

I pulled out my weapon, not bothering to add the silencer. No one would hear the act of mercy, nor would they find him inside the abandoned space for several days. By then, we’d be back in Italy.

“Blagoslovi tebya syn,” he whispered hoarsely. In the years I’d known him, he’d only spoken to me in Russian four times. However, I’d learned the language long ago as I had several others. It helped with the family’s international business status.

But today, his words left me with bitterness.

Bless you, son.

I of all people should never be blessed nor would it matter.

I’d lost my soul a long time before.

After pulling the trigger and returning the gun to my jacket pocket, I headed toward my soldiers.

“Where to now, boss?”

I raked my hand through my hair. “Now, we’re off to a baby shower.”

CHAPTER 2

Joy

“Wow. That man looks really pissed.” I leaned against Lucia, nodding toward one of three guys dressed in dark suits with matching ebony shirts, all standing in separate corners of the restaurant. Sharp gazes continually scoured the pristine space. They’d been there when I’d arrived to finish adding sparkle to the tables.

The three hulking masses of flesh added new meaning to the term ‘tall, dark, and dangerous.’ I’d expected them to frisk me upon entrance, but not one of them had moved or issued a single word. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have minded the thought of a brief interrogation by one or three stunning hunks, but their presence indicated danger lurked in every shadow.

Including within the protected sanctity of a five-star restaurant in the middle of the afternoon.

“Don’t worry about him. He’s always angry,” she answered, laughing as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “Someone didn’t just piss in his Wheaties this morning. They stole the box.”

We both laughed, but I remained nervous for no other reason than their ominous presence.

Lucia Lazarro DeLuca was my best friend, a sharp businesswoman with a tenacious demeanor. I’d admired her chutzpa and lust for life since the day I’d met her. However, up until recently, I’d only known her as the owner of a highly profitable gem brokerage firm in New York City.

Now I knew her as the daughter of a brutally slain mafia Don from Italy, recent bride to the man who’d taken her father’s place. And today was her baby shower.

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