Page 150 of My Mafia Queen

Joe standsup with his hands up when one of the men at the table springs to action, grabs a gun from under the table, aims at me, and drops dead that very second as Vito takes him out.

I don’t even flinch.

“Tame your boys, or you’ll lose them one by one,” I say, pushing Joe Lizard down.

He crashes back into his seat and flicks his chin at his men.

They follow their boss’ example and reclaim their chairs before Vito moves around the table, collecting their guns.

“Why are you wasting your time? You could end us right now,” Joe sneers, and I smack his head, making him jerk forward and hit the table.

His reaction is swift as he brings his hand to his bloodied face, flicks his head to me, and pushes to his feet, charging at me.

The other fuckers mirror his move, and a scuffle ensues.

I elbow Joe in the face and kill one of his men.

The violence stops.

“Now sit the fuck down,” I say, pushing him back.

He slides into his seat.

“You’re going to pay for this,” he growls, and that tells me he’s not alone in this. “If you think you can get away with this, you have another thing coming. I’m not Vadim, and this is not Reno, Nevada.”

I wipe my weapon clean with a kitchen towel.

“You wouldn’t say. You’re just as stupid,” I comment, and he looks at me, entertaining the idea of lunging at me again.

Violent and volatile. Sometimes, I wonder how much brainpower it takes to run this business. Not much, it seems.

I split my lips into a smile.

“I didn’t come here because I wanted to. You seem really angsty to walk into my territory and claim things for yourself. Which part of‘my territory’you couldn’t understand?”

Lifting my chin, I look down my nose at him, widening my stance and bringing my hands back, my gun clutched in one.

“I didn’t step into your territory.”

“You got something that’s mine. That’s like stepping into my territory.”

He flashes a smirk.

“Tell that to your boss.”

The moment is brief, but the inference is there because he couldn’t help himself.

He had to gloat.

But that is the least of my problems.

His slip of the tongue tells me this is about more than Tina, the friction between us, and him ganging up with my other enemies––Boris, for sure.

He just suggested he knows what’s going on in my organization.

Sure, it can be a coincidence. Maybe his words meant nothing. Although in this particular kind of life, nothing is a coincidence.

Which begs the question…

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