Page 45 of His Deadly Lies

The bartender slides a dirty martini across the bar top toward me, and Mia wraps her fingers around the neck of the glass before she sets the man with a look. Clearly displeased. “Where is Stefan?”

The dude behind the counter is not the same one she spoke to before, and I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse. Something about the douche with the bowtie got my back up, the way he looked at her, spoke to her, all of it.

But this one is more attractive.

I step closer with my fingers itching to reach for my gun. A little intimidation would do nicely.

Before the man has a chance to answer her, Mia turns to me. Grabs her drink and takes a slow sip of her new martini. “Will you check on Bash?” she asks me.

She’s sugar and spice and poison. “You seriously want me to leave you alone here?” I ask right back.

She shrugs and says, “What’s going to happen to me? It’s my baby sister’s club.”

I grit my teeth and mull it over. If this is further payback for what happened in the closet…I might be able to play nice. “Will you stay put?”

“Cross my heart,” she promises.

She’s still got her phone in hand. Which means she either trusts me to handle Bash—fat fucking chance—or she plans to have a conversation she doesn’t want me to overhear. And rather than fight with her, I bob my head.

She better mean it.

I lift a finger at her, point it at her cleavage in warning, and do not miss the slight flare of interest in her dark eyes before I turn on my heel and head toward the back.

By the time I get there, the bodies have already been wrapped in plastic, and Bash is in the process of getting them hauled away. He’s precise, I’ll give him that. Precise and clean, which also counts for quite a bit when you’ve got to get your dirty work handled in your place of business. For the Balestras, it’s clubs.

For the Vittorios, it’s strippers.

“She sent you back here to check on me?” he says without looking up.

I shake my head, no response, and watch him wheel away the corpses.

Fuck. It’s just another day in this life.

The life we can’t escape.

The life we don’t want to escape. Some of us are born killers, and others are made to be that way. Then there are the people like me who fall into the gray area in between, who know killing is a necessary part of the trade and have no problem with it. Bash is in the right profession if he’s anything like me.

Mia looks too much like an angel to be this way. Except I know her pretty face is hiding something devious inside.

13

MIA

Whoever is stealing our shipments has messed with the wrong fucking woman.

It’s been a really long time since my actions, and the actions of my family, have horrified me. Whoever it is must consider us an easy mark, and so far, I’d say they’re right. But too damn bad because once I figure out who is behind the thefts, I’m going to make them regret their every move.

And if they try anything, then I’ll shoot them myself

It’s simple.

I take a sip of my martini and swoon. Yes, this is exactly what I need. Feeling a little bit calmer, I settle on the edge of the stool and type out a response to Alice, asking her to meet me here as soon as possible.

Poor little lamb.

And if she continues to push me in terms of my connection to the smuggling world, then I’ll take care of her as well. I’ll never stop fighting for this family, no matter who stands in my way.

Corrupt or innocent.

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