Page 2 of A Mafia Mistress for Christmas

Angela lifts a perfectly groomed brow, each individual hair slicked into place. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Just that you’ve had quite a challenging caseload over the last six months.”

She lets out a quick, scoffing laugh, as though she can’t evenbelieveme right now. Definitely sleeping with one of the bosses—there’s no way she’s managed to get the best assignments every single time over other, more qualified agents. It’s impossible. The FBI is supposed to be above those kinds of things, and damnit, I’m supposed to be above letting it bother me.

I’m a trained professional.

Wes grabs me and flashes his teeth at Angela, the gesture both threatening and apologetic. It’s his favorite combination, and no one does it quite like him. “As much as I love watching this trainwreck from across the room, I do need to speak with you alone, Lacey”

Before I have a chance to say anything, he’s yanked me off my high heels—easy to do—and down the hallway toward the relative privacy of the staircase.

“Ouch,” he says once we’re alone. “You just made things worse on yourself by a mile.”

“I had it handled. I can be polite.”

“Under normal circumstances, I might even believe you.” He pulls his opposite arm out from behind his back and fans me with the folder he’s been holding. “Guess what I got? I was waiting for the right time to tell you.”

I roll my eyes. “A raging case of syphilis?”

He ignores my snark. “I somehow got us the most challenging assignment from the boss’ pile. I went in to speak with him before the party today. Merry Christmas to you, Lacey.” He shrugs. “Well, to us. This is a present forus.”

He holds out the folder to me, and I stare at it for a long moment, trying to gather myself. “You did that for me?”

I’d been fighting for a promotion for so long.

“Guaranteed to put us ahead of the pack,” Wes replies. “Unfortunately, it’s not going to be easy or quick to close, but then again, we didn’t think it would. Right?”

“This is why I love you.” Except the back of my throat has gone just a little dry as I take the folder from him, flipping to the first page.

It’s an undercover assignment, I see quickly enough. My eyes scan down the typed rows of information. Actually, let me clarify: tricky and hard as fuck. The mafia in Kingstead has a choking grip on the city. One family falls, and another rises to take its place, like the circle of damn life.

A few of the big players somehow managed to stay in power. The small fish are taken out of the pond, but the larger ones grow fatter, more powerful. This assignment gives us—me and Wes—the perfect opportunity to take out one of the largest names.

The old anxiety is back in a flash, compounded by my dislike of the season, making it easy for intrusive thoughts to take root and knock me down a few more pegs.

“This case is perfect for us, Lace. It’s something only you can do. You’re going to have to cozy up to some pretty big names out there.” Wes is infinitely pleased with himself.

“How did you manage this?”

Big names indeed. Stefan Zicari, specifically, is the head of one of the local families. The operation has been in the works for a while, but I guess the green light has recently been given by management, and Wes somehow convinced the director that we were the dream team.

Stefan Zicari took over his family’s money laundering business at the young age over thirty-seven, when his father was murdered by another family. By all accounts, he was determined to expand and make a name for himself, which he did. In the last five years, he’s become one of the most powerful and feared crime bosses in the city.

“So, according to the director,” Wes continues, “we aren’t the only ones who’ve been on this assignment. Another agent from Jameson’s section tried to take out Zicari and…failed. That was four months ago…”

“Shit. That was Quinn, wasn’t it? I heard about that.”

Wes nods.

Damn. This one is going to be more of a challenge than I thought.

“Have you accepted it yet? I don’t like being thrown into things at the last minute.”

“Absolutely not. I had to talk to you first, but I thought you’d appreciate being offered the chance, you know?” His face softens. “You work too hard. Maybe this case will give you your fix and you’ll be able to take a long vacation once we’re done.”

“It’s worth it to work so hard. There are a lot of risks involved with this assignment, Wes.”

“Absolutely, but we have something the other agent didn’t have,” he says.

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