Bratva Beast by B.B. Hamel
Fiona
The gun range was out in the suburbs tucked away in a wooded area down a long gravel path.
At first, I was terrified. I mean, I’m not a gun person. I grew up around guns, saw the other guys using guns, but I’d never shot anything and never wanted to.
As soon as I squeezed the trigger and felt the violent, explosive force in my hands, I knew I was so, so wrong.
Guns were bad. Don’t get me wrong. Nobody should have a gun in their house.
Although it felt really fucking good.
I squeezed off round after round. He had me shooting a small pistol—some little 9mm thing. He explained what it was, but it all went through my head like rainwater through a net.
All I knew was point and squeeze.
I went through several magazines before he finally pulled me aside. I was practically glowing with excitement as we walked down the path away from the sound of gunfire.
“Okay, Mack, I’m going to level with you here.” I skipped ahead, trying not to laugh. “That felt really, really good.”
“Glad you liked it.”
“Like really good. I mean, holy crap, it’s scary and loud and stuff, but it’s a gun, it’s so much power.”
“You should try shooting something bigger.”
I stopped and stared at him. “You have something bigger?”
“Of course. But not right now.” He laughed and patted my ass. “I’m happy you enjoyed yourself.”
“I’m still a stupid bleeding-heart liberal, you know. For every bad guy that guns manage to stop, ten innocent people die because of them. Seems like a pretty obvious math problem to me.”
“But shooting’s really fun.”
“Really, really fun.”
“You’re not bad, either. Hit the target more often than not from ten yards, which is about what you want.”
“Does this mean I get to go on hits with you?”
He laughed and shook his head. I danced away from him again and breathed in the cool, comfortable suburban air. “Why are we so far outside of the city, by the way?”
“Safer to meet out here.”
“Meet with who?”
He grinned at me and nodded up ahead.
I squinted at a parked car on the side of the road. It was a beat-up black sedan, very suspicious looking. The door opened and Juan climbed out, waving and smiling.
“What’s he doing here?” I asked, slowing my pace. “Isn’t he Lionetti?”
“Not anymore. He’s nobody now.”
“What does that mean?”
“Come on. I’ll explain.” He walked forward and greeted Juan. They shook hands, and Juan smiled at me.
“Sorry we meet again under such circumstances.”
“Honestly, I’m not even sure what the circumstances are.”
Juan frowned at Mack. “You didn’t tell her?”
“I’m telling her now. Come on, let’s keep walking. It’s a nice day out.” He strode off and Juan sighed.
“Is he always like this?”
“Always.” I hurried after him.
Juan caught up.
“The plan’s simple,” Mack said, not slowing down to look back. “I’m going to the shipment drop. I have a very strong feeling that there will be some action, given the intense interest from the Lionetti family.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Juan said.
“My hope is that the Doyles and the Lionettis mostly kill each other, which will make my job very easy. And while I’m doing that, the two of you have another task.”
I cleared my throat. “The two of us? You mean, me and him?”
“That’s what I said.” He glanced back at me, frowning. “Keep up, okay?”
I clenched my jaw and Juan stifled a laugh.
“The Lionettis are going to focus on this shipment fight. I have a feeling Park will pull most of his strength to make sure this the heist goes down without too much of a problem, which means that your brother’s safe house will be vulnerable. That’s where you two come in.”
“You want me to break into the safe house and rescue my brother?” My heartbeat suddenly scattered and my breath came in faster. “Holy crap. That’s why you wanted me to go shooting today.”
“Juan’s going to do most of the shooting.” He paused, looked back at Juan. “Isn’t that right?”
“Mack explained that if you end up with so much as a bruise, he will personally rip out my toenails, make me eat them, then murder me.”
“And I wasn’t exaggerating.”
I groaned and rubbed my face. I stopped walking, trying to take all this in, and really failing.
“I don’t understand. I thought you were a part of the Lionetti family, Juan?”
“Fuck them,” Juan said, grinning. “Besides, Mack offered me the shipment, and I happen to have contacts in the cartels that will pay top dollar for that shit.”
“The shipment?” I looked over at Mack. He smiled back at me, that infuriating, arrogant grin. “You’re stealing it and giving it to Juan as payment?”
“That’s the plan. If it falls through, I’ll pay him regular money. Three million, half of what he’d get for the shipment, but still good.”
“You have three million dollars?” My mouth dropped open. He lived like a hermit, so I just assumed he didn’t get paid all that well.
“I have a lot more than that, princess. Congratulations, you landed a rich man.”
I waved my hands in the air trying to understand what was happening and coming up very short. “Slow down. So what you’re saying is, you go steal the shipment while Juan and I break into the safehouse and free my brother?”
“Exactly. We’ll do it at the same time. Juan will take point, but you have to back him up.”
“I’m not a killer. I’m not a mafia person. I can’t just break into a safe house and shoot someone.”
“Like I said, Juan will do all the shooting.”
“I’m good at it, don’t worry.” Juan mussed up his hair awkwardly and shrugged. “The Lionettis never really utilized my skills the way they should’ve. Part of why I’m striking out on my own.”
Mack ignored him and walked up to me. He took my hands and stared down into my eyes.
“This is how it’s going to work. I swear, Fiona, I tried to find more men to help, but I can’t turn to the Bratva, and I don’t trust any of the freelancers. If someone hears about this plan and talks, this whole thing is fucked and we may never get your brother back. This is our chance, and if I didn’t think it was worth taking, I wouldn’t ask you to try.”
I felt my body shiver with fear, my knees go weak, my feet turn cold and numb. I looked up into his eyes and I believed that he thought this was the best thing to do, but I wasn’t that kind of person.
I didn’t go out and hurt people. I didn’t fight back.
I stayed hidden in the closet and waited until it was all over.
“Fiona,” he said softly. “Come back to me. Say something.”
“I don’t think I can do this.”
“You can do it. I swear, you can do it. It felt good, shooting that gun, right? It felt like you had some power, didn’t it?”
I closed my eyes and nodded.
“Then don’t let that power go. Your brother needs you.”
I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry.
But he was right.
Connor needed me right now, and if there was even the slightest chance that I could do something to save him then I had to step up and try. I’d let him down so many times over the years, and now this was my opportunity to make up for it.
Juan would do the heavy lifting. But I could be there at least.
“All right, I’ll do it.”
“Good girl.” He kissed me softly. “I wouldn’t let you do this if I thought you’d be in danger.” He released my hands and kept walking. “The majority of the Lionettis will be at this drop. You two have to break into the safehouse, get Connor out, then meet up with me. If all goes to plan, Connor will be safe, Juan will have a lot of drugs, and we’ll be able to do whatever we want.” He looked back at me, head tilted. “How about we go visit Russia? I’ve always wanted to see the motherland.”
“Too cold. How about you take me somewhere warm and fun first?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Then Russia.” I slipped my hand through his arm and leaned my head against his shoulder.
Juan cleared his throat. I almost forgot he was there.
“One small detail. If the Lionetti family’s throwing themselves at this shipment, how do you plan on walking away with it?”
Mack only grinned viciously. “Don’t you worry about that. I’ve got a plan.”
Juan only sighed, but he didn’t argue.
