Sinful Kisses by Emily Bowie
CHAPTER 40
Ishould be loving life, and I still wake up hating each day. I can’t get Gia out of my fucking head. It drives me crazy. And I’m still no closer to getting her back. Her brother won’t accept my calls. It’s impossible to get within a hundred feet of her father.
Dimitri, a Bratva from the local Russian mafia, pokes his head into the restaurant where I’m eating.
“Romeo.” He walks up and shakes my hand. We’re not friendly. But it has been better since I shot up the Irish in the diamond deal.
“Is it true?” he asks, taking a seat.
I put my soda down. “Is what true?” The whole time, I’m on alert, ready for an ambush.
“I heard Nicoli is putting his youngest daughter up for auction.” My ears perk up. This, I have not heard. “Tell me, was she good? How much money should I be bidding?”
My chair flies behind me as I stand and grab him by the collar. The shirt strains around his neck. Dimitri’s eyes light with amusement. My fist cocks back, and I land a punch to his jaw.
“You answered what I needed to know.” He laughs, further angering me.
“Get the fuck out of here,” I snarl.
My blood pressure roars, and my ears ring with the sudden rage my body vibrates with. When he walks out the door, both of my hands link behind my head. My nerves feel like they’re electric.
Slowly, I realize I’m in a public place, and people are staring. I give a curt nod, leaving my untouched food, and rush out.
I need to find out if Dimitri is talking the truth. I didn’t give Gia up for her to be with just anyone. Especially the highest bidder. All I can think is that her father believes she disgraced the family and is now selling her.
I caused her father to hate her. She must be devastated. If only I could get close enough to see her. I would rip her away from the family that doesn’t deserve her.
The first thing I do is go to Hugo. I walk into his establishment, and he gives me a nod. I take a seat. There are three of us here.
“I heard Gia Rossi is going up for auction,” I start our conversation.
He leans back into his chair. “I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to come to me.”
“I need a high-paying job.”
Hugo’s head bobs, as if thinking of all the jobs he could send me on. “I have just the job.”
“What is it?”
“The assassination of Fin O’Connor.”
“Isn’t he the favored nephew of the Irish leader?” I leave off that he himself is an assassin. A fucking great one. He’s ruthless. A born killer. I’ve heard of him but never met him. “When do you need it by?” I ask. My head is spinning with ways to complete the job.
“The auction is in seven days. So, by then.”
“How much do I get?”
“Enough that no friend of ours will be able to outbid you.”
“What about a friend of mine?” I’m asking what if someone who’s not part of the Cosa Nostra outbids me.
“That part is up to you.”
“If I steal her?” I ask, finding where my boundaries lie. Not that it matters. In the end, I’ll do anything to get her back.
“I won’t place a hit on you, but I’d also put money on you being dead within twenty-four hours.”
“I can work with that.”
I have Finin my sight, and I have five hours until the auction. My watch keeps ticking, its small sound taunting me. If I’m going to get this shot, I need to be closer.
Leaving the rooftop, I head to the street. I cannot be late. It would be the end of everything.
Fin goes into a small Irish pub.
I head around back, trying to find a back entrance. The back door is propped open with a brick, and I easily slip in.
Both my feet step inside before I’m being pushed into the wall, and Fin O’Conner is holding a gun to my head.
“Romeo Mancini.” He’s the same man who shot Coy. I should be shaking his hand.
“Fin O’Conner, you’re a hard man to get alone.”
He shakes his head with a chuckle and lets me go but keeps his gun trained on my forehead the entire time.
“I’ll double what you’re being paid.”
“It would be cheaper to kill me.”
“I can’t be killing my soon-to-be wife’s sister’s lover before the wedding.” Then he adds almost as an afterthought, “Maybe after.”
I can’t go back empty-handed. Even with Fin paying me double, I would never have the money in time.
“Just so you know, they expected you to be killed. And if you did succeed, you would miss the entire thing.”
What the hell is he talking about?
“The auction starts in thirty minutes. They want you dead. There’s no other reason why anyone would send you to me. You’re not even goddamn trained to assassinate me. Think about it.”
My eyes close for a brief moment. Nothing in my life is ever easy. Of course, Hugo would want me dead.
“If we hurry, we can make it.”
I have no other choice than to trust the man I was paid to kill. Fuck me.
“Why are you helping me?”
“Don’t worry about that. I have my own selfish reasons.”
The auction isin an old warehouse. Gia is the last woman to go on. The room is packed. People are already bidding on her life like she’s some slab of meat. It takes every muscle in my body to stop me from stealing her right off the stage.
She’s wearing a flowing white dress. I’m sure she’s the only woman to ever wear clothes on this stage. There is a beam of light that showcases her like the goddess she is. She’s makeup-free, her hair long. She’s every man’s wet dream in this room. She looks young, innocent, and breakable.
I raise my paddle from the back shadows. It gathers enough attention that Alfonso outbids me immediately. Each man’s face in the room is barely visible. Next, a Russian bids, then one of the Asian contacts bids.
Men once sat in fold-up chairs, but as the bidding picks up intensity, most are standing now. Each time I raise my paddle, Alfonso’s rises after. Not after anyone else, only me. My brow is sweating. It’s hotter than hell in here, and I refuse to lose Gia when I’m this close.
I raise my paddle, looking over to Alfonso, wanting to know how high he’ll go. He doesn’t get a chance to outbid me as gunshots ring out. The room goes on alert before shots are fired again.