Page 81 of Possessive Mafia Bodyguard

“What happens to anyone who tries to steal from my father? She joined the cargo until the time was right and then she got thrown overboard.”

It’s hard to breathe, but I won’t give him the satisfaction of knowing what effect his words have had on me. I’m doing this for Ivana. For me. For the life growing inside my belly.

“When?”

He doesn’t look away. Doesn’t even squirm when he says, “About thirty minutes ago. If you’re fast, you might rescue her before hypothermia sets in. If you can find her in the dark that is.”

I ram the gun harder into his chin and feel the movement of his Adam’s apple as he tries to swallow. “How do you sleep at night?”

“The same way you do.” His eyes become slits. “Don’t think you’re any better than me. You kill people for a living too.”

“The difference is, I kill people the world won’t miss. Will anyone miss you, Mikhail, when you’re gone?”

His top lip curls into a snarl. “Why don’t you shoot me and find out?”

“Because a bullet is too good for you.” I lean over him so that he understands what I’m about to say. “And because I want you to pass a message onto your father. Tell him that I’m coming for him, and there will be nowhere for him to hide.”

I stand back and fire a bullet into each of his knees.

Then I pick up the bloody schedule and jump out of the aircraft.

22

FIN

Finn

I sense that something is wrong before I wrap a towel around my waist and wander back into the bedroom. A silence. An emptiness. The apartment holding its breath and waiting for me to make my next move.

Tamara is gone.

Her jacket and weapons are gone too.

But I thank the God I’ve never prayed to when I realize that the burner phone is missing. Tamara is the only person I know who doesn’t carry a phone around with her, so she took it for a reason: she isn’t done with me yet.

I pick up my cell from the nightstand on my side of the bed, the side that still carries the indentations from our love making and feel the roller coaster inside my chest dip when I read the message.

I’m sorry, Finn. I have to do this alone. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be back.

“Telling me not to worry about you, sweetheart is like telling me not to breathe. Not a chance in hell.”

I pray for a second time as I open up the tracking app that I added to the burner phone before I gave it to Tamara. There’s a strong possibility that she sent the message and then dumped the phone, but when the red dot that now represents my connection to the woman I love is still moving, the roller coaster car faces skyward.

“Good girl,” I mutter to myself as I dress quickly and slot my weapons into position.

The red dot is moving quickly. City traffic will be light at this time of night, so she must be in a taxi. I estimate that it should take me ten minutes max to be on their tail unless she tosses the phone out of the window. The kind of odds I can live with.

Odds that drop drastically when my key isn’t where I always leave it in an earthenware dish on the end of the breakfast counter.

“No, no, no, sweetheart. What are you up to?”

I know my door is locked from the outside before I try to open it, same as I know Tamara will have the spare key that I gave her also.

I unlock my phone, check her movements, and locate Connor’s number on my contacts app. His apartment is a five-minute drive from here on a good day, and I’m relying heavily on this being one of them. I’m also relying on him being alone because if he’s getting in some love guru practice, he won’t pick up.

He answers on the third ring, and I don’t waste a breath.

“Connor, I need you to bring your spare key to my apartment.”