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Footsteps sounded down the hallway, and Vanessa appeared in black jeans with a purple top. Her hair and makeup were done, and clearly, she decided to take a break from her work at the worst time.
Max eyed her appreciatively, looking at her from head to toe. “She’s really not worth sticking around for?”
“Shut up or I’ll stab you.”
Max grinned but kept his eyes on her. “Hello, sweetheart.”
“It’s Vanessa.” Only I called her by another name.
Max’s eyes turned back to me, and his smile faltered and was replaced with something else, a meaningful look.
“Hi.” Vanessa stopped at the back of the couch, standing right behind me. “I didn’t know we were having company.”
“Neither did I,” I said coldly.
Vanessa’s hands moved to my shoulders, where her thumbs pressed into my hard muscles. She gave me affection in public, and something about that turned me on. She claimed herself as mine, showed Max I was her man without me having to ask her to. “I’m Vanessa.”
The corner of his mouth raised in a smile. “Max. Nice to meet you.”
I enjoyed the feeling of her fingers pressing into the striations of my muscles. Felt so good, so deep. I’d never let anyone touch me like that. I didn’t even let a woman massage me. But I liked the way Vanessa touched me.
“Bones talks about you a lot…and now I can see why.”
My threatening gaze turned back to him. “Shut up before I break your jaw.”
He ignored me. “Has he told you about this idiotic plan to kill Joe Pedretti?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “He mentioned it.”
“Well, you should convince him not to go,” he said. “Because it’s a stupid idea, and it’s going to get him killed.”
“She wants me dead,” I said bluntly. “So you won’t hear her talk me out of it.”
Her hands paused against my shoulders, and after a few seconds, she started to rub me again.
Max eyed her for a moment before he turned back to me. “Doesn’t seem like it. So, shall we get to work?”
I pushed her hands off my shoulders even though I wanted her to keep touching me. “Baby, go back to painting. Max and I have stuff to take care of.”
She walked around the couch and into the sitting area. “What if I don’t want to paint?” She challenged me, her vicious attitude back in full force. “I can go wherever I want to go. And this is where I want to be.”
I tried not to smile.
She sat on the other couch and crossed her legs. “I might learn something.”
I held her gaze before I turned back to Max. “What have you got?”
“I know he’s going to be at the opera on Saturday.” Max pulled out the folder and pushed it toward me. “He’s got three men on him at all times, including one driver. They’re always armed and wear bulletproof vests. From what I can tell, he doesn’t experience too many attacks, but he’s certainly prepared for them. If you hit him during the opera, you can slip something into his drink or stab him in the crowded room.”
“He might not know it was me.”
“That’s the point.”
“I don’t want anyone else to know it’s me. But I want him to look me in the eye before I kill him.”
Max sighed. “That’s not going to happen, not unless you kidnap him. The man is never alone. My guy watched him for three days straight. This guy is accompanied at all times. Maybe you could do a drive-by and take out his men along with him, but even then, it’s not exactly what you want.”
No, it wasn’t. This was personal, so it couldn’t be done with a simple bullet between the eyes.
Vanessa listened to Max before she turned her gaze on me. “Doesn’t he like to kill prostitutes?”
I couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice. “Yes…that’s why we’re sitting here.”
Her eyes flared in annoyance. “Does he still like to kill prostitutes?”
“As far as I know,” Max said. “Why?”
“What if you got him alone with a hooker?” she asked. “He can’t have men watching him then, right? Unless he’s into that…”
The thought hadn’t crossed my mind, and I felt stupid for not thinking of it. I turned to Max.
He was already looking at me. “That’s not a bad idea. We could have a woman take him to a motel. You could be there waiting for him.”
“I’d have to get the woman out to make sure she’s not a witness. Otherwise, she could rat me out.”
“True,” Max said. “And you’d want to get her out of harm’s way.”
“Yeah,” I said. “She would have to get him in the room, get out, and then let me finish him. And she’d have to keep her mouth shut. But even if we pay her off, his men could hunt her down and torture the information out of her. She would be easy to find if she found work on the street.”
