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Me: Thank you isn’t sufficient, but that’s all I have right now.
Luca: Leaving you speechless is more than enough. Enjoy, Raven.
Oh, I fully intend to, but even better is that it no longer matters to me if Luca can kiss me or not. Between knowing that he took care of everything when it came to my house and paying the debts my mother owed, then giving me this perfect space, I have all the proof I need to know that he’s worth hanging around for.
The mafia be damned.
24
LUCA
Iwould have preferred to witness Olivia’s reaction to the garden firsthand, but her silent awe will have to suffice until I can join her later. Right now, I have a pain in my ass to finally remove.
Jaxon’s been working every angle we have to find Titan Moretti. Thanks to a tip from one of our inside men at the FBI, we’re headed toward a location just over the state line, crossing into Washington.
If this piece of shit thinks he can continue to fuck with my life, he’s sorely mistaken. If he’d stopped with killing the senator, I might have let him get away by merely disappearing, but since then, he’s continued to poke at my business, which I don’t take well.
Between the whispered lies to my board members and the threats against Olivia, I’ve had enough. More than enough, in fact. I’ll be killing this man with my own hands. Hell, maybe I’ll even stuff his head and hang it in my office at home.
The idea has merit, but it’s dashed away when I realize we’re pulling up to the house where we’ve been told Titan is holed up at. It’s still daylight, and I don’t normally like to make noise when it’s easier for people to see who’s doing the shooting versus who’s left for dead, but I don’t have the patience to sit on this information until tonight. Especially when I already have plans.
Jaxon glances at me from the driver’s seat as he parks two houses down from our target. “Damon and his team are already positioned in the backyard,” he announces, gesturing toward Aaron and Ethan in the back. “These two will flank us, and then we’ll breach the door before moving in.”
The plan is just how I would have made it myself, but after so many years working with Jaxon, it’s no different when he makes them on my behalf.
I tug at the bulletproof vest under my dress shirt. They’re not my favorite to wear, but I’m also fully aware that I’m not invincible and I’ll be damned if a bullet takes me out.
“Fuck,” Jaxon mutters right after his phone pings with a new message. When his stare meets mine, I already know I’m not going to like what he has to say. “The bounty for Olivia was just upped to a quarter mil.”
I swallow my anger, aware that losing control now will only hinder our mission. The bounty will soon become inconsequential when there’s no one left to pay it.
With a steadying breath, I look toward the house we’ll be breaking into, forcing myself back into the right state of mind. “Can Damon get a read on how many bodies are inside?”
“He counts twelve in total,” Jaxon answers, and I grin.
This is going to be almost too easy. “Let’s go then.”
I tighten the silencer to my forty caliber Smith and Wesson, holding the black grip in my right hand as I double-check the safety is off and make sure the mag is filled with all twenty rounds. Once I’m out of the SUV, I reach into the glove box for two extra mags to keep in my back pockets. Sixty bullets should be enough to lead the way with only twelve maggots to dispose of.
Once we’re all outside the vehicle, I glance around and realize someone is missing—a familiar face I’m accustomed to having in my crew for moments like this. “Where’s Vin?”
“He stayed back at the house,” Jaxon replies. “I assigned him to oversee the others there, just in case.”
It’s another decision for which I’m grateful Jaxon took the lead.
With a cautious scan of the quiet neighborhood, I silently hope most people are either at work or mindlessly glued to their televisions, unaware of the impending bloodshed. The last thing we need is the police showing up, allowing Titan to slip away.
We navigate toward the house, its innocuous white siding and navy-blue shutters projecting a facade of normalcy that Titan has likely never known. But his lies are about to be exposed.
Silently, we move around the concealing bushes, then make a swift dash toward the porch as soon as the foliage ends. Within seconds, my foot crashes through the door, sending wooden splinters flying, and the first suppressed shots echo from my gun’s muzzle.
Men take cover behind couches and tables, but nothing is going to keep them safe from me. Well, nothing other than information that might prove useful.
Jaxon stays at my side as Aaron and Ethan keep to our left and right. The door is shoved closed by one of them, and we move further into the house.
An adversary stands before us, brandishing a knife. As he releases it into the air, Jaxon’s gunfire rings out, two rounds finding their mark in the idiot’s skull. However, he manages a final act of defiance.
The knife slices into Jaxon’s left arm, and he retreats behind me, extracting the blade. “Stupid mother fucker,” he hisses. “I’ll kill him again for making me bleed.”
