Lawless: Mob Boss Book Three Read Free Page A

escaped her mouth, and she bent over at the waist, muffling her cries against her hand. Waves of emotion crashed over her; anger and relief and bitterness all mixed together in a hurricane that threatened to undo the facade of control she’d constructed over the past four months. It went on and on, the pain of losing him wracking her body while her mind tried to reconcile it with the fact that he he had been alive all this time.
    Alive, alive, alive…
    She was suddenly overwhelmed with the need to see him. What had she been thinking when she’d walked away? She needed him in front of her, needed to know it was real. Then she would deal with the why of it all.
    She straightened, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and taking a deep cleansing breath. She was reaching for her cell phone when glass exploded behind her head.

4
    S he hit the floor almost without thinking, instinctively covering her head to shield her face from the falling glass. More of it erupted from a second window in the kitchen, and then she understood; someone was shooting at her.
    She crawled toward a drawer next to the fridge as another volley of gunfire erupted, wood splintering from the cabinets overhead. When she got to the drawer, she slid it open from the floor and reached into the back where she kept a twenty-two caliber revolver. She’d learned to appreciate the sense of protection the gun offered her. Luca or one of the other guys was almost always in close proximity, but she wasn’t about to leave their safety up to someone else. Not after all they’d been through.
    Luca… Was he still out front? Had he heard the explosion of gunfire from the back of the house? Had someone taken him out on their way to the back yard. She fought panic at the thought that something might have happened to him, forced herself to push it aside. Leaning against the fridge, she checked the gun to make sure it was still loaded, then took a deep breath while she assessed the situation.
    So far only only one gunman, but that didn’t mean there weren’t more of them outside. She thought of David upstairs in bed. Was he drugged enough that he’d stay asleep? Panic hit her full force as she imagined him stumbling down the stairs to investigate the noise. He would be an easy target, completely unable to protect himself.
    “Please stay put, David,” she muttered under her breath, crawling to the edge of the cabinets that made up the kitchen island. They were protecting her from the now empty window casings, but they also blocked her view.
    She dared a glance around the island and was met with a hail of splintering wood from above. So someone had a good view of her position then. Great. She was a sitting duck, trapped in the kitchen, unable to get to David and escape the house without risking another round of gunfire. The lights were on, but it was dark outside, which meant she couldn’t see a thing beyond the windows while whoever was shooting at her could see everything. She’d basically given them a spotlight. They had her on the defensive, and that was never a position of power.
    She was leaning forward again, preparing to crawl for the stairs, get to David where she stood a better chance of protecting him — or at least keeping him from walking into a firestorm — when the lights went out. A split second later, someone grabbed her from behind. The urge to scream was reflexive, but a hand was clamped over her mouth before she got the chance.
    “Shhhh…” a familiar voice said in her ear. “It’s me.”
    Nico…
    She twisted a little to look at him, and he removed his hand from her mouth.
    “What are you doing here?” she hissed.
    “I came to tell you someone was trying to kill me — and maybe you — but I think it’s a little late for that,” he said drily. “And you’re welcome.”
    “You’re welcome? You haven’t done anything yet,” she said.
    “I just got here.” He pushed her behind him. Something shimmered in the faint light of