Phantom's Baby: A Mafia Secret Baby Romance (Mob City Book 3) Read Free Page B

who still remained from his once-mighty brigade of killers followed close on his heels. The ones who had pledged their loyalty to me before my knife wedged firmly in their necks. They were my men now, the tiny pieces of grit that – once forged together in a crucible – would one day become a diamond. Fresh recruits were already flocking to my banner, drawn by the scent of power like flies to honey.
    And they’ll disappear to the next young gun’s banner, unless you bring them what they crave. Power. Success. Respect.
    I sniffed the air once again, searching for meaning, for the reason why my body was reacting with such abnormal desire. Normally my flesh was just another string to my bow, controlled, tempered like the long-worked Damascus steel of the blade in my hand. It was sculpted, like my mind, tuned to follow just one desire with single-minded purpose – revenge.
    Dimitri halted, held up his hand and made a fist. I detected it too, my body reacting like a well maintained machine – even as focused as my mind . A disturbance – scarcely perceptible except to a hunter’s finely honed senses. It was the barest change in air pressure, but it screamed a clear warning. What caused it? It was hard to tell. Perhaps someone’s movement, or a door opening several stories up.
    His men took an extra step, stopped, and held handguns at the ready. All seven of us were packed into a tiny break between two flights of stairs like sardines in a can. I licked my lips, fearing we were an easy target for an ambush.
    How would that look? The big bad mob boss getting gunned down on his first real day on the job.
    “What is it?” I called in a hushed whisper. I’d chosen five in the afternoon for a reason. Crime happens at night, not in the day, and I wanted to catch my father’s men napping – to show them that nowhere was safe. Besides, I’d had a man watching the building for a week. No movement, he reported, except for a few drunks. The building was almost abandoned. I could see why.
    I tossed my weapon from hand to hand as I waited for Dimitri’s reply. When it came, it boiled my blood.
    “Someone’s running. I think two, maybe three people?” He hissed, looking at me with a confused – and surprised – expression. I bit down on my lip hard, all thoughts of desire quelled by a sudden intense burst of anger. My best laid plans hung in the balance.
    “No guns, understood?” I ordered softly, looking around to ensure my point was heard. “I don’t want a couple of kids getting hurt on my watch.”
    Nods greeted my request.
    Events began to move more quickly. The men around me were focused, but tense. This was our first operation together, and while they were all good men, I’d not had an opportunity to mold them in my own image. I needed men who wouldn’t panic under pressure, whose first response wasn’t to reach for a gun. I couldn’t blame them. It was all they knew.
    I heard it now, footsteps thundering down another stairwell. I cocked my head to one side, and tightened my grip on the knife in my hand. Dimitri was right – someone was coming, but was it two, or three, or more? I couldn’t tell either, and I didn’t like it.
    What the hell?
    A woman sprinted round the corner, agony written on her face, long, messy red hair streaming out behind her. The sight of her tear-streaked face plunged a dagger into my heart. I knew unconsciously who she was – how could I forget – but as my conscious mind strained for her name, or any sense of who she was, or the reason that the merest sight of her face had such a profound effect on me, it came up short.
    Everything was moving too fast.
    And then, it wasn’t.
    Do something .
    The blood pounded in my ears, but I didn’t hear it. My mind blocked out everything that wasn’t essential. It presented me with choices, on a silver platter, but no easy way to decide. Help this woman – who subconsciously I knew, but didn’t know at all – or abandon her to her fate.