"How do you think I know that, Luke," I said, forcing sarcasm in my voice to hide the tremble that wanted to come out instead. "No one has an empire that airtight, especially not a criminal. I know what Greco is, I know he's a big part of the Italian mafia here in the US. With that information, it wasn’t that difficult to find someone that could get me some inside intel. Do you want to ask me for names?" I wouldn’t give it to them if he did.
He was still, but then slowly shook his head. "No. It's not really my business, and I just don’t care. You're right, leaks are inevitable in most ranks. So, this informant of yours got information that had you interested enough to come here and talk to me? What is it?"
I watched him intently, wondering how to word it. I was going to tell him the truth either way, but I wasn’t sure if there was a way I could put it delicately, or if I even should. I didn’t have anything planned because I didn’t know him enough to know what would and would not trigger his anger. But going with the truth was working so far, so I thought it was safe enough to stick to.
"I heard about the General."
His expression went tight. "The General," he repeated.
"Yes, Luke, the General. I have several sources, not all of them from inside Greco's organization. A man known only as the General has been in touch with Greco. And the reason why he is suddenly in the market for a new killer is because he is planning to kill you."
His face bloomed in surprise. "What…"
"One of Greco's men—not any that I've talked to—has been feeding information about you, lying to Greco. Telling him you were betraying him. Not a lot of Greco's employees know this, but there are quite a few that heard the information and kept it to themselves. If you were maybe closer to the rest of them, you might even have found out for yourself, but I do understand why you aren’t."
The need to remain anonymous no matter what, so even when you're caught you can bluff your way out of the situation, even if you were guilty, because as far as anyone cared you weren’t anyone of much significance. I'd understood that when I decided to take on the job.
"Did you get a name?"
I shook my head. "No. Though I'm sure this man betrayed Greco himself, and he was just blaming it on you. It's none of the guys I've talked to, though, I'm sure of that. It's probably someone close to him."
"How could he…"
"When you think about it, it makes sense," I told him, not unkindly. When he narrowed his eyes at me, I held up one hand. "I'm taking a shot in the dark here, but I will guess the man is Italian—pretty much everyone in his organization is Italian, except you. It's entirely possible the man is even a friend of the family, Greco wouldn’t listen otherwise, and I'm sure most of his family doesn’t know what you do. And you're Irish, so, of course, he'll believe a close friend of the family over you."
Luke growled. "Son of a bitch." He ran his hand through his hair, so harshly I winced at the pain I imagined he was inflicting on himself. "I suspected something was wrong, but I can't believe he actually..."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because my missions have been going bad lately, a few times I nearly got caught. But when I talked to him about it, he said there was no issue. And for a while, there wasn’t, but then I nearly died."
I frowned, didn’t even bother to hide my displeasure. "So, you are injured."
He winced, hand raising in an abortive move to his stomach before he clenched his fist and forced his arm down.
"It's nothing, practically healed over by now."
I didn’t believe him, but I didn’t argue.
"And this celebration… he told me it was supposed to take place on Saturday, but for some reason, he insisted on everyone being present and even early. I mean, he has a mansion and several buildings on that island, I don’t doubt he can house all these people for the night if it bleeds into tomorrow, but I thought it was odd at the time."
I watched him as he scowled to himself, sorting his thoughts out in his mind. I gave him a moment to get his thoughts in order, but he seemed to only grow more frustrated.
"I'm not sure what or when it will happen, or if you'd even realize. I heard, and I just…. I had to warn you. Don’t ask me why." I warned him when he narrowed his eyes at me and opened his mouth. I held my hand up until he closed his mouth, then sighed and dropped it. I suddenly wished I had my hair down so I could run my fingers through it. "I don’t know why myself. I just… wanted to warn you."
He frowned, and I wanted to shut him down, but he dropped the subject, and he looked like he was thinking deeply about something.
"Is there more you aren’t telling me?"
"You have all the info I got, just the condensed version." There was no reason why I would hold back anything when it involved his life. He could do with the information whatever he wanted. "Look, I can't stick around long, I told that guy I was taking a bathroom break and I was going to drive the truck back."
"You're not staying for the party?"
"No. I only got this far because I was hoping I'd get a chance to talk to you, and now I have." I shrugged, turned around to the mirror as I pulled the hat back on, positioning it just right so most of my face wasn’t in view. "And I seriously advise you don’t go over there, either, Luke. I'm not sure if, or how, he can set you up with all those people around, but just be careful."
There wasn’t anything left to say, but I found myself wanting to stay anyway. I'd missed him, more than I would have thought, and I hadn't realized how much until he was within reach. But I had things to do, and he had a decision to make himself. I walked past him, heading for the door before I could talk myself into staying.
I was leaving him to think about it, but he stopped me, calling my name. I turned around almost instantly, a little too eagerly.
"I need to be able to contact you."
That would be convenient. I narrated my number for him and then left the bathroom, wondering if he would use it.
Chapter 21
Luke
I had been trained to be a ghost.
Somehow, that bastard forgot that.
After all the grueling training I was put through before I made it to the general's unit, what I'd experienced as the proverbial lone wolf, going out on my own with no one to rely on. I'd practically perfected it, which was why I was so good at what I did for him.
Admittedly, I had let my guard down around him, because I didn’t think I needed to keep it up. If it hadn't been for Elda warning me, I might have walked into a trap.
I didn’t go to the party, and I ignored Greco for a while after that. He didn’t have any way of contacting me, usually I established contact or told him how to get in touch with me when he needed to. It changed after every job, because I was a paranoid bastard like that, and I was suddenly so glad.
That wasn't to say that I went underground. Hiding wouldn't accomplish anything, not when it came to Greco and the General if they really were working together. Because if it was true, then my goal was a lot closer than I would have thought. Instead of running away, I was getting what I'd worked toward for the past five years handed to me on a platter.
There was no way to be sure, I couldn’t just go and ask Greco, or any of his men. So, I stayed back and kept an eye out.
In a way, having the General nearby was inconvenient, because he was screwing with my plans. I still had the locations of several of his family members, and with him here, if I took off and did something, I would lose out on him. More than anything, I wanted to take him out. I didn’t know if he personally killed my family, but he was my ultimate target.
I had to be patient, though. I didn’t know if Greco got suspicious after I didn’t show up or what, but he was quiet for a few days. I kept up as much surveillance as I could without tipping anyone off, which was easy since he lived on an island. All I had to do was bribe someone working at the dock to warn me in case he left at night and be there to keep a look out in the day up to early evening.
Almost exactly a week after the party
, he finally left his mini fortress.
It was growing late, about time for the shift change at the offices on the dock. I was paying the guy I'd contacted for every night he had kept watch for me, and I was thinking I would have to again, when I noticed people rushing out onto the dock, then a car arrived. I watched from a distance away, waiting. When I was sure Greco was on land, and being led to the car—the only one present—I moved away. I'd borrowed a car from some guy for a lot more than the old heap of junk was worth. But it had what I wanted—the means to get me around—and that was all I cared about. I waited for the car to come out into the light evening traffic and followed at a discreet distance.
I knew the route he was taking and where it led. He'd sent me there plenty of times to meet the marks he wanted me to kill, people that thought they would be meeting him instead. It would have been better, though no safer if he'd thought to meet up somewhere more public. If he was meeting who I suspected he was, it was likely neither wanted to be associated with the other publicly.
I wasn’t sure, but I had a feeling he would be stopping at the exact same spot, or around there. I had to ditch the car at some point before I got caught, and go the rest of the way on foot. If I was wrong, I would lose Greco, and I'd have to find some other way to get to him at a different time. I didn’t relish the wait.
Luck seemed to be with me, though.
I managed to follow Greco and saw him talking to the General. Their cars were parked a bit of a distance from each other, and they were meeting in the middle. Neither had men with them, except their drivers.
At least I knew what Elda said was true. I'd kept in contact, and I at least knew where she was staying, though I didn’t let her know that.
But I pushed all thoughts of her out of my head, as I watched the man I'd been looking for, ever since I learned what he'd done to my family. A man that I had looked up to and followed into dangerous situations once upon a time.
He and Greco deserved each other, really.
I wasn’t close enough to hear what they were talking about, but I could have imagined it. The General would have only one reason to be hanging around a notorious mafia boss. I didn’t know how they met, nor did I particularly care, but seeing them there, talking casually, probably about my demise, made something in me snap.
I found an opportunity to kill the General and took it.
Initially, I wanted to do this with him right in front of me, so I'd know he knew who was doing him in in the end. I'd thought of it plenty of times, and it would give me the most satisfaction. I couldn’t just storm up to them, though, not and still do what I wanted to. No doubt their drivers were armed and knew how to handle guns. It wasn’t quite so dark that I'd get away with it.
The alternative was taking a distance shot, catching him by surprise. I'd take a kill shot because there was no way I would risk him living through it. It would be quick, he wouldn’t see it coming, and that thought wasn’t as satisfying as the first.
I decided I could live with the disappointment.
Just take the stupid shot already. He's so close…
I had my own cache of weapons that I never let onto the island. I'd amassed them once I was in the country, and I'd had to move around with them and hide them along with my meager belongings. I didn’t always rely on Greco to arm me with something I'd want or need, though I sometimes went to him for weapons and returned them afterward. In this distance, a simple handgun wouldn’t be as effective. The distance was too great, and though I was confident in my aim, if I missed, they'd be on their guard and I might miss my chance.
The standard issue sniper rifle hadn't exactly been mine, I couldn’t even say I purchased it legally or otherwise. But I got it from a man I killed back when I was still working freelance before I met with Greco and he and I came to an agreement. It would have been the best to use if I had some higher advantage, but I just knelt on the ground so I wouldn’t be so conspicuous, looking at them around a corner.
Putting it together, from where I had the pieces stored in a bag I'd had thrown over my shoulder, took me less than a minute, as quietly as I could. I held the sniper's butt up to my shoulder, looked out through the scope. Before I took the shot, I could feel a grin spread on my face.
I wondered, idly, if I could see the smile, whether I would recognize myself. I'd been after this so long, I had let it take over my life. The only thing I had outside of thinking of this man dead was the work I did for Greco, who also happened to be there. It had been my life for too long, but once I pulled the trigger, it would be over, and I would go back to drifting.
I can live with that, too.
I took aim, held my breath, and pulled the trigger.
Chapter 22
Elda
"Dammit."
I was sitting alone in the small hotel room I was renting while I was in the country. It was within walking distance of the docks, though it was a bit far, and it was cheap. I paid in cash and no one asked questions. I was waiting on some information.
I'd gotten quite a bit more once I'd come in, including that tidbit about the man selling Luke out. I couldn’t get a name, not even from the friend of the family I was already speaking with, the one I'd gotten close to that gave me the personal information about the family.
But everything seemed to have dried out.
Greco had holed himself on his island since the last party. It hadn't been that long in the grander scheme of things, but I almost regretted missing the chance to get on his island and have him in my sights. There was no way I would have come out of that situation alive, but I still regretted not taking it.
I received news he was heading out, though, finally. I didn’t know where he would go, but I could catch him when he got back to the docks later. I wasn’t sure of the exact time, but since he was getting out after dark, I was planning to go over by midnight. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have made it back, and I would have time to find the best hiding spot to wait for him.
I'd just have to find the right place to hide. I could always have gotten on a boat and gone to the island, at any time in the past few days. It wouldn’t have been safe, but it would have gotten me there. The man himself had given me an invitation, after all, I’d just have to call it in. In all honesty, though, I was waiting for Luke to contact me, but he'd only called me once the day after the party to tell me he'd skipped.
But I was getting tired of waiting. I was ready to go and kill Greco once and for all. The man had been a thorn in my side for four years before I even got to see a picture of his face. For the sake of my dead mother, the grandparents I wasn’t allowed to grow up knowing all because of that bastard, I wanted him dead and gone.
I was already dressed, just wondering how I was going to walk around with weapons on me. I didn’t like carrying around anything bulky, which left me walking around with a clutch purse, but considering the distance from the docks where I could hide, would I even get a shot?
A knock on the door distracted me, and I growled to myself. I glanced around to make sure I didn’t have anything incriminating out. But just in case, I took my gun with me, holding it behind me. It was too late for it to be someone from the hotel, and I hadn't told anyone my whereabouts. There really wasn’t anyone to tell, and Luke hadn't asked.
I took a breath, unlocked the door and grabbed the handle. I pulled the door open, but the smile on my face froze when I saw who was on the other side.
"Luke?"
He was dressed casually for the first time since I'd met him, dark jeans, a T-shirt, and hoodie, sneakers on his feet. The hood was pulled up over his head, but I didn’t have my shoes on yet, so I was looking up into his face. For a moment, I was frozen, but I snapped out of it quickly.
I stepped back, opening the door wider and letting the hand with the gun fall to my side. He caught sight of it and his eyebrows shot up, but he didn’t say anything. He stepped inside, and I closed the door and locked it. I turned back, leaning against it, staring at him as he walked a li
ttle further into the space, tugging the hood of his jacket down. He glanced around the room, and then finally turned to look at me.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, for lack of anything better to say.
He smirked. "At a hotel, or specifically in your hotel room?"
"I didn’t tell you where I was staying."
"Well, no, but you gave me your number, and I assumed you'd stick around. It wasn’t that hard to find you."
I wanted to ask just how he'd done that. Did he just go around asking about my description until he got a hit, or what? Before I got a chance to ask, he spoke.
"You don’t have to go."
I paused, mouth still open, and arched my eyebrows at that. I titled my head, showing my confusion. He waved his hand to encompass the whole of me and then pointed at the gun I still held in my hand. I locked the door behind me, made sure the safety was on and set the gun on the small table. It put me a little closer to him in the small room, but he had moved far enough that there was still some distance between us.
"You look dressed to head out. I can only imagine what for." He shrugged. "I just thought you should know that you don’t have to, anymore. I've done the job already," he added.
That last bit cleared my confusion. Instead, I became suspicious.
"You don’t know what I really came here for, though. Or what I was about to go out and do."
He smirked. "True, but if your goal was to kill Greco, it's been taken care of."
I blinked at him, wondering if I'd heard him right. But he didn’t retract his statement, and I wanted to open my mouth and tell him to repeat it. But I was looking right at his eyes, and I could see the truth in them. His body looked relaxed, but his eyes were still on edge. The look in them reminded me of how my own eyes looked a few hours after I did a job.
He wasn’t lying to me, or joking.
It took me a moment for that to sink in, and then I felt myself sway a little. His eyes narrowed, lips pursing in sudden concern, but I shook my head to let him know I was fine.
One Night With The Tycoon (Billionaire's One Night #1) Page 33