The Holy Ghost
Copyright 2020 Monica Clayton
Published by M.E. Clayton
All Rights Reserved
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This book is a work of fiction. The entire content is a product of the author’s imagination and all names, places, businesses and incidences are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), places or occurrences, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any manner, whatsoever, without the express written consent from the author, except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Formatting: Smashwords
Cover: Adobe Stock
Warning: This book contains sexual situations and other adult themes. Recommended for 18 years of age and over.
Table of Contents
Author's Note
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Playlist
Prologue
1. Phoenix
2. Francesca
3. Phoenix
4. Francesca
5. Phoenix
6. Francesca
7. Phoenix
8. Francesca
9. Phoenix
10.Francesca
11. Phoenix
12. Francesca
13. Phoenix
14. Francesca
15. Phoenix
16. Francesca
17. Phoenix
18. Francesca
19. Phoenix
20. Francesca
21. Phoenix
22. Francesca
23. Phoenix
24. Francesca
25. Phoenix
Epilogue
About the Author
Other Books
Contact Me
Newsletter Sign-Up
Author’s Note
Just a couple of things before I let you go and get your read on. While I am doing my best to work with better editing and proofreading software, all my books are solo, independent works. I write my books, proofread my books, edit my books, create the covers, etc. I have one beta who gives me feedback on my stories, but other than that, all my books are independent projects.
That being said, I apologize, in advance, for the typos, grammar inconsistencies, or any other mistakes I may make. Since writing is strictly a hobby for me, I haven’t looked for commitments in regard to publishers, editors, etc. My hope is that my stories are enjoyable enough that a few mistakes, here and there, can be overlooked. If not, my books are probably not for you.
Also, I am an avid reader-I mean an AVID reader. I love to read above any other hobby. One of the things about reading that hurts my heart, though, is when I fall in love with a book, but I have to wait for the additional books in the series to be released. Because I feel that disappointment down to my soul, I vowed that if I ever write a series, all books will be published at once. Nope-no waiting over here…LOL. So, if you are reading one of my books, but can’t find any other books on the secondary characters of that book, that means the book is a standalone project. Now, the exception to this was, both Enemy Series (Facing the Enemy and In Enemy Territory). I got enough requests for their secondary characters’ stories, I decided to write them. But, in the future, series books not released all at once will only happen at the request of my readers. As much as this is a hobby, I am writing these books for you guys as well as myself.
Thank you, all, for turning this hobby into something exciting and magical!
Acknowledgements
The first acknowledgement will always be my husband (unless we ever divorce, then probably not so much after that), but seeing as how I can’t imagine that day ever coming, I can’t ever put myself out there without thanking him for all his love, support, and belief in me.
Second, there’s my family; my daughter, my son, my grandchildren, my sister, and my mother. They are the people who love me the most, know me the best, and love me dearly, despite all they know…LOL!
And, of course, there’s Kamala. She insists that I don’t have to thank her in every book, but my love for her and gratitude for all her support and enthusiasm, claims otherwise. She’s the first person (outside my family) that I shared this dream with, and she’s been by my side every step of the way. Kam, you really are the best kind of friend!
And, finally, I’d like to thank everyone who’s purchased, read, reviewed, shared, and supported me and my writing. Thank you so much for helping make this dream a reality and a happy, fun one at that! There are not enough ‘Thank You’s in the world.
Dedication
For Jason-
Your loss is felt every single day, but your face still smiles at us through the boys. You were a great person and a wonderful father, and we will miss you terribly. You were more than just a son-in-law; you were our son.
Playlist
Series Theme Song
Fire Meets Fate - Ruelle
Falling Inside The Black – Skillet
Swagger Like Us – T.I. ft. Jay Z, Lil’ Wayne & Kayne West
Where You Belong – The Weeknd
I Don’t Want To Live – Zayen Malik ft. Taylor Swift
Life After You – Daughtry
Cross Me – Ed Sheeran
One Thing Right – Kane Brown/Marshmallow
It’s Not Over – Daughtry
Blood/Water – grandson
Angry Too – Lola Blanc
Walls Could Talk – Nightcore
Someday – Nickleback
It Will Rain – Bruno Mars
Get Stoned – Hinder
It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over – Lenny Kravitz
Home – Gwyneth Paltrow
Prologue
2013~
The scene was a quietly violent one that would live in my mind until my mind could no longer hold memories.
This was my choice, though.
It was my choice to be here, doing this.
In a perfect world, I’d be at home in bed with Frankie.
I was supposed to be the good boyfriend who chose her above everything else. But the world sure as fuck wasn’t perfect, and nothing was ever that simple.
Life wasn’t that simple.
While the lies and the secrets were killing me, I knew if I told Frankie the truth, it would gut her. She had plans for us, and they didn’t include the gun that my fingers were currently wrapped around.
Ciro was good about deflecting when she’d shoot those accusatory amber-colored eyes at us, but me? All I had was her addiction to my touch. I deflected by touching her, kissing her, or fucking her.
Tonight was the night that would forever change the direction of my life.
And hers.
I tried to convince myself that it would all be okay because her brother was standing next to me, but, deep down, I knew this would change everything.
While all of us neighborhood kids grew up together, as we’d grown older, we learned early on the trio we were becoming a part of. My family and I had lived a couple of blocks over from the Mancinis, but the mutual friend Ciro and I shared brought us together like nothing else could. That friend was Luca Benetti, and everyone knew the Benetti Family ruled Morgan City.
As we grew older, Luca became the dark prince he was groomed to be, and it had gotten harder and harder to resi
st the temptation and lure. When you grow up lower middle-class and always struggling, money and power can make a remarkable impression on the young male mind.
We wanted better.
We wanted it all.
I stood in the center of the warehouse next to one of my best friends, and we both had guns aimed at the two men strapped to the metal chairs before us. Luca and his father, Giovanni Benetti, stood behind us, looking on.
The room held about ten men, including the two men who were gagged and tied to the chairs. The rest of the men stood, forming an arch behind us, waiting for our next move.
It didn’t matter that these guys were pedophiles. It didn’t matter that we were judging them in a way only The Lord had the right to. It didn’t matter that every second I stood here I was jeopardizing my relationship and future with Frankie.
Frankie-the girl I’ve been in love with since we were seven-years-old; Ciro’s sister.
I glanced over at Ciro and, with the conviction of a thousand men, he looked back and gave me a tightly measured nod. I looked back at the men before us, raised my arm, aimed, and fired a hole clean through one man’s forehead while Ciro did the same to the other.
The room was silent for a few seconds before we turned around and handed the guns back to two of the sentinels that had been standing by. We handed them back without wiping them clean of our fingerprints as a show of loyalty and trust to Giovanni Benetti.
He stepped forward and shook both our hands. His smile was evil and powerful and there was no going back.
Luca was the next to shake our hands and it had felt like a homecoming. He was our best friend, and we knew he’d been doing this shit at a young age, but now we were more than best friends.
We were family in a way no one outside the Benetti Family could understand.
There was no way I was going to be able to keep this from Frankie much longer. Not when I planned on marrying her as soon as she graduated from college next semester. My only hope would be that she loved me enough to balance the life she wanted with the life I would now lead.
Little did I know that she already knew.
Little did I know that she would shatter everything I believed we were.
Little did I know that I would lose my mind when the dust settled.
It was the first step to the obliteration of my soul as it existed.
Chapter 1
Phoenix – 2019~
I should have been home hours ago.
Normally, a hit took no time at all. They called me The Holy Ghost for a reason. And the reason? I was in and out within minutes without anyone ever setting eyes on me.
When I was working, I was invisible.
When I was working, I didn’t exist.
Sure, on paper, I existed.
On paper, I was clean as a whistle.
On paper, I was a respectable accountant, and I even had a degree in my name that claimed I had the proper credentials to manage someone’s money.
In reality, I was the Benetti Family’s number one hitman, and I was good at what I did. Never missed a mark, and no one ever knew it was me doing the marking. The only other souls on the planet that ever knew my agenda were Giovanni Benetti, Morgan City’s Mob Boss, Luca Benetti, the Underboss, and my best friend, Ciro Mancini, who just happened to be the Benetti Family’s number one enforcer.
My hits were so high profile that no one outside us four knew my kill count. In six short years, I went from a Mafia soldier to the Benetti’s most prolific killer.
And I was fucking great at it.
Granted, what else did a person become when they had no soul? And, tonight, I was in Neil Hansen’s home waiting patiently to put a bullet through his head.
Now, usually, my homework was spot on. I knew everything about my mark before I made my move. And I mean every-fucking-thing. I left nothing to chance. It was how my kill count was so high and I wasn’t behind bars for life.
Well, for a couple of lives if they only knew.
However, tonight had thrown me a curve when Neil’s mistress arrived on his doorstep, weeping uncontrollably, claiming to be pregnant with his child.
Normally, every Thursday afternoon, Neil Hansen sent his wife to a luxurious spa salon to get the works. He manipulated her into this tradition by convincing her that she needed to look her best in case he wanted to whisk her away to The Bahamas at the last minute. Leslie Hansen thought it romantic, but if the dingbat only knew the truth. Good, ol’ Neil sent her to the spa, so he could get his dick sucked by…wait for it…his workout trainer, who was thirty years his junior and a he.
Don’t let Neil’s pregnant mistress fool you. Respectable Neil Hansen had a boatload of sexual proclivities he indulged in.
A ship size boatload.
So, with his dick sucked, relaxed, and unsuspecting, it should have been easy-peasy to slip in, put a bullet in his head, and slip out.
But, no.
Enter the hysterical, pregnant girlfriend.
Now, while there’ve been very few in my lifetime as a Mafia hitman, I didn’t relish killing women. The women I have put down were sex traffickers or worse, if you can believe there’s something worse out there. But, trust me, there is. And I’ve never killed a child. I don’t care if you’re seventeen and your birthday is tomorrow; I’ll wait until tomorrow to kill you. So, there was nothing I could do until the pregnant mistress left. Even if she were evil, she was pregnant, and I’d never take an unborn life. I didn’t care what anyone else’s stance was on pregnancy, but to me, it was a life as long as the woman was nurturing it.
As a hitman, I shouldn’t have any weaknesses, but children were one of them for me. Probably because I knew I was never going to have any. Sure, Made Men had families all the time; hell, it was expected. But my chances at a family were blown to shit the day Frankie left me. I couldn’t imagine another woman birthing my children, and so I gave up on that dream. Kids held a special place for me because they were the only thing I’d be denied in this life. Sure, it was of by my own hand, but that’s how I felt.
Or maybe it was because my own parents were pieces of shit and I felt kids deserved better. Anthony and Ana Fiore should never have had children, and the only blessing to behold during my younger years was that I had been an only child. They only screwed up one life instead of the potential many they could have. Had it not been for meeting Ciro and Francesca, then Luca, who knows where I might have ended up. Everything good in me had been for Frankie, and everything strong in me had been for Ciro and Luca. They had been my only real family.
The four of us.
And then, one day, four became three.
I shook off those memories and went back to growing roots, waiting for Neil to get his hysterical mess under control and gone.
Now, you’re probably wondering what Neil has done to warrant being offed by the Mob, because surely being a sleaze who cheats on his wife and embezzles a bit isn’t that bad in comparison to some of the evil out there, and you’d be right. Being a cheating scumbag is not death worthy. Though I’ve never been of the same mind, I knew plenty of men who could separate sex from love. I knew plenty of men who will blow their loads all over their mistresses and then go home to worship their wives. Adultery is up there with murder in the Mob; it might be a Commandment, but you can always rationalize it away if you believe the reason justifiable enough.
I did neither.
I didn’t justify my kills or cheat on anyone. I slept like a baby at night because my conscience had been silenced the night Frankie left me. My soul died that same night.
No, I was here in Neil Hansen’s Garden Grove mini-mansion, waiting in the shadows, because Neil’s little embezzlement problem? Yeah, that was due to the fact that Neil liked to gamble.
And he liked to gamble big.
However, because Neil was also the CEO of Hansen and Belmilch Financial-Grandy Belmilch was the CFO-his murder was sure to bring a lot of media and law enforcement attention. It was why Luca didn’t trust thi
s hit to one of his many other shooters.
A month ago, after Ciro had gotten a hold of good, ol’ Neil, it was clear within the following week that, even after Ciro’s handiwork, the man couldn’t make good on his eight-hundred-thousand-dollar debt to the Benetti Family. And Grandy Belmilch wasn’t just a CFO; he was a smart CFO. After doing my homework, I knew there was no way Neil would be able to embezzle the amounts he needed without Grandy catching wind of what he was doing. And once I took that information to Luca, he made the decision to make a topnotch example out of good, ol’ Neil.
The sound of the front door slamming shut told me two things; one, Neil’s mistress didn’t get the comforting she thought she was going to get and, two, I could finally get down to business.
Again, because I did my homework, I knew the exact layout of Neil’s home and his fading footsteps told me he was heading into his study. But, to be fair, I also knew this because Neil was a creature of habit, and he always drank his finest whiskey in his study to wind down after getting his dick suck by his trainer.
Now, usually, I just went in, shot the sonofabitch, and disappeared. But I took offense to good, ol’ Neil ignoring Ciro’s warning. Most people got some quick get-right after being on the receiving end of one of Ciro’s visits, but Neil’s gambling problem outweighed his survival instincts this go-round.
I crept silently into the study. Neil’s back was to me as he poured himself another drink, no doubt hoping it wouldn’t be interrupted by another pregnant mistress. My dick almost got hard as the tumbler slipped from his hand and bounced on the carpet as the tip of my gun met the back of his head.
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