"Hmm." His brow furrowed lightly. "What woman exactly?"
"She was in a black dress, brown hair and eyes. I don’t know when she left, but she was still there when I went out."
She wasn’t with the rest of the guests, but I didn’t clarify that for him. I peered at his eyes, trying not to show the extent of my interest.
So, that was where the feeling came from.
I remembered thinking her eyes looked familiar. Brown eyes were very common, I had them even though mine were darker than hers, but I was sure, the more I looked at him, the more that familiar feeling came back to me. I had perfect memory; I could remember perfectly how her eyes looked like.
"Do you mean one of my cousins?" he mused, more to himself than truly talking to me. "I have to admit, I have more than I know all that well, and quite a few of them were there with my other relatives." He shrugged again. "I met them before at my eldest son's wedding. It's not something you should be overly concerned about."
I read it for what it was, a warning to keep away from his family, even though he didn’t know the why of my question. I let it drop, anyway, my mind going off on a distracted tangent.
Who exactly was this woman?
Chapter 16
Elda
I made my way through dark, mostly empty streets. I didn’t live in a particularly nice neighborhood, but no one bothered me. The few people outside barely paid me any attention. I hurried to my small, rented room and let myself inside, locking the door behind me. I pulled the large envelope out from under my coat, dropping it on the tiny table, then taking off my coat and going to the bathroom.
It was all simply just one room, with a separate bathroom, and that was it. I washed the makeup off my face at the tiny sink, thankful the water was clean, and I wiped my face as I got back to the other room, pulling at the ties and pins in my hair, letting the mass fall around my shoulders. I didn’t bother changing clothes before going back to the tiny table, sitting in the only seat around, and staring at the envelope.
I already knew what I would find in it. I'd gotten info of the contents from my contact before I chose to pick it up.
I got an offer to be Greco's hit woman.
To say I was surprised would be an understatement.
I wasn’t banking on Greco finding out about me, and for a different reason than the one I expected. I was Italian, and he'd heard about me from his associates that I'd worked for, in and outside of the country, and suddenly decided he wanted me to join his ranks.
In a way, it was ironic. He didn’t know what I looked like, he couldn’t have. I didn’t even know how he knew where to send a message to get it to me. He shouldn’t have, and that he did, disturbed me greatly.
On the one hand, it would be an easy way to get close to him. I knew how close he was to Luke, and if I could get that, my goal would be so much easier to get to. I was so tempted to try just for that reason, but I knew he would never let me get so close. The second he saw me, he would know, and I would be screwed.
Or maybe he wouldn’t, and that would sincerely annoy me more than if he'd forgotten about everything that happened between us when it was all I could think of for months after I heard it all. But it was more than just that.
Even more of a surprise was the offer came because he needed to get rid of his existing one.
I found that terribly suspicious.
I didn’t know Luke, but I had the suspicion he was loyal to Greco. He'd stuck to me that night at the wedding, and though I was sure part of that was desire, I knew he'd been suspicious of me the whole night. He made sure I wasn’t threatening his boss when he could have focused more on having a good time.
That kind of loyalty, even in the mafia, tended to be rewarded. There was no reason, that I heard, for Greco to want to stab Luke in the back. He could have no motive at all, he was a dangerous man after all, and he didn’t need a reason for everything he did. But there was the slightest possibility that there was a reason behind it. It got me curious.
So, I started to question what was really going down. I had several contacts, and I was going to make use of every single one. Whatever Greco was planning, I knew I had to either get ahead or keep abreast of him to be ready for when he made his move.
Besides, it involved Luke, so I would have considered it anyway.
Chapter 17
Luke
I was having another of those bad days—or nights because I usually spent my days holed up somewhere.
The situation was getting past ridiculous, leaning toward annoying. After the last time, Greco and I had a chat, and he insisted there was no issue, things had gone well for a time. I suddenly had more marks than I ever had before, and a few times after that near-disastrous mission, everything had been carried out just fine.
And then today happened, when I was told this was someone I had to take out in the span of twenty-four hours. Everything had been going fine, as per the plan, I even got the guy, when I was practically ambushed. If not for the intense training I went through, all the missions I'd successfully undertaken, I wondered if I would have made it out alive.
I was starting to doubt Greco was being honest with me.
I stood in front of the man, giving him my report, holding perfect form even though I could feel the aches, and something wet trickling down my side. I hadn't had time to take stock of any injuries or to begin treating them. I came back to the island because it was, temporarily at least with my suspicions, the safest place I could end up, and he'd asked to see me as soon as I docked.
"So, you finished the job?"
"He was dispatched, no witnesses, just like you wanted."
He gave a nod, and I thought he looked pleased if a little surprised. I wasn’t sure whether to trust that expression. I'd known, in the beginning, not to trust him. He was a mafia boss, and the only relationship we had was a business arrangement that helped me as much as it did him, and I'd built on that. It wasn’t to say that I trusted him implicitly, but he rarely lied to me, just omitted things that I didn’t want to know anyway, so I never cared.
But this was going too far.
I was nearly killed again at this last job I’d done.
It had been a few weeks since something like it had happened after I last talked to Greco. I hadn't let myself grow lax, but last night had been close. I didn’t even get the chance to prepare the scene. I didn’t think the police would come knocking down my door just yet, but it was close. I survived this job because of the anonymity. Once I lost it, I'd have to go underground. There was no question of my records appearing in a police search if it was extensive enough research. Or, at the very least, tagging a few flags, and that was worse for me in the long run.
"You did a good job. I'll have the money for you by tomorrow."
Another reason why I was usually delayed, he paid for every mark beforehand. I'd held onto the money for the two I'd let go until I found a way to get to them later, but because this had been a rush job—I got the order off the island and decided to get right on it—there hadn't been time for that.
"Will you have any more work for me anytime soon?"
He looked thoughtful. "Maybe. Human stupidity knows no bounds, but let's hope they're at least smart enough not to get themselves caught."
I wouldn’t mind the time off. But lately, even before this, I'd been thinking of taking a permanent vacation. I loved my job, the power it gave me, but I wasn’t so big a megalomaniac I could ignore something like this.
I only took this job to kill the General's family, and the General himself. After what he did, it was the least he deserved, and I knew he had about as much family as I did. I left my home country, knowing there was nothing more for me there, but I never expected for the bastard to kill them, and have it flaunted on television by appearing for an interview on the murders and my disappearance from the unit. I hadn't been sure if it was a taunt, or a message, or what exactly. Even in the US, the news made headlines for a couple of weeks; news channels a
nd papers. I came across it entirely by coincidence, but the twenty-first century being what it was, I could easily find all the information, plus all the interviews and quotes, recorded somewhere on the internet.
There was a message in his words that no one could understand, that no one else but the men from my old unit would have been able to even guess at. He basically told me he did it himself on national television, and once the international media got hold of the news as well as the entire globe, and I was the only one who knew that he could get away with it, no problem.
Like hell.
The only reason I had waited this long to move was because I didn’t know his location or the location of most of his family. He was smart, moving them around before he went after mine, but he couldn’t move them all. I waited to find all of them, and find his position, so he wouldn’t hinder me, get ahead in line before I'd finished them all off. I wanted him to suffer like I did, and that was why I was saving him for last. I didn’t really care what happened to me afterward.
I had been with Greco for years with that one goal in mind. He only partially knew my backstory; I couldn’t tell him most of it because it was classified. Even though I didn’t feel I owed any loyalty to the army, I couldn’t bring myself to shell out that kind of information to a civilian. Some of it I just didn’t want him to know. I'd thought about asking him for help once, but the General was a big man in a foreign army, anyone would be a little leery of trying something so risky, even Greco.
So, I kept it to myself and did my job as I was supposed to. And I was okay, not quite happy, but content to wait for—if necessary—my revenge. But it was never far from my mind, and as the years passed, I grew restless. After what happened today, me nearly dying when I was still nowhere near completing my goal, only brought it all home.
It had been years. Working for Greco was good to my bank account, but when I went on a job, I wasn’t focusing on my mission, but what he wanted me to do. I could have died without getting my revenge, and that thought almost floored me.
It was time to move on.
"You're excused for the night," Greco said, breaking my out of my thoughts. I turned to head out, but he spoke again. "Before you go, I wanted to tell you."
I felt the dread pool in my stomach. These kinds of conversations led in a specific direction, all the time. I wasn’t sure I was feeling up for it. But I turned back, respectfully, and inclined my head.
"Yes, sir?"
"I'm having another party thrown."
Of course, because karma hated me or something.
"It won't be for another week so you have time to prepare."
At least there was that.
"What is the party for, exactly?" I asked slowly. "It’s a little soon after the wedding, isn’t it?"
His parties were usually few and far in between, which might have something to do with why they're so popular. Maybe once or twice a year, although one year there had been three of them. Still, it was only within a couple of months. The reason for having few parties, certainly on his private island, were purely for security reasons, and the man really didn’t like having his territory being invaded.
He smiled, and if I didn't know him, I would have said it was almost happy, though there was definite pride in it.
"The party is for the same lovely couple, though I have to admit I was surprised at how soon, myself. I'm proud of my son, of course, the boy has his priorities straight."
I guessed what it was about very easily.
"You will attend this party."
I read the order in his words since that was what they really were, but I didn’t have any hesitation.
"I'll go."
It was the best opportunity I could think of, and it would be public, which might work in my favor in case he reacted less than pleasantly. He wouldn’t dare cause a scene, and I could slip out before anyone was the wiser, and be gone before he thought to look for me.
I would tell Greco that it was all over, I didn’t want to be his hitman anymore.
Thinking of it in those terms made it sound disturbingly like a breakup, but whatever. When he had no more to say, I left the room, feeling the aches in my body anew, and much stronger. I'd get myself patched up and off the island by morning, and then I had some planning to do.
Chapter 18
Elda
Old man Greco must have been completely confident in his security. I wondered if he knew just how many holes there were in his little empire.
It was expected, really, there was always that one ambitious little goon that would go behind the boss's back if it would get him more cash than acting as a grunt would.
I talked to one such grunt on the phone, keeping it short and brief, but getting everything I wanted from him. It was a wonder how he even knew so much, to begin with, but he was probably one of those types underestimated because they were thought stupid.
I didn’t care; it was Greco's problem, after all.
"Thank you for the information. I'll have the payment ready for you soon."
"It'll be double like you promised, right?"
I smiled to myself. If he wasn’t such a help to me, I'd take him out myself, being so free with information that wasn’t his to give out. Information that he should not have, to begin with. But he had been more useful than I expected, so I wouldn’t swindle him out of his pay.
"It will be as we discussed. And, if everything goes well, this will be the last time I require your services."
"Whatever. Just get me my money by tomorrow."
He hung up before I could tell him it was already on its way. Whatever, it was not like he even mattered to me. Because I'd found the opening I needed.
I'd gotten a bit more on Luke's background, at least about as much as Greco knew. Luke was a former army man, he defected and ran away from his country, for one reason or another. There was a huge information gap that I felt was significant, but none of that mattered now.
What did matter, was that Greco had been in touch with the general from Luke's unit where he served, a man who planned to kill Luke for revenge. Greco knew this and was helping the man out.
I didn’t understand it, but then I had my own vendetta, and different people had different things that triggered it for them, I suppose.
But I was almost angry, feeling insulted on Luke's behalf when I found out that little tidbit. The guy was loyal, and Greco, bastard that he was, couldn’t even appreciate that and was going behind the man's back to kill him. If there was any other, deeper reason for the betrayal, I hadn't found it, but this was unforgivable. Greco simply decided to get rid of his hitman because it was convenient, then found out about me and forwarded an invite because of the same convenience. I didn’t doubt, if I had taken the job and Luke was still alive, he would likely have been my first job.
I needed to find a way to warn Luke.
He didn’t need to die betrayed by someone he felt loyal toward. But, how was I going to find him to tell him? The last time I was near him, I didn’t find anything on him, not even a phone. I didn’t know how he and Greco kept in touch, but I didn’t have the same means.
So, I dug around some more. Then I learned about the celebration party for Greco's daughter-in-law, who was expecting a baby.
It was the perfect opportunity.
It might possibly be my only one. But even then, there was the possibility that Luke might not even be there. Still, it was my only chance, so there was no question of me not going.
Now I just had to find a way to get on the island, uninvited, a second time. It wasn’t going to be as easy as the first time. If Luke ever mentioned an intruder the last time, there would be more security than before and I ran the risk of getting caught. I'd have to find a way around it, but I wasn’t worried. I could be resourceful like that.
Before that, I needed to dress for the occasion. I picked up my phone and called a now familiar number.
"Hello?"
I smiled at the clipped voice on the other end.
"Really, is that any way to talk to your favorite client?"
There was quiet on the other end before there was a click of the tongue. I laughed, and the voice growled at me.
"More like my most annoying client."
"Yes, but don’t I bring you a lot of business?"
"You do," the voice muttered reluctantly. "But you usually call once every several months and get several outfits. It’s a bit soon, isn’t it?"
"Well, I didn’t take that many last time, only a couple, yes? I want to commission something else, and original. Actually, make it several outfits."
I didn’t have long to prepare for the party, but if I could avoid it I wouldn’t want to be there at all. I wasn’t sure where Luke stayed, but I wouldn't bank on him being a permanent resident on the island, it would be too confining for a man like him. I knew I would see it the same way. So, if possible, I had to find him before he left for the island. Which meant I couldn’t as easily find a crowd to blend in this time unless I got lucky.
"Tell me what you need."
I pursed my lips, thinking it over.
"Let's see…"
Chapter 19
Luke
"The guests will be coming by to get on the boats soon."
I turned to see the man approaching me, another of Greco's employees.
"A few of us will be getting on a boat to take us back, some will stay to help them over. What group are you part of?"
I didn’t think he knew who I was, not that he would care. He did whatever work he was told to and got paid. Getting overly curious when working for a mafia boss was a quick way to get yourself fired, and not in a pretty way.
I thought about the question seriously. I wasn’t quite healed from my injuries, but they were low key enough for me to ignore them. Still, I wasn’t technically going there as part of security, he had enough capable people even though I was way better. I didn’t have to go so soon, but it was still early evening, people wouldn’t come to cross until dusk fell. So, I would be stuck walking around, the only reason I was even here was so I could look over the preparations, a force of habit.
Dirty Indiscretions: A Dark Mafia Romance Page 7