Dangerous Flames (Mafia Hearts) (27 page)

Gabrielle
pointed to the front door. “Listen carefully and you can hear
the screaming.”

“
You
told him about me already.”

“
Yes,
and he promised not to kill you.”

The
door swung open. Enrico, with eyes bulging with anger, charged toward
Mik and tossed his gun down onto the couch. His grip went around
Mik’s throat, pushing him against the beige wall.

“
Dad!”
Gabrielle screamed. She jumped up from the couch and took a few steps
in their direction but stopped. She didn’t want to be close if
they started swinging at each other

Mik’s
face started turning red, matching the tint of her father’s
skin. Mik didn’t try to pull away or even flinch even though it
had to be like looking the grim reaper in the eye.

“
You
son-of-a-bitch! I told you not to touch my daughter,” Enrico
screamed into Mik’s face. “Why? You could have any woman
in Vegas. Why her?”

Mik
took a gulp of air. “I love her, Enrico. I always have.”

Enrico’s
hand gripped tighter around Mik’s neck. “I told you I
would feed your dick to the lions if you touched her.”

“
I…
know…” Mikolas took rapid breaths, tears welling in his
eyes.

“
Let
him go. I need to tell you the rest of it,” she ordered.

“
I
would kill you right here if I hadn’t promised my daughter I
wouldn’t.” He let go of Mik. “You should thank
Gabrielle since she’s the reason why you’re still alive.”

Mik
walked over to the hearth and slid his shoes on. Grabbing Gabi’s
sweatshirt, he said, “I’m going outside so you can talk.”

“
Dad,
please sit with me. I want to explain this to you.”

“
Mik,
be a man and face me. Don‘t leave the dirty work to Gabrielle.”
Enrico stalked over to the chair and flung himself down. With his
face twisted in a frown, his eyes shot daggers at the couple.

“
Fine,”
Mik said as he joined Gabrielle on the couch.

She
was relieved when Mik sat far enough away, she didn’t want him
to hold her hand or have any other physical contact while they
discussed this issue with her father.

“
Tell
me.” Enrico pulled a cigar out of his pocket and lit up.

“
I
called Mikolas to my house and made him come here at gunpoint after I
heard you talking to Leon about the hit put on you. Mom gave me one
night here, but we were snowed in.”

“
I
see,” Enrico said.

Mik
leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. He ran his hand through his
hair before looking up at her father. “But the truth, Enrico,
is I love Gabrielle. I have tried to respect your wishes and stay
away from her, but when she brought me here I couldn’t resist
it anymore.”

“
Mmm
hmm.”

“
And,
Dad, I love you too, but I want to leave this life. And I want to
leave with Mikolas.” She couldn’t resist anymore. She
grabbed Mik’s hand in hers.

The
action seemed to have surprised her father. He looked from Gabrielle
to Mik and back to her. “What do you want to say about this,
Mik?”

“
I
want the same as she does. I’m willing to give up anything to
be with her. I don’t think I would be a good husband to her,
one she deserves if I’m required to have things like a
mistress.”

“
You
guys have those?” Gabrielle’s wide eyes shot to Mik.

He
nodded. “It’s a sign of prestige.” He looked back
to Enrico. “Gabrielle deserves better than the Mafia life—no
offense to you, Enrico. You sent her away for her safety once and now
her mother did this time.”

“
You
plan on marrying her?” Enrico puffed again on his cigar.

“
I
haven’t asked her yet, but I intend to.”

“
You
know way too much about my business, Mikolas. I can’t let you
hang around with everyone knowing you’re with my daughter.”
Enrico shook his head.

“
Daddy!”

Enrico
got up from the chair and went over to the window, staring intently
outside. “Let me finish,” he said with his back to them.

“
Enrico—”
Mik started to say.

Enrico
swung around. “I said to let me finish.” He went back
over to the chair and sat back down.

Gun
fire sounded through the air outside. Enrico ran back for his gun
that he’d set down on the table. “Some last minute help
with Family business?” he asked Mikolas.

“
Certainly.”
Mik grabbed his gun. Before he went outside, he turned back to
Gabrielle. “Stay in here. Don’t come out for anything.
Got it?”

“
Yes,”
she said. As soon as Mik was outside, she ran for her own pistol.

Chapter Twenty

Mikolas,
with his Glock held out in front of him, followed Enrico down the
steps.

“
Fuck,”
Enrico yelled as he ran toward the body lying face down the ground.

“
Looks
like Rif—”

“
It
is
Rif.
It’s fucking Rif.” Enrico dropped down to his knees next
to the still body. He slid his hand over the man’s back,
probably checking for any breathing even with a bullet wound to his
head and a halo of blood spattered on the snow around him.

“
Dead?”

“
Yep.
We have to look for Dom. He either did this or we’ll be finding
him dead too.”

In
response to Enrico’s orders, Mikolas stuck to the shadows,
moving as quietly as he could across the yard, his gun aimed out. He
would find the bastard who assassinated Rif. Whoever it was, they
were trying to get to Enrico and would take out any of them,
including Gabrielle. He had to find the guy.

Mikolas
spotted the next body slumped against the house. Dom’s black
hair hung around his face, his eyes lifeless. The bullet hole in his
chest told the tale of the man’s death. A gun laid in the snow
underneath his hand. Dom had pulled his gun in surprise but hadn’t
been quick enough in pulling the trigger.

Who
was Mikolas up against? Were his skills better than the killer’s
or would Mikolas end up in a grave like the two men?

****

Another
round of blasts sounded from outside. It boomed like thunder with a
groan following. The victim had to be right outside the living room
window. Too scared to look, Gabrielle dropped down to her knees.
Someone had died out there. She felt it in her heart. One of them
just might be her father or Mikolas.

What
if it was her father? Her heart ached but she’d already lost
her parents when she’d made the decision to be with Mik. She
still didn’t want him dead. Her mother would need him more than
ever before.

What
about Mik? How would her life be different? Would she be forced to go
off alone without him? Or would her father let her stay in Vegas? She
couldn’t lose him.

She
shook her head. Neither could be dead. She tilted her head up.
Please,
God, let them live
.
Tears welled in her eyes and then slid down her cheeks. She rarely
cried, but doing so right now felt so good. Real. Refreshing.

Gabrielle
heard the window open in the bedroom. She cocked her gun and flipped
the lights off. “Mik?” she called out but nobody
answered. “Dad?” She walked closer to the bedroom.

She
kicked the door open with her sock-covered foot, the door banging
against the back wall. Holding the gun in front of her, she peered
inside of the room. Nobody was visible. Probably hiding in the
bathroom. She’d get the guy even if it was the last thing she
did.

She
walked into the bedroom and just for precaution, she looked around
the bed. Something hit her full force from behind. Gabrielle flew
forward, her gun landed on the bed. She lunged across the floor
toward the weapon.

“
Gabrielle,
stop,” Clayton demanded.

Stunned,
she turned around to face her attacker. “What are you doing
here?”

“
I’m
here to kill all of you.” His eyes zeroed in on her gun, making
her realize that his own had disappeared, and he’d want hers as
soon as possible.

“
But
why?” She slowly inched her way backward against so he wouldn’t
notice her small movements. It was going to be the battle of the
quickest. A battle she intended to win.

“
I
was sent to kill your dad, but since you all now know my identity
now, I have to add you to my list.” He tapped his pointer
finger against his temple. “Besides, with all of you guys dead,
I’ll have a bigger pay day.” He stepped toward her,
glancing at her gun again.

Fear
raged through her heart. Her father and Mik must be dead because
neither of them would allow him to be in here with her. “Where
are they?”

He
switched his attention to the window, after a second or two, moved
back to her. “Let’s get to the money part of all of
this.”

In
a feeble voice, she asked, “So you know about the room?”
A bang toward the front of the cabin stole his attention long enough
for Gabrielle to take a giant step in the direction of her gun.

He
turned back to her. “The vault? Everyone knows. Nobody knew
where it was but that, darling, has changed. I know it’s here
somewhere.”

She
smiled. He had no actual idea of where it was. Clayton wasn’t
as clever as he thought. She dove for the gun again, this time
swooping it into her hands.

“
Drop
it,” Clayton ordered as he jumped on her. The impact of his
body against her chest pushed the air from her lungs in a big giant
puff.

She
tried swinging the barrel in his direction. He pushed her hands over
her head, pinning them against the mattress. He shifted to get a
better grip on her. His fingers twisted in her hair, yanking.

Pain
shot through her scalp. She cried in pain and let go of the gun with
one of her hands to reach up to her throbbing head. He lifted his
weight off of her but kept his free hand tangled in her hair. He
snatched the gun from her hand.

“
Clayton,
please let me go,” she begged as tears rushed down her cheeks.

“
Get
the fuck up.” He yanked on her hair again.

The
pain sent her sitting up on the bed. She shifted her gaze over to the
bedroom door. If only Mikolas would come through there. Please. Right
now. But nobody would be there to save her. They were outside,
probably dead in the snow. The earlier gunshot blasts strengthened
her belief that
someone
was dead out there. And she’d be dead inside the cabin soon.

“
Let
me go and they won’t know it’s you,” she said.

Clayton
grabbed her forearm, making her flinch at the strength of his grip.
She tried to shake it free, but he squeezed her tighter as he pulled
her off the bed and toward the door.

“
Move
your sweet ass.” He was a few inches shorter than her but his
strength overpowered hers.

“
Where
are we going? What do you want?” With any hope, someone would
be alive out there. Maybe if she kept talking, someone would hear her
and come in.

“
You’ll
see soon enough.” He opened the door and shoved her through the
threshold. In the process, he let go of her arm to grab her hair
again.

“
Let
go of my hair,” she cried out.

He
tightened his grip, enough to send a series of stings through her
scalp. “Nope. It’s easier to keep you in line this way.”
He paused on the porch to listen for anyone’s presence.

A
dead body. Her breath caught in her chest. Getting closer to the man
wasn’t needed to identify him. Rif. She took a step forward,
loosening the resistance of her hair between her head and his fist.
He pulled a fist-full, sending her butt first against the porch. She
bit back a sob.

“
Get
down the stairs but don’t try running.” He pushed her
forward with the nuzzle of the gun in between her shoulder blades.

“
With
no shoes? There’s still snow—”