always lends her the appearance of someone who knows a secret that she cannot wait to share.
I always wondered what happened to her after my father’s death. She disappeared in the middle of the night, presumably never to be seen again. If only it were that simple.
“Felicity,” I growl. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I thought it was time for a chat,” she coos, leaning one hip against the doorframe. “I hear you’ve been demanding to have an audience with me all over town.”
I frown. “I didn’t even know you were alive.”
“Oh come now, Gabriel.” She rolls her eyes, chuckling. “Don’t be so dense.”
The pieces click together in my mind. But no…It can’t be.
I grit my teeth. “You’re leading the Cartel?”
Felicity laughs, an airy sound that seems so out of place in this den of horrors. “Don’t look so surprised, darling. You knew I was ambitious.” She cocks the gun. “I did have my sights on the Italian Mafia, but some little shit got in my way and took it for himself.”
My lip curls in disgust. “So who did you have to kill to get this job?”
“I barely had to kill anyone,” she says with a weak shrug. “Filipe Montoya was already an old man when I met him. His sons were the only ones who I knew would contest me when I took over after his death, so I set them against each other, and they took care of that problem themselves.” She sighs. “Anyway, I do apologize, my darling, but it absolutely stinks in here, and I have tickets to the theater tonight, so if you wouldn’t mind getting on your knees, I’d like to get this over with.”
I look over her shoulder. Where are the rest of my men?
Felicity tracks my gaze. “Oh, I wouldn’t expect your men to burst through and save you,” she says. “Kevin Lynch and his men have them shored up on the other side of the house. They’re just awaiting my word.” She grins. “Kevin is such a little darling, isn’t he? I’ve found mob bosses to be terribly malleable. It’s the ego, I think.” She sighs. “Anyway, it has been lovely to catch up, but I’m afraid I must insist—” She steps closer, expression souring. “Get on your fucking knees.”
My jaw tightens, and I begin to slowly lower, mind whirring as I try to think my way out of this.
Before my knees touch the ground, Clara screams and bursts out of her chair with more speed than I would have given her credit for. She rugby tackles Felicity to the ground, giving Mirko and me the opening we need to take out her backup.
The small house fills with the sound of gunshots as Dom and his men start attacking the forces at the other side of the house. Only a moment after we have dispatched Felicity’s two thugs, more appear. I barely have time to wrench Clara away from where she is wrestling with Felicity on the ground and dart out the back door.
“Fall back!” I hear Mirko call from inside. “We got her!”
I load Clara into the back of my SUV and wait outside, gun drawn, in case I need to cover the retreat.
Men start to flood out of the house. Dom is propping up one of his men, who has received a bullet wound to the thigh, but otherwise they all seem more or less unhurt. We pile into our vehicles and hit the road, tires squealing against the pavement.
I look to the back seat as Mirko navigates the narrow streets. Clara is wedged between Gio and Peter, and she looks impossibly small.
“Are you hurt?” I ask.
Clara glares at me through narrowed green eyes. “I’m fine,” she mutters.
“You could at least pretend to be a little more grateful for the rescue,” I reply irritably.
“You could be a little more grateful for me saving your ass back there,” she snaps. “For the record, I wouldn’t have needed rescuing if you hadn’t pulled Alexis into this whole nightmare. She and the people she cares about are in danger every day because of you, and yet you’ve spent the last month moping around and refusing to talk to her because your feelings are hurt!”
My lips flatten. Next to me, Mirko’s mouth pricks up in a smile.
“I would watch how you speak to me,” I warn in a cold voice, though to be honest, I’m a little impressed at her feistiness. It makes sense that Alexis would choose someone like her as