The Hitman’s Obsession
Bad Boy Mafia Romance
Melinda London
Table-Of-Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 1
My feet slammed hard on the treadmill setting an oddly soothing, rhythmic beat. Nothing like an early morning workout, even if it was just on the treadmill. I looked out past the floor to ceiling glass windows into the city skyline. It was peaceful this time of day with the sky just beginning to lighten. Even in the city, most people moved slowly, or not at all at this hour. Long gone were the days of running outside. It was more relaxing to be able to work out here in the comfort of my own space than it was to have to watch my own back out on the streets. 40 more minutes, I thought, as I pushed the pace and relished the sweat that poured off my body. The alarm sounded as I hit 10 miles and I began slowing into my cool down. My lungs felt great, my body energized, and I was ready to hit the shower.
Stepping off the treadmill, I walked across to my desk. 13 emails had come in even at this early hour. The first one I checked, the most important one, was full of the details I needed. Dinner tonight was at Keen’s in midtown. Perfect, I could use a good steak I thought to myself as I walked through the hallway towards the master en suite stripping off my clothes as I went. The hot water hit me and instantly washed the sweat down my body. The extra money I had paid for this shower had been worth it. Pressure point sprays hit me from all over, massaging my skin. This was by far my favorite room I thought as I looked around at the spa like serenity, and high priced upgrades that had been worth every dime. I got dressed choosing my suit for the day carefully, steel grey for sure. It was all about presentation, all the time. Only the best of us realized just how important looking the part was.
Chapter 2
I strolled into my day job at 9am, looking around the furniture store with pride. This was the only part of my life that was completely, 100% legit. The store had passed down to me from my father, and my grandfather before him. When it had come to me I had not been ready. Following an epic 21st birthday, I had only gotten to visit my parents twice more before they had been murdered. My life had changed so much instantly. The overly confident goof ball I had been ceased to exist. The seriousness of life had found me. I gained the business, and a deeply rooted vow for revenge for my family all in a single moment. Inheriting the shop had been something I had not wanted at the time, though I had loved working there most of my life. It interrupted my plans for honoring my family, and by honoring my family, of course I meant extracting pain upon those who had gunned them down. I had certainly lacked the carpentry skills of my predecessors but made up for it with an eye for quality. I had grown into the business, reaching out to contacts in Lancaster and beyond for the best wood pieces I could find and thus growing it far passed what my family believed was possible. It was the one area of my life that I allowed myself to feel pride.
The store did not open until 11, so only a few staff were around as I headed toward my office. It always made me smile slightly when I thought of the complete double life I kept. All of my employees knew me as their no nonsense boss, an honest small business owner. They would never guess the kinds of things I did when I was not here. There was absolutely no reason for them to suspect how many people I had ended. Hit-man? Wasn’t that just in movies? That part of my life gave me an outlet for the rage that had burned in me since the day I head learned of my parent’s death.
The day moved quickly and I found myself walking into Keen’s at exactly 10 to 5. I nodded to James and walked to my usual table in the back. 2 minutes later, The Boss walked in. He was flanked by his usual guys and walked with an air of confidence only the most powerful can cultivate. He nodded his hello’s just like I had done only moments ago. I stood beside the table as he got closer, “James,” he called out in greeting as he opened his arms to me. The perfunctory hug, and kisses hello, old world style, were given all around before we all sat. Within minutes the wine was being poured, and we were advised our steaks were being prepared just the way we liked them.
Conversation flowed from the easy, “How’s the family?” straight to business flawlessly. These sort of sit downs were always performed like a dance moving lightly in the beginning and getting darker toward the end. A few hours later I walked out to my car with my orders and drove on auto pilot back to my building.
Negotiations had gone well. I agreed to the hit, they agreed to my price. Simple enough. The Boss’s right hand, Tommy had handed me a packet that held all the pertinent information and just like that the business portion of dinner concluded. We made some more small talk over espresso, then we all departed. The job required a bit of surveillance, but nothing that required a team. The address was an upscale Fifth Avenue place. Definitely out of the ordinary that my target was a woman, no one had ever asked me to kill a woman before and a well off one at that. When he had divulged that she was the daughter of the Jersey boss it made more sense. I had not heard that things had gotten so tense that such extreme measures needed to be taken, then again I had pulled as far out of the inner circle as they’d let me go. Interesting.
I sat back into my sofa having showered off the remains of the day, Glenlivet in hand, and a stunning photo in the other. She was gorgeous. I should not feel anything other than the anticipation of a new job, but then I pulled the photo out of the envelope. A powerful wave of lust slammed into me as those deep brown eyes looked back at me from the 8x11 color photo. Those eyes, something about them make me feel like she would be able to see right into me. Dammit, I thought as I slammed the picture down face first on the coffee table, and rifled through the remainder of the details that had been collected. She was some sort of online marketing genius who apparently had a thriving business. The other information was just general, routine stuff. What time she left the house? 8am. She alternated between yoga and spin 6 days a week. Her apartment was inside a secure, doorman monitored building. Best angle I had would be to just follow and try to get her in a crowded area where there would be too many people around to be able to figure out who had done her in. This all sounded so easy in my head, then I flipped the picture over. I shook my head and took a deep sip of my whiskey. This was not going to be as easy as I thought.
Chapter 3
For the next week I told myself I was preparing for the hit. I followed her a few times, careful never to get too close. She was breathtaking in person, fairly knocked the wind out of me every time I saw her. It was hard to concentrate when the wind caught her warm chestnut hair and blew her scent towards me. I went on trying my best to stay focused on the plan, the end result. It proved a difficult task, one I had never encountered before. It was clear she worked from home almost immediately. She never went into an office that was hers. I trailed her as she met with clients. She went from meeting a designer, to a sandwich shop owner, to a jazz singer, to a nightclub in Soho, to a salon. There was no rhyme or reason to her clients and I began to wonder if she picked clients based on their abil
ity to pay, or because they were friends. She was embraced by every single one of them, and every meeting was laid back. She surprised me too in the way she dressed. She always looked fantastic but seemed to prefer jeans and flowy dresses. Not once had I seen her in a business suit. I could not help but wonder how she had built such a thriving business. I hated that I wondered about her. I knew I should not be this interested, and yet unconsciously this need to know more about her was there. This was a dangerous line and it made me nervous. Still, I pushed on.
I planned a simple, clean hit. Years of doing this though had taught me to always have a backup plan with a backup plan for the backup plan. It was too easy, and foolhardy to think the situation would go according to plan. When the day came, I did my best to pump up for it. Told myself I had done this a dozen times, this time was no different. I wore my gun in one of my lighter holsters it also shaved a millisecond or so off my draw time. I checked to make sure that I also had the correct syringes prepped with enough sedative to bring her down easily. This was the backup plan, but I did not think I would need it. I could do this I said again to myself out loud as I finished packing up the necessities. It was, thankfully cool so my jacket was an easy camouflage. I followed behind her for a few blocks and realized we were fast approaching her building. It was when I grabbed her and she turned those brilliant, shocked eyes on me that I realized I really could not do this. Thankfully I was able to think fast enough to shove the needle into her arm to sedate her before she could cry out. As she went limp in my arms, I sternly asked the sea of people in the crowd to part so I could presumably get this poor passed out female to a doctor. Once in the cab I did the only thing I could think of, gave him the address of a place right near my own home.
“She suffers from seizures,” I had told the cab driver to explain her passed out state, “I just need to get her home so she can rest and recover.” He had nodded at me, assured of the situation, and then began driving diligently to get me home as quickly as possible. I tipped him decently and easily handled her weight as I walked towards the garage entrance of my building. I knew that camera was out so it would be easy to slip into my car without anyone being the wiser. I buckled her into the backseat, and drove right out of Manhattan.
What the hell was I doing? I asked myself as I drove toward the Pocono’s. I wasn’t entirely sure how long she would stay knocked out for so I kept glancing into the backseat toward her lovely face. How much of her father’s life did she know about? How was I going to explain this to her and get her to understand that was really saving her! I knew I could not kill her, I think I had known it from the moment I saw her face starring back at me in that photo.
Chapter 4
I made it all the way up to my eleven-acre ranch house deep in the Pocono Mountains without her waking. I carried her gently inside to the guest room, took her purse, checked her pockets. The was no house phone on property so after thoroughly reassuring myself that there was no way she could communicate with anyone, I left her to sleep. I walked down the hall toward the living room and sat in a chair facing her direction. My heart had been racing since the moment I had shoved that needle into her arm. I desperately needed to calm down so I could figure this out. How was I going to get her to believe a word I would say? I could not sit anymore. Pacing seemed a good alternative. Back and forth across the living room floor, the hard wood creaking beneath my feet as I went to and fro. This was not helping. I walked to the bar and poured myself a whiskey. That warm, caramel, liquid burn slid down the back of my throat as I sipped slowly. Deep breaths I told myself. Finally feeling my heart begin to slow, I walked carefully toward the chair I had vacated and once more sat.
Two whiskies and what felt like an eternity later, she opened the door slowly. I sat up a little straighter realizing that even after all of this time I did not know what to say. I could see the confusion and fear on her face as she came into sight, wanting to ebb that fear I said, “I won’t hurt you, you are safe.” She stopped next to the wall at the entrance to where the living room opened up. She stood, her eyes darting around the room. I could see her looking at the doors then her eyes flit over toward me. She was faster than I expected and my glass tumbling to the floor as I darted after her just as she fought to spring the lock on the back door. I put my hand on the door preventing her from throwing it open and said softly, “You don’t want to do that. There are bear, fox, and bob cats out there and we are miles away from anyone in either direction.” I paused letting this sink in before I continued, “Please sit down and give me a few minutes to explain.”
She looked around, then out the door into the blackness of the night. I saw her shoulders slump and took it as a sign that she just might sit a moment.
Chapter 5
I walked behind her toward the living room, keeping my distance. She was at least present enough to walk around the broken glass and melting ice from my discarded drink.
“Can I get you something to drink?” I asked softly after she sat.
“Water would be good, please.” Her eye weary as she looked up at me, fear coming off her in waves.
“Sure.” I walked toward the kitchen, thanking God that this was an open concept that allowed me to easily watch her as I went. She was calmer than I would be in her situation. I pulled the water from the refrigerator and walked slowly back to her. I handed her the bottle, then sat and waited. I wanted to crack a window, it was getting a little warm in here but I did not want to worry about yet another escape route for her. She finally looked up and asked, “Who are you?”
“My name is James,” my was voice steady, but soft.
“Why am I here? How did I get here? Was that you who took me on the street?” She asked her questions coming faster.
“I will try to explain, but I’m not sure where to start or how much to tell you. I don’t want to make this any harder on you.”
“Please, just tell me. I think I will be able to process it no matter how difficult, it would be worse for me to sit here guessing.” She looked me square in the face, no fear now, just an amazing resolve to garner her courage. She was even more stunning sitting there with her hair slightly tousled, looking pale but strong.
“Well, ok. Before I do though, I want you to know I will not hurt you. You are safe.” I paused wanting to tell her I would hurt who ever tried to lay a hand on her, but stopped myself, “Ok?”
“Ok.” She said after a pause, trepidation returning to her face once more.
“I was hired to kill you, but I find I am unable. The only thing I could think of to do was take you away.”
She nodded as if I confirmed something then asked, “Who hired you?”
“An enemy, that’s all I can tell you.” Amazingly she just nodded, again. Maybe she knew more about her father than I had guessed.
“So it’s not just as easy as you telling them you couldn’t get to me?” She asked only slightly hopeful.
“No. If I failed, they would just send someone else.”
“I see.” I watched as something flickered in her eyes, and a change came over her. Her shoulders slumped again and she sat further back into the cushions almost as if her strength had seeped out of her.
We sat in silence for a while. Every impulse in me was screaming at me to go take her hand, offer her comfort. With great effort I turned my gaze toward the broken glass on the floor. A shame, I had liked that tumbler.
“So now what?” She asked suddenly, startling me.
Meeting her gaze square on, “Ah. Honestly?” She nodded. “I hadn’t gotten that far.”
She started to laugh then. I sat stunned by her reaction, and still she laughed on.
“You know I tried so hard to set myself apart. Never wanted any of that life to touch me. Seems as though it has caught up despite my efforts. Do you have anything stronger than water?” Losing the laughter in her voice.
“Sure, I have just about everything, what’s your preference?” I asked standing and walking over to the bar.
&n
bsp; “Whiskey? Scotch?”
“I was sipping Glenlivet,” I pointed toward the mess on the floor, “Before I had to chase you.”
“Sorry about that. I’d love some of that though, please.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll clean it in a minute. Let me fix us drinks first, I think we both can use them.”
“I’m Guliana by the way, though I guess you already know that.”
“It’s nice to meet you, though the circumstances are less than ideal.” I said as I handed her the tumbler. She laughed again then took a deep sip. I took a small sip of mine before placing it down to begin cleaning up the broken glass. It took me a few minutes as it had been a while since I had been here, I could not exactly remember where everything was. I could feel her eyes on me as I moved around. I wondered what she was thinking. I felt like the absolute worst version of myself in these moments. Confessing what I had been hired to do. What she must think of me! I wanted to tell her about my legit life. I wanted to throw on a suit and show her the best of myself. Ridiculous thoughts, I chided myself as I tossed the broken glass safely into the garbage. As I walked back toward her I realized I honestly still did not know what to do.
“I’m sorry. I wish I could tell you I had a plan and that somehow tomorrow would be normal, but I can’t. I can tell you that you are safe here.”
“This is all very strange, and yet part of me just thinks, ‘it figures’, par for the course in my family.” I took a small sip of my drink and watched her as thoughts raced through her mind. “You don’t have anything to eat do you?” Her eyebrows raised in hope.
“Actually, no. I hadn’t planned this out at all.” Checking my watch, I said, “It’s still early enough, the local store will be open. We could go grab food, and whatever other toiletries and necessities we need.”
MAFIA ROMANCE: The Hitmans Obsession: Bad Boy Alpha Male Mafia Pregnancy Romance (Contemporary Crime Thriller & Suspense Romance) Page 1
