Page 157 of Mafia and Gold Digger

I exhale. “Good, great.”

But then she looks slightly panicked. “But you will still be a daddy to my teddy bears, won’t you?” she asks in a small voice.

And I swallow down the knot in my throat. “Of course. I’m always going to be here for you, Jaspar, Milena, Em, and even…your teddy bears.” The last words stick in my throat, but I’ll say and do whatever this little girl needs to feel safe in this big bad world. And I’ll do whatever Emerald needs as well.

“You know, Mr. Saint…” She’s already forgotten that she agreed to drop the Mr. from my name. “I reckon the new baby’s gonna have an amazing life with you and Em as its mommy and daddy.” Somehow, Milena found out that Em is pregnant, probably via Jacquetta, and now Giulietta and Jaspar know as well. “Because you know how to braid hair now. And how to take us to school on time. And the baby will probably get to have a tea party every single day as well…”

And when she says that, a piece of my heart swells. If she reckons Emerald and me are doing a good job at parenting them all, then I know we’ve got a great chance of making this family work. Because in my mind, that’s what we are now. Me, Emerald, Milena, Jaspar, Giulietta, and the baby—a proper family.

CHAPTERFORTY-SIX

SAINT

Finally. Finally, I’ve found the fucking traitor who’s been stealing the money and investing in the trafficking ring.

It was one of our captains, Armando Barbieri. Fucking asshole. What the fuck was he thinking getting involved with the Croatians?

Before I go to see Christian, I call a new hacker I found a while ago and tell him it’s time. I’ve had this planned for a while now. And after giving him a couple of hours to do his thing, I take the necessary information to Christian.

Walking into the office at the casino, I toss the printouts in front of him. “Found the traitors.”

“Traitors, as in plural?”

“Yeah. It’s all there in black and white.”

He picks up the papers and sits back in his chair. A frown pulls his features as he reads through them. “So, Armando Barbieri?”

“Yeah,” I reply.

He shakes his head. “Kill the fucker. Never liked him anyway.”

“Consider it done, boss.”

Christian looks up from the papers and looks hard at me. “And Carmine Cicconi was involved too?”

“Yeah.” I’m silent for a few long moments. “Everything you need is in those papers.”

He eyeballs me. “You mean, everything I need if anyone challenges me on why I gave the go ahead for Carmine to be killed?”

“Yeah.” I never could hide anything from Christian.

“Kill him too,” he says quietly.

I nod. Christian knows why I need to do this. He knows I’ve set Carmine up so that I can take him out and keep Emerald safe.

I take care of Barbieri first, taking him out cleanly and efficiently. A single bullet to the head. As much as I want to torture the fucker and take my time, I’m burning to get to Carmine. To end that fucker before he can do anything more to Emerald.

On my way to Carmine, I make a quick stop to kill that fucker, Alberto, for daring to insult Emerald that time with that stupid bet comment. Another single bullet to the head.

And then I get onto the man I really want. Carmine. I already know his daily movements by heart. I’ve been surveilling him since I came up with the plan to frame him.

Every evening, he goes to the gym at 5 p.m. Although his waistline doesn’t look to be helped by his frequent workouts, which is hardly surprising given hisgymis actually the home of a hooker.

By the time he arrives, I’ve already paid off the hooker to leave town and never come back.

He’s got his own key, and I hear the door open and close. Then I hear his heavy tread of footsteps up the staircase. As he walks in, he already has his tiny dick pulled out of his pants. And the first thing he sees is me sprawled back in the armchair and pointing a gun at his head.

“Saint…?”

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