Page 68 of The Queen's Vow (Ruthless Games 2)

FORTY-SEVEN

REBECCA

I breathed in the wonderfulsmell of basil and garlic coming from the kitchen. The low hum of conversation from Giancarlo and Anthony talking business while Bastien cooked set my brain to ease.

I stood in the doorway of Gian’s office watching Julian take over his temporary command center which may have been as hard as sharing me. By letting Julian see his network, Gian opened up how he managed his father’s dirty world. We’d been here a week and no one’s killed him or me. I’d say we were doing well.

And fucking our brains out.

“Holy shit,” Julian mumbled, not realizing my presence or that I’d been watching him. “Giancarlo!”

“What?” Gian came up behind me in the doorway and after brushing his lips on my shoulder, he strutted inside.

“Check me, am I seeing this correctly.”

“Fuck me,” Gian mumbled and grabbed the laptop. “That’s not good.”

The rigidness of Gian’s body terrified me. “What?”

Julian turned around and I’d come to expect a smile from his full lips. Now they pinched tight. “Hey, gorgeous. I think we found him.”

Him... Of course, it was a man. “Who?” I stroked my throat. “Who is it?” Admittedly, I hadn’t been schooled on all the hitmen out there.

“He goes by Fen Cole,” Gian answered.

Yep, never heard of him. “Goes by?” I muttered.

“Interpol shared his dossier with me years ago.” Julian paced in front of Gian.

“Interpol?” I asked.

“He’s from somewhere in Europe. Eastern Europe. Hungary, maybe. Their infrastructure sucks. It’s easy to mask yourself in those regions.”

“But every man has habits. And needs,” Gian said, low and controlled.

“You’ve heard of him, Gian?” I approached the laptop when a figure appeared on the screen.

“Yeah, but never really dug into who he was. Never had to.”

“That monster’s not set foot in the U.S. in over ten years,” Julian added.

“Great. I’m special.” I stared at a dark-haired man, close cropped hair, long leather coat and sharp angles in his shadowed face.

“Now that we know who he is, we can track him,” Gian said.

“You’re sure?” I asked.

He whipped around with a look of confusion. “You’re questioning my ability?”

Julian smacked his arm. “Don’t talk to her like that.”

I pushed my way between them and brushed Julian’s arm. “He’s just tense. I know him.”

The heat of two men surrounded me. With Julian pushed into my back, I stroked Giancarlo’s face. “Of course, I don’t question you. I’d put my life in your hands in a minute. A second, even. I don’t know why I asked that. Someone wants to kill me and I’m frightened by that. Maybe that makes me look weak. But I’ll admit that to you because I love you.”

Gian hugged me, but I still felt Julian’s chest pressed against my back. His arms came around me too.

“What’s going on?” Anthony strutted in, finishing the heel of Italian bread.

I sunk into his arms next so Julian and Gian could keep working. “They found the guy. A Fen Cole.”

“Cole?” He sounded more surprised than worried. “Fucking Cole?”

“I know,” Gian muttered from his laptop.

“How can you track him if he’s using an alias?” I asked.

“Habits, like I said.” Gian showed me a pouting blonde woman on his screen.

“He used three different accounts to pay her last month. I assume this is him since her other deposits lead to guys I know aren’t him,” Julian said.

“Wire transfers?” I asked.

“In bitcoin,” Gian added. “Currency in Eastern Europe is crap.”

“The good thing about bitcoin is it’s not entirely secure. Yet,” Julian added.

“These fucking accounts are a pain in the ass. Wait,” Gian gasped. “I’m in.”

I shuddered and held on to Anthony, who wound his arms around me. “No one’s getting near you, angel. I promise you. I’ll knife someone with my dying breath.”

“Finding him is only half the battle,” Gian said. “We need to know who paid Cole. I can put a hit on him tomorrow. Send my mercenaries to find him and gut him.”

“Then the person who wants me dead will just post the contract again,” I said softly.

“We need this animal alive.” Anthony gave me a squeeze and then bent to look at Gian’s laptop.

“Can he be bought off?” I asked.

Anthony glanced at me over his shoulder with his lips pursed. “Good question. Julian?”

“Every man’s got his price.”

“And his weakness,” Gian said, typing. “I’m sending some guys to watch the blonde.”

“But every guy’s got his pride,” Sebastien said, coming up behind me.

“You’ve been listening?” I turned to him.

“Yep.” He sipped a glass of whiskey.

“We can fake anything,” Gian said and looked at me. “But as long as Becca is breathing...”

“If he doesn’t kill me then someone will know he either failed or was bought off,” I said. “Wonderful.”

“I can’t fucking believe I’m gonna do this,” Gian said, holding his chin.

“What?” Anthony said.

“I’m gonna let him know where we are. I’m sorry, I don’t want to go through hoops. I’m done waiting.”

“Gian, no. This is your safehouse.” I held my throat. “I agree, we need to lure him to me. But not here.” I had a business to run. I had a kingdom to rule. I couldn’t hide anymore. This had to end.

“He’s not leaving here until he gives up the details of who is paying him,” Gian said in a voice I’d never heard. The voice of a ruthless Byrne. “I need to check one thing first.” He stood and from his leather briefcase took out another laptop. “Julian, forward that code to this IP.” He read off a series of numbers.

“Sent,” Julian said, also holding his head.

“What are you checking, Gian?” Bastien asked him.

“I’m making sure my father didn’t wire this animal money.” His words sent chills down my spine. “Then I’m checking Messina and Daria businesses too.”

“How can you...” Bastien started, but ran a hand through his hair. “Never mind. Look who I’m asking?”

“For what it’s worth, Bastien, Messina, my father doesn’t know I have hooks into your businesses like this. To this level. He thinks I just hacked your security cameras.”

“You’ve been spying on us?” Anthony crossed the room.

“For years, Messina. Has your business collapsed? No.”

Anthony shook his head. “That’s fucked up.”

“Fucking thank you, Jesus. God. Anyone,” Gian gasped in relief.

“What?” I asked him.

He closed the laptop. “Nothing. Our fathers didn’t wire this guy money. Or make any transfers to the clearinghouses he uses.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. If Patrick Byrne, Anthony Messina Sr., or Richard Daria put the hit on me, I could address it head on.

The evil you know...

I had their sons in my bed, I could deal with them. Hell, their sons would deal with them for me. They loved me. Would they die for me?

“Don’t reach out to Cole. Let’s just see where he is first,” I breathed, wanting another night with my men. “Please. Dinner smells amazing.”

Gian smiled. “Yes, it does.”

The echoing sound of water dripping filled the room from his phone and Gian spun around with a look of horror on his face.

“What the hell is that?” Anthony asked.

“The tripwire I set up. I purposely used a ringtone that didn’t sound like an alarm in case someone infiltrated the house first.”

“What?” I asked, sinking against the wall.

“The driveway.” Gian stood, looking ready to turn into a feral monster. “Someone must have crashed through the gate. And is headed right toward my house.”

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