Kiss Of Death: A Dark Mafia Romance

Nero

My eyes land on Tommy’s prone body the second the elevator doors open. I tuck behind the small protruding wall that divides the foyer from the kitchen and feel around underneath the side table next to the gym door. My fingers brush over the gun that’s taped to the underside, and I yank it loose. George and Zeus run up to me excitedly, and I relax. If there were someone in the apartment still, then they’d let me know. It’s why I have them. Going to Tommy, I crouch down, pressing my finger to his neck. He’s fine, just unconscious. A nasty red mark is blossoming across his temple and it looks like he got pistol-whipped badly. I shake his shoulder and he groans, eyelids twitching before they finally open.

“Boss?”

I sigh. “Where’s Una?” I know, without even having to ask, exactly where she’s gone, but I want to hear him say the words. I want him to tell me that he let her fucking go.

“She, uh, she knocked me out,” he says, dropping his eyes away from my scrutinizing stare.

I push to my feet. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know.”

“Fuck!” I brace my hands against the kitchen island and it’s then that I notice the scrap of paper in the middle. Picking it up, I read over the scrawled words.

Nero.

Don’t get your panties in a wad. I’ve gone to do my job. Don’t wait up.

Una.

O’Hara. She’s gone after fucking O’Hara, and he knows she’s coming. Shit!

“What time did she leave?”

“About eight.”

It’s ten thirty.

I drop my head forward. “She’s gone after O’Hara. Two hours is too long and he knows she’s coming. She’s probably dead.” I say the words calmly, but I don’t feel calm. I feel…aggravated, to the point that I want to rip this place apart.

“She might not be. She…I mean…” he stammers.

I twist my gaze towards him. “She what?”

He takes a seat across from me, resting his head in his hands. “She has this guy, Darren.”

“You need to talk really fucking fast, Tommy,” I growl.

“Look, she made me take her to O’Malley’s on Tuesday,” he says in a rush. “This guy tried to talk to her, so she gave him her number. She was going to use him as an in to get to O’Hara.”

“Do you know any more about this guy?”

“Derham, I think she said his name was Darren Derham.”

Well, this just gets better and better. “Find me details. I want family, a wife, a mother, anything you can find.” I pick up my keys and take another gun out of the kitchen drawer. “I will deal with you later.” That woman is incapable of listening to anything I say and now she’s dragging Tommy into this shit with her. And me? I’m running headfirst after her for reasons I can’t begin to explain even to myself.

Jackson pulls up in the alleyway just around the corner from O’Malley’s. I called him on my way over because I sure as hell need backup and when it comes to fighting, Jackson’s always handy. He gets out of the black SUV and eyes me with a tight expression before opening the back door. Moving beside him, I stare at the woman on the back seat, her stomach swollen and her face streaked with tears.

“I have no desire to hurt you. Call Darren. Now. Tell him where you are and that if he doesn’t come alone, I’m going to kill you.” A ragged sob comes from her. Fuck me, I don’t have time for this shit. Jackson hands her a phone and she takes it, hands shaking as she follows my instructions.

“Darren!” she cries, her voice breaking. She draws several heaving breaths, tears and snot running down her face. “I’m in the alley one block over from the bar. He…he’s going to kill me.”

Snatching the phone away from her, I put it to my ear. The sound of dull music is in the background, as if he’s in a hallway or a side room away from the main bar. “You have something I want, Mr. Derham. So, you are going to come and meet me, alone, or I am going to blow your pretty little girlfriend’s brains all over the dirty fucking street.” My voice rises and then I hang up, tossing the phone to Jackson.

“Point a gun at her head. You see any more than one guy walk around that corner, shoot her.”

“Oh god.” She starts whimpering and crying before she clasps her hands together and starts praying under her breath. I have no sympathy for that shit, and you know why? Because if you get involved with a mafia guy, this is to be expected. And if she didn’t know he was mafia…well, that just makes her stupid. The mafia are all about protecting women and keeping them out of it, they create these rules that make them untouchable, rely on honor, and it works…until a bastard like me comes along. I don’t have any honor and I’ll use any means necessary to get what I want. If he wants to take what’s mine, he can be damn sure I’ll take what’s his.

A few minutes later, a figure appears at the mouth of the alley. He’s alone but his fingers are wrapped around a gun. “Who the fuck are you?” he asks, his voice strained.

“I’m the guy with a gun to your woman’s head.” I point towards Jackson who has his gun trained on the back seat.

“Darren!” she screams, and I see his eyes pinch slightly, his lips pressing together.

“What do you want?” he asks through clenched teeth.

I approach him and place my gun under his chin. He stares me straight in the eye. “I want Una.”

“She’ll already be dead.”

I ram the barrel of the gun into his throat hard enough to make him gag and choke.

“You had best hope not, because at this point, her life is tied to dear Polly’s here.”

“O’Hara has her,” he says through clenched teeth.

“Where?”

“The cellar of the bar.”

“Thank you. You’ve been very helpful.” I pull the trigger and a bloody gaping hole appears in his throat. He’s seen Una’s face, knows who she is. He’s a liability. The girl starts screaming and it’s loud enough to wake the dead. Jackson leans in the back of the car and then it’s silent. He closes the door and opens the trunk, handing me a semi-automatic.

“Grab his feet.” I pick up Darren’s shoulders and Jackson gets his ankles. I don’t have time to fix this now, so we just throw him in the trunk.

Only one guy guards the back of the bar. We duck down in the shadows behind a dumpster and watch for a second.

“Boss, we’re walking into the Irish stronghold,” Jackson says. I don’t respond because I’m well aware. “Is she really worth getting killed for?”

Is she? I don’t know. All I know is I want her back. I’m not ready for my vicious little butterfly to meet her end. If anyone is going to kill her, it will be me.

“We’ll see, won’t we?” I push to my feet. The guard turns to face us and Jackson shoots him, the muted pop from the silencer the only sound before he hits the ground. I’m hoping that they’re all too drunk to pay too much attention and honestly, he’s right, this is their stronghold. It’s the last place they would expect a hit.

I fire off one round at the lock, yanking the old door open. I have no idea what I’m walking into, and I’m not sure I care.