“We just finished a complete sweep of the warehouse,” he informs me. “Everything looks good.”
“Excellent.”
“How’re things on your end?”
“I’ve got the little fucker cornered,” I tell him. “But I’m going to need a clean-up team here as soon as possible. His body needs to disappear.”
“Got it,” Phoenix replies. “I’m coming, too.”
“Okay. See you soon. It’ll all be ready when you get here.”
“Wait—”
“Yeah?”
“You’re going in on your own?” Phoenix asks incredulously.
“Yes.”
“But you don’t know how many men he has in there.”
“Guess I’ll find out.”
“Kian…”
“Don’t worry, kid,” I tell him. “You’re starting to sound like your mother. I know it sounds like I’m taking a risk. But I’m not. I know this guy. He’s all sizzle, no steak.”
Phoenix snorts. “Fine. I’ll be there with the cleanup crew as soon as possible. Just… be careful, Uncle.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” I hang up and drop the phone in the passenger seat.
Outside, the neighborhood is really fucking quiet. The kind of quiet that radiates from a bunch of working-class stiffs who are too tired at the end of the day to do anything but sleep like the dead.
I eye the front door of the Lombardi safehouse as I approach. One cursory glance tells me there’s no security at all. No barriers that will keep me from entering.
It’s like the bastard wants to be slaughtered.
I step right up to the door and knock as though I’m paying them a friendly social call. I hear running footsteps almost immediately. Frantic, actually.
Then the door swings open.
The young woman standing opposite me is not who I’m expecting. And based on her reaction, I’m not who she’s expecting either.
“Oh, God…” she breathes.
Her light brown eyes are wide with alarm. It does nothing to detract from her obvious beauty.
Dark hair swept wild around her face, but still silky and begging to be yanked. She’s got a petite frame, tempting curves, and yet she’s small enough that my hands are itching to throw her around the room and squeeze moans from her again and again.
She’s the kind of girl I’d love breaking.
But she’s looking at me like the boogeyman just showed up on her doorstep.
I smile softly and shove my way into the house. By the time I’m finished here, she’ll be wishing it was the boogeyman instead.