Dangerous Flames (Mafia Hearts) (26 page)

Mik
shook his head and reached out to her. “I don’t want you
going, but if you insist, at least let me get some clothes on.”

She
planted a kiss on his lips and then smiled. “And I need to face
my fear of the dark. This will help.”

His
face stated twisted in a frown. “What about dead bodies?”

“
No
way.” She let out a small laugh.

While
Mik rushed into the bedroom, she went to the door. She didn’t
want to wait another second to get out of there.

Chapter Eighteen

Gabrielle
pushed the cobwebs away and groaned. She had been right on one
account to Mik, but so had he when he told her she shouldn’t be
going alone. Why did she feel compelled to go instead of waiting the
few extra minutes for him to dress? Because she had to get over her
fear of the dark.

She
held a candle out in front of her, so she could search the walls
enclosing the staircase for a light switch. Surely with a cabin
designed as grand as this, her father would have put some sort of
lighting down there. She walked clear to the bottom of the stairs
before the frayed string brushed against her cheek. A deep breath
escaped her lungs as if she’d found her lifeline. She gave it a
yank, and light filled the large room with shelves lining the walls.
Toward the back of the room was a door.

She
blew the candle out and set it on the small table in the corner by
the door. Fear of the dark shadows started creeping up. She pushed
the feeling back down into the pit of her stomach. “I’m
okay. Nothing bad is down here,” she said to herself. She
pushed the code she’d memorized into the key pad, listened to
the two beeps, and watched until the green light blinked. The click
of the lock made her anxious.

She
stared at the door. Should she go in or wait for Mik? It was as if it
was calling to her. A grim smile crept on her lips. Her heart pounded
in her ribcage. Too late to turn back now. Fear rushed through her
veins and even though her gut screamed at her to stop, she put her
hands on the door.

“
Do
it,” she ordered herself. Her sneaker hit the bottom of the
door, sending it flying open. It hit the back wall with a loud bang.
Oops.

She
walked over to the shelves and lifted one of the boxes out to peek
inside. It was full of guns. She sucked in her breath. Her hands
trembled as she moved to the next box. Another filled with guns. They
didn’t seem to be in any particular organization. Machine guns
were piled on top of small handguns. Row after row she went until she
reached another door.

The
room was dark, so she grabbed the candle off the table and patted her
pockets for some matches. Hopefully there would be a light in there,
so she wouldn’t have to rely on the very dim glow of the
candle. She looked around for a hanging string but found none this
time. She sucked in her breath and walked all the way into the large
room.

This
room had shelves lining the walls as well. The difference was instead
of boxes, there were small plastic bags stacked one on top of
another. In the center of the room sat the table with an industrial
size box of bags matching the ones on the shelves. She edged closer
to the shelves. Her eyes didn’t want to focus to the darkness,
forcing her to pull at some more cobwebs and walk even closer. She
held the candle over the plastic. It looked like money, but it
couldn’t all be hundred dollar bills.

She
picked up the small plastic wrapped bundle and sure enough, it was
cash. The entire room was lined with shelves. Each shelf was stacked
solid with cash. No way could this be real.

“
Gabi?”
Mik called from somewhere near the first door.

“
I’m
back here.”

Heavy
footsteps approached, letting her relax a tiny bit.

She
closed her eyes and opened them, expecting to be some other place but
she wasn’t. She was still inside the room filled with money.

“
Did
you find the money?”

“
Yes.”
She took a deep breath and tried to calm her breathing.

“
Are
you okay?” He came into the room.

Her
hand covered her mouth. She had known her family was involved with
illegal activity but didn’t know to what extent. Since her
father hadn’t given her permission to come up to the cabin, she
was in a huge amount of trouble. Hopefully he didn’t believe in
murdering his daughter as he did other people.

Chapter Nineteen

Johnny’s
plan was finally going his way. The poisoning hadn’t worked and
neither did the set-up at the warehouse, but fuck, he was going to
get Enrico and whoever else got into his way. He had to. A lot of
money would be in his hands while gaining a new status. Too much rode
on this hit. He couldn’t fuck it up again.

Following
them had worked this far. He had been a short distance behind them
when he had spotted the ugly white vehicle turning up the mountain
road. A sheriff’s car, with lights flashing, cut Johnny’s
rental car off. He’d pulled to the side of the road to wait a
few minutes but didn’t get a chance to move the car before both
vehicles drove passed him again. He’d found the van parked in
the hotel parking lot. It was going to be easier than he had thought.

With
the snow slowly melting, it wouldn’t be too much longer before
they tried to make it up the mountain again. He could take out the
three guys right there in their room but he wanted to locate the
vault. The only guys who knew the location lay sound asleep now in
the hotel room. The idea of all of the Family’s money made his
hands itch. He figured it was loaded with cash—cash that would
set him up for a long time. There was going to be a murder up there
at the ritzy cabin plus a robbery. He had his gun ready to shoot all
of them. Every single one of those assholes. Oh, how sweet it would
be.

****

Gabrielle
hurried into the chilly bedroom with nothing but a towel wrapped
around her, finding Mik sitting on the foot of the bed. “I’m
glad you’re ready. It’ll only take me a few minutes and
then we’re out of here.”

His
gaze slid over her bare shoulder as he reached a hand out to her.
“Come here.”

Shaking
her head, she said, “Nope. I need to get dressed.” She
tossed the towel onto the chair and grabbed a fresh pair of panties.
After sliding them up her hips, she slipped into a t-shirt.

“
Gabi,”
he said, never taking his eyes off her. His hand connected with hers,
guiding her over to him.

“
Damn,
Mik. Are you always going to have the ability to seduce me like
this?” Her legs straddled his legs as she pressed her mouth
against his.

“
I
sure hope so,” he answered, his voice gruff against her kisses.

“
Hello?”
A dreaded voice rang out in the cabin.

Her
lips froze on top of Mikolas’ with her eyes wide open in shock.
Why had her father come here? The mumbled sounds suggested there were
more than just him in the living room.

“
Oh,
shit,” she said, jumping off Mikolas. She glanced at the door
and then back at him while whispering, “This can’t be
happening. Tell me I’m dreaming, Mik.”

“
You’re
not dreaming, baby,” he whispered.

She
grabbed her discarded pants and slipped them up over her pink thong.
Not worrying about a bra, she tossed on a t-shirt. “Stay in
here. I need to tell him I’m with you so he isn’t
surprised. Besides, if he freaks out, it‘ll give you time to
run and we’ll meet up in town.”

The
bedroom door creaked open enough for her to pass through and then
quickly shut behind her again to cut off any view of the bedroom. Her
father stood outside of the door with one hand tucked in his shirt,
probably ready to pull his gun.

“
It’s
okay, Dad.”

“
Gabrielle,
what are you doing here?” her father questioned.

The
two guys standing behind him relaxed a bit but Gabrielle figured they
were never really allowed to be totally at ease. At least Mikolas’
father hadn’t joined Enrico on this trip.

“
Didn’t
Mom tell you anything?”

“
You
said you were going on vacation with a friend.”

“
Mom
wanted me to leave because of your death threat. She told me about
your cabin. I came here with a friend. I just didn’t tell you I
was coming here. A friend is with me.”

She
wished she had put on the bra. One of the men, a new associate of her
father’s, ogled her breasts. Lucky for him, her father hadn’t
seen or Rif would be a dead man.

Her
arms didn’t do much to guard the scenery her breasts were
providing to the men. “Can we talk privately?” she asked
her father.

He
snapped his fingers. “Outside. I need to talk to my daughter.”

The
men hurried out the door, giving Gabrielle a chance to relax her
arms. “I need to tell you something really important. I hope
you’re not upset.”

“
Has
anyone hurt you?” his father demanded to know.

She
gave a small laugh. “No. Can we sit down?”

Gabrielle
followed her father over to the leather couch. He sat against the
soft cushion and put his feet on the coffee table. Gabrielle marveled
at the fact that her father could furnish his house with tables that
cost a few grand and then put his dirty shoes on them. But then
again, money wasn’t an issue for him.

“
What’s
going on? Where’s your friend?” he fired at her as he
took the gun from his waistband and set it on the couch between them.

“
In
there,” she said, pointing in the direction of the bedroom.

“
What
did you say her name was?”

She
sucked in her breath and slowly let it out. “That’s what
I wanted to talk to you about. I’m not here with a
girl
friend.”

“
What?
You have a man here with you?”

“
Yes,
Dad, and it didn’t start out the way it looks to you right
now.”

Enrico
grabbed the gun again and rested it against his thick thigh. He
glanced back at the bedroom door as if he would be ready to shoot any
man who walked through it. And he probably would.

“
How
did it happen?”

“
I’ll
tell you, but you have to know who’s in there first.”

“
Yeah,
yeah.” He waved the gun in the air like it was his third hand.
“Tell me.”

“
Only
if you promise me two things.” Gabrielle sucked in her breath
with anticipation, ready for him to explode.

Even
though Enrico was the Don of the Mafia, one thing was for certain. He
never broke a promise to his wife or daughter. Gabrielle couldn’t
remember a time when her father told her something and hadn’t
come through with it.

“
Shit,
Gab, just tell me what it is. I don’t have time for this
bullshit.”

She
leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest as she shook her
head. “Not until you promise you’ll listen to my whole
story and you won’t kill the guy
no
matter what
.”

His
face twisted, leaving deep creases between his eyebrows, his mouth
formed into a frown. He remained silent as he set the gun back on the
couch. After a few moments he muttered, “Fine. I’ll
listen and I won’t kill him.” The frown set even deeper
into his face.

“
It’s
Mikolas.”

Enrico
jumped to his feet, grabbing his gun in the process. He was quick for
an almost fifty-year-old. “You better be talking about another
Mikolas and not Mikolas Russo.”

“
Daddy,
it is Mikolas Russo.” She jumped to her feet. “And you’re
not going to hurt him.”

He
whipped around, shot a glare over the bedroom door and then stomped
to the front door, slamming it behind him. Gabrielle could hear him
swearing and throwing stuff in the front yard. It was a better
reaction than she had thought. They were lucky that her father had
let Mik live so far, but this still wasn’t over. Her hands
trembled as she pushed some hair from her face.

The
bedroom door slowly opened. Mik, dressed to leave the cabin for good,
walked out. “Where’s he at?” he asked.