The Heist (29 page)

As Alicia
jumped back, she pressed tight against Xavier’s hard body, which
was hardening in all the right places.

“
It’s
cooking.” He stated the obvious as he held her hand and helped her
turn the rashers. “I’m getting hungry,” he growled low as he passed
her an egg, covering her other hand with his so that they were
joined together over the hot plates. “To crack the egg, it’s all in
the wrist action, Sweetcheeks.”

He was
talking about the eggs, but thinking about something entirely
different, and his hunger was quickly turning to lust.

Alicia was disgusted at
the smell that was overpowering her senses that she subconsciously
moved further back into Xavier, his hardening length was pressing
into her lower back.

“
This smells
disgusting! How can you eat this?”

“
When a male
is hungry, he needs feed, Sweetcheeks…and to me you smell real
good.” He quickly corrected himself, hoping that Alicia didn’t
notice his Freudian slip. “It smells real good.  Now, the
eggs?”

Pulling back
his hand, he waited for her to flick that delicate wrist and crack
the egg against the side of the pan. “They make a perfect
combination — salty meat and soft eggs that ooze sweet goodness
from the core.” Xavier was glad he hadn’t asked for sausages as
well, because right now his mind was South of his stomach as it was
and he was more than happy to provide his own brand of breakfast in
a bun, especially if Alicia kept rubbing back against him as she
was doing.

“
Do you get
hungry a lot? I can’t remember being mortal.” Alicia was grinning
as she moved the spatula around, wiggling her hips every time the
fat sizzled and spat out in the pan.  “Now what?”

“
It seems
that the more time I spend with you, the bigger my...appetite
grows.” Just as Xavier was about to kick Alicia’s feet apart, and
bend her over the hot stove, his cell rang.

“
Fucking
cockblocking Highlander,” he growled, distinctly annoyed as he
simply handed a plate to Alicia, walking back to the table and
answering the call. “You better be fucking dying, Scot, cos if you
ain’t you will be, we clear?”

Shuggie pulled back and
looked at his cell to double check he’d dialled the right
number

“
Who pissed
in yer cornflakes, Commander? Look, Ah huvnae got the time tae
explain, jist get back tae base asap.” The line went dead. “Aye, an
‘hi how the fuck are ye an all’, ye impatient fucking
bastard!”

Looking
apologetically at Alicia, he took the plate and sat
down.

“
We have to go back, Sweetcheeks.” But he wasn’t missing his
breakfast that had been prepared by Alicia’s own fair hands, so
whatever dire emergency it was
this
time, it could bloody well
wait. Talking with his mouth full, he waved his fork at Alicia.
“This is fucking good,” smiling as he cut into the eggs, watching
the yolk burst. “Want to try some?”

“
Oh gods no!”
Alicia's hand flew to her mouth to stop her from gagging. “Hugh had
urgency in his voice solider boy, let me go grab my bag that I
packed, you finish my masterpiece and we can head back to your
compound…yeah?”

Alicia darted from her
kitchen, her laughter filling the air as she mimicked Xavier.
 Once she had had an internal battle with herself at the close
proximity they had shared again in the kitchen, she casually walked
back into the kitchen with her passenger bag over her shoulder.
 Seeing the confused look on Xavier’s face as he polished off
his eggs and bacon.

“
What? I steal
my clothes, I travel light!”

“
You are
filthy rich, what the fuck do you need to steal for?” Giving Alicia
a disapproving look, he rinsed his empty plate, then turned and
took the bag from her. “Do I have to ask to hold your hand
again?”

Smirking as Alicia
grabbed his arm and flashed them back to the compound where a very
anxious Shuggie awaited them.

Xavier jutted
his jaw up when he saw Shuggie, then placed Alicia’s bag down on
the floor.

Shuggie glared at Xavier,
then glanced at Alicia, hoping that his Commander would dismiss the
youngling to enable him to talk freely. It was obvious, however,
that Xavier was going to do no such thing, and so he cut straight
to the chase.

“
Commander,
ah huv been trailing the Belcastros as you ordered, but there’s
shit ye need tae know.”

Taking a deep breath,
Shuggie started to recount the story of Petra and the other girls
to Xavier, culminating in witnessing the autopsy of Petra’s
desecrated body. He looked haunted as he told Xavier and
Alicia what Belcastro had said mockingly about the demise of
Alicia’s family and when he had finished, there was an uneasy
silence between the three of them, as they stood in the middle of
the room.

“
What the fuck? Oh fucking no he did not! He’s mine and I want
him
now!
”

Alicia was
furious as she stood beside Xavier, her hand was still resting in
his forearm from flashing him home but after Shuggie’s news, she
was unable to let go for the fear that she would slump to the
ground.

Things had
just got very real indeed.

“
Fucking
Nails!” Xavier looked down at his arm that was being shredded by
the grip Alicia had on him, small rivulets of blood flowing down to
his wrist. “Your nails are scoring into my damn flesh, female!”
Although, secretly, he wouldn’t minded her leaving her mark on his
back as he…no, he reminded himself…time and place and all that
fucking crap. As he peeled Alicia’s fingers off of him, he
turned his attention back to Shuggie.

“
Alicia’s got
a point, Shug. Snr Belcastro is hers by birth right. She has to
avenge her family.  And from what you’re saying, he’s upped
his game. People trafficking? Murdering innocents? That’s some sick
shit right there man. We can’t hold off on this any longer, we
need to strike him tonight.”

Shuggie’s
shoulders slumped a little, as though he was exhaling a long held
breath. The weight of the guilt and remorse about not saving Petra
was still buried deep within him, but the knowledge that the coward
Belcastro would be dealt with imminently went some way to ease his
suffering.  

“
Ah huv the
Unit on standby, Commander, ready fur yer instructions.” Shuggie
turned his head to look at Alicia and saluted her. “I huv one
request youngling.  Make him fucking suffer.”

Xavier gave a
warning glare to Shuggie.

“
Fuck up,
Shug, she’ll make it quick so that she’s not in any more fucking
danger than needs be. Yeah, she can have the pleasure of being the
one to kill the old cunt, but not at the expense of her own safety
— do I make myself fucking clear?”

Glancing between Shuggie
and Alicia, Xavier’s tone was authoritative and no-nonsense.
 Regardless of how he felt about the bastard, he would not
have Alicia in peril.  He and his wolf would not stand for
that.

Alicia took a
deep breath as she walked over to Shuggie, raising on her tip toes
she placed a soft kiss to his cheek.

“
I will do
you proud, friend.”

Turning away
from him, she looked over her shoulder to Xavier. “Tell me your
orders Commander, then I’d like a moment to myself.”

Xavier stood
with his arms bridged over his chest and for the next thirty
minutes Alicia listened to how this was going to go down. Xavier
and Shuggie would put wires on her so that they would be in
constant contact. Shuggie had specially adapted mini camera’s
that could pick up on vampires and these had been placed by
Xavier’s foot soldiers around the mansion, so she would never be
out of Xavier’s sights.

She would
gain access to Snr Belcastro by posing as a potential new dancer
for one of Belcastro’s clubs, as soon as she was alone with him —
slice his throat, then get out before anyone knew what had
happened.

Alicia left
Xavier and Shuggie and made her way to her room, where she
retrieved the video camera of Xavier killing of Belcastro Jr.
Editing out Xavier’s accidental selfies, she placed the small
device into a shoulder handbag and with the eyeballs in a small
box, and slipped into the attire of choice — a mini skirt, low cut
blouse and high heels.

No guns were
permitted, per Xavier’s orders, he didn’t want any noise attracting
attention. So Alicia secretly concealed her pink Glock in the belt
of her suspenders, and headed back out to where Xavier was to be
fitted with the wire she had to wear.
As a
final touch, Xavier put his own personal throwing stars into
Alicia’s hair behind her ear so that it looked like a decorative
adornment.

“
These are as
sharp and lethal as a sword, be careful not to slice your ear off
when you draw it, yeah?”

Putting his two huge
hands on either shoulder, Xavier’s eyes searched Alicia’s as he
figured out whether she was right for this mission or not.  He
seen the steely determination in her big brown eyes and the resolve
that she would keep her emotions in check, but his hold on her
didn’t relax.

“
Now, I want
you to be absolutely fucking clear. I don’t want a hero in there.
You go in, give him a false sense of security about why you’re
there and when his guards leave for him to ‘interview’ you, kill
him. Draw the blade across his bastard throat and then you get the
fuck out of there, because if you don’t the place will be swarming
with his guards like flies around shit, and you’ll end up getting
hurt. And if that happens, Sweetcheeks, it’ll be a fucking
bloodbath, and I’ll be so damned pissed with you, you’ll never hear
the fucking end of it, yeah?”

It was a huge
risk letting her go in on her own, but Xavier knew all too well how
important it was for her to end the Belcastro line
personally. All he could do now was trust her that she would
do precisely what he told her to do, and then his duty as bodyguard
would be done.

“
The mission
tonight isn’t like the heists that you did before. That was child’s
play in comparison, so I want you to promise me that you understand
what it is you have to do, and that you will comply with my
orders.”

Releasing his hold of
her, Xavier stood up straight, but still maintained eye contact
with her.

“
Yes Commander, I will do as you instruct. In and
out.”
Giving a smile to Xavier,
Alicia nodded her head as she popped a lolly in her mouth. “It’s
time Xav.”

Shuggie had
deployed the foot soldiers around the perimeter of the Belcastro
mansion, hidden in the shadows, so as not to be detected by the
guards or monitoring equipment. He knew that the Commander was
not happy at allowing Alicia to go in alone, but there was no other
way to let her have her revenge on Snr Belcastro without increasing
the likelihood of her being injured. As he switched on his
ear-piece, he could hear Xavier talking through the plan for the
hundredth time with Alicia, before he gave the order to
lock-down. Alicia was walking into the mansion, escorted by
two of Belcastro’s goons.

“
Lieutenant,
order Hawkeye and Ballbreaker to plant the landmines in the
grounds. Snakebite and Gerbil have fixed the explosives to the
ground floor windows. I want you over here asap.”

Giving the
instructions, Shuggie flashed over to the Commander’s coordinates,
nodding as he read the look in Xavier’s eyes. Grabbing his
Commander by the arm, he flashed both of them into a room next to
Snr Belcastro’s office which was unoccupied. From there they would
listen into the wiretap, and get a visual from the CCTV
surveillance they had placed in the old bastard’s
office.

Alicia was
shown into Snr Belcastro’s office, and it took all of Xavier’s
strength and resolve not to rush in there beside her.

The fact that she was in
danger was killing him.

“
Senor
Belcastro, thank you so much for agreeing to see me this
day.”

Alicia walked
into the office with a flow of elegance. Xavier made the suggestion
that she wore heels and a skirt, making it far easier to get a
meeting with the Mafia Don. He did have an eye for the ladies after
all.  As Alicia took a seat on the chair opposite the vile
looking man, she swung her left leg so it was perched on her right
knee. Xavier had insisted that she was wearing a wire as she was
going in with ‘only one weapon’ — or so he thought — so he and
Shuggie wanted to hear all that was being said.

“
I’ve come to
discuss employment in your fine establishment and as a trained
dancer, I believe I’d be an excellent asset to your
business.”

Keeping a smile on her
face as the letch with the bad breath leaned over his desk to look
her over, ordering his guards to exit the room and leave them
alone. Snr Belcastro had shifted in his seat, stubbing his cigar
out in the ashtray he beckoned Alicia to him with his chubby,
nicotine stained finger.

“
Show me what
you can do Senorita!”

Shuggie
rolled his eyes as he and Xavier listened and watched Alicia in the
lion’s den.  In truth, he was keeping more of an eye on
Xavier, whose vein in his right temple was bulging and his hands
were curled into punishing fists.  There was something odd
about his eyes. Well, his face, truth be told.  He could have
sworn that a couple of times he caught the image of a wolf’s muzzle
veiled over Xavier’s features, but he knew it must have been a
trick of the light, or the heightened tensions waiting for Alicia
to complete the mission and get out of there.