Stolen by the Mob Boss : A Russian Mafia Romance (Bratva Hitman), Nicole Fox [best ebook reader for surface pro .txt] 📗

I blush and look away, embarrassed because I really did think Nana believed the story. There was no way she’d question me about this gig because she always pushed me to do more writing in the first place. Little did I know, she was working on a plot of her own.

I rush towards her and throw my arms around her, squeezing her tight. I’m still trying to process the fact that she was the one that saved us in the end, but I’m more than happy to see that she’s here. Moments ago, I was sure I’d never see her again.

“Whose gun is that?” I ask after the hug.

She lifts it up and examines it. “It was your grandpa’s. He said we’d only use it to protect the family, and that’s what I did. I couldn’t let that bastard take another one of my babies from me.”

I could cry. In my anger at Konstantin, I blindly forgot that Nana also suffered. She might have been the one trying to move on, but that never meant she still didn’t hurt. That she still didn’t carry the same burning rage for Abram Konstantin that I’ve spent my entire life harboring. I hug Nana again, this time squeezing her tighter than before.

“I love you, Nana.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. When I said I’d never let anything bad happen to you, I meant it.” She looks into my eyes with her own striking blue ones.

She’s been my rock. The one thing in this world, above work and my friends, that’s kept me sane. I don’t know what I’d do without her, and I don’t want to think about it. Right now, the only thing that matters is that we’re together, and we’ve stopped Konstantin.

I turn around to look back at his body. “You know,” I start. “If this were a movie, he’d get one last shot at us while we’re not expecting it.”

Roman leans forward and grabs the gun from beside his body. He fires two more shots into Konstantin’s back, then wipes the gun and tosses it across the room. When he looks up at us, he says, “Good thing this isn’t a movie.”

***

Nana says she’s going to wait in her car for us, and I give her one last hug before she heads downstairs, stepping over all the bodies and all the carnage. I can hear her clicking her tongue at all the mess Roman and the others have made.

“That woman is something else,” he says, shaking his head at me.

“I’m glad you got to formally meet Nana. For a second time, I suppose,” I say with a smile. I look around at the warehouse, suddenly aware of just how quiet it is. Without all of Konstantin’s men working or talking, it’s eerily silent.

“What now?” I ask.

This place is going to be swarming with police soon. We may be pretty far away from the city, but eventually people are going to start to wonder. I’m sure others know where Konstantin works, and I don’t want to be here when they come looking for him.

Roman pulls me into him and kisses me again, long and hard, before reluctantly drawing back, leaving me giddy. “Thank God you’re okay.”

“You left me tied to a bed,” I begin, still angry even though there’s nothing better than being back in his arms, knowing he’s safe.

“I’ll pay for that later.” He runs his fingers lightly through my hair, lingering, before kissing me once more. It doesn’t even occur to me to stop him, even if I’m pissed off. Finally, he steps back. “I wish we had time for more of that, but I have to clean up this mess.”

I follow Roman downstairs, unsure what “clean up” means exactly. I’m careful to stay out of his way, but I do watch in the background as he unloads his car of all the guns he brought. He tosses them around the factory, staging the entire thing.

He positions certain people in a way that makes it look like they turned their guns on each other.

Roman then heads up to Konstantin’s office, sitting at his computer and typing away.

“What are you doing?” I ask quietly.

“Pointing all the evidence back to Konstantin,” he says. I watch as he pulls up Konstantin’s email, double-clicking on one particular. A quick scan shows that he was having a conversation about having someone offed a few weeks ago.

“Won’t that lead back to you?” I ask.

“Burner email. I’m always careful about that kind of thing.”

“The police are going to find this, right?”

“If you can convince them to come, they will.”

“Me?” I ask.

“I don’t know who’s going to pick up that phone. Konstantin had men all over the place. Police officers were always in his back pocket. They might recognize my voice if I pick up. I’ve met with plenty of them before. But if you call, they won’t have a clue.”

I guess that makes sense. Roman pulls a cheap flip phone from his pocket and hands it to me.

“Tell them you heard a lot of shooting and yelling. Tell them you were driving by but didn’t stop because you were scared. Then hang up immediately,” he instructs.

With a hard swallow, I dial the three numbers and wait for the operator to pick up. When she does, I tell her exactly what Roman said, trying my hardest to sound as terrified as I can. Before the woman asks for my name, I hang up the phone and hand it back to Roman. “How’d I do?” I ask with the slightest of smiles.

“You did perfect.” He stands up and pulls me in for a kiss.

We get back to his car and find Nana waiting for us, her windows rolled down. “Come back to my place when you’re done,” she says.

I wave goodbye to her, and after she returns the gesture, she heads home.

***

In Roman’s car, I turn to him and look at him carefully. “Did you really mean it?” I ask.

“Mean what?”

“What