Devil's Prey(37)

"It's how Dimitri operates." Max met Angelo's eyes. "I can get you  everything you need to know about him. Hell, I will help you any way  that's possible. I planned to kill off all his associates one by one  before I went after him-"

"Enough with that bullshit," Raymond cut off. "We hurt him in the same  way he hurt Angelo. He has a sister. Zusha Koslakova. We want her dead.  Then we want to take away all his connections, one by one. He's going  down but I've got some Federal contacts. It won't be any of this  cushiony Club Med pentitiary bullshit either. He will be implicated and  he'll go to prison for the rest of his life over there at Supermax in  Colorado."

"You don't want to kill him?" Max wondered in a perplexed voice.

"Dead is too easy for that motherfucker-he's gonna pay." Angelo swigged  from his red wine. "Here's what we're gonna do. You're good at tracking  people, right? Track him like you would kill 'em only I need everythin'  he's doing in hardcore black and white photographs. We give 'em to our  connections in the FBI and they deal with him.

"By the time they get ready to wrap the case, I want the ATF, DEA, CIA  and Interpol on his fuckin' ass fighting with the Feds to take him down.  I want the US Marshalls at his wife's door and her ass is gonna turn  state's evidence or she gets gone real quick. You think I don't have  connections in Florida? Think again. I want that whole motherfucker's  empire to crumble around him and then, I want his ass locked up for the  rest of his natural born life. You think you can do that?"

Max stared at Angelo. "I could put a bullet in his head. Why won't you let me?"

"You're engaged to his niece, boy," Raymond replied. "What good will you  be to Magnolia if you make her a widow before she's thirty? You wanna  be part of our empire? You do things our way. And sometimes, dead ain't  better."

Angelo steeped his fingers together. "I know what they did to Magnolia. I  don't want her to ever have to kill another human being again unless  it's an act of self-defense. We all know what kind of toll that takes on  the conscience. She's suffered enough in her young life. If you want to  be with her, you will treat her right and she won't live a vagabond  lifestyle, not if I have anything to do with it."

"Where will we live?" Magnolia inquired softly.

Angelo looked around the swanky restaurant. "You got a nice place here  to stay? I suggest you sell it. You're comin' back with us to Northern  Nevada. We can protect you better there. Besides, I need updates and Max  will be gone a lot-I can't have you not livin' in the same location as  me. We already have bought you two a beautiful house that overlooks Lake  Tahoe. It goes without sayin' that you'll have security and what not.  It's no secret Dimitri knows you two are protected now. I called him  myself and told 'em. He wasn't happy but if he lays another hand on ya,  I'll have every family in the state down on him so fast, he won't be  able to wipe his ass before he's taken out."

"So, are you in or out?" Raymond swigged from his wine as he studied Max.

"I'm in," he replied.

"Fuckin' Russians ain't got no imagination." Angelo shook his head  sadly. "You know that son of a bitch stole my name? When I was younger  and a real bastardo, I gave my father pure hell. My old man used to call  me ‘il diavolo,' as in ‘Il diavolo sta arrivando.' When I heard the son  of bitch was callin' himself the devil, I wondered if he got his  English all messed up and meant the anti-Christ 'cause there's only one  man to be feared and that sure as shit ain't Dimitri."         

     



 

Max finished his wine as all four of them fell into easy conversation afterwards.

He knew it wasn't over and although Angelo seemed like a perfectly  reasonable guy, he had more reason to fear him now than he ever did  Dimitri. Abandonato's reputation preceded him-in fact, the reason why he  and Raymond were so buddy-buddy wasn't because they didn't have an army  of trusted soldiers. They knew no one was tougher than the combined  strength the two of them presented together as a united front.

Now he'd had the chance to observe them, he knew no truer statement had ever been proclaimed.

They had a relaxing dinner, which Max was able to look over at his  dashing fiancée and smile secretly at her. She returned it easily and he  could honestly say he'd never been more content in his life.

Max knew another chapter of his life was opening up just as the previous  one had closed for good. Both Angelo and Raymond confirmed it as the  four of them said their goodbyes on the street.

There were bodyguards watching every corner of the street; Angelo and Raymond both embraced Mags again.

"I expect you two back in Nevada by next week. Don't make me send your cousins after you."

"We'll be back, Uncle Angelo," Mags replied as Max wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Is that a promise?" Raymond glared at Max.

He nodded once curtly. "Yes, we'll back next week."

"Oh yeah . . . welcome to the family," Angelo said. "We may not look  like much but the Abandonatos know how to take care of our own. You  marry my niece, you marry into our family, not the other way around. I  let you off the hook 'cause Mags looks ecstatic with you and if it  wasn't real, I'd know it faster than a hooker can give head. You break  her heart and I break your kneecaps . . . first. Then, I'm gonna work  you over in Biblical proportions and mail your body parts back to your  plastic mama in Boca Raton. You got that?"

"Yes, sir." Max attempted to smile but fell short.

"Call us when you get to Nevada. We got work for you to do. As far as  Raymond and I are concerned, you never worked for the enemy. Now that  you've sold your soul to the devil, I hope vengeance on your old mentor  is as sweet as you expect it to taste. I'd hate to disappoint." Angelo  grinned though the look didn't hold an ounce of mirth to it.

Max and Mags walked over to their Range Rover. As soon as they were  safely inside, he drove them back to their apartment building and they  took the elevator in silence up to their penthouse.

"Well, that didn't go too bad, did it?" she inquired after they'd changed clothes and she lay nestled in his arms on the sofa.

Max stole a glance of her profile. "For you, maybe. I feel like those  two men just sliced off my balls and took them back to Lake Tahoe."

Mags laughed out loud before her hand wandered between his legs and cupped his scrotum. "Looks like they're still there to me."

He chuckled as he shook his head. "Very funny, Mags."

"Not really but do you wanna know what's funny? All this time we thought  once we escaped Dimitri we would be free of the devil. Not only were we  wrong but it turns out he's my uncle and I'm his niece. How twisted is  that?"

"Very," Max replied as she grabbed the remote and channel-surfed. "Just  think of it this way though . . . instead of prey, at least now we're  pawns."

She smirked. "That's true. And I'd rather be a pawn any day than prey."

"Agreed."

As their lips met again, Max couldn't get the whole sense of déjà vu and  irony out of his head. They wouldn't have to live their lives on the  run after all. That didn't mean they wouldn't still be bad asses-his  intuition told him his life would hardly be sedentary or boring while  working for Angelo Abandonato and Raymond Jackson. However, they had a  plane to catch that would take them right back to where their adventure  began.

It turned out their destiny was right where they'd left it-in Northern Nevada.

And if home lay with the heart then he was content and ready to go back.  If only to face his complicated past, his family, his demons . . . and  to make a life with the woman who owned his black heart and tainted  soul.





Magnolia





Although we were supposed to return to Northern Nevada the following  week, a couple of days later, Max received a phone call from Uncle  Angelo and Raymond. He was needed in Las Vegas for an emergency meeting  while I would be left on my own in New Orleans.

Well, at least that was what I told Max at Louis Armstrong Airport as I  dropped him off in front of the Southwest Airlines check-in area. He  wouldn't check any luggage; instead he would retrieve his first-class  boarding pass and walk directly to the gate where he'd catch a direct  flight to McCarran International Airport.         

     



 

"Be safe and I love you." I kissed him goodbye.

"Love you too," he murmured as soon as our kiss ended. "Remember, no  more than two days and I want a call from you telling me you're  decorating our Lake Tahoe home with Mrs. Jackson, you got it?"

"Yes, Drill Sergeant," I mocked.

Max's aquamarine eyes narrowed. "Seriously, Mags. It's not safe for you. Don't stay in one place too long."

"I won't." I smiled brilliantly as he kissed me again before he opened the passenger door and stepped out.