Stolen from the Hitman: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance(192)

The hitman’s stony face shows the faintest smile, and before we know it, we’re throwing our arms around each other, embracing fully for the first time in a very long while.

“Da svidaniya, Leon.”

“Fsyevo harosheva, moy brat.” The Russian language hasn’t come from my mouth in a long time, and the words feel rusty yet familiar, like walking into an old childhood home after many years. It feels good.

We break our embrace, and I watch Mikhail, Alicia and Eva make their way across the bar and out the doors, into the cool night air.

I turn to Cherry, and something seems to be bothering her. I put my arm around her waist, and she hugs me back, laying her head against my chest briefly.

“So this is what it feels like,” she says softly, and I look down at her.

“What do you mean?”

“Ordering someone’s death. I mean, we’ve been in a firefight already tonight, but something about sending someone to carry it out deliberately feels so different. I just...I never thought I’d be in this position before, you know?”

I step in front of her, placing a hand on both of her shoulders gently and looking straight into those deep eyes of hers, searchingly. “And how do you feel about it now that you’re here?”

The look she gives me back is brave. Cautious, but brave. “I don’t know if this is going to work, Leon. It’s a stretch. We’re up against impossible odds, the other side has more resources than us, more people than us, and more information than us. And they have the law on their side. And at one flick of a wrist, they can have the public ready to take up arms against us.” She pauses, but her eyes never break the gaze we share between us. “...but I agree. This needs to be done. I don’t feel good about how it’s going down, but Chandler’s responsible for the deaths of a lot of innocent people, and he’ll keep killing them as long as it lines his pockets.” She takes a deep breath, as though re-centering herself. “No matter what happens, Leon, I’m standing by you.”

Beaming at her, I hug her tight, breaking the seriousness of the moment with her yelp as I draw her into my embrace.

“I’m glad, because that’s exactly what we’re gonna do to establish an alibi.”

“Wait, what?”

“You know as well as I do that when this goes down, all eyes are gonna be on us,” I explain, crossing my arms. “So we need a really public display to prove that we’re not involved. Mikhail won’t leave a trace, so as long as it’s well known that we’re tied up somewhere else, nobody will be able to point a finger at us.”

As she twirls a lock of hair thoughtfully over what I’ve just said, I lead Cherry over to where Genn has been finishing up the pool table on his own, and he gives us a nod as we approach. “‘Sup, Prez?”

“Genn, we’re having a bash tomorrow.”

“A bash?”

“Yeah,” I say, “there’s been a real big fuckin’ damper over the town since all this shit with the feds started going down. I want everyone to know that they can’t keep us down. Show of solidarity that everyone can see — especially the feds.”

Genn’s started stroking his beard, and after a moment, he nods, and I can see the enthusiasm in him instantly. He’s always been a sucker for parties like this.

“Alright, yeah. I like it. I’ve got a cousin who can get the word out around town, connected with just about half the damn city.”

“Perfect,” I say with a grin. “We’ll hold it in the warehouse down at the end of Evergreen Street.”

“Yeah, I remember that one,” Genn laughs, remembering some old times fondly.

“Hear that, everyone?” I shout out across the bar, and the club turns to listen. “We’re having our own little royal ball tomorrow night at the warehouse off Evergreen!”

A cheer goes up around the bar, and Cherry blinks in astonishment after some of the bikers group up as they start to file out for the night, discussing plans and what to bring.

“You’ve got a hell of a way of rallying people,” she remarks.

“Comes in handy from time to time,” I chuckle. “Come on, you’re crashing at my place tonight.”

She seems surprised as I lead her back to my bike, but I feel her arm wrap around my waist as I do, and I know she’s happy with the arrangement. “Nobody’s going to question an impromptu party in the middle of a war with the FBI, huh?”

“You must not have spent a lot of time around bikers, Cherry,” I say in response, and she giggles lightly as we get pull out into the night.

In the back of my mind, I know there’s another reason I want to set up this get-together. The thought has been in my mind since I claimed her on the hillside earlier tonight, ploughing her into my kutte with her ass slapping against me with each thrust.