Stolen from the Hitman: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance(46)

I had to be reminded that I am unredeemable, and that no one outside the Bratva will ever accept the true me. Especially not a woman so beautiful and delicate as Olivia.

When I return to the bathroom a few moments later, I’m earnestly surprised to see her still there. I almost thought she would have fled the room and my home, taking her chances away from anyone who’s had any affiliation from the mafia.

I fear I’m her only hope in all this, and she knows this. Of course she won’t run, if she thinks her friend’s life is on the line.

But that’s no basis for a relationship, so I turn back to the cold professional I should’ve been all along.

“For now, Liv, I must press on,” I say, crossing the room and picking up my cellphone from the nightstand. For the first time since the revelation, I see her look up at me with a furrowed brow, as if watching me through a dream.

“What do you mean?”

“There are some things I must do on my own to help find Maggie,” I explain, knowing she isn’t going to like that explanation, but as she nods absently, I realize she’s lost in thought over what she’s learned about me.

Perhaps I should not have revealed my past so early to her. Hell, I never should’ve revealed anything to her. I was a fool to think that she’d accept me as I am. The things I’ve done...

But a hopeful voice within me reminds me that I would rather her be in shock now than lie to her and face my dishonesty later. I want her to trust me, even still.

“But don’t worry,” I say, a bit of reluctance in my voice as I thumb through my recent contacts on my phone. “The man I’m leaving you in care of is...capable, if nothing else. And a touch less frightening than me.”

And perhaps a little time away from me is precisely what she needs, I think to myself with a heavier heart than I want to admit. I brace myself as I hear the phone ringing after I call my contact.



“First of all,” says Felix, pacing around the room and running his fingers through his curly hair and pushing his thick-rimmed glasses up his nose, “thanks for letting me know you’re alive after yesterday, asshole.”

I roll my eyes, leaning against the back of the room with my arms crossed as I watch him, my eyes occasionally flitting back to Liv, who’s sitting on the couch. She hasn’t said much since I called Felix, and I’m becoming more concerned about her by the minute. Her being afraid of me at a time like this is potentially dangerous. If anything happens, I need her to know she can count on me.

But it may yet be helpful, if only to keep her out of danger. If she doesn’t want to be around me, then I can pull off this rescue mission on Maggie without her interference, and that’s safer for all of us.

“You would have known eventually, Felix,” I say, sounding bored. “We’ve had more than a few other things on our minds.”

“Okay, sure, fine, but you can’t go into an apartment building armed to the teeth with guns and knives and then expect me to be able to sleep at night, alright?”

I smile. “Here I thought you knew about my past.”

“It’s one thing to read about someone,” says Felix in a fluster, “but to see him charging into a building like some kind of American cowboy, fuck! No offense,” he adds offhandedly to Liv, who just raises her eyebrows a little.

“Anyway,” I change the subject, “like I said on the phone, we have more tracking to do. As you can see,” I say with a gesture to Liv, “we have one student somewhere safe, but we’re missing one more. Her name is Maggie. I have her number here. Can you work your magic again?”

“Um duh?” he says, glancing to Liv as if asking if his use of the expression in English is correct. He speaks it heavily accented, but we converse in English to make sure she doesn’t feel excluded. Particularly considering the circumstances. “Are we going on another car ride?”

“No,” I say quickly, “I can’t leave Liv alone. And I know she damn well doesn’t want to be. If you can get me a location, I will take care of what needs to be done.”

Felix gives me an incredulous look, and I know what he’s thinking: am I seriously leaving him on guard duty? But I shoot him a meaningful look back, meaning that yes, indeed, I am.

“This place is safe, Felix,” I affirm. “We took no car here, and the mafia hasn’t known about my location for years. This apartment is just another face in the crowd.”

“Well then, yeah, I can uh, do that,” he says, pushing his glasses up again before he moves over to his bag and takes his laptop out, taking it over to the little excuse for a dining table and plugging it in before opening it. “But you saw about how long it took me to get an exact location last time. So, y’know, give me a few minutes to let me ‘work my magic.’ You know, magic that you could learn in like twenty minutes if you cared to.”