CLASS ACT (A BRITISH ROCKSTAR BAD BOY ROMANCE) (39 page)

I rolled my eyes. “It’s good to know that a corporation cares about its legal troubles more than the death of one of its employees.”

“And you’re perspective,” Kelly added without skipping a beat. “Where is Seymon Gregori?”

There was a lengthy pause.

“I don’t know.”

I slammed a fist against the wall to the side of Cobbs’ head. “That wasn’t part of the deal! Damn it, I’m going to Mr. Lee and have him waive your protection. He takes backsliding out of a contract as seriously as I do.”

“Look, I don’t know where Gregori is but I know Colman’s whereabouts,” he said in desperation. The man knew losing Mr. Lee’s protection would be a death sentence. Hell, Mr. Lee could even give him to the Black Fang for a better payday. “He’ll lead you to Gregori!”

“How can we trust you after you pulled a fast one on us?” Kelly probed, mistrust in her tone. The girl was learning that you could never be too paranoid in this business. “And even if we find Colman, what makes you so sure that he’ll lead us to Gregori?”

“Colman was embezzling from the company for years,” he answered. “I used to work in accounting so I was able to trace the money and its whereabouts. Much of it has been used to pay for a luxury penthouse suite in uptown. That’s where he’s holed up.”

I leaned in with interest. “You know his location?”

“He used his company email account when talking to Gregori’s people or making big purchases,” Cobbs explained. “Colman doesn’t know it yet but I’ve been able to hack into his emails with my clearance level. I know his location, the times he meets with Gregori’s people, and even when he visits a whorehouse. I have it all!”

Kelly looked like she would almost laugh. “That’s so careless.”

“I can send you the copies,” he continued. “You can go to him and find out where Gregori is from him.”

I shook my head. “That’s still not a guarantee he’ll lead us to Gregori. He might not know if he’ll come quietly or choose death over betraying Gregori. What a waste of time, Kelly. Let’s get out of here-”

“Wait, there’s more,” he said, calling after me. “Sergei Petrov works for Gregori. He’s the one who worked as the middleman between Colman and Gregori.”

I growled the name. “Petrov…”

Kelly looked confused. “Who is that guy?”

“He’s served in the Russian army before entering the mafia,” I continued. Cobbs had been playing me all along. “He’s been bouncing from one Russian criminal organization to the next.”

Cobbs added. “Now, he’s the head of the Black Fang’s American charter in everything but name.”

Kelly tried to follow along. “What’s so special about Petrov?”

That’s when Cobbs dropped the bombshell. “He ordered the death of Jackie’s mother.”

The young woman gave me a look of shock. I could see her piece together everything. Kelly realized the true motive I had for helping her. Thankfully, she held her tongue for now.

“That’s why you came to me,” I accused. “You had this up your sleeve the whole time. You knew my name before you even accepted the contract.”

“Well, it’s working, right?” he answered with a small grin. I wanted to cave his head in but held my rage in check. “I can send you all the information I have if you consider this a finished hit. I need Mr. Lee’s protection until I can leave this country. The Black Fang will kill me without it!”

“If this doesn’t check out, then the Black Fang is going to the least of your worries,” I threatened. I meant every word. “I need stronger evidence before I let you go.”

Cobbs opened up the laptop next to him. He browsed through a couple of folders before finding a video file. He played it on the screen.

It was the security footage from the night of the murder. It showed Colman and two Russian men breaking into the apartment. A moment later, a flash of gunfire appeared in the hallway.

Kelly looked away in disgust.

I kept looking on as the two Russian men and Colman talked. I focused on one of the Russian men before I realized who it was.

He had one eye.

This was the night I had stepped out for a meeting. The man who I had been searching for all of these years had been right in front of me.

“Son of a bitch,” I said in disbelief. It was unmistakably Petrov. “He was right outside my doorway. All these fucking years of searching… and he passes right by my door.”

“It’s security footage from the night of the murder,” Cobbs continued. “Colman and the Black Fang hacked and deleted it from the building’s security systems. It was in Colman’s email account as a backup. He might have intended to use it as leverage in case they betrayed him.”

“If he’s holding a backup, then things might not be so rosy between him and the Black Fang,” Kelly proposed. “He might be thinking of a way out before the Black Fang decides to cut their losses and get rid of him. I know that they weren’t very happy when Colman killed my father and made a mess of things.”

I nodded. “He could also cut a deal with the authorities before the Black Fang gets to him. Either way, we could be running against a clock to find Colman and get answers.”

Kelly asked. “Does the Black Fang know about Colman’s penthouse?”

“Probably not,” Cobbs said, not looking entirely certain. “In his emails, Colman never mentioned its presence to the Black Fang. All of his meetings were in his regular apartment or in some private place they reserved.”

Nothing was ever simple in this line of work.

“If we find Colman, I’ll clear the contract with Mr. Lee,” I growled, staring daggers at Cobbs. “Don’t ever try to double cross a hitman ever again. Get the hell out of this country is you know what’s good for you.”

He sighed and sank into his chair. “Don’t have to tell me twice. I’ll send you everything I have on Colman.”

With a glare, I left the man behind. There was newfound purpose in my life. I was going to kill Sergei Petrov. Kelly had to step up her pace to keep up with me. Together, we entered the car.

I guessed the ride back home wouldn’t be a silent one.

Kelly bit her lower lip before speaking. “You could’ve told me about your mother, Jackie.”

“Told you what?” I yelled, not bothering to start the car. “That a pair of Irish mobsters and a Russian with one eye killed my mother? That they slit her throat and caved in her skull? That we couldn’t even have an open casket funeral for her? That I killed those Irish bastards with my bare hands before I was able to even legally drive a car? That I spend the next ten years of my life trying to track down Sergei? At least you got to grow up with a parent. My father was only good for teaching me to fight with my fists.”

The young woman recoiled. “I’m sorry, Jackie…”

She leaned forward and kissed me. This time, it was much more somber. I felt the anger leave my body. Soon, my desire for revenge subsided but never truly left.

“I’m the one who should apologize,” I whispered, ashamed of my words. “I didn’t have to say that about your father. That wasn’t right of me.”

“Is that why you were so interested in me?” she whispered back. “It gave you a chance to investigate the Russians who killed your mother. The Italians wouldn’t stand in your way of revenge.”

“No, not entirely,” I admitted. “I couldn’t just turn you away. It felt wrong like I was no better than the men who killed my mother.”

“You’ve been chasing for Sergei Petrov for your entire life, right?” Kelly said. “And now a golden opportunity falls into your lap. Are you going to kill another man?”

I stared off into the distance. “Sergei’s always been a slippery one. He keeps changing names and locations. I even took a year off to track him in Russia. I thought he’d die of old age before I’d avenge my mother’s death.”

Kelly looked downcast. “I can understand. The memory of my father is what has kept me going all these dark days.”

“We’ll take care of Colman first,” I said, starting the car. “If we get information on Gregori’s whereabouts, that’s great. If we get information on Petrov, even better.”

“What are you going to do to Sergei?” she asked, her eyes shining. “Are you going to kill another man?”

I stared into her shimmering eyes. “I think the better question is what are you going to do with Colman once we corner him?”

She didn’t have an answer for that.

Jackie picked up the gun from its case and handed it me. “It’s a Browning Hi-Power. Handguns get a bad rap in Hollywood. Everyone uses some oversized machinegun. If you ask me, nothing beats the reliability of a good handgun.”

“What’s that?” I asked, gingerly pointing to a dark, cylindrical object. “Is that a silencer?”

He corrected me. “A suppressor. Slide it back like I showed you and twist it on.”

I slid back the frame and began attaching the suppressor to it. Then, I dismantled it and put it back in its case. “Got it.”

“Again, it’s not like the movies,” he continued. “You’d be wrong if you thought it would make a gunshot sound near silent. Depending on the acoustics, you’ll still be able to hear it if you’re in the household and it was fired in a living room.”

“Then what’s it useful for?”

“For one thing, it turns the volume down enough that you’re not going deaf every time you fire it,” Jackie answered. “It’ll also cancels the muzzle flash which is useful during night time. For what we’re doing, it’s more than enough. Anyway it’s time to eat. The pasta’s almost done.”

And what we were doing was infiltrating Colman’s apartment. He was the man who killed my father. He and Gregori had taken everything from me.

Could I be able to kill him?

I wouldn’t know until the moment of truth arrived.

“Eat up, Kelly,” Jackie said, snapping me out of my morbid thoughts. I couldn’t help but laugh. He sounded like my late father. “I don’t cook very often so enjoy it while you can. It’s an old family recipe. My mother taught it to me. It goes all the way back to when our family lived in Sicily.”