Page 5 of Precious Hazard

Grabbing the phone out of my pocket, I dial Nino Gambini. As our head of security, he keeps a close eye on anyone who might impact the Family. Considering the significance of our collaboration with the Serbian organization, he must know Popov’s sister’s whereabouts. Since Ajello has already kicked things off, setting this ridiculously short deadline before the nuptials, I need to get into gear immediately. Finding out whatmy wife-to-be is up to these days is the first step in getting my shit rolling.

“I need to know where I can find Tara Popov,” I spit out the moment the call connects.

“Hold on. Let me check the logs in her file.” The rapid taps of a keyboard drift across the line.

“You have afileon her?”

“We have files on everyone we’ve been in contact with over the past decade, and on anyone who’s been deemed aspecial interest.” The tapping and clicking continue until Nino blurts, “Here it is. For the past week, Ms. Popov has been filling in as a server at her brother’s club. What’s today?”

“Wednesday.”

“Her shift ends at midnight.”

Pulling up my sleeve, I glance at my watch. I’ve got just under two hours to get my ass to Naos. “Thanks, Nino.”

My long stride carries me across Ajello’s office. I pause briefly to grab my jacket off the back of the couch, and then I’m out the door.

Heading to meet my prospective wife.

While she’s waiting tables at a damn nightclub.

Fucking great.

***

New York traffic sucks.

“Will you fucking move, you idiot?” I hit the steering wheel with the heel of my palm.

The car in front of me doesn’t move. Of course it doesn’t. There is a line of at least ten others clogging the lane. The one beside me isn’t any better. If I don’t get to Naos in the next five minutes, I’ll miss myfiancée.

“Fuck it.” I crank the steering wheel to the right and floor the gas pedal, sliding into a back alley between a couple of walk-ups.

I don’t actually have to see Tara Popov tonight, but I want to get this marriage deal ironed out as soon as possible. If I don’t, this shit is going to hang over my head, haunting me in my sleep. I can’t have that, not with all the other crap that’s been keeping me from getting any decent shut-eye lately.

Our buyers are breathing down my neck because our most recent drug shipment was delayed. But instead of dealing with that, I’m fielding stupid-ass noise complaints at one of our buildings in Chinatown. Our workers have been gutting the basement, and Wang, that Triad motherfucker, is demanding we limit demolition to three hours per day. Three fucking hours! It’d take months to finish the custom storage space at that rate, and I needed it done yesterday.

Those are therealproblems that have me dragging my ass come the break of dawn. I’ll be damned if I let myself lose even a minute of sleep because of that woman.

With my foot heavy on the gas, I fly through the narrow alleys in my Land Rover SUV. Typically, I’m a safe driver, preferring not to draw unwanted attention to myself. But with everything that’s been going on lately, my patience has worn thin. Traffic jams aren’t helping my mood, either. I’ve already picked up a couple of speeding tickets in the past month; onemore and I’ll get my license suspended. Somehow, I can’t bring myself to care about that today.

I’m nearing Drago’s club when a scrawny black cat leaps off the dumpster up ahead, landing in the middle of the road.

“Fuck!” I slam on the brakes and lay on the horn.

The blasted thing doesn’t even move. It stands frozen in place with its back arched and tail all bushy, while my headlights reflect in its wide eyes. My tires screech as I throw the car in reverse and then gun it, yanking the wheel to the right and shooting out of the alley onto the main street. If I end up missing Tara because of a cat, a goddamnedblack cat, I’ll—Fuck!There’s only a couple of minutes left until the end of Tara’s shift, so I step on the gas, eyeing Naos’s main entrance less than a block away.

The yelp of a siren sounds behind me, followed by the cherries and berries lighting up my rearview. A quick glance in the side mirror confirms a police cruiser on my tail.

I groan. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Chapter 2

Next day

Club Naos, New York

Thursdays are usually slow. Not that Naos turns into a ghost town, that never happens, but the high rollers who tend to frequent my brother’s upscale club prefer Friday and Saturday nights to cut loose. Unfortunately for me, tonight the entire club has been reserved for a private function. However, instead of the typical bespoke suits and designer dresses, the space is filled with a throng of bodies in leather and ripped jeans.