Page 125 of The Mafia Enforcer's Temptation

He’s close, too close, and yet I shift back into his warmth. I breathe him in, deep, letting his scent infuse me. “No. I’m just a lousy shot.”

“Too bad.” His arm slips around my waist, and he pulls me against him. And to be honest, I’m not sure if he’s holding me as a sign of his affection or holding me prisoner. I’m not even sure there’s a difference anymore.

I want to be trapped and held down by him. I want to fight him. I just… I want him.

“Was that Hanlon?”

“Yes.” Now I pull free and he lets me go. I face the man I think I might be in love with. “Romanov… he took… Hanlon, he took Tatiana.”

His eyes narrow and he turns, putting his fingers to his lips and lets out an earsplitting whistle.

The Murphys, including Lucie and Harry, rush toward me.

Declan pulls up in a limo with Mikey at the wheel, and everyone piles inside. I stare. “You don’t need?—”

“Fuck yeah, we do,” Declan says as Seamus takes my hand. “Where are we going?”

“Sheepshead Bay,” Seamus says. “Where this all began.”

Mikey drives the limo like it’s a race car, fast and sure. We get there in record time, and it still took way too long.

Seamus holds out a gun. And I take it. Together, we all go in, Torin and Cal first, then the rest of us.

It’s absolute carnage. Half the place is rubble, like a bomb went off inside.

There are bodies and limbs scattered around the place. Romanov’s soldiers are dead. I take off, racing through the house up to Tatiana’s room.

“Olga?” I call out the name of the woman who looks after Tatiana. But there’s no reply.

I find her. In Tatiana’s bedroom, a room I’ve only been in twice before.

She’s not moving, and when I dive down to the floor to check on her, I recoil.

She’s cold. Dead.

I put a shaking hand on the bed and rise from the carpet. I pick up a worn teddy bear, Tatiana’s favorite, and turn toward the doorway.

Seamus is there. He opens his arms.

I run to him and let him hold me, drinking in his strength, his warmth, and the strong beat of his heart.

Finally, I pull back, and he smooths my hair from my face. “Ava, I…” He stops. “Romanov’s alive.”

We head back down the stairs.

Iosif is holding a gun with one bloodied hand, and already some of his people are coming in from other places. Someone put out the call.

But he meets my gaze. “I… I warned you, Ava. And you didn’t listen. All I wanted… was… was to protect you both, you stupid, stupid girl. And now she’s gone.”

Cal frowns. “Who?”

I look at all of the Murphys. “My sister. Tatiana. I know who has her. And I’m getting her back.”

TWENTY-NINE

seamus

I catchher halfway down the path as she storms over to a group of cars lining the driveway. “You can’t fucking just take off, Ava.”