Free KILLER INSTINCT (A Mafia Bad Boy Romance Novel) by Julia Gardener Page B

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.”
     
     
    “I never knew you were such a good cook,” I replied, chowing down on some pasta with fresh vegetables. “Ever since I’ve roomed with you, we’ve mostly gotten takeout.”
     
     
    “It’s the Italian in me,” he chuckled, serving himself a second helping. “I’m a great chef by blood. However, my job doesn’t leave much time to cooking and cleaning. I know just about every great takeout place in the area.”
     
     
    “Have you ever been to Italy?”
     
     
    “Loads of times,” he answered. “It’s usually Sicily since the Pastore family has the strongest ties there. Sometimes I visit Naples or Tuscany for a special contract.”
     
     
    “How about for pleasure?”
     
     
    He shrugged before taking another bite. “Not since I was a little boy. Sicily is usually beautiful this time of year.”
     
     
    I couldn’t help but feel sad about the whole scene. I remembered the times daddy and I had dinner together. I never gave those moments much thought. It was so mundane but I’d never experience it again with my father.
     
     
    I also felt sorry for Jackie. He should have been able to grow up