Falling for the Killer: A Dark Possessive Mafia Romance by B.B Hamel (books to read for beginners .txt) 📗

to be patient with them, and tried to be rational about all this, but the time for being soft is over.” I stepped forward and tilted my chin up. “We’re going to war, boys. From here on out, the Healy family is fair game anywhere in the city.”

A hush fell over the room. Ash stared at me, a big frown on her lips.

Tomaso stood up. “Fuck, yeah,” he said, grinning. “So this means the hunt is on, right, boss?”

“That’s right,” I said. “Find the Healy soldiers and kill them. Anywhere, anytime. Don’t worry about blowback, I’ll handle all that shit. All I want from you boys is blood and more blood. I want so many dead Healys that the morgue overflows with their corpses. Do you understand me?”

“Fuck, yes, we do,” Tomaso said, grinning and raised his glass high. “To murdering some heinous Healy fucks.”

“Here, here,” Stefano said, and all the boys took up the cheer. I grinned at them and glanced over at Ash.

Her face was clouded with uncertainty.

I had a drink with the boys. There wasn’t much more to say, but they all understood the gravity of the situation.

All-out war was rare in the city. The mafia families knew it wasn’t good business to start murdering each other. If we brought attention to ourselves, then the heat would come down hard, and that would only fuck things worse. We had a good thing going and the money flowed like rainwater, but I couldn’t rest until I knew my crew was safe, and Ash wasn’t in danger anymore.

Which meant all-out war.

I pulled Ash aside after a while and took her outside. She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, squinting against the late afternoon sun as it bore down above the buildings. Long shadows were cast across the sidewalk.

“What’s all this mean?” she asked. “We’re really going to start hunting down the Healy family?”

“That’s right,” I said.

“I thought trashing Stuart’s office was enough.” She sounded scared, and I couldn’t blame her. This was the real shit now.

“That was a warning to Stuart,” I said. “But the Healy family doesn’t respond to petty stunts like that. No, they’re going to need death. I told you there was a war coming, and this is it.”

She chewed her lip for a second. “I’m worried,” she said. “What if something happens to you?”

“I’ll make sure you’re taken care of,” I said. “The family looks after its own.”

“You could just lie to me and say you’ll be fine.” She tilted her head a little and tried to smile.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” I said and stood close to her. “The fact is, things are going to get worse before they get better. I need you to understand that before we move forward. I won’t make you stay if you don’t want to.”

She opened her mouth then shut it again and looked down at the sidewalk. Cracks spread out around her feet and she rubbed her toe against them. I wanted to reach out and brush her hair from her face but I held back, not sure if this was the moment for that.

“All this feels like a dream,” she said, whispering more to herself than to me. “You know what I mean? It feels like it’s not real, like it’s happening to someone else.”

“It’s real, princess,” I said, and tilted her chin up to look me in the eye. “I’m going to kill the Healy family, and I’m going to take care of you. All I need is for you to say you’re with me.”

She let out a breath. “I’m with you.”

“Good girl.” I kissed her gently on the lips. “Now, come on. We’ve got a job to do.”

“A job?” She sounded unsure as I ducked my head back into the bar and called for Tomaso. He bounded over, grinning huge.

“Did you tell her?” Tomaso asked.

“Not yet,” I said. “You go ahead.”

He grinned at Ash like a puppy with a new toy. “I know where those guys are,” he said.

“What guys?” Ash asked, looking at me, confusion etched in her eyes.

“The guys that tried to kill you two,” Tomaso said. “I know where they go. We’re gonna roll up on them right now.”

Ash’s mouth fell open. She blinked rapidly and I stared at her, my heart beating a steady rhythm. “You in or are you out?” I asked my little princess, my spoiled rotten beautiful girl. I wanted to drag her down this dark path and make her see what sort of man I really was, and if she could stand to look at me after I had blood on my hands then I knew she truly was the girl I wanted, the woman of my dreams, the rightful mother to my children.

“I’m in,” she said. “Shit, I guess I’m in.”

“Good,” Tomaso said, grinning huge. “Let’s go kill the fucks.”

West Philly was a sprawling section of city on the far side of the Schuylkill River. The Healys had control of most of it, from the south edge to the north, and out into the suburbs, though their influence stopped at the Main Line.

I parked outside of a small strip of stores with apartments up above them. Tomaso leaned forward from the back seat and pointed at a place with a big blue door and glass windows. “That’s it,” he said. “West Fish.”

“West Fish?” Ash asked, making a face.

“I guess it’s a seafood place,” I said. “A fish market or whatever.” I looked back at Tomaso. “You’re sure about this?”

“Positive,” he said. “I’ve been asking around all over the fucking place after it happened and I’m sure it’s these guys.”

I reached across Ash and opened the glove box. Inside were two guns, both loaded. I handed one back to Tomaso and tucked the other into my waistband.

“All right,” I said. “Here’s the plan. We go in there, I kill the fucks, and then we get out of here as fast as we can. Understood?”

“That’s not really a good plan,” Ash