Sniping Her Mafia King
Chapter 29

Arwen sighed and stood up from her desk and stretched before looking again at the time on her phone. She moved and locked her door and sat back at her desk and waited for the video conference call she was expecting. She pushed a button causing the glass windows of her office to darken to allow her privacy. Her reception team knew she would be unable to be interrupted for the next while.

Artemis, Psych-One, and Jesse were calling her for an update on the things Arwen had reported to Jesse earlier in the day. Arwen wasn't sure if she was getting fired, reprimanded, or simply debriefed. All she knew was, since she met Adrianu Cavallaro, she'd been debriefed far more in a short time than she had ever been in her twelve years with Bellona, and she was dreading this call more than all the others.

The call began on her screen, and she answered it promptly, wiping her hands against her yoga pants and forcing a smile to her face. "Good afternoon, ladies."

"Hey Arwen," Psych-One spoke first. "Heard you played hide the sausage with Cavallaro. How was it?"

The woman's eyebrows wiggled, and Arwen was dumbfounded. What was happening? She looked to Jesse who simply shrugged as if embarrassed by the woman's questions. "Excuse me? What?" she took a breath, "no, really? What?" "She's no fun, she doesn't want to dish," Psych-One complained to Artemis.

"Can't say I blame her. He's not the kind of guy you f**k and tell," Artemis commented dryly. "Arwen, are you ready for tonight?"

Arwen breathed a sigh of relief as the woman stuck to professional questions, "Yes ma'am. The son of a b***h is going to regret telling my girl to kill herself."

"Good." She leaned back in her chair, pursing her lips and then surprised Arwen with an apology. "I apologize for missing the FBI agent when I verified yesterday you got in okay. I had a camera angled at the gate to make sure you landed safely and caught sight of Cavallaro with a wheelchair. I knew he was there for you, and you were in good hands. I left it at that. Had I known your stalker was there, I would have sent an agent." "Sent an agent for what? We can't exactly kill him." Arwen complained.

"Like hell we can't," Artemis grunted. "He's turned into a f*****g stalker. If you were any other woman, you would be terrified of his behaviour."

"But I'm not." Arwen grunted, "I will admit, I'm tired of his s**t. Someone told him I was dating Cavallaro, and he came to my clinic to warn me. He's sent me multiple emails since and then showed up at the airport. I don't know how he knew I was landing." "I do," Jesse held up a document, "The King is under surveillance by the FBI. He has an agent on his a*s who hated our grandfather. It seems he's the guy feeding Agent Croft and shifting his sights from the Vegas casinos to whatever the King is doing here in New York. Since his arrest on Sunday morning, you've been made a person of interest. They flagged you for flying. Agent Croft knew you were coming back in on Wednesday."

"Son of a f*****g b***h!" Arwen cursed furiously. "Is this a joke?"

"No. We are serious. They didn't follow you to Boston because they were watching the King's actions in New York. His supervisor approved his renewed interest in you." Artemis was calm and collected in contrast to Arwen's palpable rage. "We need the King to deal with his s**t and make them go away."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Tell him."

"Tell him what?" Arwen lifted an eyebrow at them.

"Tell him Juno's family has let you know his activities have put you in the direct line of fire of the FBI and he needs to make them f**k off because it's impacting your ability to the job, we trained you to do."

Arwen's jaw dropped open as she looked to Jesse who was looking away in the distance as if afraid to meet Arwen's eyes. "Did I just hear you right?"

"You trust this guy, Arwen?" Artemis pulled no punches.

She closed her eyes, "I hate to admit it, but I do. He's cagey as hell but it's why I trust him. However, you're asking me to confirm to him what I never wanted to confirm to anyone outside of our organization."

"No details. No specifics. Tell him he was right to suspect his cousin has protection and you are part of the group she belongs to. Let him know you were notified via one of our agents the FBI has flagged you as a person of interest in his investigation." "What exactly are you expecting him to do about the FBI looking into me?"

Jesse made a face behind Artemis' back which told Arwen she had asked the exact same question. She fought to keep her face neutral as she waited for Artemis to explain.

Artemis sighed, "Arwen, let him try to handle it first. If he wants to kill the whole boatload of them, I don't care but I don't want to interfere in an FBI investigation involving a mob boss. If I need to have Clara go in and wipe everything about everything in their system before we send a girl into kill Croft, I can. We can erase investigations into hundreds of things to make it look like Cavallaro's was part of an overall dump but let's give him first attempt to handle his affairs." Artemis held her gaze in the screen, "you can let him know he has ten days to make them f**k off or our organization will jump in and if we jump it, we won't be as discerning as he is. Let him know, it could mean things, he doesn't want revealed get revealed, such as a missing container of women." "Jesus Chris, you want me to threaten him?"

"No. I want you to tell him we are not as gentle as the f*****g mob." Artemis corrected sharply. "You tell him we are giving him professional courtesy to handle his s**t, of which you," Artemis pointed at her, "are now part of. If he can't handle his s**t, we will do so on for him, and the fallout won't be as quiet as he likes."

She moaned and covered her face, "I cannot believe we are having this conversation."

"Believe it Arwen. You are a valued asset. I can't have my number one sniper being followed by f*****g FBI. It's a pain in my a*s. I could have you doing ten assignments over the next month, and I have to get you laying low and sucking d**k to maintain cover." "Sucking d**k?"

"Or whatever it is you're doing with Cavallaro. Is he not into fellatio?

"Artemis," Jesse grunted in annoyance. "My cousin. You're discussing my cousin."

"He's f*****g your best friend, Juno," Artemis turned and faced Jesse. "Stop being such a prude. Deal with it. He's an asset. It's better we have him close than at an arm's length."

"Your d**k is just hard for him because you saw him help a handful of women," Jesse swore furiously.

"He was f*****g beautiful that night," Artemis grinned at Arwen, "I nearly came."

"Jesus Christ," Arwen gasped as she looked away from the screen in horror. "What the f**k is happening?"

"We like him, Arwen. He's dirty, filthy and he knows how to keep his mouth shut and he doesn't ask too many questions. If I weren't married, I'd chase the bastard into the dark night."

"Oh my god," Jesse moaned loudly in mortification.

"I killed his father." Arwen tried to put the conversation back on track.

"Pfft, if anything he's more upset someone beat him to the punch than killing the old man. He needed a better plan in place to take over the family. He probably would have done everyone in a single day. Take out a bunch of cousins and henchmen at the same time as Luca and then take the group by force. It would have earned him far more respect than la Principessa crowning him." Artemis grunted.

Arwen c****d an eyebrow, "you think he would have killed his own father?"

"Yes," Artemis made a face. "He hated him."

"He was his father."

"A man who abused him and everyone around him. The only reason he didn't kill him was because his grandfather was still alive. I expect Luca would have been killed within six months. Our problem was The King didn't know his father was working with Ferraro to shove women into shipping containers on the ocean and we needed to act fast."

"He was still family."

Artemis turned to Jesse, "was Fredo your family?"

"F**k no."

Artemis turned back to Arwen, "see."

"Why are you trying to convince me?"

"Because you're putting the emotions of how you would feel about anyone harming your dad, who was a good man and a great father, onto Cavallaro who did not have the same experience. He hated his father with every breath in his body." Psych-One spoke suddenly. "Your feelings for your dad are not the same kind of feelings he had for his. Family isn't always blood Arwen. He has employees he loves far more than many of his blood. Remember this."

"It's moot. He'll never know anyway," Arwen argued.

"For now," Artemis shrugged.

"What?"

Jesse interrupted frustratedly, "are we done?"

Psych-One grinned mischievously in Arwen's direction, "yes unless our favorite sniper wants to spill the tea on the reason Juno told us you looked wrecked this morning."

"Juno has a big mouth," Arwen glared at her friend.

"I'm sorry," Jesse met her anger head on. "I took a chapter out of the Ruiz family book and used you as a diversion tactic. You can punch me when we see each other later."

"I will," Arwen didn't blink. "Your a*s is mine."

"That's what he said," Psych-One cackled maniacally.

Arwen was stunned at the behavior of the woman. "Am I dismissed yet?"

"Yes." Artemis said, "have fun tonight. Give the fucker a slice of a blade for me."

She closed her screen after nodding and rubbed her forehead in disbelief. Over the last year she had spent more time with Artemis and Psych-One and Juno doing special assignments and they had relaxed a lot with her, but this was next level. They had carried on like sorority sisters.

She noted a light on her desk phone flashing, and she picked up the receiver and called reception. "Hey Norah. What's going on?"

"Are you still in your meeting?"

"No. It just ended. Why?"

"You have a visitor."

She immediately thought of the FBI and felt her heart sink. She was ready to murder the son of a b***h. "Who is it?"

"Mr. Cavallaro to see you."

She fought the rush of panic as her directives from her leaders felt heavy on her shoulders, "send him down." She hit a button to lighten her room up again and watched as he turned the corner in the direction of her office. She moved to unlock the door and opened it just as he reached for the handle. "Hi."

"Hi." He smiled at her.

She smiled back as he wrapped his arm around her waist, pushed her into her office and kicked the door behind him. He lifted her clear off the floor, so they were face to face and he kissed her hard on the mouth.

"You should not be walking around. You should be laying in bed resting," he chastised her with a smile his lips a breath away from hers. "You obviously gave in too early this morning."

She giggled, "no, I don't think I did. I drove my car, not my bike and I almost crawled to my desk, and I haven't left my chair other than to stretch and do a bit of yoga. I even had food delivered to me at lunch because I'm so tired."

He carried her to her office chair and sat in it, holding her on his lap sideways. His fingers on her jaw were surprisingly gentle on her. "I missed you. I wanted to make sure you were okay after how rough we were last night." His words and their tender delivery surprised her. "I am," she nodded.

"Have you had a busy day?" He looked to her computer, "Norah said you were in an urgent meeting and couldn't be disturbed."

"Yes, it was a meeting about you," she said not looking at him and touching the button opened at his collar, suddenly hating how vulnerable she felt. She felt a need to punch something. She couldn't wait to get to Trace. He tilted her chin to meet his face, "about me why?"

"We need to talk."

His face closed off. "Is this another talk because you're getting cold feet or something entirely different."

She could almost feel the tension radiating off him. "Different. Definitely different."

"Then let's talk." She felt the tension in his thighs under her a*s relax slightly at her words.

She took a breath, "last night, you said you don't ask questions."

"Right." He frowned at her as she grappled to replace words. "Spit it out, Arwen. It's better to just be blunt."

"f**k," she uttered frustratedly, "you suggested your cousin is part of her own family. You are right. She is, we are, I can't give you details." He was quiet so she continued, "our family, as you like to call it, were notified due to your arrest on Sunday morning, I've been made a person of interest in the FBI's investigation of you. They flagged me. It's how Agent Peckerless knew I was landing Wednesday morning. He's stalking me and this time he has the support of his superiors because I am now linked to you." "f**k," he closed his eyes at her words.

"Our leader has asked me to give you the option to handle it."

He opened his eyes and lifted an eyebrow, "excuse me?"

"The wording was more along the lines "tell him he has ten days to handle it, or we do" and we aren't nearly as discrete."

"You will handle it?"

"Not me, personally," she put her hands up. "I never handle anything my name linked to. I'm not stupid. They would bring in someone else, but it was felt," she struggled to replace her words, "given you are Jesse's cousin and you and I are," she made a face unsure how to put a name to their new relationship.

"We are what, Arwen?" he cupped her cheek, a hint of a smile tugging his lips.

"Lovers?"

He chuckled lowly, "mia cara, we are so much more than lovers but if you feel most comfortable with using the word, go ahead."

She groaned in frustration, "all I know is, our boss is extending you professional courtesy I've never seen extended to anyone before. I mean nobody. Normally we go in and just handle our s**t. This being said, anything involving Dee has been handled differently than we would typically operate and Agent No Nads has been assigned to our case from day one. We've dealt with kid gloves because Deidre is a liability, we can't have exploited. He went too far this time though. We're done messing around with him. The FBI following me around, means I can't do the things I need to do."

"The things you need to do?"

"Yes," she grimaced. "Things locally in New York on behalf of my team. If the FBI follows me then it's a problem. I have," she found herself wishing she had Jesse's language skills as she searched for the word, "I have work I need to do and because they flagged me, I may end up pulled from a duty roster my employer does not want to pull me from. I was instructed to tell you to get them off my a*s."

He nodded, "I will take care of it. In fact, you can assure your boss I had already begun to do so after he showed up at the airport yesterday. You have nothing to worry about. It will be handled long before my ten-day deadline."

She nodded and sighed. "I hate this."

"Hate what?"

"Addy, you can never let Deidre know what I've told you. She thinks we get into bar fights when we're often out dealing with targets. She can't know."

"She will never know from me." He c****d his head, "targets?"

"We take assignments to intercept people doing things they shouldn't be doing."

"Vigilante justice? Are you like Batman? Do you get a bat signal?"

"f**k off," she pursed her lips trying not to laugh at his jokes.

"You just get sent to bars to beat people up?" She groaned loudly at his question, and he laughed and placed his finger on her lips, "I don't need to know more than you've told me." As she looked at him in surprise he smirked, "would you want to know all the ways I've had to get my hands dirty?" As she pulled her head back with stretched lips of disgust, he grinned, "I do not need to know the s**t you and Jesse have been up to. The less I know the better."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Your secrets are safe with me. Though I am curious. Agent Croft was here in this office. Are you not worried he is bugging you?"

"He wishes." She grunted, "get your phone out." She watched as he did. "Try to make a call." She pushed a button on her watch and his phone lost service and was useless.

"What the f**k?"

She grinned at his surprise, "think Addy. You've seen Jesse with a large group of women. Who belongs to our group?"

She watched as he did the math and then laughed loudly.

"Clara Draxton has secured your building."

She shrugged, "I can't confirm or deny her involvement. All I have clearance to give you as information is I am part of the team you suspected your cousin and I to be part of and because of my involvement with you, the FBI is in our way. You need to make them go away."

"Consider it done," he kissed her forehead. "What are your plans for the evening?"

"Girl's night," she met his gaze.

"Girl's night?" he tilted his head.

"Yes. Girl's night." She offered no further informant and smiled when he nodded and spread his hands open.

"Enjoy girl's night. Will it be late?"

"I hope so," she thought of all the ways she wanted Trace to suffer. She was considering putting a gun in his hand and telling him to kill himself. She heard his chuckle and looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"Just now, you reminded me of my friend Santino. He gets a far away look of excitement which tells me something horrible is going to happen to someone and I am grateful it is not me."

She gave a small shrug, "it's not a work thing, Addy."

"No?"

"This one is all pleasure." At his raised eyebrow she groaned, "the girls and I are getting together to blow of steam." She could feel the rigid muscle under his jacket, and she shook her head, "Addy, it's like Fight Night but not Fight Night." "Will there be other men there?"

She sighed, "I'm not meeting up with men."

"Will there be other men there," he repeated his question, his eyes boring into hers.

"We're going to kill Trace," she whispered bluntly and then covered her mouth with her hands. "f**k. Why does s**t just spill out of my mouth when I'm with you?" She looked to the ceiling as if searching for answers.

He sat back incredulously as if stunned at her admission, his eyes wide. "You're going to do what?"

She bit her lip nervously, wondering if Artemis had known how stupid she was going to be with this guy. She lifted a shoulder and went all in, "he told my little girl to kill herself. My team has taken care of her since she was seven years old. There isn't a woman part of our collective who wouldn't fight an army for her. They've all watched her battle for her life from the minute I took over as her guardian. She might not know anything about who we are or what we do, but everything I do, all of it, is for her and in honor of my aunt. My family consists of women who pseudo-adopted Deidre and they all have soft spots for her."

"She is a special young lady. She has overcome such adversity. I understand completely how your friends want to protect her. The minute I met her I felt the same compunction. Your friends really want to kill him, though?"

She grunted, "We had to stop one of our girls from killing him in the hospital, I kid you not. We had to literally have her escorted off the premises," she thought of Cat and grinned. Naomi and Clara had walked her out. "Another one wanted to make it look like a hit and run when he was leaving the hospital. Someone else suggested just giving him poison in his protein shake, but our poisons aren't the gentle kind. It would have been horrific, which I'm not opposed to." She took a breath as she spilled it all, "but I didn't want Deidre to think he succumbed to his injuries due to a request she made." She sighed, "I can't let her heart be filled with darkness."

"Arwen, you're really going to kill him?" Addy's voice was quiet and calm and, possibly, filled with admiration.

"No." She shook her head and at his confused expression she sighed, "he's going to kill himself after we torture the f**k out of him. Then he's going to disappear. Nobody will ever replace him. Not ever."

He closed his eyes for a moment and Arwen wondered if Artemis had been wrong to tell her she could share information with him. Would he get in her way?

When he opened his eyes, Arwen felt her heart race. If anyone had ever told her she could feel adoration from a simple look, she would have thought them crazy, but Adrianu Cavallaro was looking at her as if she had hung the moon and the stars and saved them for him. "Addy?" she whispered in confusion.

"I am so glad to hear this, mia cara. I have had such regret of letting him live. I am so proud of you for protecting your family, Arwen. Do me a favor?" When she nodded, he gave a twisted smile, "make it f*****g painful."

"I promise," she whispered just as his lips claimed hers.