Sniping Her Mafia King
Chapter 37

"Hi Addy. I'm fine. Thank you for asking. How is your day going?" her voice dripped sarcasm at the brusque coldness of his tone. "Arwen is she okay?" his tone didn't change, and he ignored her question.

"Why wouldn't she be? You had her dropped off in full view of her brother's posse. Did you know she was sold to the bratva?" "No, I did not know," his voice was quiet. "I would have been more cautious. She said nothing to me. What a f*****g mess." "It is a mess, but we'll handle it."

"Bellona is cleaning up my father's mess and I don't like it." Addy spoke harshly, revealing he knew Arwen had been made aware of the debrief since she hadn't divulged their name. "You should turn her over to me and let me deal with it." "And disobey a direct order from my Alpha and my Artemis? Nope. Sorry Addy."

"Mia cara, dealing with the Russians is not advisable."

She laughed loudly, "I hate to tell you this, but the Sicilian's are reported to be worse."

He was quiet for a minute and then sighed, "yes, we can be worse, but I do not like you tangling with them."

"Addy, I can take care of myself, and I can protect Zoya better than any of your men."

"It is not I doubt your abilities, Arwen -"

"Are you sure because it really seems it." She heard a knock on the door. "I'll call you back." She hung up on him.

She pulled her pistol from her waistband and motioned for Zoya to stay seated on the sofa and not move. Arwen peeked through the door and then undid the deadbolts and pulled it open. "Chavez, seriously, you could have texted you were on your way. Jesse pushed in, "Beta is at the clinic with Gamma. Delta-One is on her way here. Alpha-Two has a new team and it's weird because we haven't worked with them yet but she's bringing her new Beta and her old Delta with her." Jesse groaned, "also, everyone's changed designations are messing with my head. I can't remember who the Delta is, Beta, Gamma, and there's not an Epsilon." She rubbed her forehead. "It's weird. I'm ready just to find new names. Like do I call Bliss Old-Delta, Delta-Three? Is she Beta?" Arwen blinked. Bliss? "Is she reinstated?"

"Yes, temporarily. She took an assignment and then took this one too," Jesse grunted as she took a chair opposite Zoya in the chair. She looked around. "You know I was in a Juggernaut safehouse for Torben and ours are better. It looks rough outside but it's comfortable in here."

Arwen groaned as her phone rang again. She declined the call and shook her head.

"Problem?"

"Adrianu Cavallaro is pissed we're cleaning up his mess and is demanding to know my whereabouts."

"Did you tell him to f**k off?" Jesse grimaced and saw Zoya's eyebrows lift. "He's not so scary, Zoya." Jesse lied. He was definitely that scary.

"He is very scary," Zoya whispered. "He is the Italian mafia. I know he is."

"And this makes him scary?"

"He is good and took care of us and made sure we were okay, but I would not cross Mr. Cavallaro. There is something about him which makes me nervous."

"Can you imagine dating someone like him?" Jesse made big eyes at Zoya who gasped.

"No. I would be so worried I would do something to embarrass him or disrespect him, and he would kill me."

"f**k that," Arwen grunted as she went through the cabinets. "He's not scary."

"Because you're boning him." Jesse said overturning her previous statement after consideration. "He's my cousin, Arwen. He is my family. Even with all my training and everything I know and even being his blood, I'm afraid of him. Even Artemis second-guessed herself today. He isn't just a mob boss, Arwen, he's the f*****g King and we all know it."

Arwen changed the subject, "Zoya's smart."

Jesse pivoted her head away from studying her friend who was looking for sanity in the empty kitchen. "How smart?"

"She wants to be a doctor and feels strongly she could do it."

"How old are you Zoya," Jesse eyed her curiously.

"Eighteen. I just turned eighteen."

"She likes sciences and math," Arwen tossed out as she read the label on a can of soup she found in the cupboard. Her phone rang again, and she declined it a second time.

"You're just pissing him off more," Jesse tossed out before turning her attention back to Zoya, "tell me your story how you ended up here. Start from the beginning. Like way far back. What made you leave Russia to get on a boat in Italy?"

As Zoya began to recount the story she'd told Arwen, Arwen moved through the house and checked the beds were suitable for sleeping and everything was set for an extended stay if necessary. She then went through her bag containing her rifle and her ammunition and started sorting through it on the small round kitchen table.

A text message pinged her phone.

She grabbed and sent a photo of her weapon assembled on the table, "I'm working. f**k off."

"Deidre's birthday dinner?"

She made a face and looked to Jesse, "I have Dee's birthday dinner at seven."

"Beta and Gamma will be here by then."

"I will be home in time."

"You think you'll have things fixed by then?"

"I don't work alone. I have cover."

"Are you safe?"

"Yeah. My Alpha is here as my backup."

"Your Alpha needs to be put over my knee for her disrespect today."

Arwen snort-laughed and looked to Jesse, interrupting the conversation happening nearby. "The King felt you were disrespectful today and you need to be put over his knee."

"He did it to me once when I was a teenager and got mouthy. In front of a bunch of his men. I punched him in the face for it. Next time I'll use a blade." Jesse glared at her. "Were you disrespectful today?"

Jesse grinned, "I really was. I leaned into my job today in debrief. It was better than doing Torres'."

Arwen giggled. "I wish I'd been able to see it." She messaged Addy, "Alpha says if you attempt it, you will see her blade."

"In her dreams."

Arwen giggled at his phrasing.

Jesse thumbed at her and looked to Zoya, "she's texting Mr. Cavallaro and laughing."

"He said to me he trusts Doctor Arwen and so I should too," Zoya nodded. "It's why I knew I could talk to her."

"Aww, did you hear her, Delta? The King trusts you."

"He should," she looked up grinning. "Hate for him to not trust me and I have to bite something off."

The two women giggled and Zoya gasped.

"Sorry," Arwen grunted, "forgot a kid was present."

"Oh, I am not a kid." Zoya said seriously. "I know all about s*x. I grew up in the brothel. Remember?" "Right," Jesse exhaled an angry sigh. "Zoya. Are there lots of children in there?"

"There are at least ten children, but I was the oldest."

"Zoya, I'm going to need some information from you because we are going to close down the brothel."

"How will the women take care of their families if they have no money?" Zoya asked. "I was supposed to become a doctor and send money home for my mother so she could stop working," she whispered suddenly. "It would take only ten more years. My mother is thirty-five." Arwen closed her eyes at the words. Zoya's mother had been doing this since a teenager.

Jesse reached out and clasped Zoya's hands and reassured her the women would be taken care of.

Arwen looked back to her phone and noted she missed another text.

"Please tell me you'll be safe."

She picked up the phone, "I'll be safe. I promise."

"See you at dinner."

She paused at his comment. Dinner? Had Dee invited him back to the house for dinner? She messaged Deidre. "Did you ask Addy to your birthday dinner?"

"You always make enough for twenty people. What's one more?"

She turned to look at Jesse who was almost interrogating poor Zoya obtaining as much information as she could about her childhood, the house she ygrew up in, the location and the number of people in it.

"Why do I feel your rage from over here?" Jesse questioned without looking away from where Zoya was drawing on a piece of paper.

"Deidre invited Addy to her birthday dinner."

Jesse wrinkled her nose in confusion, "she's always insisted she just wants the two of you for birthday dinner. Remember when we tried to do a dinner at a restaurant, and she had a full-blown meltdown? It's why we all get her presents to her around her birthday and not on it."

"Because I make her mother's favorite ham and biscuits on her birthday, and she eats them, and she cries, and she doesn't like anyone seeing her cry."

"Someone cries on her birthday?" Zoya said sympathetically.

"My cousin. Her mother died many years ago but when she was alive, she would make birthday's a big deal. It always reminds my cousin of what she no longer has and so she prefers to spend it quietly at home. She's never invited anyone to eat her birthday dinner with us. Ever."

"But she invited Mr. Cavallaro?" Zoya was clearly confused. "Does she have a crush on him?"

Jesse roared with laughter and Arwen grimaced, "no. She does not have a crush. She told me he reminds her of our fathers. They were twins. Big strong men who didn't take s**t off anyone."

"Maybe it will make her feel a missing piece is there," Zoya said with a shrug. "I used to pretend when my father was at the house, he was a good man coming home to his family after being on a business trip." She made a face, "he was there a lot for a man who had a wife and son at home."

Jesse gave a heartless laugh, "he sounds like a great guy."

"He was a horrible person," Zoya whispered, "I am glad he is dead. I wish Oleg were dead too. I wish they were all dead."

"They will be," Arwen didn't even hesitate to respond.

"How? You are just girls?" Zoya said earnestly. "Will Mr. Cavallaro help?"

"f**k no," Arwen made a face. "He's not invited to our party."

"This is a party?" Zoya made a face.

"Let's call it a pyjama party." Jesse had her laptop out and was sitting cross-legged on the chair typing furiously. Arwen knew she was sending the info she'd gotten from Zoya off to HQ. "You have weird parties." Zoya joked as she finally began to relax.

"Ha, ha!" Arwen gave a shout of laughter as she looked at her phone. "Pavel's brother tried to go into the clinic after Nate left. He must have known Nate was the only man in there."

"No! The women," Zoya sat up in panic before jumping to her feet to pace.

"Relax Zoya," Jesse didn't even look up from her computer. "We had a team in place."

"They have him in the gym," Arwen laughed as she zoomed in on the photo Isabella had sent her. "I think he underestimated my team." She made a loud chortle which made Zoya blink at the glee, "oh, Zoya there's a big guy with blonde hair and blue eyes, really big nose. What's his name?"

"Igor, perhaps?"

"God, could he be any more of a stereotypical thug? Cat is beating the f**k out of him." She grinned at Jesse. "She's having far too much fun."

"Tuva is gone. Went back to Oslo early."

"What?" Arwen snapped her head up. "Why? She was only going next week."

"Told Cat she had things she needed to take care of and left."

"Was she mad Cat went home at three in the morning drunk last night?"

"I don't know." Jesse made a face at her screen, "Torben didn't even know she was going back. They were supposed to have dinner at our place tomorrow night. Cat was supposed to fly out with her and spend a week there. She doesn't even know if Tuva wants her to go." "She just left?"

"Got up in the morning, Cat was making coffee and Tuva came out of the bedroom with her bag packed."

"f**k," Arwen rubbed her forehead. "No wonder Igor's face looks like a subway train hit it."

"A girl is beating up Igor. He is a big man." Zoya asked incredulously.

Arwen opened up her security app for the clinic and found the video of the gym. She held it up to Zoya whose mouth fell open at the brutality Cat was unleashing on the man. "Poor Cat."

"Poor Cat?" Zoya was staring at the screen her hands trembling as she looked to Arwen and Jesse. "Who are you?"

"We are women who have dedicated their lives to stopping men from hurting women and we take our job very seriously."

"I don't understand," Zoya said. "Do you work with Mr. Cavallaro?"

"No." Arwen and Jesse said simultaneously.

"Zoya, we've already shown you too much. You've already heard too much. We like you and we'll help you. You need to stop asking questions and just accept we are going to help you and ensure your family is safe." "My family is in Russia."

"Yeah, so is ours," Jesse twisted her lips.

Arwen's phone buzzed again, and she groaned, "Alpha, you good? I need to take this."

"The King again?"

"No, Dee." She moved to one of the bedrooms and dialed out. "What's going on Dee?"

"Dinner is at seven, right?"

"Yes, why? You have plans after?"

"No, yes," Deidre sounded out of breath.

"What is going on Deidre?"

"The guy from the library. His name is Warrick. He asked me out."

Arwen blinked and then recovered quickly, "well yeah, he asked you out. How could he not? You're amazing."

"Arwen," Deidre groaned, "what about Mathis?"

"What about him?" Arwen shrugged, "he put a ring on it?"

"No."

"Did he ask you to be exclusive with him and did you agree?"

"No."

"Are you in a committed relationship where you pledged undying love and devotion?"

"Arwen!" Deidre was growing frustrated. "I am so confused," she whispered. "Is it because I wore makeup today?" "Deidre, if you think the reason, he asked you out is because you have make-up on then give him a hard pass."

"I told him I'd have coffee in the school campus coffee shop after work, but I needed to be home in time for dinner."

"Oh, you used your birthday dinner as a buffer. Good job. Take a rideshare home after."

"You don't think I'm being a slut?"

Arwen choked on her breath, "there's no such thing as a slut, Deidre. If a man wants to f**k everyone in the city, he's a stud. But, if a woman does it, she's a slut with loose morals. Screw the archaic bullshit. Your sexuality is yours and to hell with what anyone else says. If you want to sleep with Warrick before dinner and blow Mathis for dessert, it's your decision, your choice, and your body."

"Arwen!"

Arwen chuckled as she was certain she could feel the heat of her cousin's blush through the phone. "Deidre, the only time anyone has the right to say anything about who you're sleeping with is when you have something to say on the matter. You're a nineteen-year- old woman. This is when you should be dating. Do what you want, just do it safely, please."

"Okay," her swallow was audible, "I'll be home by seven for our dinner. Thanks Arwen. Thanks for always listening."

"I love you, Deidre. Be safe. I'll see you at dinner."

She exited the room and saw Jesse looking at her.

"Is she okay?"

"Archaeology boy finally grew a pair. She's having coffee before dinner."

Jesse clutched her hands over her chest, "our little girl is really growing up."

"She was having a crisis because of the hockey player."

Jesse made a face, "he lives in another city, and they haven't even locked lips yet. She owes him nothing."

Arwen agreed with a nod. "Any updates?"

"Delta and Gamma are taking the two men to an off-site location. Clean-up crew was dispatched. Pavel left the site but he's being followed."

A knock on the door had both Jesse and Arwen reaching for their weapons and Zoya grinning at them. "You two move like synchronized dancers."

Jesse smiled, "wait until you see the rest of us."

Arwen opened the door, "Alpha, Beta, Delta."

Bliss reached out and hugged her tight and whispered in her ear, "I did you a solid this morning."

"They sent you?" she looked to Bliss in shock, knowing she meant she'd delivered the fatal shot to Agent Croft. "Oh, this is perfect."

"Artemis called Naomi to gauge how drunk Jesse was," she looked to Jesse with a smirk, "but I only had a couple of drinks all night. Artemis asked a favor. I was thrilled to do it. I hated the son of a bitch."

"How did you get there so fast?"

"Funny story," Bliss grinned. "Clara had dropped us off near HQ because my wife couldn't wait the thirty minutes home to have me for a late-night snack. We were in the HQ basement heading to the barracks when the call came in. We were twenty minutes out. Artemis got a weapon to me on loan and Naomi drove me on the back of a borrowed bike."

"It was the first time I got to drive my girl to a job in years," Naomi grinned. "It was hot. Had her right there on the rooftop while the police and emergency services were going crazy below."

The girls laughed and Zoya blushed as she eavesdropped on the conversation.

Arwen kissed her cheek, "thanks Bliss." She looked to the redhead standing too straight near the door. She winked at her and then jerked her head in Bliss' direction, "have you kissed her yet?"

The new Beta blushed brightly but scowled angrily, "I like dick."

"Me too but Bliss is an exception."

"Not one I'd be willing to make."

"Relax Lolita," Naomi patted the woman's shoulder, "Arwen's just busting your chops. She's our baby girl. We pseudo-adopted her when she was a kid. She knows you two have been working on a special project and I had my panties twisted over it. She's f*****g with me more than you." She slugged Arwen in the shoulder, "brat."

"You ready for some field work?" Jesse asked the woman who usually brought her coffee when she was at HQ. "More than just clean-up crew?

"Yes." The woman nodded her eyes not leaving Arwen, "you tested my project."

"It was f*****g glorious," Arwen praised her. "I almost had an o****m it was so pretty."

"Yeah, she would have if someone would have been paddling her a*s with a spoon while she watched." Bliss teased her and flung herself on the sofa next to Zoya who was blinking rapidly at everyone.

"I prefer leather," she winked at Lolita who suddenly busted out laughing at the comments. "Everyone, this is Zoya. Zoya, these are the ladies who are going to be protecting you along with me and Jesse." "You're all women." Zoya said incredulously. "Are there no men?"

"What do we need a man for?"

"His shipping line apparently," Arwen grunted with irritation. "Stupid debrief."

"I was a guard for the debrief," Naomi grinned. "Me and Clara. It was beautiful. Unlike Lolita, I don't like d**k but mine was hard for him. I've never seen anyone as cool and collected as he was. She could have shot his puppy in front of him, and I don't think he would have flinched. Your man has ice water in his veins, and I swear he was turned on from the pain we inflicted on him." Naomi smirked, "when Artemis punched him in the junk, he commented usually he got naked for this kind of thing but since his cousin was in the room, he'd have to take a hard pass on Artemis' flirtatious behaviour."

Arwen groaned loudly.

"Zoya's smart," Jesse said interrupting, sneering at the mention her cousin might have been titillated while she'd been in the room.

The room went quiet.

As the newest recruit in the room, Lolita looked at the young woman with a knowing smile, "how smart?"

"Speaks three languages already. Wants to go to med school. Finished high school regardless of the fact her father was a pimp for the bratva, and she managed to find her way on her own to Italy." Arwen spoke revealing to what she'd been listening. "And crossed the Atlantic making sure not one of those bastards touched her." Jesse added as she considered the story the girl had told her.

"I still stupidly got into a container." Zoya wasn't following their inside questions.

"Nineteen other women were going. What could go wrong?" Lolita spoke up before she looked to Jesse and Arwen curiously, "do you think?"

"Hell yeah," Arwen grinned. "She hasn't even flinched once with all the weapons laying around, me having an underground garage or the fact I showed her a video of Cat beating a man's face into mush."

"Poor Cat," three women spoke in unison.

"Artemis is going to love her," Arwen said as she sat on the other side of Zoya and kicked her feet up on the coffee table. "She's five nine, gorgeous, has a shitty childhood, was s*x-trafficked and she's smart." Arwen looked back to Zoya. Yes. Artemis was definitely going to like Zoya. Arwen considered the day wasn't a total bust.