Sniping Her Mafia King
Chapter 42

Artemis was as pissed off as Jesse. Cavallaro wasn't playing ball but as she pointed out, Pavel was in the house of a leak in the King's business, and it wasn't as if he'd gone out looking for the guy. Pavel was collateral damage in a mafia takedown. She had instructed

Jesse to send him a list of her questions and he'd get the answers and then to consider Pavel a dried-up source.

Arwen was sitting at the kitchen table in the house, working on her laptop to complete the reports she had wanted to work on the day before. A notification on her watch told her there was someone on her front porch at home and she grimaced as she grabbed her phone to find her security app.

"What the hell?" she c****d her head to one side as she took in the young man on her porch. "Jesse, look at this."

Jesse looked up from her laptop at the same kitchen table and looked down at the phone screen. "Where's this?" "My front porch."

"Where's Deidre?"

"Brunch with Miley at Portia's."

They watched as the man turned and moved to sit on the top stairs as if intending to wait.

"Should I call her?" Arwen questioned Jesse, "or just let him wait there."

"Why is he there?"

They both watched as the man pulled a book out and a bottle of water before settling down on the porch, dropping his crutches to the ground, indicating he was going to wait for her cousin to get home.

"Deidre had coffee with the guy from the library she's been crushing on before our dinner last night. She said she felt guilty about it and told him." She tapped the phone screen with her fingernail. "Deidre said she thought he was angry about it." "Was he?"

"I don't know. I didn't check her text messages, but she felt he was annoyed."

"Why? They've barely known each other a week. They met what on Monday?"

"Yeah," she made a face, "dinner on Tuesday and a few phone calls and video chats since then."

"Maybe he moves as fast as the King."

Arwen grimaced, "nobody moves that fast. He was staking a claim within a couple of hours of knowing me telling me what I couldn't wear in 'his' city. Did you know he relocated back to New York?"

"He's been in Vegas more than ten years." Jesse was surprised.

"Yup. Said he goes where his work needs him."

They were both silent as they watched the man on Arwen's porch quietly reading.

"I should let her know he's there."

"Or he can sit there and wait all day like a good dog," Jesse grinned.

"I can't believe he is on the porch. He's supposed to be in a gym doing a workout I assigned him."

"Some things are more important." Jesse smiled softly at Arwen, "like Dee."

"I'm calling her." Arwen pushed away from the table and lifted her phone and dialed out leaning against the refrigerator, her foot resting against it. Jesse gave her foot a pointed glance at she smirked back. Jesse would be scrubbing her footprint off it before the end of day.

Deidre answered and the piercing shriek of a crying baby nearly punctured Arwen's eardrums. "Arwen, can I call you back?" "What's going on?"

"Portia is trying to make dinner for Addy tonight and she set the smoke detector off. It made the baby cry and she's crying now. It's a cluster-f**k." Deidre's tone was a mix of desperation and laughter.

"Well, I'm just calling to tell you I have a notification on my phone of a delivery to the front porch. Call me back in a few minutes and I'll explain." She hung up the phone and looked at Jesse. "Portia's burning dinner."

"Why is she making dinner at eleven in the morning?" Jesse rubbed her forehead. "They moved into my old place yesterday. Cam arranged for everything to be done, delivered, installed, and unpacked. Dylan said it was the easiest move he's ever done. He didn't even need to be there. She's going to burn down the kitchen on her first day."

"Well clearly she's nervous and started prepping dinner early but the smoke detector went off and scared the baby." Arwen watched as Jesse pulled her phone out and called her mother. The woman agreed to leave her current job and race to the house to make sure the house Dylan and his bride were renting from Jesse wasn't burning to the ground.

"It's kind of cute she wants to have a dinner party with Addy." Isabella called from the living room where she was watching reality television with Zoya. "Jesse, I know now why you get hooked on these shows. It's like watching a trainwreck. I can't look away." Jesse and Arwen chuckled when Cat complained it was boring as f**k and she was ready to shoot the television.

"Zoya," Arwen asked the girl staring far too intently at the television, "when this is all taken care of, what do you want to do?"

"What do you mean?" she asked looking over her shoulder at Arwen.

"I mean, are you going to enroll in college? You going to go back to Russia and go to school there?"

"I have the bratva looking for me. I won't be going back home any time soon." She flung her head back onto the back of the sofa, "I just want to know my mother and my aunt are okay. I am worried it is how they knew I was here. I should never have called home." Her words made Arwen pause and she looked to Jesse who also had the same thought. "The housephone at the brothel is tapped."

"We need an agent on site there." Jesse grabbed her phone and moved to one of the bedrooms to have another chat with Artemis.

"Clara should be able to hack into the tap if it's not an old nineteen-eighties thing," Arwen called after her as Jesse gave her a thumbs up over her head.

Arwen was holding her phone when a text message came through to her and she sat at the table and frowned. Addy wanted her to call him when she was free. Jesse wanted his balls in a vice. Was she betraying her Bellona life talking to him when he'd been antagonistic to her Alpha not two hours ago?

She dialed out and he answered on the first ring, "Hey. What's up?"

"Are you alone?"

"No. I'm in a safehouse with five women. I mean one of them is sleeping but my team are all awake and wandering around."

"How many on your team?"

"There are four to a team. Team two is doing night shifts. Team three, Jesse's team has day shifts. Seven to seven rotations until we make our move."

"Make your move?"

"Yes, our move. We're a well-oiled machine and we always have a well planned and executed mission, Addy. We don't make mistakes."

"And yet, I have the guy you want to interrogate."

"Nah, we've moved on from him. We never put our eggs in one basket. Ask the questions or don't. We don't care." Arwen was only partially bluffing but she caught Isabella's grin at her words, and she smirked back. "Did you need something or was this just a friend chat on a Saturday afternoon?"

"You're feisty today."

Arwen could picture his grin in her mind at his words. "I'm feisty everyday, Mr. Cavallaro. You wouldn't be interested otherwise."

"You know me so well."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, men are not complex creatures." This time Isabella snorted her laughter and Arwen's smile was broad as she taunted Addy.

"You are correct. I have very few needs."

"Such as?"

"Now I believe you should be able to figure those out on your own, mia cara."

"Food, drink and s*x," she laughed at his indignant huff. "Did I forget something?"

"Yes."

"Ah, a good thrashing," Arwen added to her list.

"I cannot deny you are correct," his low laugh was warm in her ear.

"A little love, a little violence?" she chuckled as Isabella rolled her eyes, moving to sit at the kitchen table to openly eavesdrop. She flipped her friend off but didn't leave.

"Sounds like a perfect date night," Addy admitted. "Food, drink, a little violence and a lot of love."

"Agreed."

"Tell me Arwen, do you have ears listening to our conversation?"

"Hell yes. Which part of I'm in a house with five women did you not get? We stood right over Ruiz when her husband called her earlier to talk to her. I'm not going to get any better treatment."

"Then I will keep our call moderately PG just in case you wet your panties and they know I can make you c*m with just a well-placed command."

"You can not." She argued with him.

"Are you suggesting if I detailed to you a scenario involving us and I was explicitly clear in my details and I told you to release, you wouldn't?"

She looked up to the ceiling of the kitchen and studied the ceiling fan. "I would very much like to not test your theory right now."

"Coward."

"You know Addy, you've called me a coward a million times and I have never denied it. You far outweigh any of my experiences and I don't care who knows it." She gave a pointed glance to Isabella who was sitting with her hands clasped behind her head staring straight at her. "PG conversations only please while I am working."

"Well, it is why I'm calling. Your work."

"My work is why you're calling?"

"Specifically, one of your clients."

"Which one and why are you aware of my client list?"

"I'm aware of Mathis Lafarge on your client list because you and Deidre spoke of it. Were you aware he's at the house?"

"Yes, but she does not know. He's sitting quietly reading a book on the front porch and I can see him on my app on my phone for my security services. How do you know who is on my porch?" She frowned in irritation as Isabella sat up and echoed her facial expressions.

"Nothing sinister, amore, I had asked one of my men to do a drive-by just to make sure the FBI hadn't decided to do another stake-out. Agent O'Malley called me to let me know he's inherited Agent Tower's case file on me and he's reviewing it in detail. He wanted me to do a sit-down interview which I've declined. I believe he'll be making my work in Atlantic City a pain in the a*s."

"Don't you get tired of their s**t?" Arwen asked angrily.

"I have had a government asset of one country or another following my a*s since I was ten years old, Arwen. I can't help but wonder whether I would feel strange without one of them watching my every move."

"How do you do the things you do with them watching?"

"Me? I don't do anything. How did you do the things you needed to do while you worked in Toronto a few weeks back?"

"Touché," she gave a nod as she leaned back in the chair. "Well, I was going to let Deidre know Mathis triggered my porch alarm, but she and Portia were in a mess so I'm waiting for her to call me back."

"I was calling to ask if you were comfortable with him there or if you would like him removed."

"Why would I want him removed?"

"If Deidre comes home, they will be alone."

The guffaw erupted from her chest before she could stop it, "Addy, I don't care if she's alone with him. She's going to lose her cherry sometime." She saw Isabella cover her mouth in surprise and her eyes widened at her words. "She's nineteen. Her body. If she wants to lose her virginity to a beefy, good looking hockey player who appears to pack his skating shorts quite well, then who am I to judge. Hopefully, it's better than my hayloft adventures."

"Arwen, what if he hurts her?" His tone had gone from playful and warm to downright icy.

"Then she cries."

"I mean what if she doesn't want to be physical with him and -"

"Then he would die," Arwen didn't hesitate in her response, "painfully and the NHL would lose their star player. However, this is a boy who had last evening a disagreement with a girl he met on Monday. This morning Deidre said he hadn't answered her call last night after she'd left a message asking him what they were. I suspect he flew in to talk to her and presumably to work it out. At the moment, he's patiently sitting on my front porch reading Wuthering Heights and drinking water. I'm going to go out on a limb and say I believe his intentions towards my cousin to be honorable."

"Wuthering Heights? Heathcliff was a knob head."

"Thank you!" Arwen laughed and agreed with him. "Deidre and I dispute this regularly."

"Only a weak man would let his woman get away and marry someone else."

"Okay, our arguments for him being a knob head are vastly different." She made a face. "Is the only reason you were calling was to ask if you wanted one of your guys to remove Mathis from my front porch?"

"It was as good excuse as any to check in on you and see how you are. You were exhausted when I left you last night."

"I'm great," she refused to acknowledge how their evening ended. In the bright light of a new day, she was mortified by her behavior. She had cried from an o****m, cried over his scars then dreamt of him whispering how he loved her well into the morning. He was under her skin.

"You were," he paused as if searching for a word, "emotional."

"It was an emotional evening," she saw Isabella staring. "Seriously Ruiz, don't you have s**t to do?"

"We're in a f*****g safe house doing computer work to try to track intel. Your weird behaviour and the suspected source of said weirdness is infinitely more exciting than whatever Real Housewives s**t is on the television or going through countless pages of documents." She smirked, "I'm going to sit here and eavesdrop. Please continue your conversation. I'd be grateful if you put him on speaker so I could get both sides of the story."

Arwen sighed loudly, "Addy,"

He cut her off, "Jesse's Beta is rude."

Arwen giggled at his comment. "Truth be told, we all are but yeah."

"I will be busy for the next little while and it could be a couple of days. I will try to call when I'm able but there will be times, I will be unavailable. If you need anything and I don't respond, please know it's not me ducking your call."

"I understand."

"Mia cara, I am missing you."

She looked down at the table away from Isabella's smirking grin, "I miss you too Addy. We'll talk later." She ended the call and the leaned back and glared at Isabella. "Bitch."

"No shit."

They looked up as Jesse came back into the room. She made a face and pulled the refrigerator opened and grabbed a can of soda, "my cousin sent me an audio clip of the questions he asked the Russian on my behalf. A*****e did the interrogation in Russian, which isn't a problem for me but it's not like I can get the three of you to listen for clues."

"How hot is it, Arwen's man speaks five languages," Cat said as she mimicked Jesse and grabbed a soda. "Zoya, want a drink?"

"I would very much like a drink," Zoya came into the kitchen. "Keeping safe is boring."

The girls laughed. "It sure is." Arwen nodded.

Zoya looked at her, "you and Mr. Cavallaro are a couple."

She wrinkled her nose, "I guess that's one word to describe it."

Isabella leaned sideways mockingly, "he likes the word girlfriend."

"Are you not afraid of him? Won't he just kill you when it is over?"

"Who says it will be over?" Jesse grunted with annoyance. "Arwen's the bee's knees. He's head over heels. It won't be long, and a big catholic wedding will be happening, and she'll be knocked up."

"I'm not catholic." Arwen grunted as she remembered how on Thursday morning he talked about babies.

"Fake it," Jesse laughed, "I'll show you all the signs and movements you need in the church."

"He said he missed her," Isabella batted her eyelashes.

"Didn't your husband call you an hour ago and ask if he could swing by and pick you up to f**k you in his sports car?" Arwen glared at her friend as Zoya giggled.

"He's old and going through a midlife crisis," Isabella shrugged. "Forty is just around the corner. He needs to keep himself invigorated."

"You are all so funny. You are all such good friends. I hope someday I will have friends like you."

"You will," Jesse flitted her eyes to her teammates who all fought smirks. Zoya was going to be made an offer they all knew she wouldn't refuse.

Arwen's phone rang and it was Deidre and she excused herself from the group and moved to the living area. "Hey, Dee, is the fire out?"

"Yes. Fabiana showed up. She's teaching Portia how to make eggplant parmesan." Her voice dropped to a whisper, "Arwen, there's eggshells in it. She can't even crack an egg. Addy's going to get food poisoning."

Arwen chuckled, "are you really needed there, or can you get away for a bit?"

"Fabiana has it under control. Miley already bailed because the smoke detectors gave her a migraine. Why? Did you need me for something?"

"No. I'm sending you a screenshot of a parcel sitting on my front porch. It's not one I ordered so thinking maybe it belongs to you." She sent a photo of Mathis sitting on the porch, one of his crutches on the decking and a book in his hand. "What the hell?" Deidre gasped. "When did he get there?"

"About thirty minutes ago?"

"Arwen, why is he there? I called him at eleven last night and I never heard from him again."

"I'm guessing he didn't call back because whatever he wanted to say he wanted to say in person." Arwen said simply, "if you want, I'll run home now and tell him to leave."

"No!" Deidre almost shouted at her and Arwen couldn't help the smile pulling her cheeks at her cousin's immediate response. "I need to get home."

"I'm a good ways away from Portia's place. Do you want me to send a car to get you or - "

"No. It's fine. I'll get a rideshare. It'll be faster." Deidre's voice was rushed.

"Sounds good. Oh," she interjected as Deidre was muttering about Mathis not calling, "Dee, Addy knows he's there. He had a guy go by the house to check to make sure the FBI weren't still hanging around after yesterday. He is concerned about you being alone with a boy in the house. I believe he wanted me to allow him to send an escort to monitor your conversation."

"Arwen, you need to keep him away. I can't have him scaring Mathis away. Enrique and Santino were telling me how he showed up at Floria's last date and had a conversation with the boy and the boy left."

"He left?"

"He left New York," Deidre hissed. "The guy moved to Washington. Then Addy told Floria if a man was this much of a coward, he ran away at the first sign of adversity he wasn't the one."

"He did not," Arwen groaned at the story.

"Enrique and Santino thought it hilarious." She was clearly stressed out, "Arwen, I like Mathis. I can't have him scared off. He flew all the way here to see me."

"That's right, sweetie. He flew all the way to see you from Boston. He's not here to be scared off by Addy."

"I hope not," Deidre exhaled sharply.

"Addy is busy with a project. He called me already to let me know I wouldn't see him for a couple of days. Don't stress too much."

"Oh, thank god," Deidre panted, "Okay, I've requested my ride and they are two minutes away. I have to go."

"Okay. Good luck. Text me when it's safe to come home. I don't want to walk in on anything."

"Arwen!" Deidre screeched at her as Arwen laughed loudly and hung up the phone.

She moved back to the kitchen, "we've all read his file, right? He's not likely to abscond with my girl and me find her in a warehouse?"

"Nope. He had one girlfriend in high school. They dated for four years until she cheated on him with another player. When he caught them, she threw herself at him and begged him to stay and he kissed her cheek and wished her well and never spoke to her again." Cat spoke up from reading her phone.

"I helped Clara do a deep dive on his online presence. He doesn't even watch porn. He has put all of his energy and focus on being a great hockey player. He's loyal and we know it because he defended his buddy in a bar fight. He's overall a sweet guy. If he has skeletons, we can't find them."

"Good, because I really don't want to turn the cameras on in my house to watch her." Arwen sighed. "My little girl is all grown up."

"How cool is it she's going to be a puck bunny?" Isabella said beaming. As her friends all groaned, she began extoling the virtues of the sport of hockey much to everyone's chagrin. Arwen relaxed at their playful banter. They were relaxed and in good spirits as they sorted through their investigation into the situation of Zoya. It was the calm before the storm and Arwen knew it wouldn't be long before they were called to action.