Righteous Enforcer (The Dante Dynasty #3)

Chapter 1

EVA

I didn’t grow up wanting to be a single mother on the run. But it’s become my life over the last four years.

I cradle Mirabella, my three-year-old daughter, against my chest as she falls asleep in my bed.

My eyes dart to the window for the hundredth time tonight.

The curtains remain drawn, as they always are, but I imagine eyes peering through the narrow gaps, hunting us.

There’s no specific reason to think someone is watching. I haven’t seen or heard anything tonight.

But my life now requires that I assume there’s always someone lurking.

It’s what’s kept me alive for the last four years, and especially the last few weeks since the Bratva found me.

Mirabella stirs against me.

My beautiful girl.

So innocent.

Sometimes, I think I should have placed her for adoption. She doesn’t deserve to live like this, running from danger.

But I couldn’t let her go. She’s the only thing that gives me purpose. She’s the tie to the one time in my life I was happy, even as she’s the reminder of what I threw away.

Adriano.

His face materializes in my mind. The hardened enforcer of the Dante family who somehow softened when he was alone with me.

I remember his strong, yet gentle hands when they held me and the way his body curved protectively around mine.

The memory is sweet until I remember that I’m to blame for everything. If he knew what I'd done, how I'd lied, safety is the last thing he'd offer me now.

I’d know his full wrath, the complete devastation that he’s capable of.

I think of my father and how simple our lives were until the Bratva came. To save him, I had to do the unthinkable.

At the time, I knew the danger but was willing to risk it for my father. But Adriano complicated things. In the end, I lost my father… I lost Adriano… I lost everything, except my sweet Mirabella.

A soft creak breaks the silence.

My body freezes. That wasn't the building settling. Not the wind. No. That was the apartment door.

Someone's inside.

I clutch Mirabella tighter, her small body warm against mine as my heart rate skyrockets.

Another creak, closer now, followed by the unmistakable sound of careful footsteps.

My eyes scan the dark corners of the room, searching for escape routes, but there are none. I rise from the bed, angling my body to shield Mirabella as I move toward the closet.

The footsteps pause. A floorboard groans under shifting weight.

I press my lips to Mirabella's hair, inhaling her sweet scent. If this is it, if they've found us, I'll die before I let them touch her.

The intruder moves again, drawing nearer.

Mirabella shifts.

"Stay quiet, baby," I whisper, carrying her into the closet. "Like our secret game, remember?"

Mirabella nods, eyes wide in the darkness. The closet smells of mothballs. I tuck her behind a row of hanging clothes, my hand lingering on her cheek.

"We have to be very quiet now. Don’t move unless I say the special word."

"Sunshine," she whispers, and my heart cracks that at three years old she’s subjected to this. The guilt of it is crushing.

"That's right." I plant a kiss on her forehead. "Not until you hear ‘sunshine’."

The footsteps grow louder as I slide the door shut, knowing it’s too little to save us.

My only salvation is that she’s not afraid of the dark.

"Come out, little bird." The voice sing-songs through the apartment. "The game is over."

Ice floods my veins.

"Your father died screaming your name, Eva. Or maybe cursing it. You let him down. You let us all down."

Mirabella flinches against me. I press my hand gently over her mouth.

"And no one to save you. Everyone thinks you’re dead. But I know differently.” His footsteps pause, then continue toward us.

The closet door rips open.

Light floods in as Mirabella screams. My hand finds the knife Adriano gave me strapped to my ankle.

I lunge at him, pushing him back. "Run!" I scream out to Mirabella.

The man’s hand clamps around my wrist as I slash upward. The knife catches something and he hisses.

"Bitch."

His fist connects with my jaw. Stars explode across my vision as I stagger back, but the knife stays clutched in my grip.

He comes at me again. This time, I'm ready. I dodge left, then drive the blade deep into his side. The sound is terrible.

His hands grasp at my throat, squeezing. I twist the knife, and hot blood coats my fingers as he howls. His grip loosens just enough for me to break free.

"Mirabella, run!" I scream, kicking him away.

He stumbles backward, knife still buried to the hilt. His hand touches the wound with something like surprise. I don’t know why. He’s not the first to come. He’s not the first I’ve had to kill.

The man's eyes find mine again, filled with hatred. "They'll find you. Both of you."

I back toward the door, never taking my eyes off him. "They've been trying for years."

His laugh turns into a wet cough. "Not like this. Not him."

A chill races down my spine wondering who him is. Maksim? Or maybe Adriano has learned the truth.

“And the little girl… the sweet little girl. Oh, the things they’ll do to her.”

I lunge at him, a primal scream tearing from my throat. I crash into him, and we fall into the wall. Blood smears across the fading wallpaper.

"You won't touch her." My hands claw at his face.

He twists, slamming me against the door frame. Pain explodes across my back, but I ignore it, pushing off and going at him again.

The man's fingers catch in my hair, yanking my head back.

I drive my elbow into his wounded side, feeling the knife shift deeper. His howl reverberates through the apartment as he stumbles back.

"Who sent you?" I demand.

Blood bubbles from his lips. "You know who."

I slam my palm into his throat, thinking of Adriano teaching me this move years ago.

"The Russians or the Dantes?"

His answer is a gurgling laugh that spatters my face with crimson.

I see my opening.

Lunging forward, I grasp the knife handle and twist. His eyes bulge. Victory surges through me as he falls against the wall.

For a moment, I feel triumphant, but I can’t revel in it. I have to save Mirabella and run again.

His hand shoots out, grabbing my throat and squeezing until I’m afraid he’ll rip my head off.

I underestimated his strength, his determination. Black spots dance across my vision as his fingers tighten.

"Mama!" Mirabella's voice cuts through the chaos, and panic fills me as I realize she’s still here, not at the fire escape where she should be.

My heart seizes. Run, baby. Run.

The man's lips curl into a bloody smile. He knows he's won. Even as he bleeds out, he's accomplished his mission. He’s killing me too.

With desperate strength, I slam the heel of my palm into his face.

Cartilage crunches beneath the impact.

His grip loosens just enough for me to wrench free, gasping as air floods my throat.

"Mirabella, run! Sunshine!" I choke out, "Sunshine, Mirabella!"

I move toward her, but his foot kicks out, tripping me. I crash down, chin striking the floor and splitting my skin.

The taste of blood fills my mouth.

My daughter stands frozen in the doorway, her eyes wide with terror.

"Sunshine. Sunshine, Mirabella!"

Recognition flashes across her face.

Our escape signal. She turns and disappears into the dark hallway, her footsteps pattering toward the back stairs.

Relief crashes through me even as the man drags me by my ankle backward. At least she's running. At least she knows to find Mrs. Petrescu downstairs, who will hide her until I come or find her a safe home if I don’t.

Tonight, I might lose this fight.

This might be where I die.

After all these years of running, of fighting, of protecting her, this might be the moment Mirabella becomes truly alone.

Images of her flood my mind.

Taking her first steps.

Her sweet disposition despite the chaos in her life. Her smile, so like Adriano’s, breaks my heart.

Will she remember me?

Or will I become a hazy figure, lost to time and trauma?

My vision darkens as the man flips me onto my back, his hands returning to my throat.

I fight, scratching and twisting, but my strength is fading.

I reach for the knife but it’s gone, knocked aside in our struggle.

"Mama!" Mirabella's terrified cry echoes from somewhere.

Did someone catch her?

Is she calling for help or—

Darkness creeps in and I can’t stop it. My lungs burn. Blood pools, slick and warm, but I’m not sure if it’s his or mine.

My body grows heavy, unresponsive.

Mirabella. I have to reach Mirabella.

The last thing I hear is Mirabella screaming, the sound growing fainter as consciousness slips away.

I'm sorry, my love. I’m sorry I failed you.

The edges of my world turn gray, then black.