KILLER INSTINCT (A Mafia Bad Boy Romance Novel) by Julia Gardener Page B

live!”
     
     
    Colman looked haggard. Both of us were on the run but I had actually taken care of myself. Now, the man thought he was going to get off scot free for committing murder.
     
     
    “Alright, Colman… I’ll let you live,” Jackie said, shooting me a smile. “But that doesn’t mean you’re off her chopping block.”
     
     
    Colman turned pale. “What?”
     
     
    “You killed my father!” I growled, venom in my words. I wanted him to be afraid. I wanted to put the fear of God in him. “You killed him in our very home!”
     
     
    The man’s fell to his knees. Jackie watched on in silence. “Please, I’ve given you what you want. Let me live. Have mercy-”
     
     
    “Mercy?” I said with a cynical laugh. “Did you give my father any mercy when you shot him so some Russian drug kingpin could hold onto his blood money? Did you think of the daughter he would leave behind?”
     
     
    Colman’s voice was faint. His eyes looked up at me without hid head moving. “Please…”
     
     
    “You killed my father,” I whispered, hot tears streaming down my cheeks. I took aim at the man. “You killed him…”
     
     
    I fired the gun.
     
     
    Jackie looked shock for the first time since I had met him. His expression turned from shock to confusion when he saw what I had done to Colman. A puff from smoke bellowed from the suppressor. There was a spent shell casing on the floor.
     
     
    But there was no blood.
     
     
    I had shot to the side of my target’s head.
     
     
    Colman patted himself to make sure he was still alive. “You… you didn’t kill me…”
     
     
    “That’s the last thing my father saw before he died,” I said, my tears coming to an end. “Get out of here and don’t ever come back for your sake. Don’t ever come across me again or else I’ll finish the job.”
     
     
    Jackie looked on in surprise but didn’t comment. Instead, he took Colman’s laptop and gestured for me to follow him. If he disapproved of my decision, then he didn’t show it.
     
     
    When Colman was out of earshot, I finally spoke. “I-I just couldn’t do it, Jackie. He looked so miserable already. Maybe he’ll live with the guilt for the rest of his life.”
     
     
    He gave a small chuckle. “Heh, I haven’t seen a man look so pathetic in all my years.”
     
     
    “You must think I’m weak…” I said, with a soft laugh. “I make a big deal about getting back at Colman and I can’t even do it.”
     
     
    He shook his head. “On the contrary, that was a very brave thing you did. I wouldn’t be as strong as you.”
     
     
    “Colman deserves hell…,” I mused. “But it’s not up for me to play judge, jury, and executioner. I don’t have that… killer instinct that people like you have.”
     
     
    “People like him eventually get what’s coming to them, Kelly,” he consoled. “Let’s go home-”
     
     
    We heard a sharp noise followed by a loud yell. By now, I was familiar with the sound of gunfire. Jackie and I exchanged worried looks. “That sounds like Colman, Jackie.”
     
     
    He brandished his handgun. “Someone else is here.”

 
    My first thought was to get Kelly to safety. However, I didn’t know whether or not there were more enemy combatants. I guided her under a desk in the living room. “Stay here. You see someone come from the front, then take aim!”
     
     
    “Got it-”
     
     
    A hail of bullets filled the room. They made mincemeat of the furniture. I took cover behind a wall. The sound was as loud as jackhammer. “Son of a bitch is using an assault rifle!”
     
     
    I glanced over and saw my assailant.
     
     
    It was a one eyed-man holding a military grade assault rifle.
     
     
    It was Sergei Petrov. “Damn, it’s Sergei!”
     
     
    “How’d he get in here,” Kelly asked amongst the gunfire. “He didn’t come through the front.”
     
     
    I fired off a few rounds that forced Sergei to take cover. When my gun was empty, I didn’t