Inferno's Kiss by Monica Burns Read Free Book Online Page B

bubble bath followed by a glass of Lambrusco, Italian opera, and her one guilty pleasure—a romance book. The combination had a way of easing all the tension from her body.
    At least her involvement with Angotti’s fate had enabled her to avoid her mother and Marcus Vorenus before they’d left for the White Cloud estate a week ago. It hadn’t surprised her that the Sicari Lord had gone with her mother, although the idea that her mother might renew her relationship with Marcus Vorenus was unsettling for some reason. A small part of her was feeling jealous that she’d have to share her mother all the time. It was selfish to feel that way, but for years it had been just the two of them, and Ignacio. Now, Cleo was faced with having a father in her life when she’d gone so long without one. Concentrate. She didn’t need to be thinking about her mother’s confession. Angotti was her concern at the moment.
    Her gaze focused on the door a short distance from where she stood. Hopefully the bastardo wouldn’t be long now. Angotti had gone into his mistress’s house a little more than two hours ago. More than enough time to fuck the woman two or three times. The Vigilavi police officer assigned to watch Vincente Angotti had detailed the son of a bitch’s varied schedule for almost twelve months. It had taken the tribunal almost that long before reaching a judgment.
    Roberto, Isabella, Giovanni, Rosa, and Lorenzo were the primary reason she’d insisted on this assignment. She remembered the pictures of five kids mixed in with the paperwork on Salvatore Conti’s precinct desk in Rome. The oldest one had been eight, but it was six-month-old Isabella that locked a vise around her heart. Five lives snuffed out by Angotti’s greed.
    For once she was glad Rome’s three-man court had taken their usual amount of time debating Angotti’s fate. It had given the Vigilavi more time to continue their observation of Angotti. Time to turn up an unexpected present. Angotti was in bed with the Praetorians.
    It was why she’d come alone tonight. She didn’t want another fighter questioning her actions with Angotti. Of course, when Ignacio found out she’d come without backup, he was going to put her on the bench for at least a month. Well, it couldn’t be helped. She wanted the information Angotti had, and she was going to get it before she executed the bastardo .
    The sound of a door opening drew her up straight as her gaze narrowed on the short, stocky figure that turned around to speak to someone shielded in the darkened doorway. She heard a feminine laugh and grimaced. How in Juno’s name could the woman even allow the man to touch her? Cleo gritted her teeth. This was one target she wouldn’t feel any remorse over killing.
    Deep in the back of her mind, she heard Ignacio’s warning to make sure Angotti’s death was a merciful one, as the Sicari Code forbade revenge killings. She almost snorted with derision. This wasn’t revenge. It was justice. She ignored the small voice in her head that suggested maybe her motives were less than honorable. Dishonorable? There wasn’t a goddamn thing wrong with executing a baby killer.
    As the man stepped away from the doorway, Cleo heard the door shut, and she looked toward one end of the alley and then the other. Angotti always traveled with a small entourage, but she’d entered the alleyway after his soldiers had scouted out the dark corners from both ends of the narrow backstreet.
    Sometimes Praetorian tactics were a good thing, especially when it meant rappelling off a roof to escape detection. Of course, that sort of entrance made dressing for tonight a little more challenging. Angotti loved beautiful women, and looks she had in spades.
    She’d known how important it was to dress as seductively as possible. She had to silence Angotti quickly, and the only way to do that was to appeal to his baser instincts. The downside to everything had been the limits to what she could wear, since