KILLER INSTINCT (A Mafia Bad Boy Romance Novel) by Julia Gardener Read Free Book Online

said to her shock. Most people don’t realize just how much crime paid. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have criminal organizations. “It looks like Mr. Gregori is getting desperate to hold onto his fortune. The authorities have already frozen his assets in other accounts. The Atlantic account is his nest egg. He even came to America to handle it personally.”
     
     
    “The police are chasing after him?”
     
     
    “Try the CIA,” I said. “Word on the street is that he’s made some enemies in Langley. They’re after him because some of his dirty money has been linked to terrorist cells in Russia. Likewise, the KBG back home might be moving in on him as well. He used to be able to bribe the KBG into turning a blind eye on his activities. However, he’s gotten too big for his shoes and the KBG want to cut him down to size. It’s why he’s been acting so reckless.”
     
     
    Kelly eyes brightened. “Will the CIA be able to get him? Can they put him in prison and get justice for my father?”
     
     
    “Better them than the KBG,” I chuckled. “They’ll torture him for a few days before dropping his body in a ditch in Siberia. At least with the CIA, he can cut a deal and maintain some level of his wealth. If he cooperates with the CIA, Gregori will probably end up serving reduced sentence in a white collar prison. He’ll be out in five years with most of his wealth intact. That’s assuming he doesn’t change his identity and vanish off the face of the earth to escape the authorities.”
     
     
    A look of panic appeared on the woman’s face. “What do you mean, Jackie? There’s a chance he’ll escape justice?”
     
     
    “Last I heard, the bureaucracy of both organizations is keeping them from getting the green-light to go after him. If he doesn’t get his money out of Atlantic National Bank, then he has a chance to escape to some forgotten corner of the world.”
     
     
    The young woman’s eyes became dull again. There weren’t any happy endings in this line of work. “So either way, he’ll get away.”
     
     
    “Almost makes you want to root for the KBG.”
     
     
    Suddenly, Kelly got a look in her eye. “You said he was in America, right Jackie?”
     
     
    I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, what about it?”
     
     
    “That means we have a chance to get him before anyone else,” she replied with conviction. “We can corner him before he escapes!”
     
     
    I almost wanted to laugh. “You want us to go after one of the most dangerous men on the planet? Forget it, Kelly. Let’s just keep our head down and let the authorities corner him.”
     
     
    She looked resolute. “You said there was a chance he would slip away.”
     
     
    “Better he gets away Scot-free rather than you end up captured,” I warned. “These men are ruthless. Gregori has a small army working under him. They’ll put a slug between my eyes and they’ll do much worse to a young woman like you. What do even plan on getting from them, anyway?”
     
     
    “Answers,” she said, anger burning her cheeks. “I want to look him in the eye and have him tell me why I lost my father.”
     
     
    I could relate to her righteous anger. My mother’s murder had been my drive all these years. It was the first thing I thought of when I awoke and the last thing I in my mind when sleep took me.
     
     
    The practical side in me saw a benefit as well. One of the Russian criminal organizations had a hand in my mother’s death. I could get answers from the Black Fang about the men who ordered my mother’s murder.
     
     
    The Russian mafia was a close-knit bunch even if they didn’t get along with each other. Sergei Petrov had ties to many of them. Besides, the death of Kelly’s father was the reason the Pastore family had let me investigate the Black Fang in the first place.
     
     
    “If we do this,” I began, giving her a stern look. “You have to do exactly what I tell you to do. Remember, it’s both of our lives on the line