Read KILLER INSTINCT (A Mafia Bad Boy Romance Novel) for Free Online Page B

grease their palms before they opened up again. Nonetheless, it had the side benefit of aiding the personal investigation I had on my mother’s killers. Thankfully, none of the informants tried to attack me this time.
     
     
    “When a lot of people hear about the Italian mafia or the Irish mob,” I began. “They think of some large amorphous blob under one guy. In reality, what we know of as the Italian mafia is a bunch of different families competing or working with each other. Hell, they might be at each other’s throats one day and working with each other the next.”
     
     
    “I see…”
     
     
    “The Pastore family is the biggest and most powerful Italian family but it’s one of several families,” I continued. “It’s the same with the Russians. Only one branch of the Russian mafia has a vendetta against you.”
     
     
    Kelly nodded. “So who exactly is after me?”
     
     
    “Some nasty group of men working under the banner of a Russian word I can’t pronounce,” I answered. “It roughly translates into the ‘Black Fang.’ It’s a fitting name for a pack of wild animals.”
     
     
    The college girl gulped. “Who’s in charge of them?”
     
     
    “The name ‘Mr. Gregori’ keeps coming up,” I answered, showing her a photo of a middle-aged man in a business suit. You’d never guess this man was a drug kingpin. “Not much is known about him other than he’s a Ukrainian national who overthrew the previous head of the group. Seymon Gregori had a vendetta against anyone Italian when a weapons deal with a Sicilian based criminal group when wrong. That was during his days was a small fry but the incident stuck with him. When he came into power, he cut off business ties with the Italians. He’s gotten too big for his britches that he’s getting into arguments with fellow Russian gangs. The only thing keeping him in check is the risk of the FBI or CIA breathing down his neck.”
     
     
    Kelly stared at the bearded man in his fifties. “It’s blurry.”
     
     
    “Gregori keeps a low profile. That’s the best photo anyone has of him since his days as a foot soldier.”
     
     
    “I think I heard Howard say that name,” Kelly mused. “Why were they after me and my father?”
     
     
    I shrugged. “That’s something I’m still trying to figure out. From what I can piece together, it had to with the company your father worked for.”
     
     
    The college girl rubbed her forehead. “The Atlantic Corporation? They’re just this big conglomerate that sells everything from diapers to car insurance.”
     
     
    “They also sell banking services,” I replied. “It’s not unusual for criminals to keep some of their wealth in a legitimate bank for legal or tax purposes. You also need a place to put your money somewhere after laundering it, especially when it reaches a large enough sum. Gregori seems to have an account there under an alias.”
     
     
    “What’s so important about this bank?” she asked. “What’s so important that you’re willing to kill a man over it?”
     
     
    “If I had to guess, then it would be that he needed your father’s help in moving the money,” I replied, stroking my chin. “That Harold character was likely working with the Black Fang. He may not have had the same level of access as your father. The bank would red flag the account if there was any unusual activity surrounding it. Perhaps, they had hoped to get your father to act as an inside man.”
     
     
    Kelly’s eyes widened in shock. “Daddy was head of security…”
     
     
    “He would be in a good position to move the funds and cover up their tracks from the inside. I suppose you were going to be collateral if your father didn’t cooperate. Needless to say, things didn’t go as planned.”
     
     
    “Why go through all of this?” she asked in exasperation. “Why was the Black Fang willing to kill someone over a few million dollars?”
     
     
    “A few million? Try billions,” I