Delgano: A Dark Contemporary Interracial Romance

PROLOGUE

Summer 2010

Victoria, Australia

2344 hours

Team: Gamma

Assets:

Paoli Gonzales

Abraham “Novi” Novikov

It was one of the most modern houses Paoli had ever come across in Australia. Then again, he was most familiar with the Outback—the more rural areas where homes were built with necessity in mind. No material was wasted on the frivolous, which he liked.

Still, this one was nice.

He leaned against the wall next to the front door and took a long pull on his cigar. The property was even close to the beach, and he was certain that, from the second floor, the sunsets had to be magnificent. The upstairs balcony attached to the primary bedroom faced west, and he wouldn’t have been surprised to find out that the architects had designed it that way, specifically for those sunsets.

A second man exited through the front door, the man’s clothing soaked in blood, and the sadistic way Novi disposed of people reeked of juvenility. To make matters even more appalling, this assignment was supposed to be covert. Yet, the idiot had picked up the phone when it rang, then spewed a line straight out of a movie:

“An eye for an eye.”

Paoli squished the butt of the cigar against the wall and tucked the remainder into his pocket. “Are you done?” he asked. “Finally?”

“I hated it,” Novi said, handing him a gun, Novi’s white blazer now pink in some areas and crimson in others. He’d let Novi borrow the firearm, knowing it would have more than likely been a waste. Still, it was the twenty-first century. Only this maniac was still bringing knives to a gunfight.

Paoli pulled a crumpled piece of notebook paper from the cigar-free pocket, his haphazard scribbles in pencil lead now mostly smudged:

Anne Wolfe

Steven Wolfe

Tyler Wolfe

Zachary Wolfe

Aron Price (deceased)

Adrían Delgano (The Inforcer Enforcer)

“So, we’re done here, Novikov. Price was already dead—Mother Nature caught up to him—and Boss Lady hasn’t sent any new names to add.”

Novi wiped the back of his hand with his chin—or his chin with the back of his hand. Either effort was useless; the man’s suit was covered in bodily fluid. As far as hitmen went, they were efficient, but clean was nowhere in the same vicinity. The scene inside was a bloodbath. Once the bodies were discovered, property values would be cut in half.

“The Wolfe family has twin girls, right?” Novi asked, cleaning his knife on his soiled pants. “What about them? They should be in Australia. Let’s find them!”

“Boss Lady said it was speculation. Plus, I refuse to search an entire continent for two people who might not exist. Are you that bored?”

Novi started down the driveway.

“It would be a waste of time,” Paoli argued, following. “As far as I’m concerned, this part of the assignment is complete.”

At the end of the concrete slab, a woman with hair that looked like it had been colored using cans of tomato sauce waited for them. Paoli scanned her tall, lean frame in the moonlight, and that flat stomach of hers would make the perfect surface to come all over until dots of white obscured her brown skin.

Novi bowed. “Hello, my sweet.”