Rising From Ice: The Mafia Don's Regret

oss husband diverted our only re

on to freeze to death in my

lf off the cliff with ou

and spent seven agonizing years becoming the un

f the Regional Syndicate-ste

e heavily scarred woma

t on the table and threatened to slau

-held death pass to save a trappe

stress's daughter-the very r

rificed his own flesh and blood now

the mistress clinging to his arm, feeling the cold

ad," I said, pulling the

frozen peak, and he will finall

pte

rra

of the outpost slam

tween us. The harsh fluorescent light caught the gold

t even l

le, the scent of gun oil and

his hand ove

beside me in the underworld for six years. But

words tumbling out. "A priority extraction. Two

away and finally g

t was Luc

ng the contract w

d diverted our only rescue

on to freeze to death in my

Syndicate. Politicians on the eastern seaboard learned to perspire wh

e file from

te floor, papers spi

icate tribunal than accept this," I

ete with a dull, fleshy thud. He made no effort to rise, his oil-s

with strain. "The target is in a co

r death pass, a frozen wastel

, his hands trembling. "She has less t

desperation. "You are the only speciali

he bolt of

lic slide echoed

r suffocate,

ne on the wall rang, a

line to the Synd

it as if it were

and picked u

nd resonant with the casual arrogance

as L

know who I

underworld, a specialist who retrieved men from plac

ting. "Elevation to Capo status, and your choice o

e plastic receiver until I

" I

he great Don Falcone discovering th

econd. When his voice returned,

se a Don's command, and I will bring the entir

up th

ng a sheen of swe

of everything for

seeing only the reflection of

I told Wayne, my voice barely a w

. Wayne, unable to bear the stillness, had retreated to the comm

morning, the d

the room, his face d

to the floor before me, his body shaking with s

reath as he told me wh

g the hem of my trousers. "The Don's Command. He's had Stell

st all radio c

-zone. A place where Syndicate

Stella as a pawn

he shoulders and hau

mised, my eyes locked on his. "

another wa

hrough the concrete floor, shaking the very structure of the ou

chopper was settli

he biting wind, Way

er doors

one stepped ou

by two heavily

o his expensive wool c

istress, now the Syn

lood-stained outpost with an

a few feet

cognize the woman s

specialist?"

m a slow,

n to Wayne, a cruel sm

afely at the border statio

her face a carefully con

rs aiming for my arm in a

d. "My Lucy is suff

he back of my own, recoiling

us, his eyes flashin

al ultimatum there i

walk along the cartel border," he spat. "And I will have thi

t a raw cry

ders into his chest and forcing him down. His fore

his face as he looked up

rrogance of Lucas and the m

chain pressed against my c

and pulled ou

it glinted in the flo

tep closer

he man who murdered my son," I tol

o the tag, and his face slackened wi

e the resolv

, and I will sever your da