The Woman at the Docks - Jessica Gadziala Page 0,3

it whipped around a fast corner. Tall, long-legged, long, dark hair flowing. That was it, though, no distinguishing characteristics to go on if she got away from me. And, it seemed, she was going to do just that.

Within five minutes, we'd circled back around, my car in the center of the nearly abandoned lot.

I'd somehow missed the tiny car parked by the side of the dumpster. Seeing her freedom, her body pushed forward, and with the distance already between us, there was no catching up to her as she jumped in, turned it over, whipping her hair back over her shoulders, giving me my first good look.

I didn't know who she was, but she was fucking gorgeous.

That dark hair tossed around an angular face—dark brows, tan skin, high cheekbones, oversized lips.

She was lean and fit in black jeans and an olive tank top, her breasts heaving a bit as she tried to even out her breathing.

Her gaze held mine for a short moment, eyes not victorious like you might expect after a foot chase that left her in the lead. No, they were defeated.

But only for a second. Because then she slammed her foot on the gas, and peeled off.

"Fuck, I thought for sure you'd have her," Dario said coming up beside me a moment later, huffing, hobbling.

"I would have if you had turned off your phone," I told him, tucking my gun away, feeling the sweat trickling down my back.

"I know, Luca, I fucked up," he said, shaking his head.

"She's looking for something. And she hasn't found it yet. I doubt she's done here. I need you to get some more men on this. If Angelo needs more help with the cameras, get someone on that too."

"Already done," he agreed, going for his phone as I turned to make my way back to the office.

"I have nothing for you, Luca," Angelo told me when I moved in behind him. "I'll try to run the plates. All I can tell you is she is gorgeous and must spend more time hitting the pavement than you do."

"She's South American, most likely. That's something. I haven't heard about anyone stepping up from that part of the world. But we'll look into it. Until then, I need more eyes on these monitors, more feet on the ground. I'm having it all set up. You direct them when they get here. And I want first call if you see her again."

"Will do, Luca. Again, sorry. There's no excuse."

And there wasn't.

At least he knew that.

Knowing that the consequences of fucking up twice could mean him standing between containers with a bullet in his brain meant that he wouldn't let this shit happen again.

"I want an update tomorrow. Someone needs to have answers for me."

"We will have something," Angelo agreed, giving me a nod.

"And have someone figure out what is coming in those containers from South America. If we can find what she is after, maybe that will lead to her."

"Got it," he agreed, reaching for his phone, calling in his security crew.

Half the organization would be pulling an all-nighter.

Once upon a time, when I was the one doing the grunt-work, I figured I would feel guilty when put in the position of power.

But the fact of the matter was, when you fucked up, it was your job to fix it.

Security was lax.

We'd known peace for too long.

Clearly, the peace was over.

And the new war was starting the way all the greatest wars have.

With a beautiful woman.

Chapter Two

Romy

That was too close.

What I did had inherent risks. I knew that. I accepted that. I weighed the pros and cons, the possible outcomes, and I decided what I was doing was worth whatever might come my way.

There were worse consequences, worse outcomes.

Besides, for a supposed mafia stronghold, the security had been surprisingly lax.

Or so I thought.

But the first three nights, I'd been able to walk around relatively freely, having learned the general routes of the security guards who did their rounds. And, luckily for me, if one happened to go a rogue route from their usual, they were preceded by their clomping footsteps and the almost constant smell of cigar smoke.

It was child's play avoiding them.

As for the cameras, I didn't give them much thought. I never planned to be around long. The intel I'd gotten had said the container I was after should have docked already, been unloaded, placed in a pile.

I should have been able to find it, crack it open, and retrieve what I needed