Kissing the Enemy

The two families were negotiating at Pier Seven.

My father slammed a Browning pistol on the table.

"Sylvia, put that little bastard out of commission. Then this pier is ours."

Across the table, Dmitri Romanov snorted and pointed at me with his cigar.

"Leon, go teach that girl a lesson. She doesn't know her place. Don't kill her, just leave her breathing."

I stood up and rolled my wrists.

Leon stood up too, his deep blue eyes locked on me.

"After you, Miss Cosimo."

I drew my gun and aimed it right between his eyes.

"Less talk. Let's settle this in the container."

Leon and I walked into a red shipping container, one after the other.

The iron door slammed shut, cutting off all light from outside.

In the darkness, a hand clamped around my waist and pinned me hard against the metal wall.

The gun clattered to the ground.

Leon's scorching breath swept over me as he closed in, blotting out everything else.

"God, I missed you, Sylvia."

He bit down on my lower lip, hard enough to devour me whole.

I grabbed his tie and kissed him back just as fiercely.

Outside, the two families were at each other's throats, ready to open fire at any second.

Inside the container, we were kissing until we could barely breathe.

Leon grabbed my hands and slammed them deliberately against the metal wall.

Bang!

Bang bang!

Cheers erupted from my father's men outside.

"That's our girl! Twist his head off!"

The Romanov side wasn't about to be outdone.

"Come on, Leon! Break her legs!"

Leon buried his face in the crook of my neck, his voice turning wounded.

"Let's just go public. Get married. What are they going to do, shoot us?"

I pushed his face away and straightened my rumpled shirt.

"Are you out of your mind? Your father and mine have twenty years of blood between them."

"If we go public now, they'll just think the other family is trying to swallow them up through marriage."

"They might blow Sicily off the map by tomorrow."

Leon kicked an empty crate on the ground in irritation.

"So we just keep sneaking around forever? I'm sick of pretending I want to kill you every time I see you."

I bent down, picked up the gun, and slid it back into my holster.

"We have to clear up the old feud first. Have you found any leads?"

Leon sighed and pulled a folded photocopy from the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

"I stole this from my father's safe. It's a page from an old ledger."

I took it and studied it carefully under the sliver of light seeping through a gap in the container.

Twenty years ago, the two families had a falling-out over an arms deal gone wrong, each accusing the other of a double-cross.

My father's own brother and Leon's father's own brother both died in that shootout.

"Look at this entry." Leon pointed to a line of smudged writing.

"The date and the signature have been tampered with."

I frowned.

"Someone set us up on purpose? Who?"

Leon shook his head.

"No idea. But if we follow this thread, we'll find the truth."

I took a deep breath and tucked the photocopy into my boot.

"Time's almost up. We need to get out there."

Leon caught my hand and stole one more kiss.

"Go easy on me. This face is my livelihood."

I smirked, then punched him square on the cheekbone.

Leon clutched his face, sucking in a sharp breath.

I kicked the container door open and strode out.

The sunlight outside was blinding.

My father hurried over.

"Well? Did you take him out?"

I pretended to be winded and wiped the lipstick mark from the corner of my mouth.

"The kid's tough."

Leon walked out of the container holding his bruised cheek.

Dmitri's face went dark.

"Useless! Can't even handle a woman!"

Leon glared at me with venom in his eyes.

"She fought dirty! I'll settle this score sooner or later!"

My father laughed triumphantly.

"Romanov, looks like your family has no heir worth a damn."

The two sides started trading insults again, itching to draw their weapons.

I spoke up at just the right moment.

"Dad, since neither of us won, we can't split the pier right now."

"Why don't both families manage it together? Each side stations half their men. Nobody gets to take it all."

Leon backed me up immediately.

"I agree. With it right under our noses, I'd like to see you try anything shady."

Neither Don was happy about it, but neither wanted to risk an all-out war that would destroy them both.

In the end, they reluctantly agreed to joint management.

That was exactly what Leon and I wanted.

Only with the two families working side by side would we have the chance to investigate in secret.