Watching from two nearby vantage points, Sarah and her sister both took the high ground safely out of view of the public. They’d gotten to the location as soon as possible after Johnny figured out what was going on. Who in their right mind would have thought the owner of Dragonfly and Don Carlo would each be coveting components of each other’s business? The situation had a surreal quality about it that rubbed Sarah the wrong way.

Fingering her sniper rifle, she worried that Marge would freeze up and miss a critical shot. Then she reminded herself that her sister had been doing this for an entire year with no missed shots. If anyone was likely to miss a lifesaving shot, it was her. She tightened her hands around the cold metal and looked through the scope. So far there was nothing to see.

The hatch to the closure butted against the side of the overpass. Honestly, she couldn’t see it. Margaret had sketched it all out, so she knew it was there. It was just hidden from view by the angle of the structure.

Johnny’s guys had diverted traffic around the rabbit hole, pretending to be a DOT road crew. They had close to a hundred men in play for this operation and it was incomprehensible to her that they were going to lose Don Carlo.

They couldn’t lose him. The cold hearted bastard had a beautiful wife and three young boys at home who actually gave a shit about him. It had taken her a minute to see it but it had hit her like a ton of bricks. Loving in Johnny’s family felt a little different. Maybe, because the life of a mafia Don was rife with danger. The love was deep, loyal and abiding, but aloof and easy to miss if you weren’t paying close attention.

Pressing one hand to her stomach, she wondered if the deadly Don’s grandchild was, even now, growing inside her. If so, the man had a right to meet him or her. For one brief moment she entertained the idea of him holding her daughter. She could almost see his smiling face. Having all sons, a granddaughter would steal his hardened heart.

Suddenly, there were cars pulling in. She recognized them as SUV’s from Johnny’s crew. There were at least a dozen of them along with some motorcycles. Dark was among the bikers who saddled up for the rescue. She wondered if Margaret would have his back or if all the talk about nailing him was just her talking to keep the focus off her own mental health.

Her sister hissed through the earpiece. “Head’s up. They’re on the move.”

“I’ve got eyes.”

Seeing a glint in the trees ahead, she whispered. “We’re not the only eyes in the air. Ridgeline, trees, two o’clock.”

Her sister squeezed off a shot and something fell from the trees. The one shot, made everyone still as they were coming out of the SUVs. Bringing her hand to her ear, she switched frequencies. “It was another sniper. We got him. Be careful, Johnny.”

“Good looking out, Doll.”

Several men pulled the huge metal cover off the hidden compartment. Gino and Doug crept down into the pit. Sarah could see some flashes of gunfire coming from the depths of the hole. The other men gathered around looking nervous.

“Back the fuck up, Johnny.” Sarah’s rough words caused him to pull back slightly. Even the thought of a random bullet catching him by mistake was enough to choke off her oxygen supply.

After what seemed like forever, Gino and Doug backed back up the steps with their hands up. Fuck. She watched through her scope as three men walked up, one had his arm around Don Carlo’s throat and a gun to his head. She and Margaret had already called dibs. The both squeezed off shots at the same time dropping the men on either side of the two entwined men.

Sarah moved slightly, peering through the sights. Try as she might, she couldn’t get a clean kill shot. She growled her frustration as they dropped to the ground, taking cover behind a vehicle. Johnny’s men began surrounding them and a firefight ensued, with additional guys pouring out of the rabbit hole.

Before she could get turned around, there were men everywhere. She kept her gun trained on Johnny and shot anyone that came near him or trained a shot on him. He glanced her way with a frown on his face, clearly pissed that she was not letting him fight his own battles. Someone tossed a small grenade and it rolled under a vehicle. It was a common tactic during a firefight. The explosive could detonate the gas tank, sending shrapnel everywhere.

“Fire in the hole! Take cover before the car blo-.” Before she got the last word out fully, there was a thunderous roar as the device blew. She cursed under her breath as she saw Johnny and several others get thrown to the ground. She watched the man dragging Don Carlo stand again, dragging the older man in front of him. Sarah tried to get off a solid shot but her angle was still all wrong.

She could hear Margaret cursing under her breath for a brief moment before she heard a shot and the man dropped trying to tug the Don down with him. Smiling, she maintained her position. That had been fucking close.

The older gangster stepped forward breaking the man’s hold, and simply dusted off his suit jacket before approaching his son with a smile. Sara knew everything was not what it seemed, because the older man was limping slightly as he moved. Anger spiked, making her want to shoot them all over again. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down.

She waited until they crawled into an armor plated SUV before scrambling down from her hiding place. She watched Margaret drop down in the distance and a car stopped for her. As soon as she took a few steps, the armor plated SUV sped up and Johnny opened the door for her.

“Nice shootin’ Tex.” His attempt at humor was a welcome distraction after the stress of the day.

Grinning, she climbed into the vehicle and slid over to his side. Pulling the magazine out of her rifle, she emptied the live round from the cylinder and popped in the magazine for safe keeping.

“Nice weapon you have there, young lady.”

Smiling her relief at Don Carlo, she replied sincerely. “It’s really nice to have you back, sir. You don’t look any worse for wear.”

“They sparked me up a couple of times, trying to get intel on one of our operations. Can’t wait to get my hands on that damned owner. I want to hear all about how you found me. Tell me everything from the beginning.”

The older man beamed as Johnny dished him up all the details on how he took charge of his operation and handed out responsibilities to everyone. His anger flared at hearing he was double crossed by one of his own.

“This MC seems like a loyal bunch. Maybe Miss Margaret can help us manage Dragonfly once I snatch it up.”

Johnny spoke up. “I been thinkin’ about this, pops. I think between me, Sarah and Marge we can nail Dragonfly down for you.”

The older man’s eyes shone with excitement. “I thought you were taking over my operation when I retired.”

“Seems like small fish compared to Dragonfly. You got three more sons just like me,” I’m sure one of them will be the perfect front man for your operation. Let’s face it, you’re nowhere near ready to call it quits.

The older man’s lips quirked at the corners. Others might say it was a devious smile, but Sarah now knew better. “Even if you’re running Dragonfly, you’re still mafia. You know that, right son?”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way pops.” Johnny’s satisfied reply was all she needed for everything to be right in her world once again. Truth be told, she was excited about the idea of them taking Dragonfly.

Sarah grabbed her case and began breaking down her weapon, lending a deaf ear to the men as they casually discussed the havoc they planned to wreak on Dragonfly. All in all, Sarah couldn’t say she blamed them. The owner was as crooked as they come and a genuinely shitty person on top that. She’d be having a serious talk with Johnny about taking hits on top of the legitimate security services though. That kind of shit was not okay with her by any stretch of the imagination.

Pulling up in front of Johnny’s family home some hours later, she watched a very relieved woman clinging onto her husband. The older man backed her up against the door frame and laid a rough kiss on her lips, making Sarah wonder where Johnny had gotten his sexy ways. The older man practically devoured his pretty wife and she in turn, was clearly loving every single second of it.

“Aww, ain’t old people love sweet? Now, let’s get the fuck outta here.”

Looking over at her own sexy mobster, Sarah stated flatly. “You really know how to spoil a perfect moment, know that Johnny?”