Inessa felt like murdering that son of a bitch. Ronan Colbert has been her arch-nemesis ever since she joined the Russian mafia and attended that wretched annual ball.
When she turned eighteen, Mauris forced her to attend the annual ball party he was invited to. He introduced her as his daughter to everyone, Ronan included. The moment he met Inessa, he was bewitched, even though she disguised herself under the same fiery-red hair and brown eyes.
Ronan Colbert is the leader of the French mafia. And though he wasn't very bright when it came to using his head, he had one of the best teams working for him after the Russian and Italian mafia. Neither of the group interfered with the other, but Ronan had been hell-bent on making Inessa his.
Inessa walked inside her kitchen, waiting for Dmitri and Nikolai to join her. Soon the two joined her, sitting beside her on the kitchen stool.
"It's Ronan. I was right all this time." she growled.
"We can't be too sure. Anyone can have that tattoo. It's not exclusive to French mafia. I mean what if someone liked the design or what if someone wanted us to declare a war with the Frenchies?" Nikolai said matter-of-factly, trying to see all the sides of the coin.
Dmitri nodded at his words, and Inessa rubbed her face. She knew he was right. Unless they had solid evidence, they can't be too sure. At that moment, Dmitri's phone rang, bringing the three of them out of their thoughts.
"Yeah, Tommy?" Dmitri greeted the man on the other side.
"Okay, we'll be there in a minute." he replied.
"Tommy has patched up the man, and he has regained consciousness." Dmitri informed Inessa. Inessa groaned before getting up and following Dmitri to the guest room.
They entered the guest room, Inessa's eyes directly settling over the shirtless man that sat on the bed. Oh Lord, he definitely had a good body.
"Dmitri. Queen. I have patched him up. He had some pretty deep knife cuts, but I've stitched them up. One thing is sure, whoever did this to him, definitely didn't want him alive. The only thing I found odd is that everything looked rushed." Tommy told the other two.
"Stop calling me queen. I told you to call me Inessa. And thanks for the update Tommy. I am really grateful, you came here so early in the morning." Inessa thanked the man, who looked more like a bouncer than a doctor.
"Aish, stop. You are like my little sister. Anything for you." he said, before packing up and taking his leave.
"One thing, make sure he doesn't move around much, the stitches might open up." he said on his way out. Inessa nodded at him.
Inessa stared at the injured man. His amber eyes stared back at her, observing her from head-to-toe, just like she was doing to him.
"I know I am sexy, but can you stop ogling? I feel uncomfortable." the deep timber of his voice said cheekily. Inessa's eyes widened a bit before she rolled her eyes at him.
She dragged a chair towards the bed before taking a seat in front of him.
"What is your name?" she asked. He looked at her for a minute before replying.
"Luca Pesaro." he said briskly.
"What happened?" she narrowed her eyes, curious to know why he was there.
"I think that it's none of your business. But still I want to thank that man there for coming at the right time. Thanks man." he said, looking at Dmitri with gratefulness.
"No issues. But what happened?" Dmitri asked him again.
"I stole something from someone and they unfortunately caught me. You can guess the rest." he said, smiling ear-to-ear.
Inessa's eyes widened as she heard the man answering to Dmitri when he blatantly refused to answer her. Asshole!
"Don't you think death is a bit too extreme punishment for stealing?" Inessa inquired.
The man guffawed at her words. "Not when you steal something of great importance." he replied.
"What did you steal?" Inessa asked, curious to know what he might have stolen.
Luca kept staring at her, and she raised a brow at him, wondering what he was thinking. For Inessa, reading people wasn't difficult, but this man was good at concealing his emotions.
"I stole their boss' eyeballs." he whispered, as if telling a secret.
Inessa's eyebrows raised in surprise as she heard what the man stole. She realized this man wasn't a normal citizen; he was a dangerous man. Luca enjoyed the subdued reaction that his words induced from the queen.
He started getting up, and Inessa's eyes wandered over his entire upper body. The tattoos were definitely turning her on. But his personality was a huge turnoff.
"That reminds me, can you do me a favor? I hid the eyeballs under a dumpster at the port. Can you ask your men to retrieve them?" he asked Inessa. Inessa glared at the man.
"Who do you think you are?" Inessa retorted.
"Your toughest competitor." Luca replied, with something like mirth dancing in his amber orbs. Inessa narrowed her eyes, wondering what the hell was he talking about?
"What?" she said. Luca tsked.
"Have you heard of the phantom?" he smirked. Inessa frowned. Who hasn't heard of the phantom? If Inessa was a ghost within the mafia circles, the phantom was a ghost all over the world.
He was a world-famous hacker who was notorious for stealing from people he deemed fit, and then donating that money to the ones who need it. At that, Inessa's eyes suddenly widened with realization.
"From the widening of your eyes, I think you already got what I am trying to imply." Luca said cockily, leaning back on the bed. Inessa narrowed her eyes at the egoistic man.
"No, I didn't." Inessa gritted her teeth.
"Well then, you aren't as smart as I thought you would be. But no worries. I'll make it easy for you. I am the phantom." Luca said. Inessa's blood boiled at the blatant disrespect, but she concealed it behind a loud snicker.
She couldn't believe the audacity of this man. He thought that just because he was hot, he could get away with everything? Wait, where did that come from? Hot? No way. Well, she'll remind him of his place.
She got up and pulled out her gun, positioning it at the center of his forehead.
Leaning close to him, she whispered, "I don't like liars. Do you want to try again?"
Luca chuckled. He looked at the woman, who looked soft and sweet, but he knew she was anything but that. After all, he had done his research. The queen was no joke. She was as cold as ice and as ruthless as a tigress.
"Why would I lie to the queen?" he raised his eyebrows, unbothered by the gun pointed at his head.
"Then why would the great phantom reveal his identity?" Inessa growled.
"Because he loves his life too." he shrugged his shoulders.
"Bullshit!" Inessa snapped, and fired a shot.