A Cop for the Mafia Boss

Chapter 2

Hey, My first Mission

“A mafia boss's lover?” Audrey shrieked, her voice rising so high that Cassie instinctively pulled the phone a few inches away from her ear.

She balanced the phone between her shoulder and ear as she flipped through the thick case file Grace had handed her earlier that morning. The pages were filled with surveillance photos, financial reports, coded transactions, and detailed profiles of everyone remotely connected to Eddie Casa-Ami.

The shrill whistle of the kettle interrupted her reading.

She walked into the tiny kitchen of her apartment and switched off the stove before pouring the steaming water into her favorite glass mug.

"It's insane," Cassie muttered, dropping a tea bag into the hot water. "They've spent twenty-five years trying to catch his father and got absolutely nowhere. Now they expect me to bring down his son in six months."

"Maybe that's because the quickest way to a powerful man isn't through his security but through his heart."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm serious." Audrey stated.

"You cannot be serious."

"I am."

Cassie rolled her eyes as she stirred the tea.

"Isn't it dangerous, though?" Audrey continued dramatically. "What if he's secretly a vampire and decides to suck your blood after the two of you have s*x?"

Cassie burst into laughter.

"What if he's a cannibal instead and decides to eat my intestines while I'm asleep?"

"There you go!" Audrey exclaimed. "Now you're thinking."

Cassie carried her tea back into the living room and settled onto the couch, the thick file resting on her lap.

The cover displayed one bold name EDDIE CASA-AMI and she opened it again.

Every page reminded her exactly why this mission mattered.

"What if," Audrey said after a brief pause, "he turns out to be ridiculously handsome and you end up falling in love with him?"

"Oh, please." Cassie scoffed. "He's a criminal, Audrey."

"So?"

"So... I can't fall in love with someone like that."

"That's what every woman says before she actually does." Audrey chuckled knowingly.

"You've been watching too many romance movies." Cassie shook her head.

"No, I've been reading psychology."

"Oh, really?"

"They say women are strangely attracted to dangerous men."

"Ew."

"Ew what?"

"If he's hot," Audrey continued without missing a beat, "that actually makes your job easier. Imagine if he were some sixty-year-old pot-bellied mafia boss who smelled like expensive cigars and bad decisions."

Cassie glanced down at one of the surveillance photographs clipped to the file. Only half of Eddie's face was visible. Still, she could see his sharp jawline.

His shoulders looked broad beneath the black suit. Even from a grainy surveillance photo, there was something intimidating about him.

She cleared her throat. "He's... not sixty."

Audrey gasped dramatically.

"Oh?"

"And he doesn't look like he has a pot belly."

"Oh my God."

"What?"

"You already checked."

"I did not."

"You absolutely did."

"I was reading the file."

"Mmm-hmm."

Cassie rolled her eyes.

"I'm assessing the target."

"That's what they're calling it these days?"

"Audrey..."

"I'm just saying... if he's attractive, your assignment becomes much easier."

"Easier, how?"

"Easier to work with and easier to fall in love with."

Cassie groaned. "You are sick."

"I'm realistic."

"No."

"You'll thank me later."

"I won't."

"You will."

"I seriously won't."

Audrey laughed so loudly that Cassie found herself smiling despite everything.

For a brief moment, the fear that had been sitting heavily on her chest since accepting the assignment disappeared.

It felt like they were back in college, gossiping over coffee instead of discussing infiltrating one of the deadliest criminal organizations in the country.

"I've got to go," Audrey finally said. "I have to clock in by six tomorrow morning."

"At least I only have to pretend to be someone's girlfriend. Look at you, you have to wake up before sunrise." Cassie smirked.

"Oh, don't mock me."

"I'm just stating facts."

"You don't have a better life than I do, Cass."

"I think I do."

"You've forgotten the possibility that your boyfriend might be a vampire."

Cassie laughed. "If he is, at least I'd die without worrying about bills or taxes."

Audrey's tone softened. "Seriously, Cass."

"Hmm?"

"Be careful."

Cassie's smile faded. "I will."

"I mean it."

"I know."

A brief silence stretched between them then Cassie remembered. "You've taken your insulin shot today, right?"

"Oh no."

Cassie pinched the bridge of her nose. "You forgot again."

"I swear it completely slipped my mind."

"What would you honestly do without me?"

"I could end this phone call without you."

Before Cassie could respond, Audrey disconnected and Cassie stared at the phone for a second before laughing quietly.

"Asshole."

She placed the phone beside her and picked up the file once more. This time, she studied every single detail with renewed concentration.

Then she stopped at Eddie's photograph again. His eyes were hidden beneath the shadow of his cap and even so, she could almost feel them staring back.

******

The flashing neon lights outside Eclipse Club painted the streets in shades of blue, red, and purple, as luxury vehicles lined the entrance.

Cassie sat in the passenger seat of the unmarked government vehicle, her palms damp with sweat, her heartbeat was deafening and Grace glanced at her.

"You okay?"

Cassie nodded automatically. "No."

Grace smiled faintly. "I figured."

She reached into a small equipment bag and retrieved a tiny wireless earpiece.

"Here."

Grace helped her fit it into her ear before handing her what looked like an expensive lipstick.

"It isn't lipstick," Grace explained. "It's a recorder."

Cassie turned it over in her hand.

"It'll capture every conversation."

She nodded then Grace's expression hardened.

"Listen carefully." Cassie looked at her. "Remember, you walk in there, you act natural. You smile and you breathe normally and whatever you do..."

Grace leaned closer. "Don't let him suspect who you really are."

Cassie's throat tightened.

"If Eddie Casa-Ami realizes you're a spy..."

Grace didn't bother finishing the sentence, she didn't need to. Cassie already knew she would be dead before backup even reached the building.

"Also remember, the emergency code phrase is 'PLEASE, EXCUSE ME.'" Grace continued and Cassie nodded.

"Good. Do you have a question?"

"Do I really have to do this?"

Grace didn't answer immediately. Instead, she folded her arms. "Do I have to submit a report recommending disciplinary action for insubordination?"

Cassie sighed.

"I guess not." Grace added.

Grace gave her one last reassuring pat on the back before Cassie opened the car door.

The cool night air immediately wrapped around her. She stepped onto the pavement and her heels clicked against the concrete as she looked toward the brightly lit entrance of the Club.

Then, gathering every ounce of courage she possessed, Cassandra Hugh took her first step toward the most dangerous man she would ever meet.