Rough: A Hitman Romance

By Jove Chambers

Demetrius “Danger” Gallo
I’m too rough for her. I’m coarse. Untamed. Brutal.
I’m a dangerous man.
The things I want to do to her...
Things like that should never be done to a girl like her.
If it weren’t for the fact I need her hacker skills for this job, I wouldn’t allow her anywhere near me.
Because fighting my urges, well, that’s not easy for a man like me.

Kiera Quill
I’m a virgin, but I’m not a prude.
It’s only that I’ve got rules. My work comes first.
I'm here to rescue a woman from the mob.
He's here to kill a man.
We're busy.
Anyway, he doesn’t think of me that way.
He treats me like a kid sister—one who can’t get anything right.
He might be massive and masculine, with a deep, rumbling voice that gives me shivers.
But that doesn’t mean that I’m attracted to him or anything.
Because if I were, things could get rough.

This novel is set in the same world as Ripped, but it follows a different couple and stands alone. Expect a HEA and no cliffhanger.

• Language: English
• Publisher: V. J. Chambers
• Release date: Jun 21, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311005687

Jove Chambers

Jove Chambers is the dark romance pen name for USA Today bestselling author, V. J. Chambers. Most of her books were originally published under that name.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Kiera

Are you talking about Nikolai Mikailhov? I called over the cubicles in headquarters of the organization where I worked. I was the resident hacker and all around computer genius. I did what the guys needed, as long as it involved electronics.

The guys were all contract killers.

But it wasn’t so bad. We operated under a code here, and that meant only killing bad guys who deserved it. The code stipulated we’d only take hits on other killers.

Demetrius Danger Gallo stood up. Only his head appeared over the cubicle wall. What?

Nikolai Mikailhov? The Russian mobster? You talking about him?

Demetrius’s jaw twitched. It was a shaggy jaw. He was a bear of a man, with big, thick, burly forearms covered in fine, dark hair.

Which I couldn’t see right now or anything. I just had a vivid mental image of his body.

And not that I was attracted to him. I so wasn’t.

I mean, he was attractive, but that’s not the same thing.

I had a strict rule about not getting involved with guys like Demetrius.

He raised his eyebrows. I don’t remember inviting you into this conversation.

Well, you and your cousin are talking pretty loud, I said. I can hear you plain as day. So, are you talking about Nikolai or not?

Why does it matter?

I shrugged. Doesn’t really, only that I just took a job from Mr. Pink offering a giant payday to take out Nikolai Mikailhov. Maybe it’s the answer to all your problems. You do the hit, save your cousin’s girl, and all is right in the universe. I smiled at him. Honestly, I wasn’t really sure why he was having this conversation in headquarters at all.

Most guys did not hang out here as a matter of course. They would occasionally show up and check in with me, ask for my help hacking into security systems, things like that.

But Demetrius was always here. He was always hanging around me. A few months back, when there was a rogue hitman loose in the building trying to shoot us all, he was insistent on getting me out of there and ordering me around.

He was always saying that it wasn’t a good idea for me to be here alone.

But it was my place of employment for fuck’s sake.

Demetrius drove me nuts.

He sighed heavily, coming out from behind the cubicle. He approached me quickly, taking long strides with his powerful legs. Now, I could take in his entire body, from his wide shoulders to his tapered waist to his enormous hands. He was Italian, and he was all-man. Some guys have this pretty thing going on for them, but not Demetrius. Demetrius was like an uncaged beast, masculine and muscular.

But again.

So not attracted to him.

I looked down, so as not to be distracted by his stupidly sexy body.

Look, he said in a quiet voice once he was right next to me, she is not exactly my cousin’s girl. He tossed a glance over his shoulder to see if his cousin was following him.

His cousin was peering around the cubicle, straining his neck, obviously trying to hear what was going on.

She’s not? I said, my voice also quiet. I wasn’t sure why we were whispering. Then why he is so gung-ho about saving her?

She is a girl he met online through some incredibly over-priced, Russian-mail-order-bride website.

What?

He rolled his eyes. Yes, my cousin is not exactly Don Juan, and he’s convinced himself that the only woman who will ever love him is one who doesn’t speak English.

But if she’s his mail order bride, then why isn’t she here? Why aren’t they married?

It doesn’t work like that. It’s like a dating website. They talk online, and then he’s gone over there to meet her like twice. Last time, he asked her to marry him, and apparently, she accepted. So, she was supposed to be getting a marriage visa, but she disappeared.

Because the Mikailhovs got to her.

Yeah. You know about their little scheme.

I nodded. The Mikailhovs told Ukrainian girls they were hosting a party, for them to meet rich American men. But once they got there, the women were drugged and captured. They were crammed into tiny boats and shipped off to become sex slaves. It was awful.

Those kind of parties that they lure them with, they really exist, said Demetrius. It’s how Matteo met Natasha.

That’s her name? Natasha?

Yeah, he said. Anyway, he thinks this woman loves him and that if he rescues her that it’ll be like a fairy tale. I don’t know how to tell him that she’s only after his money.

You don’t know that, I said.

He gave me a look.

"And anyway, I’m sure she’d want to be rescued, I said. Hell, you should spring all of the women when you kill Nikolai. No one wants to be a sex slave."

He ran his forefinger over the indent above his lips. I’m sure no one does, but this is all very complicated.

Okay, I said. Well, I guess I’ll put the job on the listserv then.

Demetrius shoved his hands in his pockets, hesitating. Then he shook his head and turned back to his cousin. He started walking back.

His cousin was coming out of the cubicle. Wait, Demetrius! You’re not going to help me.

Demetrius glared at him. I told you Matteo. No names.

It’s okay, I said. I know your name.

Demetrius turned to look at me.

I shrugged. You’re always around, and I got curious, so I did some digging. It wasn’t really hard to find out. You were the rising star of the Gallo crime family until you suddenly dropped off the map. Obviously, you appeared here. I nodded at Matteo. I didn’t think you had any contact with your family anymore.

The family doesn’t care about Matteo, said Demetrius.

I’m worthless to them, said Matteo. He was a full head shorter than Demetrius with a belly that protruded over his belt and a receding hairline. They might as well have disowned me. I tried to explain to them that I have Asperger’s, and that it wasn’t diagnosed when I was a child, and—

Matteo. Demetrius held up a hand to cut him off. You’re going to have to go.

I cocked my head, feeling sorry for Matteo. He came to you for help, Danger. I might have known his name, but I was in the habit of calling him by his handle.

No one else in the family will help me.

There’s a truce with the Mikailhovs, said Demetrius. No Gallo is going to screw that up. No one wants a gang war.

But you aren’t part of that truce, I said. "You could help him."

You don’t understand, he said. The place where they keep these girls, it’s a fortress. I can’t do this job on my own. It’s at least a five-person job.

Well, this payday, cut five ways, is still pretty good, I said.

It’s not about the money, he said. Look, I don’t even know who I’d use. He turned to look at Matteo. "I would absolutely need a first-rate hacker, someone who could take down all the security in that building, and there’s no one that I can think of who’d I’d trust to work with, or—for that matter—who would be willing to go up against the Gallo family and the Mikailhov family. Getting her out just isn’t doable, okay?"

Matteo peered around his cousin and pointed at me. She’s a hacker, right? What about her?

My thoughts exactly.

* * *

Demetrius

Her? I repeated. That was the singularly worst idea to come out of Matteo’s mouth today. And Matteo had come up with some pretty bad ideas as of late. No. Just no.

Why not? said Kiera, raising her eyebrows.

I looked away from her. Goddamn that girl. She made me lose my mind. Ever since I met her, I couldn’t help but be drawn to her. It wasn’t just that she was absolutely beautiful. Curvy and small in all the right places with big, blue eyes. Maybe that was what caught my eye in the beginning. But she was the entire package. Sweet and smart and funny and spunky and…

Well, anyway, she was way too sweet for someone like me.

And I meant to keep my distance. I did.

But…

You can’t do a job like this, I said. Way too dangerous.

She folded her arms over her chest. That is just like you. You’re always on about that. You’re paranoid, I swear. The world is not as awful as you seem to think it is.

It’s worse, I said, looking at my shoes. She had no idea what the world was really like, especially the world that men like Nikolai Mikailhov inhabited. I knew. I used to be part of that world too. A pretty little thing like her would get chewed up and spit out. I wouldn’t let that happen.

I might not have been a good man, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t do what I could to protect her.

It’s because I’m a girl, she said, lifting her chin.

Yeah, it is, I said, meeting her gaze.

"Do you have any idea what century it is?"

Yeah, well, all the equal rights in the world is never going to make you have the upper body strength to stand a chance against even Matteo here.

Her jaw dropped open.

I’m not being sexist, I said. You know, you see all those movies with the kick-ass women who can take down all the men and that is just fantasy, sweetheart.

Maybe so, but I’m not signing on to be in a fistfight with anyone, she said. And don’t call me sweetheart.

We glared at each other.

It was quiet.

Sometimes, I felt like I spent half of my life glaring at Kiera Quill. I didn’t need to come into headquarters as often as I did. I could do my job just fine without coming into the office. But I liked being near her. And besides, she really shouldn’t be here alone. She was a lone girl amongst killers. All the men who worked here were bad news in one way or the other.

So, I came in to keep an eye on her. I didn’t mean to argue with her.

But I couldn’t touch her.

Arguing with her seemed the only other recourse.

Matteo spoke up. Demetrius, you said she was the best.

I whirled on him. I never said that.

You did. You talk about her all the time, and you said that she—

Shut up, Matteo, I said darkly. Did I really talk about her all the time?

I won’t. Matteo screwed up his face. Because terrible things are happening to my Natasha, and I know you don’t believe me that we’re in love, but we are. Don’t you judge what you don’t understand. If you won’t help me, I’ll go in for her myself.

I sighed. Matteo, you can’t do that. He would end up dead if he tried. You can’t help Natasha if you get yourself killed.

You said that Kiera was the best, said Matteo.

I am, said Kiera. You know I could handle this. I can get any security system taken down. I can do whatever this job needs.

That’s not the point.

So, you admit that I’d be the best person for the job.

No, I said. Because if you’re doing this, then I’ll spend all my time babysitting you instead of doing what I need to do.

"I don’t need a babysitter. Her nostrils flared. God, you are annoying. I don’t know where you get off. You act like I’m a twelve-year-old or something, and you’re always in my face, and I wish you’d just…"

What? I said.

She squared her shoulders. You should let me in on the job.

You want a slice of the cash?

You know I don’t care about that shit. If I wanted money, I could easily get it. I’m a hacker, remember. I could siphon pennies away from every bank account in the city and have a fortune, and no one would notice.

I snorted. "You’ve been watching Office Space a few too many times. And even if you needed the money because your grandma had cancer, I wouldn’t let you on this job."

Her face went white. Don’t say shit like that.

I’ll say whatever I want, I said.

Seriously, cancer is not something you joke about, you waste of space.

Oh, I’m sorry, I said, but I wasn’t. Listen, since I offend you so much, you’ll be happy to know that you won’t be working with me on this job.

Demetrius, interrupted Matteo. Please.

I rubbed my temples.

Natasha is in trouble, said Matteo. When I think of what they might be doing to her, it makes me feel so helpless and angry.

I looked up at him.

There were tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He bowed his head, surreptitiously wiped at them.

Gallo men didn’t cry.

I clapped him on the back. Hey, come on, man.

I’ll help you, Matteo, said Kiera.

He raised his face to her, eyes wide. You will?

Yeah. She nodded. We don’t need him. I’ll put together my own team. I have a roster of the best hitmen in the country, and we’ll—

Don’t even think about it, I growled.

She turned to me with steel in her eyes. The train is leaving the station, Danger. Get on board or wave goodbye.

Man.

Fuck this.

I drew in a very slow breath. Fine, I said. You can help.

She smiled, triumphant.

* * *

Demetrius

I only knew the man sitting across the table from me as Blaze. He was another hitman who worked for the same organization as I did. We didn’t know each other’s real names, only our handles. Blaze’s specialty was explosives. I thought his skills might be useful on this job.

So, what would I be doing exactly? he said, picking at the label on his Miller Genuine Draft.

Well, I don’t have all the details yet, I said. But probably some building demolition, maybe blowing some doors, maybe some cars. I don’t know. But all stuff you can handle. And I told you how much it pays. You can’t be upset with the money, can you?

No, that’s good, he said. I just don’t get it. Why are we rescuing this girl?

She’s my cousin’s fiancée, I said. It’s a long story. Let’s not worry so much about that part of it.

Just odd is all. I haven’t done a job that legit helped someone in… He shrugged. Maybe never. He took a drink of his beer. Of course, Ripper’s always on about how if we kill people who were going to hurt tons of people, then we save lives and blah blah blah, but that guy is stone-cold psycho, and I think he just makes up justifications to feel better about himself.

Ripper was the handle of the head of the organization. He had stepped down lately. Rumor was that he was playing house somewhere with some girl he’d knocked up. If it was true, it was crazy. The Ripper I knew wasn’t the settling down type.

Well, you can call it kidnapping if it makes it easier for you, I said.

He barked out a laugh.

You in? I said.

Yeah, I’m in.

Good, I said. I sat back in my chair and took a drink of my own beer.

So, uh, is it just the two of us? he asked. We going to do all this on our own?

No, it’s a bigger job than that. We’ll need some more people. I haven’t gotten everyone signed on yet. But Kiera’s going to do computers for us.

From headquarters? The receptionist? he asked. It was a joke that Kiera was our receptionist.

Yeah, that’s her, I said. I didn’t want her in on this. Too dangerous, you know. But she heard about it, and she wouldn’t let it go, and then I couldn’t stop her. She was talking crazy, like she was going to take over the whole thing, so I had to let her in. I swear, that girl… I shook my head and drank more beer.

Blaze furrowed his brow. You’re angry with her, huh?

I just don’t see why she’s got to be so intent on being part of something like this. She’s a kid. She can’t be older than twenty.

I think she’s twenty-one, actually, he said. Because I remember when it was her birthday, and we had that office party, and she said she could drink legally?

Oh, I said. Right. I remembered that day too. I’d had a little too much to drink myself, and then I’d had to leave, because the desire to just drag Kiera into a dark room somewhere and have my way with her had been too strong.

I knew better than that. She was too young. Too innocent. I wouldn’t let someone like me get near her. I would taint her, ruin her. She deserved better than someone like me.

Well, I don’t think it’s a bad thing, said Blaze. She’s really good at what she does. So, that’s an asset in my book.

Yeah, but what if something happens to her? I said. That’ll be on me.

It’ll be on her. She’s the one who wanted to do it.

But I should have stopped her.

Who designated you her big brother? Blaze set his beer down on the table. Oh, wait. It’s not like that, is it? You’re being overprotective because you think you like her, aren’t you?

That’s insane. She’s a child. I drank my beer.

She’s twenty-one, said Blaze. You know what I do in situations like that? I just tap that.

I didn’t ask for advice.

Seriously. You may think you’ve got some kind of thing for her, but I find it’s generally just sexual fascination. Fuck her a few times, it fades. He got up from the table. You’ll get in touch when we start this thing?

I will, I said, glad he was leaving. It would save me the trouble of protesting I had no sexual fascination with Kiera. I didn’t know if I could pull that lie off without giving myself away.

Maybe Blaze was right. Maybe if I gave in and had sex with Kiera, I’d get over my obsession with her. I’d never felt quite this way about a woman before, and I felt it had to be because I was denying myself her. Probably if I did fuck her, I’d realize no human being could live up to the fantasy I’d built around her, and everything would crumple.

But I was never going to do that, because I cared about her. I wouldn’t use her to just to assuage my fascination. She was a good girl, a nice girl, and I would leave her untouched.

I watched as Blaze crossed the bar to sit down opposite a woman with red hair. She looked up at him, a wary look on her face.

Blaze said something.

The woman laughed.

He said something else.

She crossed her legs, pointing her knees at him, leaning in to hear him talk.

Fuck that dude. He was so good at that shit. I’d forgotten how suave he was. I could never pull anything like that off. Blaze managed to put women at ease. I was the size of a barge. I had a deep, rumbling voice. When I spoke to women, all they saw was a monster.

Of course, Kiera had never seemed the slightest bit afraid of me.

I took another long drink of beer.

But that was because she was too innocent to know better. She didn’t know what I was, what I’d done, what I was capable of.

Other women were right to be afraid of me.

I had blood on my hands.

CHAPTER TWO

Kiera

Whatcha doing? I asked Demetrius. I would have ignored him, but he had decided to follow me to the little cafe where I liked to get a cup of soup and salad—okay, half a sandwich—every day. I always meant

Reviews for Rough

[Rochelle · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved this book. It’s everything I enjoy reading about the mafia or those type of stories. The storyline was exciting and entertaining and had a but of everything. Loved the characters as well, they likable and well suited. A very enjoyable read.