This Mobster's Rival: The Jackson Brothers, #3

By Rachel Foster

Bryce and Natalie enlist the help of Aliya and her new beau to help stop the war between Stephan and Victor. Along the way Bryce learns about family and Natalie reacquaints herself with the man she thought she hated. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: 3rd Publishing
• Release date: Mar 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215552742

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This Mobster's Rival

Rachel Foster

Copyright © 2018 by Rachel Foster

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Contents

This Mobster's Rival

This Mobster's Rival

1

B

ryce

Natalie, wake up! Nat! I gently shook my sleeping girlfriend awake, pointing out we’d just pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. I didn’t want to get too close, but at the same time, there really wasn’t a lot of parking save for inside the lot itself. It had been a long drive, too long after just leaving Chicago to head back to the little town where we’d been staying in Wisconsin.

Natalie had wanted to get back to Chicago as soon as possible after hearing that her father had been shot, so we’d driven nearly straight through, only stopping for coffee and gas along the way. She had done her best to stay awake with me through the night, but had drifted off from time to time until she finally gave up and nodded off completely.

I didn’t blame her. It was a lot to take in, and I knew it had to be hard for her. She didn’t sign up for any of this, and I still felt responsible for being the one to drag her into all of it. Just a couple of months prior, she and I didn’t even know each other – me doing what I could to rise to the next level in my father’s mob, her working online to get her nursing degree.

But as fate would have it, my father told me if there was any chance for me to achieve the capo status I wanted, I was going to have to accomplish a mission he had mapped out: murder the daughter of his greatest enemy.

I’d never been in love with the idea of murdering an innocent woman who was close to my age, but at the same time, I wanted that position, so I agreed. Little did I know that the woman I was supposed to kill would become the love of my life and we’d have to run to save ourselves from my father’s wrath.

We’d packed up what little we could grab and hit the road, running through cities and doing everything we could to stay under the radar, finally settling in a tiny town in Northern Wisconsin. Although in the back of my mind I knew I had a feeling we weren’t going to be lucky enough to stay there for very long, I’d hoped that there was a chance she and I could build our lives there.

We both made a few friends, settled into real jobs, and started living the domestic lives we didn’t know we’d wanted. All seemed to be going great for a while.

But then, we heard the news.

Ever since we left New York, Natalie had been keeping in touch with her old roommate and best friend. Through her, we heard that Natalie’s father knew we were both alive, and we were together. I hoped that it would be nothing more than news we could dismiss, but it wasn’t long before Natalie wanted to get in touch with him.

Though I felt it a bad idea, and didn’t fully understand why she would want to do such a thing after not speaking to him for five years, I didn’t argue when she wanted to get a burner phone and make contact. It went better than she thought, and before I knew it, we were on our way to Chicago for them to meet face-to-face for the first time in half a decade.

Again, I’d hoped that would be the end of our interaction with the man. He and my father had been enemies for as long as I could remember, and though our own meeting had been polite, I didn’t want to spend any more time around him than I had to.

But the day after we got back home, Natalie received an email from her father, telling her he had been shot. He was alive in the hospital in Chicago, and she immediately wanted to go to him. We’d been followed, that much was certain. And though they’d missed their mark with her and me, they had managed to get a shot off on her father, and she now insisted she needed to be there for him.

Let’s go, Natalie said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and tugging at her seatbelt. I want to see him.

Hang on. I’m still not in love with this situation, I replied. I put my hand on her arm to stop her from opening the door, and she looked at me with raised eyebrows.

We are in a hospital parking lot – don’t you think there are cameras pretty much everywhere? she asked.

Don’t you know that these guys can snipe about as well as they can shoot with pistols? I retorted. All it takes is a single scout in any one of these surrounding buildings, and we will both be dead before we even close the truck doors.

She looked nervously out the window at the surrounding skyscrapers. Do you really think they hung around for that?

I’m sure my father would be smart enough to know that you would be in contact with Victor, and that it was likely for you to come running when you heard he’d been injured, I said, also scanning the other buildings. I’m still not sure if this is legitimate or not.

I sent my father an email asking him, but he never replied, she said.

That only made me doubt the situation further, and I wished there was a way I could convince her not to go through with going inside the building. But she sat back in her seat, resolution firmly on her face. She was going through with this – no questioning that.

We sat for nearly an hour as I waited. I didn’t know how long I should wait for, but I did know that these men were patient. If they were out there, there was no doubt in my mind they could wait us out. It was difficult not knowing where they were or what they were doing, or even if my father was trying to get to us when he could go directly to Victor himself.

Perhaps he had given up on the idea of destroying Victor emotionally and had decided instead just to murder the man. I could see it happening, I really could. But without being in any kind of contact with my father, all I could do was guess.

Alright, I think we can go in now, I said at last. But I want you to stay as close to me as you can and remember we aren’t going to ask too many questions.

She nodded, and the two of us walked inside. I was still debating how we were going to find out what room he was in without talking to any of the staff members. It wasn’t going to be long before it made the news that one of the most notorious mob bosses was shot and was now lying in a Chicago hospital, and the last thing we needed was for the cops to get on us before we had the chance to get back out of town.

I wished I’d brought my gun with me, but again, I knew there was no way we’d be able to get that inside. With all the metal detectors and security the place had, we wouldn’t even make it through the front door without sounding alarms. That would only lead to one thing – one or both of us ending up behind bars.

All in all, there was really nothing they had on Natalie. She’d never done anything wrong. But, I was not only the son of a mob boss, I had been an active member since I was sixteen years old. I had stolen, robbed, and killed people. I’d had shootouts with the police before, and I knew if I was ever to be arrested, there was little chance of me walking out of that courtroom and going anywhere but prison.

We walked past one of the nursing stations, trying to act as nonchalant as we could, but the fact of the matter was that the two of us were eavesdropping on their conversation closely. They were taking about the people who were in the trauma unit – where we guessed her father would be.

As it turned out, we were in luck.

Yeah, I’m going to go in and check on our gunshot victim in an hour, one of the nurses was saying. He’s finally been in stable enough condition that the police are in there now talking to him.

We exchanged a glance. That wasn’t what either one of us wanted to hear, but it did make sense. Of course, the hospital would report a crime like that. They had no idea what was going on or who it was lying in the other room.

What room is he in again? the other nurse asked.

Four thirteen, the first nurse replied. He’s stable enough to stay in there, don’t worry about moving him again.

Great. Let me know how it goes.

They continued their conversation, but we’d learned all we needed to. I led Natalie through a narrow corridor, and as soon as we were out of sight of the nurses, I let go of her arm.

What are you doing? she asked.

Trying to find a map. We can’t ask them about him or they are going to wonder how we are involved. I can’t get arrested, I said. She nodded and started looking, as well.

Here’s one, she whispered. We scanned the map for the right room, then we were off. We walked quickly, I wanted to get in and out as fast as we could, without drawing any sort of attention to ourselves. It was bad enough knowing the nurses could call the cops at any time; it was even worse knowing there were cops in that room with her father.

We slowed our pace as we neared the door, wandering through the hall as though we were lost. I glanced casually inside when we passed. There were two cops there, each with their hands nonchalantly on their belts and speaking with Victor. We paused directly outside the door, staying out of sight but still near enough to listen.

It’s common protocol for the hospital to report someone with this kind of injury. Are you sure you don’t know who shot you? the female officer was saying.

I was shot in the back; how would I know? Victor asked gruffly.

You don’t have any kind of enemies or anything like that who comes to mind? she pressed.

Ma’am, I’ve got more enemies than I can count, Victor said. I winced. He should know better than to disclose that kind of information, I thought. Perhaps it was the medication.

Well, we’re going to be looking into this closer. Get some rest, and don’t worry, we’re going to get to the bottom of this, the officer said. That was our cue to get out of the way, and we quickly walked up the hall and rounded the corner. I watched closely for the officers to leave before the two of us headed back for Victor’s room.

I knew we didn’t have a lot of time. Once they found out who Victor was, it was likely they would be back – and this time to handcuff him to the bed. I wanted Natalie to get the chance to talk to him, but it was going to have to be brief.

We had to get out of there.

2

N

atalie

I rushed into the room, unsure of what I was going to find when I got there. I’d only been able to see my father’s feet at the end of the bed when Bryce and I walked by, and I wasn’t going to fight him to get a better look until the cops were gone. I knew there was still danger of him getting in trouble for the life he’d lived, and I didn’t want to do anything to make that happen.

But with the coast clear, I could go in and see my father for a few minutes and find out exactly what happened...though I was sure I could already guess.

Dad! I said in as subdued of a voice as I could manage. I stopped short when I saw him, however. He didn’t look anything like the man I’d seen just a couple of days prior. He looked like he was in a lot of pain, and rightfully so. I couldn’t imagine being shot twice.

All the luster and polish had gone out of his face, and he looked even older than when I’d seen him the other day. I wanted to break down in tears, but I refrained, walking over to him and bending down to hug him lightly.

Natalie! What are you doing here? I didn’t want you to come! I just wanted you to know what happened, he said.

I told you I was on the way in that email, I replied.

I haven’t been able to get back on the internet. They took me into surgery to get the bullets out almost immediately after I arrived, and then I was put in here. I don’t even know where my things are at this point, he said.

I looked worried in spite of myself, but he shook his head. Don’t worry, there is a passcode on the phone that erases all content after two wrong tries. No one is going to see my messages.

How’d it happen? Who was it? I asked, changing the subject. Bryce glanced over from where he’d taken his place at the window, watching for the cops to return. My father shook his head and held up his hand.

I was just telling the cops not five minutes ago that it could be just about anyone. When you live the life I’ve lived, you make more enemies than you do friends, he said with a tired voice. I gently sat down on the end of the bed. I didn’t want to touch him, not knowing for sure how much pain he was in.

But, there was a part of him that was so much more fatherly than I remembered. In fact, I had intentionally stopped thinking of him as my father years ago, not wanting to feel the pain of him being unable to be the man I needed him to be.

What is it? he asked, seeing the troubled look on my face.

"I just want you to know that I