Staying Alive

  Nikita is the hitman to one of Chicago’s most notorious Russian families. He has a reputation for being the second deadliest man in the city. One day when sent on an errand, below his station in the family, Nikita is not happy, but he knows he must follow his bosses orders.

  He is entrusted to go to a local bistro to make contact with a messenger from the other Russian family that rules over Chicago’s south side and deliver a briefcase to an over the top twink. Nikita is also instructed to make sure the case is cuffed to the twinks wrist so he doesn’t lose it.

  Already being annoyed by the assignment, Nikita is not thrilled when he spots his contact and notices the man is sitting with another twink. He takes up position away from the pair but still close enough to hear their conversation and discovers that the man he had originally thought was his contact may not be the right man.

  When Nikita suddenly awakens flat on his back in an alley with the briefcase cuffed to his own wrist, he is confused, but also realizes he may be in trouble.

  A dark shadow appears out of the night, taunting him and admitting to be the one who drugged Nikita and dropped his ass in the alley. This Ninja wannabe, who Nikita can not see due to the clothing covering the man except for his stunning eyes, seems familiar to him but he doesn’t know why.

  When the Ninja man turns to leave he gives Nikita a clue as who he is and what kind of trouble Nikita is truly in. When the man claims to be the notorious Hunter, Chicago’s number one hitman, and his sights are set on Nikita, he knows he must act fast and figure out what is going on and how to stop the Hunter from coming for him before it’s too late.

  The hunted now becomes the hunter, and when Nikita finds his prey he is not prepared for the rabbit hole he is about to fall into. Learning who The Hunter truly is and what he does actually frightens Nikita, but his overwhelming desire for the man begins to control his actions and Nikita and the Hunter join forces to find out who is setting them both up.

  Will their building desire for one another be the beginning of something special or the end of them both?

  Staying Alive

  by

  Maggie Walsh

  MM, SHIFTERS, PARANORMAL, AND SCENES OF VIOLENCE

  A Maggie Walsh Book

  www.maggiewalshauthor.com

  A MAGGIE WALSH BOOK

  Staying Alive

  Copyright © 2019 by Maggie Walsh

  Edited by Ann Attwood

  First E-book Publication: August 2019

  Cover design by Maggie Walsh

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2019, Maggie Walsh

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  All characters depicted in sexual acts in this work of fiction are 18 years of age or older.

  Dedication

  To Stormy Glenn and her ManLove Fantasies Contest Blog. Thank you for more inspiration Stormy.

  And thank you to my readers for always being so supportive and encouraging, even when I step out of my comfort zone.

  Table Of Content

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Also from Maggie Walsh

  About The Author

  CHAPTER 1

  “Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk, I’m a woman’s man, no time to talk…” Neo sang in a high-pitched voice as he shook his ass and walked down the street with his earbuds in. He didn’t have a care in the world.

  Life was good. Neo thought as he continued up the street toward the bistro where he was meeting his best friend, Riley, for lunch. When he got up this morning, the sun was shining brightly through the curtains and bathed his naked skin in its delicious warmth. Neo had raised his hands over his head and stretched out his whole body, arching his back like a cat as a smile came to his lips. He loved the sun and the warmer weather. It always made him feel alive, and that was a good thing.

  Chicago winters could be brutal, and this past one had been no different. A few blizzards had come barreling through, disrupting the natural flow of the city and all its residents, and with the continued, monotonous frigid temperatures, Neo didn’t think he would ever see spring again.

  But today was different. Today spring had poked its head out of the hole like the groundhog and said, “Here I am suckers. Revel in my awesomeness,” and Neo couldn’t agree more. He showered and shaved, then picked out his favorite spring wear; tight white skinny jeans that hugged his ass so perfectly and at the same time gave a nice view of his package. He paired that with a neon-orange belly shirt that had a bright pink stripe of paint splashed across the front, then he tied his long, golden-blond hair into a ponytail at the back of his head, and slid his feet into a pair of neon-blue flip-flops.

  Once he texted Riley to ask about lunch, and got an enthusiastic, ‘Hell yes,’ in return, Neo grabbed his wallet, keys, cell phone, and earbuds and headed out to meet his friend. Now, strutting and dancing down the street with the sun on his face and a light breeze blowing by, Neo just felt so happy. So alive.

  He spotted the bistro in the distance about two blocks up and smiled when he noticed people eating outside on the patio. Perfect. It was just what he was hoping for. After spending so much time indoors through the winter, to be able to sit outside and enjoy a leisurely lunch in the fresh air was heaven to him.

  Neo had stopped at the corner waiting for the traffic to go by when his phone dinged, alerting him that he had a message, but not just any message, a work one. Neo had his phone set to different ringtones, so he always knew which way the calls or texts were coming from, and right now, hearing the work text was not what he wanted.

  He slid the phone from his back pocket, opened the message and frowned. Was this shit serious? How the hel…? What was he supposed to do with this? Gah! Neo growled internally as he read the message again, not quite believing what he had read the first time, but sure enough, his next assignment was right there in black and white. Of course, he always had the option of declining, but he knew he wouldn’t. As insane as the job was, Neo couldn’t turn it down. It would be the crowning glory in his career.

  “Something interesting?” Riley’s voice came from behind him as hands grabbed onto his waist, making Neo jump and almost drop his phone.

  He spun around chuckling as he slapped his best friend in the chest. “Asshole.”

  “Drama queen,” Riley threw back as he laughed.

  “Well, dah,” Neo replied as he laughed harder, and hip-checked his friend, then linked his arm through Riley’s as they crossed the street with the rest of the crowd.

  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

  “Ah, yes, Nikita, come,” Mironov greeted as Nikita walked into the office.

  “You wanted to see me, Comrade?” Nikita asked, in his best Russian accent.

  Not that he wasn’t Russian, well of Russian descent anyway, but Nikita was born and raised in Los Angeles, California to a Russian father and an Irish mother. After a very bad experience in a war between the Italian Mafia and a Mexican Drug cartel over some new drug entering the United States, Nikita had to make himself disappear. He didn’t want anything to do with drugs or the drug trade in general.

  He wasn’t stupid and new that the Family he worked for were ass deep in illegal drugs as well as arms, trafficking, and a list of other illegal things, but his position within the fami
ly had nothing to do with any of that. What he did was to care of any threat to the family from other factions wanting to take over, and to keep one of the bosses’ sons from fucking up. It had been his job to keep the young man from doing something stupid and drawing attention to the family in any way.

  Antonio thought he was a golden boy, because he was the oldest son of the boss of the family, which meant he never wanted for anything, and everyone would do whatever he wanted without question. Nikita’s job was to rein the little shit in and stop any threat against him. Like when Antonio wanted some Hollywood Starlet and just took what he wanted, not caring if she or her longtime boyfriend agreed.

  Antonio had strolled right up to the poor young lady, grabbed her arm, then declared he wanted to fuck her and see how good she was in the sack. Her boyfriend immediately tried to stop Antonio, but the asshole whipped out a gun and pointed it right at the guy’s head. Nikita had to work quick on that one, because he knew that, without a doubt, if the boyfriend had made one move or even a sound of protest, that Antonio would have pulled the trigger without hesitation, not even blinking an eye.

  Antonio thought he was such a big shot and untouchable because Daddy had cops and politicians in his pocket, so the little asshole thought he could even outright commit murder in a room full of witnesses and walk away. But Nikita knew that was not the case. He worked for Antonio’s father, to watch over and keep the crazy asshole out of trouble and the news.

  Nikita had immediately reached out, snagging the gun from Antonio’s hand as he twisted around to face the boyfriend to try to calm the situation. At the same time, Antonio didn’t miss a beat and just pulled the girl from the club kicking and screaming. Nikita cursed as he turned and took off after the pair, disgusted when he noticed not one person making a move to help the woman. Nikita caught up to them in the parking lot just as Antonio was throwing the girl into the backseat.

  The first thing he noticed when he reached the car was that the front of her shirt had been torn, then he saw the terror in her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks. She was clutching at the ripped garment, trying to keep the two sides together to conceal herself. Nikita had turned to face Antonio, anger and disgust filling him, but that anger only turned to fury when he saw the crazed look in Antonio’s eyes.

  “Get the hell out of my way, asshole, before I have my father make you disappear,” Antonio sneered.

  “Your father hired me to babysit your pathetic ass, to stop you from causing trouble for the family, so just back the fuck up and let this poor woman go,” Nikita demanded.

  Antonio quickly pulled another gun from the inside of his coat and pushed it toward Nikita’s face, the end of the barrel just touching his forehead, but Nikita didn’t respond. He just took a step closer, making the barrel press against his head hard, then warned in his deadliest voice, “You ever point a gun at me, you spoiled piece of dog shit, you better never hesitate to pull that trigger, because I will use your own gun to kill you. First, I will ram it so far up your ass my hand will fist you deep, then I will pull that trigger so the bullet ricochets all around inside until it comes out the top of your head.”

  Nikita took advantage of Antonio’s moment of shock and fear from his threat, and grabbed the barrel of the gun, then twisted it out of Antonio’s grip. In the next heartbeat, Nikita pointed the gun at Antonio and shoved the barrel in the little prick’s mouth as he backed him against the car.

  Antonio’s eyes now filled with terror as his body shook. Nikita laughed in the asshole’s face as he noticed Antonio piss himself. “You little cunt. You can dish it out but not take it. You’re a pathetic excuse for a man. No wonder your father wants me to take you out.”

  With that statement, Antonio’s eyes widened as he realized what Nikita had said. Yes, the boss had paid Nikita handsomely to take out his own son when the moment came that the asshole went too far, and what Antonio was intending to do to the poor women constituted too far for him.

  Nikita had no problems guarding people the boss told him to, or killing who he was ordered too, as long as they deserved it. He never killed an innocent and didn’t think he ever could, but Antonio was far from innocent. The man-child was as dirty as anyone else in the family. The only difference was that Antonio didn’t try to cover up his crimes or actions like the others did. No, this piece of garbage let everyone know, because he thought it made him badass and would have people do whatever he wanted out of fear. But, Antonio forgot that the whole world wasn’t part of the family, and most people would go to the cops when he pulled this kind of crap, so that was why the boss had told Nikita to get rid of his own son when the time came.

  And the time had come. Nikita would do many things outside of the law and turn a blind eye to a lot, but rape or harming an innocent was not one of those things. He also knew that even if Antonio went to prison, he could use some of his father’s connections to try to get out and might even succeed, which would not be good.

  Nikita instructed the frightened woman to old her to not speak to the cops or anyone else. When he was sure he put the fear of god in her, Nikita told her to run. Once she was gone, without saying another word, Nikita stared into Antonio’s frightened eyes, then pulled the trigger, not feeling even one ounce of

  “I have a delivery job for you, Nikita. Now, before you raise a brow at that, I understand this may be a bit insulting due to your expertise, but there is no one I trust more than you with this job, so humor an old fool,” Mironov said with a chuckle as he walked to the bar across the room, and poured himself a glass of Vodka.

  After that night with Antonio, the family started to go deeper in business with some new crew trying to get a foothold in L.A. The Mexicans had a problem with that and it became open season on both sides, and Nikita took off.

  After roaming around for a few months, Nikita got in touch with an old friend, Victor, who had moved to Chicago a few years prior and started working for a crime family there. Victor got him out to Chicago and introduced him to Mironov Yanovich, the head of the Chicago Russian Mafia. Because of Nikita’s reputation, Victor hadn’t had to do anything but introduce the two of them, and Nikita was instantly taken into the family. He had learned very fast that Mironov had two rules. One, you had to be Russian to work for him. Not American of Russian descent, but Russian. And two, you had to declare total loyalty to him. That was why Nikita made sure to never use his real voice in any of the family’s presence.

  Mironov looked up at him in question, motioning to the bottle in his hand, and Nikita declined his offer with a small shake of his head. Everyone knew he didn’t drink while working and wouldn’t even break that rule for the boss, which was one of the things Mironov liked about him.

  “I understand. What is it that you would like for me to do, Pakhan?” Nikita asked, using the Russian honorific word for boss.

  “I need for you to deliver a package to one of Sokolov’s mules. With the Liáng Family trying to move in on my territory, I’m sure they have been watching my men, so that is why I am asking you to handle this personally for me. Liáng would never suspect that I would use my top messenger of death for such a menial task,” Mironov said as he moved across the room and took a seat behind his desk.

  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

  Great, just what he needed, to be a delivery boy. He was a highly trained hitman, the top in his field. Women gasped and crossed the street when they saw him walking toward them. Men trembled in their shoes when they heard just the mention of his name. He was known simply as ‘The Russian'. Nikita had worked very hard to get the reputation he had, and now he was being reduced to messenger. He should be out there taking down any threat to his boss and family, not traipsing around the city looking for some twink.

  Mironov told him the little asshole would be at the bistro down on Delaney. Nikita was to hand off the case without anyone realizing what he was doing, but he was also supposed to make sure the twink attached the case to his wrist. Something about being a bit airheaded and wanting to make
sure the guy didn’t absentmindedly leave the case behind somewhere.

  Nikita made his way through the throng of people rushing about on their lunch break trying to get to wherever they needed to be. As he closed in on Delaney the crowds thinned, making his mission a double-edged sword. Not having so many people around made it easier for him to spot his target, but not having the wall of bodies moving about would make it easier for someone to see what he was doing, and also easier for someone to watch his escape and be able to identify him to the police if the situation called for it.

  Nikita stopped across the street and observed the patrons sitting at the outside table of the bistro. Mironov told him the twink would be sitting outside having lunch and would be very easy to spot. The boss said the twink was an over-the-top drama queen who loved attention, which confused Nikita. If you were a messenger for one of the top crime families, why would you want to draw attention to yourself? And more importantly, why would the families want to use someone like that, who could draw the wrong attention?