Closer than blood

?You get a bitch involved and it?s always bad news.? New York hitman Frank Mancini fails to listen to his own advice and falls hard for Pagan Freemantle, the unconsciously sultry sister of his latest client. Pagan is a 33 year old English woman living in the grubby backstreets of New York. She has a good job but her finances are being rapidly depleted by her younger brother, whose drug habit and prostitution are blighting both of their lives.  Tony Freemantle is diseased, dying and almost destitute. He hatches a plan to wreak revenge on the older half-brother he blames for all his misfortunes. Tony has never met him. He doesn?t even know what he looks like. All he knows is that he wants him dead. When Pagan finds out about the plan to kill the brother they have never met, and that she has to pay for it, she puts pressure on Mancini to change his mind. But can she trust him?  And can she trust Richard Mason, the elusive millionaire half-brother on Tony?s hit list? She rapidly discovers he is not to be underestimated, and it becomes clear that Tony has no idea what kind of man his older sibling really is. In the meantime, she is fighting her growing attraction to a man who is patently bad news, and anything could happen when they are in California, where Mason has arranged a family reunion. As Pagan fights to keep the situation under control, she has to work out who is more dangerous, the man with the gun or the man with the money?