Pampered By The Rival Mafia Boss

a

stale scent of old dust. It was one of the emergency bunkers I had s

metal chair by the bed, hi

said, jumping up th

protest. My hip throbbed-a deep, bone-bruis

ed, my throat feel

ght with exhaustion. "I brought yo

rse he

nst the pain. The dizziness was gone, replaced by a cold, crysta

the small room. "Chloe is consolidating power. She's fired

voice steady. "

t them, Ava. Th

e of agony in my side. "I'm done being the canary in the

you goin

ng toward the stack of files in the corne

three days buried

ted on adrenaline and stale coffee a

ed out the money laundering trails that wove through shell co

ce paper filed in a city court. It was a sepa

lab equipment, and a pay

ase the evidence of his ill

body of the Five Families. They granted a mediati

ian restaurant in Queens. Neutral ground. The ai

a white suit. Sharp.

e looked tired, lines of stress etched around his eyes, but

feigned casualness. "You look...

site him. I didn't s

iding the folder across the mahogan

ctually laughed-a d

k his head, pity in his eyes. "You have n

whisper, intended to hurt. "Besides, I have good news. Chl

regnant. So soon. While my baby was noth

t explode. It

" I aske

file. I tossed it onto the table. It fanned out, r

in the Bronx," I said, my voice cutting through the silence. "And

iator, an old man named Don Sal, stopped stir

s. His face went pale, th

ered, his composure crac

een playing you. She's not pregnant. She's barren from

he turned a page. He was reading them. He was see

the table, "is a record of every illegal shipment you'v

ogance was incinerated.

ered. "That's a death se

" I said. "You killed me

ed, venom mixing with panic. "You're b

ice steady as a heartbeat. "Or I

He saw the stranger in my eyes-the woman w

asset release with a violent slash

ey. Take your patents. But if I ever

n try,"

out of the restauran

as cool against

ad my freedom.

nging pale and heavy in the sky, I

bdomen, where

spered to the night. "Th

ad found in the depths of the dark web. A riv

asked when the

eak

id, my grip tightening on the phone.

t, heavy with calculation. Then

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