Page 94 of Mob Queen

She lowers her hand and darts her gaze between myself and Rome. “I never said how sorry I was about your father. He was a good man, and I always liked him.”

“Thank you,” Rome says.

“You should never have come to meetings. That was never your role,” I say. She nods and offers me the smallest of smiles. “Thank you.” I clear my throat and look to Rome who nods his approval of my niceness toward Elena. “Now I just need to find who killed him, and I’ll be fine,” I grumble to myself.

“I can tell you that,” Elena says.

Rome and I both whip our heads to the side to stare at her. “You know?” Rome asks.

Elena nods and nibbles on her lower lip like she’s in trouble. “My father did a lot of business in front of me, because most of the time he forgot I was there. He always said...”

“Who killed my father?” I ask cutting her off.

“Frank,” Rome hisses and narrows his eyes at me. “Calm down.”

A blazing shock of electricity jolts my heart to beat faster. My mouth dries and I feel myself holding my breath as I wait for Elena’s reply. “My father had him killed,” she says.

Five little words are slowly pulsating through my body to my very core. “Your father?” I ask, my voice hard with hate. Elena gulps as her eyes slowly widen. I look to Rome, then back at Elena. I’m left feeling numb. “Are you sure?”

“I was in the room because my father tried to marry me off to the man he was talking to. The man my father hired to kill your father.”

“Frank,” Rome starts but I hold my hand up to him to shut up.

“Go on,” I say.

“The man didn’t want me, but my father insisted I be payment.”

With every word she speaks, I’m hating her father even more.

“Is that how you ended up pregnant?” Rome asks through a clenched jaw.

“No. He didn’t want me.” Elena drops her head. “No one wants me.”

I roll my eyes at her pity party, but I keep my emotions in check. “You’re telling me, your father paid a man to kill my father?” I ask.

“Yes, ma’am,” she says in a small voice. “Also,” she starts but retreats into herself.

“What?” My jaw tightens and I’m controlling every emotion inside me not to jump over the table, grab her shoulders and shake her until she spills every secret she’s heard.

“Your restaurant, Moonlight.” Elena looks up to me, tears brimming her eyes. “That was my father too.”

I flick a look to Rome, then back to Elena. “She has nothing to do with it,” Rome says, defending the girl. I reach for my coffee and lean back in my seat, sipping on it and staring at Elena. “Frankie.” I look to him and he slightly shakes his head, silently begging me not to kill the girl. I stand and jerk my head to the side then make my way to my office. Rome enters only a few seconds after I do. “This is fucked.”

“Yeah,” I say and walk over to pour myself a scotch and down it.

“She has nothing to do with this.”

I pour a second and walk over to my desk, where I lean against it. “You’re right.” I look down at my drink and take a sharp breath.

The door opens and G enters. He stops when he sees I’m holding a scotch this early in the morning. He looks to Rome, then back to me. “What happened?”

“We know who killed Dad,” Rome replies.

“What?” G stands to his full height and lifts his chin. He pulls his shoulders back and stares at me. “Who is it?”

I tilt my head toward the dining room. “Petro.”

G’s entire frame changes. His nostrils flare, his eyes narrow and his breathing elevates. “An eye for an eye.” He looks over his shoulder toward the door.

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