Page 10 of The Fixer

After everyone files out, I move to the chair next to Franco. Everyone but him and Papà seems curious, so I can’t glean anything from their facial expressions.

“Papà got this in the mail today,” Franco says as he opens a manila folder.

He spreads a collection of candid photos on the table. All of them are of me, each picture more disturbing than the last. Eating at a café. Walking into a meeting. Shopping with a friend. Playing an RPG shooter game with Maximo and his friend, which looks to have been taken through the window of his apartment that adjoins mine in our family’s building. Kissing Luca’s friend Barrone outside of a restaurant. Papà hands me a face-down photo of me in the shower… in my own home. My whole backside, from my head to my toes, is on display.

I shudder as a fissure of fear cracks through my hard bitch exterior. Someone violated my privacy… they’re sending a message that they have access to me. They’re watching me.

But the pictures are nothing compared to the note Franco hands me. It causes pure, unadulterated panic to freeze my heartbeat.

Maddalena,

Enjoy your freedom while you can, time’s ticking. You’re mine.

X

No actual signature is included, just a large, slashy X.

Who took these? How did they track me?

Maximo grabs the photo and note from my hands, and I can hear his fist hit the table. “Who the fuck took these photos?” he growls. “How did they get into our apartments?!”

“Luca, I thought you put extra security precautions on her apartment when she moved in?” JC asks.

Get your shit together, Maddie. You can’t let this freak you out. You can’t look weak.

Franco takes my hand in his ginormous one, squeezing it to ground me. His warm, sympathetic smile makes me feel less sick to my stomach. I hate showing weakness, but the feeling of not being safe in my own home is throwing me for a loop.

“Do you have any thoughts on who it could be?” Papà asks me as I try to hold my tears back.

“The only person who’s bothered me lately is Dmitri Popov. He constantly asks me to reconsider his offer, and I turn him down every time. But he’s been getting more aggressive. The last time he asked, Maximo and I were out with a few friends of ours at one of our clubs. He got really angry over me rejecting him, so Maximo had to kick him out.”

“Your security detail will be increased, and you’ll be staying at Maximo’s apartment until this is resolved,” Papà decrees. Max and I have luxury apartments next to each other in our family’s building in Hudson Yards in Midtown Manhattan. “You’ll always have at least one armed guard on you.”

“But Papà—” I start to say.

“No buts, Maddalena. You’ll still be able to work and go where you please. This is more than a generous compromise. Most fathers in my position would put you on lockdown.”

Before I can protest further, Luca cuts in. “I’ll do some digging and sweep both of your apartments for bugs and cameras. Since Barrone is obviously compromised, Gabriele is going to be guarding you full-time. He’ll move into the spare bedroom at your place so he’s right next door,” Luca informs me, as if this is a done decision.

My father and Luca share a silent look, an entire conversation passing between them. Franco may look exactly like my father, but Luca thinks just like him. If they’re angry about Barrone, they won’t like that I secretly dated Gabriele before that. I choose not to say anything though, because arguing with them is futile—it’s six against one. Even Maximo, who’s always on my side, will agree with them to keep me safe.

They don’t think I can defend myself, despite the fact that I've been combat-trained by Caleb Ori, the best in the business and an ex-CIA operative. I’m torn between feeling smothered by the crushing weight of knowing I’ll never truly prove myself as an equal to the men at this table and listening to my common sense.

After taking a few moments to think about it, I relent. I’m not going to pull a too-dumb-to-live move and deny myself extra security when I need it.

“Okay,” I sigh, resigned to the fact that I’ll have my ex-boyfriend guarding me. At least I have the best of Luca’s men keeping me safe. Gabe’s competence was one of the reasons I was attracted to him in the first place.

“Don’t worry, Mads. We’ll find out who did this, and they’ll pay for fucking with you. For now, lie low and be safe. Let Gabriele do his job,” Franco assures me.

“Okay.” I guess that’s all I can do.

Maddalena

Max and I walk to the lobby, with Gabriele trailing behind me like an annoying, snarly dog. He hasn’t even been guarding me for a full day and I already want to strangle him. I hate having mandatory protection, because it reminds me someone is watching me in my vulnerable moments, stealing the comfort I find in privacy and using it against me.

“Have you had time to go over the dossier one more time?” Max asks me.

“Relax, I’ve studied it inside and out. We’re going to crush it,” I assure him.

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