Page 41 of Protected By the Mafia

Mikey’s expression hardened. “I won’t lie to my brother. Not even for you.” It was no surprise, in this situation or in general. That was why Dante trusted him.

Understanding dawned. “But you haven’t told him yet.”

Guilt turned Mikey’s gaze to the side. His next response was slower. “I had hoped you had a good explanation.”

The urge to punch his cousin rushed through him again. “And loving someone isn’t?”

Mikey’s head whipped up and his chest rose with a hard breath. “Shit.”

Cristiano stepped back. “Make your choice, Mikey. Just remember choices have consequences.” He turned to leave, too angry to continue the conversation. Too raw from his own bold declarations. He needed to take a few deep breaths and let this problematic revelation, as well as his own personal enlightenment, settle inside him.

“Dante and Iris’s wedding is in thirty days,” Mikey called after him. “Can you find the information you need in twenty?”

Cristiano paused, hand on the doorknob, and looked back at his cousin. Neither of them wanted to have a confrontation with this kind of potential so close to Dante’s wedding and they both knew it. The only thing worse would be deliberately leaving it for after. “I will.”

“I’m sorry, Felicity,” Dr. Laura said as she set down her phone. “The problem with those boys is that they have a tendency not to ask, and I have other obligations I can’t get out of.” She stood and indicated the room’s sole exit. “It’s unorthodox, but if you want, I can let you wait in the lobby until Cristiano returns. Just leave all the lights out and with the interior doors locked, that should be okay until I can get back.”

Felicity cringed. They’d already gone at least ten minutes over her allotted appointment time, so she really had no room to argue. It was lucky—or maybe not—that Dr. Laura didn’t have another patient lined up and waiting. “Please don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I’ll get a cab so you can lock up, he’ll understand.” Cristiano would be furious, probably, but she couldn’t ask the woman who’d turned out to be so nice to take such a risk.

Dr. Laura frowned as they stepped into the lobby space. “Are you sure?”

Felicity smiled. “Yeah.” Cristiano had let her bring a small purse, mostly to hold her phone and the spare apartment key he’d given her before they left for just in case something crazy happened. She didn’t actually have her wallet, but it wouldn’t be hard to download PayPal and hook it up to her account. She hoped.

Except Dr. Laura held out a folded over fifty-dollar bill. “Here,” she said. “Since I can’t stay with you, the least I can do is make sure you have money for the fare.”

Felicity’s eyes widened. “That’s really not your responsibility!”

“I insist.”

Is everyone Cristiano knows so pushy? Felicity tucked the cash into her slender purse, dialed the first decently rated cab company that came up when she searched, and requested a ride. She didn’t have Uber on her new phone, after all. Once that was done, she followed Dr. Laura to the front stoop, thanked the woman for seeing her and talking to her, and watched as the psychotherapist she wouldn’t mind seeing a second time walked away.

Felicity blew out a breath.

Cristiano was going to be upset enough that she’d left the shelter of the building, but now that she was standing around, she realized if she’d called a cab, she really needed a destination.

“It sounds like you let a lot of things go.” Dr. Laura had made that observation after one or three of Felicity’s tales of woe. That one in particular had been the strange, as of yet unsolved, situation with her technically ex-landlord. “That can be good, but there might be times you need to hold on to those feelings even when they’re uncomfortable. Times when it’s more beneficial to confront the source of your problem rather to duck your head and wait for it to pass.”

The advice had been meant to encourage her not to be a doormat. It had made perfect sense while Felicity was listening.

Upon reflection, however, Felicity developed a secondary opinion. She did let a lot of things go. Too many things. It was time she planted her feet and pushed back, in whatever way she could. And while there wasn’t much she could do in the war between her lover’s mafia family and her damn half-brother’s gang, there was something else she might be able to help along.

By the time the cab she was waiting for finally pulled up, Felicity was buzzing with determination. She hopped into the backseat and buckled herself in, rattling off the address without hesitation.

Cristiano was a busy man, with a demanding and dangerous job. The least she could do was solve her own mystery.

“Headin’ to meet your boyfriend?” the driver asked with a glance into the rearview mirror.

Felicity pulled her purse into her lap. “I’m engaged, actually.” She didn’t know why she said that, but there it was. What’s one more lie? She looked straight into the man’s reflected stare. “And he’s on a work call, so no. I’m running an errand.” There, truth.

“Engaged, huh? Lucky guy.”

She really hated taking cabs. But learning she was taken seemed to drain his interest, and the remainder of the ride passed in veritable silence. The background hum of his classic rock station filled the car. Of course, he spoke again when they arrived, quoting her a price that was roughly half of what Dr. Laura had given her. Felicity pulled the cash from her purse and stretched forward, handing it over.

He rolled the bill between his fingers and grunted. “Sweetheart, I can’t do this kinda change.” He held it out for her to take back.

Felicity froze, the seatbelt sliding free from her fingers. “That’s all I have.”

He twisted in his seat to glare at her. “You expect me to believe that?” He raked his gaze over her. “You tryin’ to scam me outta my money, you cheap-ass bitch?”

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