Page 48 of Betraying the Mafia Boss

“I can help you with the dog. One bullet is all it will take.” He smirks at Oreo who’s still barking at him from behind me.

“Fine. I’ll come with you.” I drop to my knees in front of Oreo and pat her on the head. “Oreo, inside. Now.”

She stops barking and squeals, her eyes puppy sad.

“Inside. Now!” I repeat.

At my stern words, she runs inside.

Good. Now’s my chance.

Without a second thought, I sprint to the kitchen, grab the plates in the sink and toss them to the floor, the ceramic shattering as it crashes against the tiles. Next, I grab the frying pan but firm hands grip me before I can toss it to the floor.

“Stupid bitch!” One of the men growls before he slaps me and I fall.

The taste of copper fills my mouth, my cheeks hot with pain. I spit at his foot. “Fuck you.”

Their leader squats in front of me and grabs my hair, tightening his hand until my scalp is on fire. Pain shoots through me and I let out a loud cry. “Listen, girl. We can either do this the easy way or the hard way. Which would you prefer?”

My eyes burn with the hot sting of tears. “I say you can go fuck yourself in hell.”

A smirk plays on his lips. “You’re quite mouthy for someone who’s about to die. You’re lucky it’s the Boss who wants you or I would have killed you right here and now.”

“But you can’t kill me…” I snarl. I would be doing myself a favor if I didn’t provoke him, but I’m too angry not to. If I must die, then I won’t go down without a fight. “Because you’re a dog. No, even a dog is better than you.”

He raises his hand to slap me again and I flinch, but before his can strike me, someone grabs him from behind.

“The Boss will be angry when he finds out,” the one holding him says. “We should go.”

Whether it’s fear of their boss or respect, the leader of the thugs glances at me. I feel a sting in my neck and my vision starts to blur. I’m certain of one thing in this moment; these men are not Vincent’s men. They’re Elio’s.

“Vincent,” I mumble to myself before my world fades into darkness.

Chapter Seventeen

Vincent

“What are you doing here?” I ask angrily. Although it’s late, I was able to set up a meeting with my brother and the last thing I need is someone standing in my way.

I’m too pissed for this right now.

Naomi crosses her arms over her chest, tapping her foot on the marble floor. We’re both standing in the entrance of my penthouse. She has incredibly great and awful timing because I was just about to leave for Marcus’s when she arrived.

“Do you have a moment? I need to speak to you,” she says. She’s asking nicely, but her gestures show I don’t really have much of a choice but to speak to her.

“No, I don’t have time for this.” I brush past her, pulling the door shut behind me and walking as fast as I can away from her. If she were a man, she’d probably have a broken cheek for daring to stand in my way.

Fucking hell, I’m becoming more like my brothers.

“It’s about Isabella.”

Her words are enough to bring me to a halt in front of the elevator. I’m angry at Isabella for keeping something as serious as Elio kidnapping her grandma and ordering her to betray me. But it doesn’t mean I don’t care about her or our child. “What about Isabella?”

Naomi sighs, her hands falling to her sides. “I know you’re angry because you think she was going to betray you, but I swear she wasn’t going to. She planned to tell you the truth even before she found out she was pregnant.”

“I don’t care.” It doesn’t matter what the reason was that she’d chosen to tell me the truth or why she hid it from me all along, I have to protect her and our baby now. I have to find a way to bring her Nana back to her.

Naomi inches closer, her eyes filled with tears. “She needs you. Please help her.”

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