Page 23 of Consumed By the Mafia

Cris stomped up, glaring straight at him. “How many times have you been the reason I made it home?” He paused for only a heartbeat. “Are you or are you not the reason my wife survived being abducted by her motherfucking half-brother last year? How often do we have you over for dinner?”

Ryoma winced. He’d let his mouth get awayfrom him. “Cris—”

“Are your ribs broken?”

Well, shit.“Just bruised, I think.”

“Good.” Cris offered no other warning before hauling back and punching him hard enough to knock the wind from his lungs. “Now sit your ass down and shut up.”

Abigail’s heart lurched as Cristiano threw his fist into Ryoma’s sternum. “Ryo—”

“He’s not your concern right now, Agent Fitzgerald.” The cool, controlled voice sent a frigid chill down her spine and Abigail forced herself to look forward.

She really hadn’t expected to come face-to-face with the Dragon himself. But there he sat, black designer button-up undone enough to reveal the full head of the dragon tattoo on his chest and sleeves pushed up to his elbows, one ankle resting on his knee. His blue eyes seemed to burn and leave her frozen in place simultaneously. This was the man she’d least wanted to run into unprepared. This was the man who seemed to have both sides of the world in the palm of his hand.

“I trust you understand the mess you’ve entangled us all in,” he said after a moment.

Abigail swallowed her nerves as best she could. She understood now why Ryoma had warned her not to snark. “I understand that there’s more going on than I had imagined,”she said, “and that my presence is unwanted. As is the meaning behind it.”

The Dragon hummed, the sound low and intimidating. He tapped his fingers only once against the armrest of the chair. “Do you want to live?”

Her eyes widened. She wasn’t sure if she was surprised by the audacity of the question or the implicit offer within it, or both. It was a bizarre mix of offensive and tantalizingly hopeful and she hated it. “Of course I want to live.”

“Tell me everything,” he said. “How many agents are involved in this investigation? Who are they? What do they know? Where did that information come from? How long have you been working to destroy my family, and why did you choose to use Ryoma as your in?”

Indignation surged inside her at the deluge of questions. “Is this normally how you interrogate people?” Abigail countered. He couldn’t possibly think she was so weak-willed that she would just roll over on everyone and everything she had invested her life into up to that point.

“No,” he said. “Normally they’re wrapped in chains and the questions are punctuated with infliction of pain. And when someone refuses to answer me, they burn.”

Her next retort died in her chest at the calm, straightforward declaration.Holy crap.She’d actually hoped those stories had been exaggerated. As much for the victims’ sakes as for her own sanity. She’d hoped that the whole rumor of him calling himself the Dragon because he liked fire was some kind of twisted joke, or that perhaps he’d set a building aflame once and it actually stemmed from that.

Abigail sucked in a hard breath. This man would absolutely kill her. She didn’t see how she was getting out of that.If I’m gonna die, I should just shut up and let it play out.Her eyes widened at her own thoughts.

“You’re sorry? Then fucking prove it. Don’t just wallow in your guilt or sit back and let what happens happen. Open those beautiful eyes of yours and recognize that you aren’t just threatening a few grown men.”It had only been a few minutes since Ryoma had said those words, and so many more. She’d already almost forgotten.

Abigail closed her eyes for a moment and did her best to stomp down her pride.

She wasn’t just sorry for dragging him down with her and possibly endangering him. She was sorry for her own illicit behavior. She was sorry for her ignorance. She was sorry about the chaos she felt like she’d played a large hand in that day. And she was sorry, she realized, for the threat she currently posed to innocent children who didn’t even know she existed. Children like she had once been, whose worlds would be ripped apart if she only did her job.

That was never what she’d wanted.

Abigail exhaled and forced herself to meet the Dragon’s cold stare again. “I don’t know if I can answer all of that,” she said honestly. “There aren’t a lot of agents assigned to the case right now, because we haven’t collected enough actionable information to justify the manpower. Special Agent Albert isn’t even convinced that the De Salvos are really the ones behind the criminal organization he wants to uncover. He’s been pushing me to look harder at Silva and Silva’s associates.”

“Julian Albert?” Cristiano asked from his position behind and to the side of the armchair.

Abigail flicked her gaze to him for a single second and nodded. “Yes.”

“Go on,” the Dragon said.

“I have one supervisor between myself and Albert,” she admitted. “The bulk of the mission has been mine to run, since I’m new to the area and no one would know me. It’s been my job to gather intelligence on whoever proved to be connected to the rumored organization. The entire mission stemmed from a report about two missing sheriff’s deputies from West Virginia last—”

The Dragon propelled himself up and out of his chair in the blink of an eye. Suddenly he was in her face, one hand twisted in the collar of her borrowed clothes and hauling her up until only her toes remained on the floor. Where his face had been a mask of careful, cold neutral before, now he burned with rage. She was almost surprised his eyes were still blue. “I willnothave my entire family destroyed over those two motherfucking pieces of shit. The fact that those abusive scumbags carried a badge is more than enough proof that yourlawisn’t as clean and righteous as you claim.”

The breath stuttered from her as Abigail scrambled to process his words and not drown in a fresh surge of raw, visceral fear. She had always considered herself a strong woman. She’d worked hard to train and make herself capable, with and without a weapon. But this man could kill her with a single hand. And in this moment, she suspected he wanted to. The thought was terrifying.

Cristiano laid a hand on his shoulder. “Cousin. I know your rage. But you asked the question. At least listen to the answer first. We would benefit from the information she’s giving us.”

The Dragon’s lip curled in distaste and for a second Abigail was sure smoke would billow from his mouth in some kind of warning. None did. Instead, he released her shirt without setting her down, letting her stumble backward. “The sheriff’s deputies aren’t missing, Agent Fitzgerald,” he said, the cold tone taking over his voice again. “They’re dead. You won’t find them. The entire fucking state of West Virginia owes my wife an apology for empowering those bastards. I only did the world a favor. Move on.” He turned and reclaimed his chair as if he hadn’t just lost his head.

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