Page 437 of Savage Bosses

"Sweetie, I'm here at your condo with Mrs. Cattaneo. We tried to catch you before you headed to work," her mother said, her voice filled with urgency. "We have some news for you."

A sense of dread washed over her.

"News? What kind of news?" Tati asked, growing nervous.

"Mrs. Cattaneo managed to blackmail Mrs. Farrina's bodyguard," her mother informed her. "She threatened to tell Mr. Farrina that the guard was sleeping with his wife if he didn't give us dirt on Melinda."

"Did he give in?"

"Absolutely. Turns out, he was the one who pretended to attack someone near Southern Heat restaurant. Patrick Cattaneo had him do it to cover for Bryce when he killed Marco."

Tatianna sucked in a sharp breath, her mind racing. "So, the bodyguard knows about Bryce and Marco?" Tatianna whispered, glancing around the room to ensure she was alone. She knew she was. She just needed to confirm it.

"Seems like it."

"That’s not good. I want to take down Melinda, not put Bryce at risk. How can we get Melinda arrested without getting Bryce involved?”

"That's the thing," Tati's mother said. "And we should've thought of this sooner. If we try to prove what Melinda did, we'll eventually prove what Bryce did, too. Their misdeeds are connected. Though, I don’t consider what Bryce did a misdeed. Marco deserved it. But Bryce’s involvement does complicate our plans."

"So, if we take Melinda down, we take Bryce down, also?" Tati mused.

"Yes, if we handle things the legal way. But there's still my favorite way. Theillegalway. Melinda owns a few boutiques across the Gulf. We can..."

"I don't want to ruin her businesses. Her family is rich. Taking a business loss won’t hurt her. I want her to hurt the way I've hurt. I want her to suffer the way her actions made Bryce suffer."

"You want to take Bryce from her?"

"No. He's not hers. He's just pretending. But I want him to know what she's done. So, yes, get all the information from the bodyguard that you can."

"Oh, and Lora is beating my arm, so I can tell you that Melinda's dad has been making moves. I wasn't going to tell you. I was going to handle it myself. But she's insisting you know."

"Know what?"

"I think I'm going to have to fuck up Mr. Farrina because he's been searching on the dark net, looking for a hitman. The job post said that the job would be easy. It listed your location as the cafe. And stated the best time for the snatch would be seven a.m. before others arrived."

"Are you serious? He wants me dead?"Damn. She just wanted to beat Melinda's ass and have her arrested. This man wanted her dead.

"Which is why I've hired someone to follow you to work and from work each day. As for the dark net post, I can't get it taken down. But I can get someone to take out the person who posted the post, which is Mr. Farrina. Once he dies, the post is considered void because the hitman or woman can't get paid. I've also asked a friend to accept the hit, but she won't act on it. She'll wait for me to take out Mr. Farrina, and then she'll mark the contract void due to the contractor being deceased."

"I'm not going to ask how you know so much about the dark net, mom."

"Thanks, sweetie. Don't worry, we'll protect you. I admit, I didn't expect things to get this dark. But when they go dark, we get darker."

Tati chuckled. "Really, ma?"

"Really. If they keep this up, I'll show them just how dark I can get.”

In the past, this kind of talk would’ve horrified her. Now, it all sounded like a logical progression to her. Mr. Farrina put a hit out on her, and now her mom wanted him dead. That was how things worked in their world.Their world?She really considered this her world now. When had her thoughts changed so much?

“You'll be protected, love, I promise,” her mother vowed. “I just wish we could take Melinda all the way down, send her ass to jail for what she did to you. The next best thing is to take from her what she wants the most, Bryce. She's obsessed with him. If we show him how much of a monster she is, that will break her. But it may also drive her to do something crazy. She may be one of those,‘if I can't have him, no one can,’ type of women. Those women are willing to go down, as long as they take the man they are obsessed with down with them. This is becoming a bit more complicated than expected. Hold on, Mrs. Cattaneo wants to talk to you. Stop pulling the phone, Lora, I’m about to give it to you. Damn."

"Hurry up, Tina. Hey, Tati," Mrs. Cattaneo started. "I think it's time we involved Bryce, sweetie."

"No," Tati rushed to say. "I don't want to involve him until we have all the proof."

"Are you not scared?" Mrs. Cattaneo asked.

"I should be, shouldn't I? For some reason, I'm not. Maybe once it all sinks in, I will be."

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