Page 31 of Mabilia

“Excuse me?” My father looks at the man. “My daughter will not be answering any of your fucking questions,” he sneers as he takes my hand and walks me right past the police tape they are putting up. No one tries to stop him.

“Papa, Tommy’s car.” I tug on his hand.

“You got the keys?” Papa asks, and I hand them to him.

“He wanted me to leave before the cops got here,” I whisper.

“You should have listened to him,” Papa says, opening the back of his SUV and ushering me inside. He hands the keys to one of the vory and instructs him to drive Tommy’s Ferrari back to the estate.

“I need to get him out of there. I did this, Papa, not Tommy,” I tell my father as soon as we are closed inside the car.

Chapter Twenty

Everything happened in a blur. I reacted out of fear. And not for myself. But for Mabilia. Most guys would be freaked out that their girlfriend shot three men without blinking an eye. The only thing I was thinking about was how I’d never let her go down for doing it.

I took her gun, wiped her prints off, replacing them with my own, and then shot the one guy she left alive. I didn’t need anywitnesses who could argue that it was her, not me. I’m taking the blame for this. I will also take whatever the cops throw at me. Because the thought of her being in this position, cuffed in a cold room while being interrogated by a bunch of asshole detectives does not sit well with me.

So, I sit here and keep my mouth shut. They’ve tried to get me to turn a dozen times, asking me the same thing in different ways. They want me to say I saw Mabilia do it. Instead of continuing to answer their fucking stupid questions, I don’t say anything. I’m not an idiot. I know they’re trying to trip me up, which won’t happen.

The door swings open and none other than Matteo Valentino struts in. “My client won’t be answering any more questions. Leave the room. Now!” he directs to the detectives. “And turn off any recording devices.”

“Fucking hell, should have known you’d show up,” one of them says.

Matteo waits until they leave before he sits down and looks up at the camera. The blinking light stops blinking. He then places a pen on the table, clicking it down. “It’s a scrambler. If they left anything in here, it won’t record,” he explains.

I have no idea what to say to this guy.Why is he even here?

“I didn’t hire you,” I blurt out like a fucking idiot. I have the city’s best defense attorney sitting across from me and I’m insisting that he’s not my lawyer.

“Mabilia did. Now, tell me what happened tonight,” he says, pulling out a pad and a new pen—a real one.

“Three guys tried to attack my girlfriend. I shot them in self-defense to protect her.”

Matteo stares at me. “Try again. This time, I want the truth.”

“That is the truth.” It’s the only truth anyone is going to get from me. I keep my face neutral.

“Right, well, Mabilia claims she did it, and for some reason, you’re taking the fall for her,” he says.

“She’s confused. It happened really fast. Traumatic events can lead people to believe things that didn’t actually happen.” I shrug.

“Are you calling my niece a liar?” Matteo glares at me.

“No, I’m telling youmy girlfriendis confused and scared. She’s going to say whatever she thinks will get me out of here.” I don’t care if he’s Mabilia’s uncle. She’s mine and I’ll do whatever it fucking takes to keep her away from this.

“You’re right. She would. But she’s not a liar and she certainly wouldn’t lie to her parents,” Matteo says.

“Does it really matter? They have the gun. The only prints they’ll find on it are mine. The swabs they’ve already done on my hands will come back positive for gunshot residue.”

“Fucking hell. Okay, what have you told them?” Matteo asks. “I need to be able to form a strong case in your favor, and in order to do that, I need all the facts.”

“I told them exactly what I told you. Three men approached us. They tried to take my girlfriend and I started shooting.”

“Mabilia says you’re in law school.”

“Second year.” I nod my head.

“This is going to ruin any chances you had at a career. You sure you want to keep with that story?”

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