Page 34 of Mabilia

“Hey, Denny.” I smile even though it’s the last thing I feel like doing right now. Denny looks up at me, and then at the two figures behind me. “Ignore them, chaperones,” I say with an eye roll.

“Tommy’s not here. I thought he was with you,” Denny replies.

“He was. He… ah… he got arrested.” I keep my voice low as I lean over the counter.

“For what?”

“I’ll let him tell you that when my uncle gets him out on bail. But right now, I need access to the books.”

Denny laughs. “Yeah, that’s not happening unless I hear it from Tommy himself.”

“Well, if he could tell you himself, I wouldn’t be here asking. Do you really want the cops to come in with a warrant for themfirst? Because what they’ll find in there isn’t going to help him. I’m trying to fix them. Ineedto fix them,” I plead.

“You know about the books?” Denny lifts a skeptical brow.

“Of course I know. And so will the rest of New York if I don’t fix the crappy accounting you two have been doing.”

“Okay, head back to the office.” Denny writes something on a napkin and hands it to me. “Password to the laptop. Everything’s done on there,” he says.

“Thank you.”

“How much trouble is he really in, Mabilia?” Denny asks.

“A lot.” I sigh.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Inever thought I’d be working to get my daughter’s boyfriend off on murder charges. If it were up to me, I’d let the bastard rot in jail. He’s not good enough for Mabilia. No one is. But my wife told me I had to get him out. And when my wife tells you to do something, you either do it or sleep with one eye open for the rest of your life.

There’s also the broken look on Mabilia’s face that I can’t fucking stand. The way she begged me to do something.Anything.I have to give it to the kid. He’s a quick thinker and the fact he took the fall so Mabilia didn’t have to… Well, I wouldn’t say I approve of him, but I don’t hate the fucker as much as I did.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure my daughter would move on. She’s young and has her whole life ahead of her. I just don’t want to be the one to break her heart either.

My phone rings. Vlad. I had one of my top vory go and remove the bodies from the morgue. No bodies equals no murders. “You get them?” I ask as soon as the call connects.

“All three bastards,” Vlad says.

“Good.” I hang up and dial Matteo. I’m making his job a hell of a lot easier right now.

“You know, if you want me to get your future son-in-law out of jail, I need to actually work,” he answers.

“Fuck off. There’s no case. You’re welcome,” I tell him.Future son-in-law, my ass.

“What do you mean there’s no case?” Matteo asks cautiously.

“Exactly that.” I don’t need to give him all the details. “Ask them to provide evidence,” I tell him. “They won’t find any.”

“What the fuck did you do, Mikhail?” Matteo groans.

“Made your job easy.” I cut the call before he can piss me off more. Not only did I arrange for the bodies to disappear, I had a guy on the inside grab me the gun and all the gunshot residue they collected from Tommy’s hands. I then had one of my IT guru’s hack into the New York City’s police department database and erase all the paperwork that was filed during the arrest. It’s as if the whole thing never happened, a case of mistaken identity.

I push up from my desk, walk out of my office, and head for Mabilia’s room. I heard her get home at around three in the morning. I know she was at Tommy’s bar with Neo and Dante. Ialso know she had Dante fix the idiot’s accounting, so if anyone went looking they wouldn’t find anything that would indicate the kid’s laundering money.

I knock twice before shoving the door open.

“Papa?” Mabilia sits up on her bed. Her eyes are red and puffy. She’s been crying. Fucking hell, my heart never hurts as much as when I see my daughter crying.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I reach out to wipe the wetness from under her cheeks. “It’s going to be okay,” I tell her.

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