Page 76 of Mob Boss's Second Chance

She shakes her head hurriedly, backpedaling as quickly as possible. “No—nothing. I was talking about the stuff they said he’s done. He’s dangerous, and I’m glad you left him when he did.”

“No.” I exhale slowly, feeling my heartbeat slow as the implication of her statement settles. It feels like I just stepped on the edge of a knife. “You said something about my parents. What about them, Danielle?”

Danielle laughs nervously and takes my hand, patting it. But every nerve ending in my body has gone cold, except for the single organ now filled with dread. Sinking, drowning dread that sucks out the air from my lungs.

For years, I wondered, carrying around a question I didn’t have the answer to. I always wondered, “What did they do to deserve it?”

Now, I’m asking another question, and I’m not sure I want to know the answer.

“Is he responsible for my parents’ death?”

She’s silent.

“Where did you find it?” My voice is high-pitched and frantic as I reach for her phone.

Danielle is a step ahead. She grabs it off the bed and skates a few steps away. “Danielle.” My foot gets caught in the covers as I lunge for her,tryingto cover the distance between us in one stretch.

Unfortunately, my foot doesn’t keep the rest of my body from falling forward like a limp doll, and my head takes the brunt of it, hitting the floor with a thud.

“Shit,” Danielle hurries over and helps me up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. I just—” she sighs while I rub the top of my head. “It was a comment, nothing more. It’s obvious how people talk. They see something and connect dots that aren’t there.”

But there’s a possibility. A slim chance that one of Ethan’s illegal sanctions could’ve been the cause of my parents’ death. The thought feels like a death bell wound around my neck, pulling me from every which way.

I gave him everything—reaching into the depths of my vulnerability even when I had every reason to run away.

To slam the door in his face.

How could I have been so stupid? I should’ve seen the signs: the men with identical wolf tattoos, the scar running down Ethan’s spine, his unexplained presence and unaccounted absence at Anthony’s apartment, and the way everyone treated him like he held enough power to break them.

When he called me a spy, I should’ve turned around and dug deep into the secrets he was trying so hard to keep hidden.

What was it—love?Did I come to fall in love with the wrong person after years of guarding my emotions?

Where did logic go? Sanity? How could Danielle have seen what I couldn’t, and yet I waded deep into uncharted territory?

If he killed them—

A sob rips out with so much force that it knocks the air from my lungs. I cry out, and Danielle scoops me into her arms before I can fall apart.

“I’m here,” she whispers as I cling to her, gripping her shirt tight. More sobs pulse through my body, and my shoulders tremble, each breath feeling like it might be my last. “I’m here, Natalie. I’ve got you.”

But I haven’t got me.

I thought getting dumped by a man I wasn’t dating was the worst part, but knowing that he might’ve been the cause of my greatest pain is more than I bear.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Ethan

“If you’re here to tell me that I did a bad job of holding things down, then you can save me the lecture,” I’m quick to get the first word in as Alucard walks into my office.

The missing name plaque on my desk, the empty secretary corner outside my office, and the hostile air are enough—and constant—reminders that my position now belongs to my cousin.

The only thing I held on to was my office. Call it a desperate attempt to save my ego… but I wasn’t going to let him take the symbolism of everything I worked for from me.

Alucard lowers himself into the chair with a lazy confidence, amusement flickering in his sharp eyes. “Relax, son. I wouldn’t put down a wounded animal while it’s still licking its wounds.” He pauses, tilting his head. “Not that I think you’re one, of course.”

My wounds might not be visible, but Ifeel every single one.

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