Page 47 of Captured Fantasy

He sighed, sitting back.

“I don’t want you to speak about what I tell you in this room to anyone. Not even Romano. Understood?”

I nodded.

“I have no idea who that was. If I had to guess, it was a government hit.”

“Don’t we have the city paid off?”

His jaw twitched. “I have a week of meetings set up with the mayor’s office and other city officials. I have to find out who did this and take care of it.”

“Do you need my help?”

“As of right now, everyone thinks it was Russians. I need you to perpetuate that lie, make everyone believe it. Romano doesn’t accept weakness and he’ll come down hard on you and me if he thinks we can’t keep the product safe. Understood?”

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Good, there’s a raise somewhere in all this mess if you can do as I ask,” Lucien said.

I’d suspected there was and I appreciated that. For all his faults, Lucien paid his men well. He pushed his chair back, one hand rested on the desk, flicking his finger against his thumb. His unreadable eyes rested on me until I was fighting the urge to look away.

“Federico said he saw your truck outside Lorenza Russo’s house this morning,” he said.

Fuck.

He sighed, lighting another cigarette and breathing the smoke in. He held it in his lungs and expelled slowly from his nose, like a patient dragon. He’d caught me and he was going to make me pay.

“Did you fuck her?” he asked.

“No,” I said quickly. “I didn’t.”

“Is that the truth, Barone?”

“Yes, sir, it is.”

He released a sigh. “Why were you at her house that early then?”

“I had a lot going through my mind and I…I find Mrs. Russo very…attractive,” I said, struggling to find the words.

“So you went to her seeking comfort and somehow you just…didn’t fuck?”

He was like a dog on a scent, unrelenting in his interrogation.

“Would it matter if we had?”

“Yes, it would,” said Lucien, an edge to his voice. “She falls under Rico’s care, which means she’s technically one of my women because the lot of you fall under my jurisdiction. What’s your game plan with her, hmm? Fuck her and leave her heartbroken? Use her like a whore? Surely you don’t have plans to marry her because that’s out of the question. You’re going to be underboss and your marriage needs to be useful to the outfit. So why were you at her house?”

“Because she’s beautiful,” I said flatly. “That’s it.”

“Did you fuck her?”

“Swear to God, I didn’t.”

Lucien rose in a swift movement, like a panther, and circled the desk to confront me. We were close to the same height and I stood my ground, meeting his gaze.

“Birth control fails, condoms break,” he said. “What am I going to do with a pregnant widow?”

“I’m not an idiot.”

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