Page 30 of The Demon

I glance at Malik with fear in my eyes and whisper, “They call him the Mafia King.”

Malik laughs out loud, and without warning, grabs hold of my wrists and wrenches me toward him, and snarls, “Your father is known as the Mafia King. You’re lying.”

I shake my head and say weakly, “Only because he says so.”

Malik’s grip loosens and I say quickly, “Ever since I can remember, he put it out there. He referred to himself as the king, and the nickname kind of stuck. Don’t get me wrong, he is an extremely powerful man and knows many secrets because he has made it his life’s work to form alliances and crush his opponents. I agree that to most people, heisthe Mafia King, but I have always known him to fear another.”

“Who?”

I shake my head, remembering the whispered conversations of the soldiers when they thought they were alone.

“The soldiers spoke of a man so powerful even my father was afraid of him. They referred to him as the King and nobody knew his identity. When the servant told me Massimo also feared a man called the Mafia King, I had no reason to doubt him. The fact I was given a home and left alone made me believe him. That’s why I entrusted Frankie to this man’s care. I was no longer needed, and whoever wanted him only had his best interests at heart. It was obvious and so when the servant went in the cab with Frankie, I was happy he had escaped from Massimo. I took a flight to Zurich as instructed and made my way to the address provided in the envelope he gave me. I waited for days but nobody came. They promised me that somebody would come and help me and then you showed up and here I am now. So, I’m sorry, Malik, but that really is all I can tell you. The person who has Frankie is a man nobody knows, and I can only hope he has an extremely good reason for wanting to keep him safe.”

Malik stares at me angrily and the fear caresses my body with his malevolent gaze. My heart sinks as I realize he doesn’t believe me which is reinforced when, without another word, he stands and heads out of the room, leaving me trussed up and shivering, fearful of what happens next.

CHAPTER21

MALIK

The Mafia King. I’ve never been one for fairy stories, but this is preposterous. As if there’s anyone I don’t know about and certainly not a man who is feared by the most powerful mafia families in the land.

Eliza’s story is too fanciful not to be true, and the emotion in her eyes told me she was reliving every moment of it. Now I need to act and fast because whoever took Frankie in that cab was going somewhere and I have ways of finding out information, but first there’s a very important call I need to make.

I head to my den and close the door, scanning it for bugs just in case my father has grown curious. Technology has always been my friend, and I’ve learned my lessons well and once I know our conversation is encrypted, I dial the man who I really need right now.

“Malik.”

He answers immediately, and I hear the concern in his voice.

“Angelo.”

I return the greeting and he says quickly,“Any new information?”

“A name of sorts.”

The tense silence that follows makes me say quickly, “The Mafia King.”

“Giovanni Ortega?”Angelo sounds surprised and I say with a growl.

“Apparently not.”

“What do you mean–not?”

I tell him what Eliza told me, word for word, and he whistles slowly.“That’s quite a story.”

“I believe her.”

“I never asked.”

“I’m just telling you.”

Angelo sighs.“So, what now?”

“I will do some digging, beginning with Massimo’s files that I downloaded from the server. In light of this new information, I will search for any communication between Massimo and this Mafia King. He has an Ortega file on his server that details the payments made to Eliza’s account. I will delve deeper and discover if it’s traceable. I will also revisit the cab company and ask about this servant who took Frankie.”

“What can I do?”

Angelo sounds desperate and I say darkly, “Find out what you can about this Mafia King. Soldiers have loose tongues and I’m not surprised Massimo removed the tongues of his own.”

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