Page 70 of Bossy Ex's Brother

I saw that her performance had everyone entranced. People ordered more drinks than ever before, and we put our brand-new waitresses to good use. Luckily, I had thought to hire extras for this moment, just in case, and it was paying off.

Everything was going very smoothly.

But Luca still wasn’t here.

My phone rang, and I glanced down, hoping it was him. But I felt disappointed when I saw it was Felix.

I stepped aside into one of the quiet rooms and answered my brother’s call.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Hey, have you heard from Bethany?”

“No, why?”

“She was supposed to be home an hour ago, but Emmett called, and she’s not there.”

I sighed, feeling a trickle of annoyance prop up. I thought that, after our talk, we were past this. Still, I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“Maybe something came up,” I said.

“Yes, but that doesn’t explain why she isn’t answering her phone. All her calls are going straight to voicemail. I dunno. I’m really worried.”

“Are you sure you’re not being paranoid?”

“No. And I think it has something to do with Luca.”

“What does Luca have to do with anything?”

Felix was silent for a few seconds. “I have to tell you something, but promise you won’t get mad at me. I didn’t tell you before because, well, for one, I didn’t think you would believe me, and perhaps after I met Luca, I thought it was just rumors floating around, but….”

“Spit it out, Felix,” I grouched, finally tired of the hedging.

“He’s a criminal,” Felix blurted out. “Like a high-level one. Like with the mafia or something. Even worse, he’s their boss.You hear things about him on the street, and I remember Lorenzo alluding to something like that to me once. That was why I was so freaked out about you two hanging out.”

I frowned. “That’s ridiculous.” I mean, sure, we occasionally had sketchy-looking people coming into the club, but that was the nature of most clubs. It didn’t mean Luca was in the mafia. “I think I would know if my boyfriend was a mafia boss, Felix.”

“No, you wouldn’t. They’re more lowkey about it these days, Jane. It’s how they stay undetected. Plus, you can be very naive about these things.” Felix sounded frustrated. “But I wouldn’t tell you this if I weren’t semi-sure of it. I thought maybe I wasn’t, but with Bethany missing…I thought I should tell you just in case.”

I felt my heart grow cold. I wanted to deny Felix’s words, but he was right. He did know more about these things than me. And while he was paranoid at times, he wouldn’t be telling me this if he weren’t sure.

When I thought about it, I realized how much I didn’t know about Luca. Also, Lorenzo’s expression when he found out I was working for him and the fact that after that day, I never heard from Lorenzo again. None of the calls to the number he gave me were going through.

God. It can’t be. It just can’t be.

There was only one way to find out.

“Felix, I’ll call you back,” I said. I took a deep breath, stilling my panicked thoughts while I determined my course of action. I then went out again, pasted a smile on my face, and approached Brandon with my heart racing.

If anyone knew what Luca was up to, it would be Brandon.

“Hey, Brandon,” I called out, yelling a little to be heard over the music. “Is Luca done with his hit yet?” I assumed that was why he wasn’t here.

Brandon glanced back at me in surprise. “What?”

I waved my hand. “It’s fine, he told me already. I’m just worried because he said he would be here by now.” I pouted a little at the end, and I must have been a great actress because Brandon’s face went slack with relief.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “They’re probably done now. He should be back soon.”

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