Page 95 of Mafia Toy

I tucked it away in my waistband, like I had seen Constantino do so many times.How am I going to do this?I didn’t wanna take a life. I couldn’t. She was my best friend. This was so harsh, so cold. And this wasn’t me.

But I was about to lose my husband and Sage.

I was about to lose the opportunity to have a family.

So, I swallowed hard, closed my eyes, and prayed I could do this. I walked to the door and opened it up, expecting to see Bethany, but instead Poppy—Sage’s coffee-shopbestie—stood at my door.

58

laila

What is Poppy doing here?

I opened the door a little wider and furrowed my brow, extremely confused.What do I even say to her?I didn’t like her. Bethany was about to come over. And I had a fucking gun in my waistband.

“Hi. Is Sage here?” she asked.

“How did you find my home?” I asked, chewing on the inside of my cheek.

My guard stood watch at the end of the hallway near the elevator. I didn’t know why he had let her in. Had she said something to him? Had she bribed him in some way? If Constantino were here, he wouldn’t have let anyone up here besides Sage.

“Oh.” She giggled. “I just followed the big guys.” She laughed again, her cheeks tinting red. “I went to Sage’s apartment, but she wasn’t there. She hasn’t been home all week, and she hasn’t been answering my messages.”

I didn’t know where Sage and Constantino were. We had been gone on vacation all week, but I had spent all night alone. If I had to guess, they were probably at the house. But I sure as hell wasn’t gonna tell her that.

“I don’t know,” I said, grasping the doorknob tightly. “I haven’t seen her.”

“You haven’t seen her?” she repeated. “I thought for sure you would have. When we went out to the art festival the other day, you were all that she could talk about. I guess … I was wrong. Sorry for bothering you!”

My eyes widened.I am all that Sage can think about, all that she can talk about?Warmth exploded through my chest, a small smile tugging at the corners of my lips.Is that true? Or is she lying to me?

“If I talk to Sage,” I said, “I’ll tell her that you were asking about her.”

“That would be great! Thank you.” She turned around to head back down the hallway, her red hair flying in every direction. “Oh.” She twirled around to face me with a big grin on her face and stuck out her hand. “I know that we kind of got off on the wrong foot the other day, but I’m Poppy again.”

I stared at her extended hand for a moment, then shook it. I really just wanted her to get out of here as soon as possible, especially before Bethany came. I sure as hell didn’t want her seeing what I was about to do to Bethany.

“Laila,” I said, shaking her hand. “And I heard about what happened the other day. That somebody threw soda on you. I just wanna apologize. That’s not how …” Guilt washed over me. “That’s not how anybody should act.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I’m over it.”

“By the way, was there a reason why you wanted to see Sage?”

Poppy twirled her finger around the lock of her red hair. “Oh, I just had some tickets to an art gallery for tonight, and I wanted to see if she wanted to go with me. She seems really into art. Are you too?”

“Sorta,” I lied, glancing down the hallway when the elevator chimed.

The elevator doors opened, and my heart raced inside my chest. I impatiently waited for Bethany to walk through the doors, to march down the hall toward me, so I could … attempt to murder her.

But instead, another guard walked from the elevator to change shifts.

“You don’t think that she’d be back later, do you?” Poppy asked. “The tickets are for tonight. They were sold out, but I scored these from some scalper on the street. She was telling me she wanted to go the last time we spoke.”

“Really?” I asked.

I didn’t want them hanging out. I wanted Sage all to myself. But Sage wasn’t gonna be back by tonight. Well, I highly doubted it. My stomach twisted. I honestly didn’t know if she’d be back by next week or next month. I didn’t know when Constantino would let me see her again.

“Where is the art gallery?” I asked.

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