Page 54 of Mafia Made (Crowned Criminals)

I smirked as I turned to look at her. “You really think that the Petrov’s are going to care that much?

Sure, both the Petrovs and the Blanchis thought they ran this city, and while they had a good portion of it in their pockets, they weren’t able to buy everyone off, everywhere.

But when I looked at Annie, her eyes were serious, and her mouth was downturned. “I think that you could pose a real threat to them,” she told me, her voice soft. “And they’ll do anything to make sure that you don’t disrupt their business.”

There was fear in Annie’s lovely eyes, and before I could stop myself, I reached out and touched her cheek. “Nothing is going to happen,” I said, assuming that Annie was worried about her own safety. I couldn’t blame her. I’d told her that I planned to take down the mob, and I’d never stopped to think about what that might mean for her.

Annie brushed away my touch. “It’s not me that I’m worried about,” she told me, her voice fierce. “It’s you. You are getting yourself in the middle of something dangerous, and I’m worried that you aren’t prepared for it.”

Annie spoke with such authority that it took me aback. I wanted to ask her more, but before I could, the sound of a fork hitting a glass was the signal for us to take a seat.

“Everything is going to be fine,” I said, leading Annie to her seat. “I’m going to win, and everything is going to work out.”

I had no other option. I wasn’t scared of the Petrovs or the Blanchis, but they should be scared of me.

CHAPTERFIFTEEN

I yawned as I brought my steaming hot cup of coffee to my lips. There was a newspaper in front of me, and I couldn’t help but smile at the headline. Ezra had announced his candidacy the day after the party, and every New York City paper had run with it.

“Do you need cream or sugar?” he asked, as he walked back to the table where I was sitting. Ezra had invited me over to discuss our next steps, and I was enjoying the comforts of his home.

“I’m fine,” I said, taking a sip of the expensive coffee, allowing it to warm me.

“Sorry that I asked you to come over so early. I’ve got to be at court in a few hours.” I nodded, my interest piqued. I had been looking for a job for the last week, but I hadn’t been able to find anything, and the boredom was starting to drive me insane.

“It’s no problem,” I said.

I reached out and grabbed the newspaper. “Seems that things are going well.” I wasn’t someone who kept their eye on politics, but Ezra’s name had been all over the city.

“All thanks to you,” he said, a smile on his face. The sight of it made my heart thump against my ribs. There was something about Ezra’s smile that lit up his entire face somehow making it even more handsome than it already was.

“I’m not sure about that.” Our night together hadn’t even been in the papers. All of New York was talking about the hot shot lawyer who had tried to take down the mob and was now running for mayor.

Ezra reached out, his large hand embraced mine, and I felt a shiver go up my spine. As much as I didn’t want to be affected by Ezra, I couldn’t help myself. Whenever he touched me, my body responded. I’d spent all night thinking about the kiss we’d shared, playing it over and over in my mind.

“I couldn’t have done this without you,” he said. “I mean that truly.”

The compliment made me smile. A man had never been so complimentary to me in my entire life. Even before he went off the rails, Nikolai made it clear that my role was to stand still and look pretty.

“Well,” I said, shyly. “I am glad that I could be of help.”

He laughed and took a sip of his coffee. For a few minutes, we sat together in comfortable silence, each one of us enjoying the warm coffee in our cups.

After a few minutes, Ezra cleared his throat. “I asked you here because I wanted to go over what comes next.”

I nodded. We hadn’t spoken much about what comes next. Marcel had made it clear that our last outing was just the first of many, and I wasn’t so naive to think we would just attend a party here and there.

“I thought maybe we could go out to dinner tonight,” Ezra said.

As I thought about it, I felt my heart starting to beat harder. During the event, he’d kissed me, his actions effectively shielding my face from the flash of the camera. That coupled with the fact that he’d announced his candidacy not soon after, made our night out irrelevant.

“Dinner would be nice,” I said, before I could manufacture some excuse.

Joseph Rome had freaked me out. I’d personally never met him, but he had ties with my former family. Thankfully, he hadn’t recognized me, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t. The idea of it made my stomach twist and turn. My father would be monitoring the mayoral race, especially with Patrick O’Connor entering the ring. I prayed that I wasn’t making a huge error.

“Great,” Ezra said, standing up with his coffee. “I can pick you up at 7.”

I shook my head, also standing up from the table. Ezra was giving me the clear signal that this conversation was coming to a close. “I’ll be downtown,” I told him. “I’m helping Julia get to her appointment.”

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