Page 88 of Demanding Mob Boss

She doesn't reply, just stares at me.

I rub the back of my neck and sit down. She scoots into the arm of the couch. What the fuck is going on?

"I knew you wouldn't like being in the police station." But I didn't think it would affect her like this. "I didn't want you upset like you were in the hospital so I called in a marker with the captain."

"He knew my name. It shocked the detectives."

"We don't know if they picked you up because they're trying to make a case against me, or if someone ordered them to do it."

"How did they know about me?" she asks, her body still tense, don't-touch-me vibes rolling off her.

"That's the question. It could be as simple as you’re the most recent hire in my office and they found out about you."

She doesn't react to my words.

I admit, "It could also be that the Kicks Bandidos tipped them off that you're connected to me. We know they had people watching me and my family."

It's more than I would usually tell an outsider, but Anna is different. And she deserves to know that I might be the reason she was taken in for questioning.

"They said they wanted to ask questions about you."

So, she already knows I'm to blame. Is that why she asked why I let them take her?

"I can instruct your guards not to let them take you in for questioning again."

"I'm going to get a taser."

What the fuck? "You don't need a taser, Anna. You have three bodyguards."

"They didn't protect me today."

"Did the detectives say something to you that scared you?" I'm trying to understand why she's reacting so strongly. "They don't have anything on me. They can't arrest you. You're not an accessory to anything."

Maybe she needs to be given the talk by our lawyer. He has a whole spiel prepared for when our mobsters date outside the organization. It's a watered-down version of what he tells new recruits.

"He touched me. I’m tainted." Anna starts to cry. "I'm not yours anymore."

"The fu--. You are mine, Anna. Today doesn't change that."

She just shakes her head. "It's all ruined."

What is ruined? I know my girl doesn't like other people touching her, but she reacts differently to me and I need to hold her right now because something is seriously wrong. Anna's brain isn't wired like other people's but she's strong. No way is this reaction just because she took a ride in a car with strangers to the police department.

What the fuck did they say to her? What does she mean, thathetouched her? To put her in the car?

"I'm going to hold you."

"You can't. I'm dirty."

"You're not dirty. Your mine," I reiterate. Then because I can't stop myself, I pull her into my lap.

She's stiff as a board, but then she collapses into me and starts to sob. The sound makes me want to kill someone. But it also makes me want to comfort her. I don't know how to comfort a woman.

I do the only thing I can think of and that is to wrap my arms around her and rub her back. It's something my da used to do for my ma when she was upset.

Anna doesn't seem to mind, but I don't know if it's helping. Eventually, her crying subsides and I hand her my handkerchief. She mops up.

We sit in silence for several long minutes.

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