Page 48 of Demanding Mob Boss

"You can offer her sanctuary," I tell him.

He nods, but I get the impression he would have done it without my order.

Ronan didn't want to be the boss, but that doesn’t mean he'll ever be a deferential soldier. He'll never betray the mob, but he makes his own decisions. As long as they don't go contrary to my express orders, that's what I prefer. I don't want men who won't wipe their own ass without permission in charge of our businesses.

"I want a full report of everything she knows no later than tomorrow."

Ronan nods. "You'll get it."

I doubt Carmen knows much. They wouldn't have risked it, knowing they were sending her to die. But I bet she knows more than they expect and once she learns how deep their betrayal ran, she'll be eager to share it.

If she's not, Ronan will persuade her. Whatever it takes.

But we are taking these fuckers down.

~ ~ ~

Anna doesn't come into work again today. She doesn't leave her bedroom either. Other than to use the bathroom and I'm only assuming that she does that. Because the camera angle doesn't include the hallway.

I'm expecting it when Connor lets me know that Anna has texted him again the next morning. She's not coming in.

I wait in my car for Ini to leave the apartment, and then I go into the building. The elevator is working, but I take the stairs anyway. Her security team have installed a camera outside her door. One of them will see me as I unlock her door and step inside the apartment, so I acknowledge them with a backward wave.

There is no sound from Anna's room. Didn't she hear me come in?

"Anna," I call as I walk toward her bedroom. I don't want to scare her. "Get your ass out here."

I stop in the doorway of her bedroom. Her tent is still in place.

"Anna," I bark. Yes, I have more patience for her than anyone else, but it doesn't make me Mother Teresa.

I hear rustling and then the blanket is pulled aside and Anna looks up at me, her eyes rounded in shock. "What are you doing here, Cian?" She blinks up at me like she's trying to figure out if I'm real. "Didn't Connor tell you I'm not coming in?"

Her blond hair is a messy halo around her face. She's still wearing the sleep camisole she put on the day before yesterday. She's fucking beautiful and if we didn't have so much shit to get done today, I would join her on that single mattress on the floor.

"You're not sick."

Her shoulders hunch, her gaze dropping away from me. "Are you going to fire me?"

"No."

Her head jerks up. "Why not?"

Chapter 16

CIAN

"I told you, you're staying." I am not letting her go.

"But I let you down."

"When?"

"At the hospital. I was supposed to be there for you and you ended up having to take care of me."

"Fuck that shit. I'll take care of you if I want to. I'm the boss." And she is mine.

"But I'm not a good friend."

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