Page 133 of My Mafia Queen

She leaves the food with me, and I’m munching on crostini and marinated mozzarella before that sensation of dread returns to me.

“Nothing makes sense,” I mumble, still chewing on my food.

I call Jen again, and my call goes unanswered.

This time, I keep calling her, getting more and more frustrated with every unanswered call.

She finally answers her phone, panting. I don’t have the chance to speak. She does it first.

“He’s looking for Tina,” she mutters, sounding like she’s sprinting.

I slide the plate onto the nightstand.

“What?? Who’s looking for Tina?” I ask.

Muffled sounds come from the other end of the phone line, suggesting a struggle, and it could be anything. People trying to yank her phone out of her hand or attack her.

Their words are muffled, yet there’s a scuffle.

Men bark orders, and I hear her screaming in the background before going silent, and her phone goes dead, too.

I’m livid.

Unable to breathe, I look at my phone. Should I call her again?

I’m doing it, knowing full well there is no point.

A busy signal comes from the other end of the line before I try again, and some recorded message tells me the phone has been disconnected.

That ignites a storm of panicked thoughts in my head.

I set myself in motion and call Damaso’s name while running through the house.

Suddenly, no one is here. Not Maria or Luigi.

I sprint down the stairs, check the kitchen and dining room, and zip out the door, going straight to the guesthouse.

No one is here either.

Trembling, I go back to the house and find Maria sorting the jam jars in a storage room in the back.

On any other day, this would’ve been my favorite thing to watch, but right now, I can’t speak fast enough.

“Where is Damaso?”

She turns to me.

“I think they all went to the village,” she says just as Luigi enters the room holding half a dozen jars.

“Is he meeting someone?” I ask.

They look at one another.

“Like a business meeting,” I say.

She shakes her head, baffled.

“I don’t know. Why? What happened?”

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