Page 155 of My Mafia Queen

I keep movingmy eyes to my bag sitting in the passenger seat as I approach LA.

Tense, I check the time on the dashboard before I slide my hand into the duffel bag and retrieve my phone.

Call her? Not call her? What do I have to lose?

Even if they have her, I can still call her and have a word with them, especially my ex. I hope it’s not him, or I’ll gauge his eyes out with my own hands.

So I call Jen.

The phone keeps ringing, and she doesn’t answer, which doesn’t surprise me. I insist, calling her every other minute and hoping for a miracle.

Eventually, I get tired of trying and shift my eyes to the scenery, giving up.

I’m pissed and wracked with guilt.

None of this would’ve happened had I not gotten involved with Dick Anthony. A lot of it has to do with that.

Whatever Damaso says, this story has to do with me more than it has to do with him. I wish I could fix this disaster.

Grinding my teeth, I mumble a few bad words before tapping the phone and calling Jen again.

It’s an exercise in futility, but I’m doing it nonetheless. And then a miracle happens.

“Car?” she says quietly.

Not believing my ears, I look for a safe area to pull my car to a stop while picking up my phone and pressing it to my ear.

“Jen? Can you talk?”

I put the car in park.

“Uh-huh,” she whispers, her voice brimming with fear.

“Are you okay?”

A few seconds pass before she starts crying.

“No. I don’t think so.”

“What happened? Where are you?”

“I don’t know,” she says, sobbing. “Some stranger’s house…? Tina is not here with me.”

My heart stops for a second.

“Okay,” I say, although there’s nothing okay about it. “Are you hurt?” I ask.

“Yes. My bones hurt. And I, um…”

She talks again after a few seconds.

“My cheeks hurt. They hit me hard.”

“Who hit you?”

“The men who picked me up. I was at my place when I called you the first time. That’s when they ambushed me. I knew they were after her. Is she okay?”

“I don’t know,” I say sincerely.

---