Page 75 of Shackled By the Mafia Boss

I smile, grateful that at least not everyone has betrayed me. I can still count on Taylor for anything and I know he would never turn his back on me.

“Let’s go to your desk.”

We walk side by side to my desk. I settle in and he sits on the chair across as usual. “How did you find out it was Victor who did it and not the Romano’s?”

“I asked Marcus and he told me everything that happened that night.”

Taylor frowns. “You can’t trust him. He could he lying to you. He’s a bad guy, Jane.”

It’s the first time Taylor is calling me by my name during work hours. I can see the genuine worry on his face.

“Marcus may not be a good guy, but he would never lie to me, Taylor.”

“How can you be so certain?”

“Because I know who he is beneath his stoic appearance. Marcus is a lot of things, but a liar isn’t one of them.”

My assurance isn’t enough to appease Taylor. He puts a hand on my desk and leans forward. “I know you like him, but you shouldn’t trust him. You could get hurt if you’re not careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Trust me, I won’t.” A smile makes my lips quirk.

I open the folder, my eyes staring at the images of my father’s lifeless body. The autopsy result shows he’d sustained a non-lethal gun wound on his right leg.

Apparently, he’d been able to stop himself from bleeding to death by applying pressure on the wound. There were several other bruises on his ribcage and he’d broken at least two ribs.

I flip to the next page and my stomach churns at the picture of his neck. There are spike-shaped bruises on it and they look just like the ones on Rodriguez.

Taylor was right, my father died from asphyxiation. He was strangled to death.

Marcus’s gunshot wasn’t what killed him.

Taylor watches me with concern. “What is it?”

I suck in a deep breath and try not to cry, but tears burn and slip from the corners of my eyes. “You were right, he was strangled.”

“What do you intend to do now?” he asks.

“I have to question Victor Valentes.”

“And then what? Ask him to turn himself in? Make accusations without proof?”

I peer at the folder in front of me, then I look at Taylor. “There’s proof.” I place my hand on the folder. “This is enough proof.”

“Proof that your father was strangled to death, yes. But that is not enough proof enough to point to Victor as the killer. What if you’re wrong and he is innocent?”

“There’s no way I’m wrong.” I bring out a file tucked between the images from the autopsy and crime scene photosfrom the night my father died. “He was investigating a human trafficking case that involved the Valentes when he died.”

Taylor tugs his tie uncomfortably. “Then why did he go to one of the Romano warehouses that night?”

“That is what I need to find out. But I think it was all a setup. In fact, I’m certain it was.”

He opens his mouth to say something when his phone rings in the pocket of his suit jacket.

I look at his hand. He is holding his phone in his hand so…he has an extra phone. How come I’ve never noticed this before?

He removes his second phone and loos at the screen. “Excuse me, I have to take this.” He leaves my desk and walks away.

I’m still staring at my Dad’s case file when he returns. “See, I still don’t think this is a good idea, but I can take you to Victor Valentes if you insist.”

---