Page 11 of Shackled By the Mafia Boss

A unexpected chuckle erupts from my throat. “Why don’t you tell me what you mean. I’m a little lost here.”

She opens her mouth to say something, but then she closes it when her eyes meet with Antonio’s. It seems she just realized he’s been standing there all along. “That’s by the way. I was going to call you after I returned to the station but you’re here now. Do you mind coming to the station for a few questions?”

“What do I get in return?”

She shakes her head, clasps her forehead, and lets out an exasperated sigh. “What do you get in return?” She repeats my question sardonically. “For starters, I won’t cuff you and drag you to the station myself. That’s what you get in return.”

I grin. She looks even more beautiful when she’s upset. “Just so you know, I love role playing.”

“Are you a sex addict or something?”

My gaze trails down to the cleavage displayed provocatively in the white tank top she’s wearing under her jacket. “Depends on who is asking.”

She flashes a wicked smile at me. “Dream on.” Pulling out a pair of silver handcuffs, she holds them up. “So, you coming or should we play the cop and the criminal?”

Antonio growls like a wounded wolf and steps forward. I stretch out my arm, stopping him before he can take another step. “Lead the way,signorina.”

Jane smirks and puts the handcuff away. “Good choice, Mr. Romano.” She leads me to a black Toyota Camry and I slide into the passenger seat. She gets in the driver’s seat, ignites the engine and maneuvers the car into traffic.

When we arrive at the police station, I follow her to a minimally decorated room that looks like it’s built for psychological torture. “So, shall we begin?”

Jane sets a brown folder on the table between us. “The victim is Enzo Russ, forty-five. What was the relationship between you two?”

I place my hand on the table. “He worked for me.”

“By work, you mean…”

“He managed Devil’s Rome for five years.” There’s no way she wouldn’t have heard that information already. But since she’s acting like she hasn’t, I play along.

“A witness informed us he stole from you.”

I nod. “$100k. Quite a lot.” Worth his life if you ask me, though I’ll argue he wasn’t even worth that much.

Jane lowers her gaze to the folder, then she lifts her eyes back to me and blinks. “Perhaps that was enough reason for you to murder him?” It doesn’t sound like she’s asking, more like she’s concluding.

“Trust me,signorina.I wanted to put a bullet in that motherfucker more than anything else, but his life wasn’t worth that much money. I didn’t do it if that’s what you’re getting at.”

She spaces out for a moment as if she’s thinking. “Don’t you find it sad you lost a someone who has worked with you for five years? You seem unbothered by it.”

A chuckle bubbles in my chest. I don’t try to hold it back. “And that makes me a suspect, is that it?”

“Well…” She takes a photo from the folder and pushes it to me. “This isn’t like the previous murder case. Whoever killed him had him beaten nearly to death first, which makes me think they had a personal grudge with him.”

Yeah. The handprints on him looks just like what Antonio would do. I push the photo back to her. “Listen,signorina,a man was found murdered ten blocks away from my club and an anonymous caller told the cops the weapon found at the crime scene was mine. A day later, one of my men is found dead in front of the nightclub. What does that sound like to you?”

She collects the photo, replaces it in the folder and huffs. “You’re saying this is a set up. Someone’s framing you, right?”

I shrug. “You’re the cop here. Do the digging.” Because whoever’s responsible won’t live to see the breaking of a new dawn if I do it myself.

“How about you tell me everything you know?” She pauses. “Do you work for the mafia…or are you part of the mafia?”

I glance up the at the camera blinking red at me and she follows my gaze. “I can turn that off if you like.”

“Or we can go somewhere more private.”

She hesitates for a moment, then she sighs. “Let’s grab coffee in the café down the road. Game?”

“Sure.”

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