Page 36 of Shackled By the Mafia Boss

His breath hitches. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Kirill took the shipment, not me.”

“How would you know?”

“He was the only one who had reason to.” He clears his throat, pretending to be brave despite the fear bleeding into his eyes.

“Kirill is dead. That makes it easy for you to make him the fall guy, doesn’t it?”

He swallows hard before responding, his voice laced with false conviction. “I have no idea what you're talking about, Marcus.”

I narrow my gaze, leaning in slightly, my eyes locking onto his. “You can drop the act, Victor. We both know the truth.”

A bead of sweat trickles down Victor's temple as he nervously adjusts his tie, attempting to maintain an air of indifference. “I’m not involved in any missing shipments. You've got the wrong man and quite honestly, you wouldn’t be here if you knew the truth.”

“Where would I be?”

The corners of his mouth wrinkle even more as he smirks. “Cut the game, Marcus. Men like you don’t hesitate. If you knew for sure I took the shipment, I’d be dead by now.”

Wow!

I’d clap at him for his sudden show of intelligence, but I’m saving my hands for something better, like exploring Jane’s body.

“You got me good.” I step forward, closing the distance between us, my voice dropping to a low, ominous tone. “Don't insult my intelligence, Victor. My brother may fall for your feebleact, but not me. I know you’re mad your wife died in that war years ago. I know it’s eating you up that you lost and now you have to bow to us.”

Victor's façade begins to crack, the mask of calm crumbling. He’s scowling now, not caring to hide his anger. “You don’t have any proof whatsoever that I did it.”

I spin my gun one more time and the tip points at him when it stops its lazy twirl. “Guess what? My gun doesn’t need a proof to put a bullet in your skull.”

Victor's gaze darts nervously between me and the gun. “This wasn’t the agreement I had with your brother. You shouldn’t be harassing me.”

I pick up my gun and return it to my pocket. “You’re right. That is the only reason you aren’t dead now. Touch my men again and I won’t need his permission to blow your brain out.”

I arch an eyebrow, unimpressed by his silence. “Do you understand?”

He hesitates. “I do.”

“Good.” I stare at him in disgust before I turn. Victor’s eyes are boring into my back as I leave his office. The motherfucker can deny it all he likes, but I know he had something to do with the recent attack and the shipment that went missing last year.

He’s afraid of Dominic and will probably do something to hide his tracks. It’s perfect bait I set out for him and I can’t wait for him to take it.

The idiot is afraid of my brother. But I’m the one he should be afraid of.

Chapter Nine

Jane

“You’ve been really quiet this morning.”

I flinch, jumping back in my seat and letting out a small scream before I notice its Taylor. He’s holding two cups of coffee as usual and places one on my desk.

I hold my chest and exhale. “You scared me.”

He sits on the seat across my desk. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to.” He squints as he scans my face. “Is everything okay with you? You look so out of it today.”

“Everything’s fine. I’m just sleep deprived and a little light-sensitive today.” I can’t tell him that Marcus didn’t only spend the night at my place last night, but also that we had sex. And I certainly can’t tell him about the threatening message I received this morning.

Taylor is pretty smart, he’ll put two and two together quickly and find out about my relationship with Marcus. I can’t risk letting that happen.

Taylor studies me intently, his concern evident in the furrow of his brow. It’s obvious he doesn’t buy my story, but he’ll most likely think I’m just stressed about the case. “Anything I can do to help?”

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