Page 48 of Mafia Darling

“Have you found anything?”

Giulio’s brow furrowed and he stared at the phone like it was a puzzle he was trying to solve. I felt like snarling that if he hadn’t been stoned last night, he would know what was happening.

“Yes, but I don’t yet know what it means.”

My muscles tightened, a knot forming between my shoulder blades. “Tell me.”

“Someone is stealing money from you.”

I ground my molars together. This wasn’t the first time someone had dared, but I didn’t need another problem at the moment. “How much?”

“As far as I can tell, around thirty million Euros or so.”

Marco hissed through his teeth and Giulio rocked back in his chair like he’d been struck. I tried not to react, other than curling my hand into a fist. It was a large amount of money, but it wouldn’t come close to bankrupting me. What infuriated me was the principle. “Why am I just hearing about this now?” I snapped. “Where the fuck were your bosses on this, the head of the firm that I employ? This should have been caught.”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I haven’t told anyone. I can’t imagine they are unaware of it, which means . . . .”

Which meant they were complicit.

Santo cazzo Madre di Cristo.

“Tell us what you know,” I ordered.

“Small amounts are being siphoned off from the accounts in the Netherlands and deposited in various accounts in Haiti and Afghanistan.”

Marco murmured, “Countries with relaxed laws on money laundering.”

“Exactly,” Emilia said. “I discovered this accidentally. I don’t handle the Netherlands accounts for you, but I got a call from a friend at a bank in Denmark. He warned me that some of the transactions had been flagged for internal review. Then I started doing some digging.”

“The GDF?” Marco asked, looking at me.

“They wouldn’t steal it,” I said. “They’d freeze the accounts.”

“Agreed. This is someone very good with computers,” Emilia said. “A hacker of some kind, one that knows exactly where to look to siphon off your money.”

“Enzo,” I gritted out. That motherfucker. I knew he was behind this. I could feel it in my bones.

Marco stroked his jaw, his leg bouncing in agitation. “That doesn’t explain how he knew where to look. Which rocks to turn over. The accounts are complicated for a reason, Rav.”

“Right,” Emilia whispered. “This is someone who is very smart, with an inside knowledge of your accounts.”

That was a very small list, one that didn’t include either Benito or Vic. I wouldn’t trust financial information to anyone outside of my small inner circle. Pretty much Toni and Marco were the only people who knew anything of use.

“I have to go,” she said quickly, then the call was dropped. I tossed the burner onto the desk toward Marco and rubbed my face with my hands.

“Cristo,” my son muttered.

“Exactly,” Marco said. “This is some serious shit, Rav.”

I did not have time for this. I wanted to talk with Francesca, make up with her, and spend the rest of the day fucking her into a stupor.

Instead I had to deal with Giulio, this missing money, Enzo, and a hundred other problems that came with my position. Exhaustion weighed down on me like a block of cement.

First things first.

I pointed at my son. “You are taking over security.”

“Me?” Giulio glanced at Marco then back at me. “What about Zio Marco?”

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