Page 62 of Dark Mafia Heir

The locks click into place, and I hear the jangle of keys, the sound of him pocketing them before his footsteps fade down the hall.

The silence in the room is deafening, and I crawl back to the bed to bawl my eyes out.

22

Antonio

“Iknow the difference.”

Startled, I raise my head to find Dario smiling. Across the table, he’s seated cross-legged, flipping through a magazine like a gentleman.

“What?”

Keeping his eyes on whatever it is he’s looking at, the pages of the papers rustle when he flips again. “I said I know the difference. You know, when we meet to discuss business, and when the problem is your woman, there’s a difference. And I know it.”

Clenching my jaw, I grab a pen, and start clicking it. “Good for you.”

“Interesting.” He turns the pages again. “I also know that, if you keep it all bottled up inside, it’s going to distract you. Best you let it out now.”

I am not the sharing type, but I’m also not the type to condone distractions when we have more important things totake care of. So, if sharing was going to help offload the shit, then I’ll share.

I’d never done it before. I’d never had to do that to her, regardless of her excesses. But last night, she’d crossed the line, and I got upset more at myself than her for feeling betrayed.

I reach for the magazine in Dario’s grasp and snatch it away. When his eyes meet mine, I tilt backward. “I locked her up.”

Dario’s brows twitch disapprovingly. “You locked her up. You do realize she’s your wife now, not your fucking whore or prisoner.”

“I know what I did,” I snap, more harshly than I mean to, and rake a hand through my hair, exhaling slowly to rein myself in. “It’s not something I wanted to do.”

“Then why did you?”

“I made Agahta randomly leave her phone about in a place where anyone could easily find it.”

He shakes his head, understanding. “You set her up. Wanted to see if she’ll fall for it and betray you.”

“Great minds think alike. Only, she wasn’t thinking. She didn’t know I had that planned out.”

“And she fell for it.”

I nod, incessantly clicking on the pen to distract myself from remembering the fear and horror in her eyes when she saw me on the stairs, knowing I’d caught her.

“If that’s the case, what are we going to do?”

Dario loses me, and I’m back to asking, “What?”

“If I’m following, you just said you set up your wife. She fell for it, and betrayed you. In this context, I’m assuming a betrayal means calling reinforcements to spill her location and take her out of your custody, right? In summary, you’re probably someone’s moving target. Either that, or your wife is planning to silently leave you without killing you.”

I don’t answer. Maybe I can’t.

“I didn’t . . .” I trail off, and slam the fucking pen on the desk. Whoever said being honest with one’s self was easy?

Dario’s interest piques, and he leans forward.

“You didn’t what?”

“I didn’t hear the conversation.”

Momentarily, he’s stunned. Silence hangs between us, stretching for seconds more until a deep laughter I’m not sure I’ve ever heard pours from his lips.

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