Page 42 of Mafia Crown

I stop pacing. My mother’s voice. Warm, soft, familiar. I almost collapse on the spot. It’s been days—maybe weeks—since I’ve heard her. It’s like breathing fresh air after suffocating. My lips tremble as I try to keep my emotions locked down.

"Mam, it’s me," I say, my voice cracking. I know she won’t recognize the number, but I pray she recognizes me.

"Jack, it’s Hazel!" she shouts, and just like that, the floodgates open.

"Sweetheart, where are you? We’ve been sick with worry."

God, this is harder than I thought it would be. My vision blurs with tears, and I bite down hard on my lip to stop the sob that’s threatening to break free. I glance at Kieran again, silently begging him to let me tell them the truth. His expression doesn’t change. He just unfolds his arms and takes one slow, steady step toward me.

A warning.

"I’m okay," I lie. "I’m safe." Another lie, but it’s only half of one.

"But… something did happen."

I’m shaking so badly I can barely keep the phone to my ear.

"What happened? Where are you?" My mother’s voice is frantic now.

I can’t do this.

I glance at Kieran again, pleading with my eyes. Please, don’t make me do this to them. Please.

But he doesn’t waver.

"I’ve been kidnapped," I say, my voice barely above a whisper. It’s the truth, but it’s not the whole truth. Not the part they need to hear.

"What?" My mother’s cry slices through me. I hear rustling on the other end, followed by my father’s firm, steady voice.

"Is she on the phone?"

I squeeze my eyes shut, tears slipping past my lashes.

"I don’t have much time, Mam," I rush out. "But Sean is the man who kidnapped me. I’m being kept in the Wicklow Mountains."

I hate myself for saying it. I hate how her sobs crack through the phone and how my father’s steady strength falters for just a second. “Is she okay?”

"Oh, my baby," my mother cries. "What does he want?"

The pain in her voice is unbearable. I feel like I’m dying from the inside out, slowly, with every breath. My father’s voice returns, strong but thick with emotion.

"Hazel."

"Daddy," I sob, unable to hold it back any longer.

The phone is ripped from my hands. I blink, disoriented, and stare at Kieran in horror as he ends the call without hesitation.

"You did good," he says, like I’ve just passed some twisted test.

I want to scream. I want to punch him, claw at him, anything to make him understand what he just put me through. But instead, I swallow the rage and pain, forcing them down into the hollow part of me that’s growing bigger every day.

"I get to live now?" I ask, my voice flat.

He doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he slips the phone into his pocket and studies me like I’m some puzzle he’s trying to solve.

"That’s the first step in my plan," he says finally.

I take a step toward him. "What’s the second?"

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