Page 196 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

“Dude,” Bruno says with a chuckle. “If you wanted to get laid, you coulda just told me. And why would you need me to cover for you, anyway? It’s not a hooker, is it? Jesus, Serge. Not again. There’s plenty of pussy right here that you don’t have to pay for.”

“Bruno,” I hiss. “There is no hooker. And there sure as hell isn’t any sex. I just…I have to take care of a few things today. You know, figure out how to fix things with, ah, Torres.”

“The only thing that guy is fixing for is an opportunity to kick your ass, you know that, right?”

“I might have come up with a way to get through to him,” I say through clenched teeth.

“Oh shit, that’s not him screaming, is it? You gonna ass-ram him or something until he agrees to sell?”

“No,” I hiss. “I don’t have time to play Twenty fucking Questions now!”

“Sergio!” Jaelyn shouts again. “I have to pee!”

“Serge, what the hell is going on there?”

I mute the phone and yell back to her. “You just said you’d happily lay in your own waste! So be fucking happy, yeah?”

“Serge?” Bruno asks again. “You wanna tell me what the hell is going on? Where are you and who the hell has to pee?”

I suck in a breath. “Bruno, I did a fucking bad thing. I mean, I didn’t think it was bad at first. Well, actually, I didn’t think about anything at first except talk?—”

“Sergio!” Bruno bellows.

“Fine,” I say, expelling a sigh. “I’m at the Severinov safehouse.”

“The one under construction?”

“Yeah.”

“Do I wanna know why?”

I rub the back of my neck. “No.”

“But you’re gonna tell me anyway, right?”

“Yeah.” I lean my head back against the wall. “I came here because I knew nobody would be here to use it.”

“And you needed privacy because…?”

“Because I kidnapped Jaelyn Torres from her car this morning and needed a place to keep her.”

“Fuck me,” he mutters slowly. I can see his expression in my mind, eyes wide, beefy hand scrubbing the stubble of his beard.

“Yep.”

“And by kidnapping her, just to be clear, you, ah, what exactly?”

“I gave her a shot of whatever Doc Arlo gave me for Enrico. It was strong enough that she passed out. I pulled her from her car and brought her right here.”

“You kidnapped her in broad daylight?”

“Yes.”

“And left her car on the side of the road.”

“Yeah.” I pause. “But I wiped down any area I touched so there wouldn’t be prints.”

“Mm-hm,” he mumbles, silent for a minute. “And you thought that drugging and snatching Torres’ sister was the best way to negotiate a fucking deal, Serge?” Bruno shouts.

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