Page 197 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

“Easy,” I mumble. “I don’t want anyone to hear you and ask what you’re grousing about.”

He lets out a dry laugh. “Sure, I’d get why you want me to keep my dipshit cousin’s meathead plan to salvage the deal with Torres quiet!”

My mouth twists into a grimace. “If you were here, I’d shoot you for saying that shit.”

“But I’m not!” he sings out. “I’m not the fucking idiot who just committed a kidnapping and left all of the goddamn evidence out in the open for anyone to find!”

“There weren’t any eyewitnesses,” I grunt. “Don’t be so dramatic. It’s not like you’re a Boy Scout, Bruno.”

“True,” he says. “But I am a planner, though. I strategize before making a move, especially one that would have Torres all over us. Not to mention the shit you brought on us by cutting off Javier’s hand! What the hell is with you, Serge? This isn’t like you! This screams Dante and Roman!”

I shift against the wall. He’s right. I don’t make sudden moves like this without thinking them through. But my life…starting from when Jaelyn walked into my nightclub…has become a very dangerous and destructive funnel cloud. It just spins with lightning speed, sucking me deeper with every passing day. It continues to wreak havoc at every turn and I don’t know how to stop it.

I wanted to talk to her. Really.

I figured I could come up with something to say that might get her to change her mind about me, the offer, all of it.

But then Matteo’s words rang out in my head and I just lost it.

All of it.

The anger charged through me when I saw her car coming down that road, and I wanted to show Torres how short-sighted he was for attacking us like he did.

“He tried to kill us,” I seethe. “He deserves nothing less than to have his precious sister’s body hand-delivered to his club in a crate of dry ice!”

“Please tell me that’s not part of your plan.”

“Not yet it isn’t.” I scowl as Jaelyn’s whining gets louder. “I can’t say it won’t become the plan, though.”

“So how long are you planning to keep her locked up?” Bruno asks. “And are you going to stay there with her? You do have a job here, you know. I can only cover for you for so long before Matteo starts asking questions. And it won’t take long for him to jump down my throat if you’re not here to distract him.”

I roll my eyes. “Thanks. And yeah, I know I have things to figure out.”

“Look, let’s be real here. You made a dumbass mistake by taking her. No doubt about that. We could have figured out another way to deal with the situation. But if Torres finds out, Matteo will be the least of your problems. By then, you’ll be earless, handless, and dickless. Probably on your way to being headless.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“I’m just telling it like it is.”

“You’re not helping.”

“Do you want me to kidnap some other chick from the club to keep her company? Would that be helpful?”

“You’re flicking my last nerve.”

“There will be a lot of lasts for you when Torres finds out you hijacked his sister. Your nerves should be last on your list of concerns.”

“Just don’t blow my damn cover, okay?” I say through clenched teeth.

“Just figure out how the hell you’re gonna fix this situation you’ve created, okay?”

I click the end button without saying goodbye and fight with everything in me to not hurl it at the unfinished sheetrock.

Jesus Christ, what the hell have I done?

My eyes flicker toward the closed bedroom door.

Jaelyn would know the truth.

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