Page 100 of Keep Him Like Secrets

I stabbed Alen’s hand.

Then I flew off the stage, grabbed the gun.

Then Renzo was there.

And Bass and Serano.

Then, like some insane plot twist, Elian’s cousin—Teresa.

“Bass, Serano, take our friend here and shove him in the office,” Renzo said, making the two men rush up toward Alen, grabbing him, and dragging his bulky frame down the steps and into the hallway. “Alright. We’ll deal with that later. You good?” he asked, gaze moving over my face.

But Soren was already moving toward me, grabbing my chin, and angling my face up. “Is it broken?” he asked, meaning my nose.

“No.”

“You sure?”

“He’s got a mean punch but bad aim,” I told Soren as Renzo approached. “He mostly hit my cheek.”

“Yo,” Renzo said, waving his gun between the two of us. “What the fuck is this?”

Not knowing that Renzo would never shoot me, Soren stepped between us, blocking me from the crazy man with the gun.

“Renz, I can explain,” I said, moving to stand beside Soren.

“I knew you were being shady,” Teresa said, heels clicking as she moved forward. “I just knew it. Granted, I didn’t see this coming. But I’m eating up my ‘I told you so’ moment here.”

“T, I think you got some explaining to do too,” Soren said.

The guy looked like his head was spinning.

“What? You think I’m only a wife, mother, and secretary? I got layers. Connections. And one of those connections is my cousin through marriage Elian. Who happens to be a capo in the Lombardi crime family. When you flew outta the office like your ass was on fire, I got a bad feeling. I made a call just in case…”

“And Elian called Bass, who called me, so here we are,” Renzo said, finally putting his gun away.

“Lombardi crime family,” Soren repeated, looking from Teresa to Renzo, then—finally—me. “Lombardicrime family?” he repeated.

“I can explain,” I said, my heart feeling like it was crushing in my chest.

Soren exhaled hard. “You’re trying to wash your money through the club.”

Well, shit.

I guess I didn’t have to explain.

“For fuck’s sake,” Renzo said, sighing as he tipped his head back to look at the ceiling.

“How…” I started.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Soren said, sucking in a deep breath, “but this isn’t my first rodeo with money laundering.”

“Wait, what?”

“Guessing the name Alen Hakobyan doesn’t ring a bell to you,” Renzo piped in.

“Should it?”

“He’s more of Primo’s problem than ours.”

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