Page 24 of Taken By the Mafia King
Was someone here? Were they breaking in? Were they here to steal something?
Or save me?
CHAPTER 20
KILLIAN
Fred Bagnoli leaned forward in the chair in front of my desk, eyeing me behind his black-rimmed glasses.
He was an old man—wise, long-lived. I didn’t know many caporegimes that made it into their sixties, especially when they ran with the Bianchis over the course of their careers.
Fred wasn’t my enemy. But I knew that could change in an instant. This man could have been a boss. I didn’t take that lightly.
“She’s just a kid,” he said, his expression darkening as he looked me right in the eyes. Not many people had the nerve to do that. “She left this life years ago and made a new start for herself. You have some nerve taking that from her.”
The corner of my mouth twitched into the ghost of a smile. “I wasn’t the one who started this.”
“Well, you have her now.”
“And I will continue to have her. I am not letting her walk out of this house, Bagnoli. You knew what my answer would be before you decided to come here and face me.”
“What I want to know is,” he said with the firmness only a man of his age could possess, “why are you toying with not only Andre Bianchi, but all of the mafia families right now, Killian?”
I licked my lips, arching my brows at him. Normally a man from another family addressing me by my given name was a death sentence. Fred had earned a bit of respect, though. I couldn’t help but be impressed by him at the moment. I’d known he’d come, but I hadn’t expected how quickly he’d get here. Seraphina was obviously of interest to him. But why? Was his reasoning the same as Gabriele’s?
I looked the man over as he stared at me, practically unblinking.
“You let her go, Killian. She is innocent.”
“I wasn’t the one who bought her, Fred,” I hissed, growing impatient.
“Oh, you don’t even understand the mess you’ve made.” He ran his hand over his face. “Killing Gabriele De Luca? Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.” Fred crossed himself.
I rolled my eyes. “Killing that waste of a breath had been on my list of things to do for a while. Seraphina was just collateral damage, but now I’m curious.”
“Curious about what?” he hissed.
“Why are you so interested in her now when you weren’t doing anything to keep tabs on her while she lived out in the real world, unprotected?”
“You forget who I used to work for. And you have no idea what I’ve done for the girl over the years.”
“You want her?” I leaned forward. “Are you here because you’re jealous that someone got to her first?”
“God, no! What is wrong with you?”
“Then you’d be the only one who doesn’t feel that way right now,” I replied, tapping my fingers on my desk. “What is your reasoning for being here? Did Andre send you?”
“Of course not. He has no idea that I’m here, and if he finds out?” He broke off and shook his head. He leaned forward, giving me a look that told me he spoke the truth. “I’ll have biggerproblems to worry about than you. But if you talk to him,” he continued, a hint of desperation in his voice, “I’m sure the two of you can come to a deal that lets Seraphina walk away from this and return to her life outside of the suffocating confines of our world.”
I stared at him, realizing for the first time that he had no idea how Seraphina became wrapped up in this mess in the first place. He had no clue that Mattia, Andre’s right-hand man, had been at the auction that night. Andre knew exactly why his own daughter had been so violently kidnapped and auctioned like cattle, yet Andre wasn’t here pleading for her life.
Fred was.
“She’s like a daughter to me,” he said sharply. “I don’t have much to offer you for her. You know I’ve been out of the game for even longer than she has. I have no inside information for you. I have no one to offer you in exchange for her.”
“It doesn’t matter. Even if you did, I’m not letting her go. Not yet.”
I knitted my hands together over my desk, eyeing him. He let out his breath in defeat. “Then you keep her in this house under lock and key,” he said. “Keep her safe.”
