Page 63 of That Mafioso Magic
I sighed. “He let me know that he was my superior.”
“Fucking vampires. I hate them,” Shi snarled.
“Best get used to them, Shi. I was ordered to make a new one.” I gestured to Yolanda in the backseat. “We negotiated.”
“I can’t stand that blond, bloodsucking leech,” Shi growled.
I nodded. “He is letting me save face and keep my territory. I don’t have to call him ‘sir’ and all that shit. I guess that’s something I should be grateful for. I don’t think I could stomach having to do it any fucking way. But I managed to wrangle him down from demanding forty percent of my monthly earnings to just fifteen.”
“He should be satisfied with whatever you wanted to give him,” Shi said.
“That’s not how Salino works.”
“Is there a way you can… I don’t know… kill him?”
I shook my head. “Not in the cards.”
“So, you have to deal with him for eternity?” Shi asked. “Can you even tolerate that?”
I shrugged. “Well, it’s either accept these conditions or be dead.”
Shi frowned, but didn’t say anything else. I think she got my point. No, I didn’t like that I had to give in to Salino. But I would hate being dead even more. With me out of the way, Salino would have gone for my territory before my corpse turned cold. Not only him, but the griezel king of the city, Damon, would have surely gone for it too. With both factions going for my territory, my pride would have been slaughtered. I couldn’t allow that, so if belonging to Salino was the price I had to pay for his blood to save my life, so fucking be it.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Jewel watched my back as I entered our less than stellar headquarters. I stopped, looking down, relieved to see Sage’s blood had been mopped up. I saw Xavier sitting behind the desk, clicking away on his laptop. He looked up at me, then rose and approached, hugging me. “Are you okay? It’s been a rough twenty-four hours.”
I nodded as we parted. “Tell me about it. Yeah, I’m good. Just came home to change and I actually wanted to talk to you.”
“Oh?” Xavier asked, his arms crossing over his chest. “About what? And are you ever going to introduce me to this lovely lady behind you?”
“Of course. Xavier, this is Jewel. Jewel, this is Xavier. She’s my bodyguard,” I told him as I watched them shake hands.
At the mention of bodyguard, Xavier’s gaze grew serious and he looked at me. “A bodyguard? What the hell? Why?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” I gestured toward my office so we could speak in private. Well, as private as we could with a shifter in the other room. I entered first and Xavier followed behind me, taking a seat in one of the chairs. I sat down on the opposite chair and leaned back. This was going to be harder than I had expected. “Sage… he wanted her to have my back since this mission we’re on could get dangerous. Also, while we’re still trying to figure out who wants him dead, I appreciate the added protection for us. Jewel is highly trained, like you, and a shifter.”
“Haven’t you done enough for him?”
“I agreed to take his case and it remains unsolved. But really, Xavier… it’s deeper than that.”
He sat back in his chair, sighing heavily. “Yeah, I figured as much when you stayed the night in his bedroom. I’m starting to think it was a mistake, taking his case. And what are we even charging him anyway?”
After he heard Sage’s offer, I was sure the price wasn’t going to matter.
“I believe it’s inevitable. Xavier, Sage and I are linked, and the book has revealed so much to me.”
“Yeah, I know… but just how much are you really into this guy? I mean, please tell me you haven’t forgotten that he’s a mob boss.”
“I haven’t. Being a mob boss is just one thing he’s been throughout his lifetime. It’s not all that defines him.”
Xavier laughed and shook his head. “How much Kool-Aid did you drink?Dios mio, la polla es tan Buena?”
My Spanish slang kicked in that Xavier taught me and I snorted. “Oh, the dick is that good, fantastic—exceptional even.”
He sighed. “It was rhetorical, I wasn’t expecting you to answer.”
I frowned. “I know, but you were being acabronefor asking it. It was a low blow and you know it. I’m not some gullible idiot that falls for a handsome face.”
