Page 15 of The Mafia's Captive

He seems wounded by this as if I hit a low blow. “I know you see me as a big bad wolf, but psychological warfare is not my thing. I genuinely wanted to know.”

“Sure.”

He looks like he wants to say more, but drops it and changes tact. “What about your father?”

“What about him? I’ve never met him.”

This doesn’t seem to satisfy him. His eyes narrow, as if trying to determine if it’s a lie. Why he cares makes little sense, so I ignore him and continue eating. His gaze never leaves me the entire time.

6

The more I try to understand, the more enigmatic she becomes. Is she lying to me or is she hiding something? It makes sense in a way if I am to go by the information I’ve gathered so far. She had broken up with her boyfriend like she said and even though he was begging her to reunite in texts; my people also saw him with several other women. Seems like he couldn’t handle a woman leaving him and had nothing with him regretting not being with him. Add to that, Jesse didn’t buy the explanation of moving in with a boyfriend and is constantly calling. That’s why I need Corina to convince her friend that she’s moved out.

“Jesse has been asking about you.”

“I thought you said you could convince her about my disappearance.”

“She’s been calling. I guess she wants to hear your voice.” I slide the phone towards her. “You need to call her.”

“And tell her what? That I’m being held hostage by her boss?”

“If you say that, there will be consequences.”

She gulps as my words sink in. Good. Be afraid. I take the phone, dial the number of her friend and I place it in the middle of the table with the speakerphone on. After four rings, Jesse answers. “Corina!”

She glances at me and then says in an overly cheery voice, “Hi!”

“Corina, where the hell are you?”

“I, um, with a friend.”

“Please. The only friend you have is me. Is something wrong? What did Dante want with you? I heard he was interrogating you. Something about money?”

She casts another weary glance at me. “Oh, no, it’s nothing like that at all. The thing is…”

“Is something happening between you two?”

“Uh…”

“I knew it. That’s why you’ve been cagey, haven’t you?”

“You found me out.” This time, her gaze has a more mischievous glint in it. “I’ve been seeing him for a short while now and uh, he sprang this surprise trip on me.”

That little bitch. I shake my head, asking her not to suggest what she’s suggesting, but she ignores me and continues, “He’s taking me out of the country and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“Wow. You’re so lucky. I could tell by the way he was looking at you. I knew there was something going on.”

“Nothing gets past you, Jesse.”

“I wish I was you. But from woman to woman; how good is he in bed? I heard he knows how to make a girl forget her name. That’s why you weren’t answering my calls?”

‘Cut the call.’ I mouth. The conversation has already gone longer than necessary.

Corina smiles. “He’s fine. Don’t believe the rumors. But, hey, I need to go. I thought I should give you a heads up.”

“When will you be coming back to work? You know, if you play your cards right, you know he could be your sugar daddy.”

‘Cut it.’ I mouth again. And finally Corina says, “I’m not sure when I will be back.” Her tone is shaky when she says those last three words, “But I have to go, okay? Dante is begging me to hang up.”

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