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EIGHT

zina

H alfway to the mall, just as I turn a corner, I press my foot against the brake, and nothing happens. It’s floppy and lose as though something has disconnected.

Panic spins through me as they car carries on rolling forward.

Grabbing the steering wheel tighter I yank the car to the left, managing to ramp the pavement and hit a light post instead of hurting anyone.

The jolting impact takes me breath away for a second, but then anger takes over and I push the door open in a huff.

This wasn’t an accident. It was too perfect.

His sons are determined to get rid of me in whatever way they can - but this is pushing the boundaries. I could’ve been in a serious accident.

People are gawking at me as I pace up and down next to the car, my high heels clipping loudly against the sidewalk with the phone pressed to my ear.

“I need you to send a driver.” I snap at the security officer who runs Giovanni’s estate. “I’ll send the location.”

The boys will expect me to throw a tantrum. They’ll be waiting, eagerly for a reaction from me. They’ll probably expect me to rat them out to Giovanni.

Instead, I’m going to play this cool. I meant it when I said they have no idea who they’re messing with.

The driver arrives and I even though he’s worried about me, I tell him to take me to the mall, not home. I still have shopping to do and I’m not letting those assholes ruin my plans.

The security office makes arrangements to have my car towed.

But at the mall I’m in for another surprise.

After taking my time to select my face creams and lotions and shampoo and conditioner - I’m not standing at the cashiers desk and she’s looking extremely embarrassed on my behalf as I hand her another card. “Please try this one.” I sigh.

But it doesn’t work either.

All of my cards have been cancelled.

Every single one of them.

“If you like I can set it aside for you and you can draw cash?” The cashier asks.

“No, it’s ok. I’ll come another day. I don’t have time to run back and forth now.” I say in frustration.

She nods, her smile so forced it looks painful.

At the mansion Santino and Romeo have their eyes on me. They follow me into the kitchen, pretending to be looking for a snack.

They’re waiting for my reaction.

The car has been taken to a mechanic and Gio was notified by the security team, but I didn’t tell anyone what actually happened.

The boys know though - and they’re confused.

“Did it just breakdown?” Romeo asks, leaning with his elbow against the kitchen counter as I lean into the fridge to retrieve a bottle of water. His eyes are glued to me, as are Santino’s.

“I think we both know what happened to the car.” I say calmly, pouring a glass of water.

“Didn’t you go to the mall? Where is your shopping?” Santino chuckles dryly.

“You know what, it turns out that I just didn’t like any of the brands they had. I’ll order online instead.”

Romeo glances at Santino. This is not what they were hoping for.

I smile. “Did you have to google it?” I ask, tilting my head to the side.

“Google what?” Santino snaps.

“How to cut brake lines.”

“What they fuck are you talking about?” he snarls, standing up straight and pushing his shoulders back. His voice has turned defensive.

I giggle quietly. “It just surprises me, that’s all.”

He scrunches his face in annoyance. “What does?” he can’t resist asking.

I walk over to him and take his hand in mine. He’s rigid and awkward as I turn his palm upwards, brushing my thumb over it. “You have such delicate skin, not the skin of a man who works for what he has in life. It just surprised me that would get your hands dirty like that.”

He yanks his hand away from me. His face flushing with embarrassment. “I work for what I have.” He snarls.

“Is that so?” I shrug, still smiling when I walk out of the kitchen.

I stop just outside the door, standing quietly to listen to whatever they’ll say to each other now that they think I’m gone.

“It didn’t work.” Romeo hisses. “You said she’d be scared, and she’d run away.”

“I know, for fuck sakes. I thought she would have by now. We’ve been doing things to break her down since she got here and none of it is working.” Santino is confused and annoyed.

Nodding in satisfaction I walk away. Let them see that I’m stronger than they think. And maybe now they’ll stop underestimating me.

In the living room Giovanni is in a heated conversation with his head of security, Fabio. He’s pacing with his face knotted and his jaw clenched. I press my back against the wall, watching from around the corner. Tension is high in the estate today.

“Who the fuck is doing it?” Giovanni snarls.

“We don’t know yet. We’re trying to figure it out.” Fabio answers.

“This is the third time they’ve interfered with one of our shipments in the past two weeks.”

“I know. I’m working on it though. It’s like they have someone on the inside - feeding them information. We changed the route at the last minute this time and they still got to it.”

“Someone on the inside?” Giovanni says, tensely.

Fabio sighs heavily.

“Sir, I know it’s not an easy thing to accept, but have you noticed how tense and on edge the estate has been since she moved in with that kid?”

My heart stutters in my chest and I hold my breath, listening closer.

“What is your point? What does that have to do with any of this?” Giovanni says sharply.

Santino walks into the living room, answering for Fabio. “He thinks she has something to do with it. That she’s the spy.” Santino huffs, flopping into the sofa.

“I didn’t say that exactly.” Fabio corrects him, trying to be more cautious with his words. “But I do think it might be better if you asked her to leave.” He admits.

I’m so tense my ears are ringing as I wait for Giovanni’s response.

He’s hesitating. He’s not immediately telling them they’re wrong about me. The realization that he isn’t confident that I am not the traitor shoots through me like an arrow. It hurts.

“Look, let’s just keep investigating.” Gio sighs. “There has to be a clue, something to lead us in the right direction.”

I bite at my lower lip. He didn’t agree with them, but he also didn’t exactly defend me either.

I should focus on the positive. He might not have my back yet, but he wasn’t willing to throw me to the wolves either. Maybe it means I’m getting somewhere - and slow progress is better than no progress at all.

But what the hell are they talking about regarding the shipments. Someone is messing with the family business - and they think it’s me.

If they think it’s me, they’ll spend their time looking for evidence against me - to prove their bias - instead of looking for the real culprit.

I have no choice but to start digging into this myself.

I have to find out who is responsible before they find a way to pin this on me as a guaranteed chance of getting rid of me.

I wouldn’t put it past them to fake evidence if that’s what it took.

Dammit.

If they managed to somehow convince Giovanni that I am responsible it will be worse than just being kicked out of the estate. Enemies are dealt with brutal and deadly consequences.

Guido and I will disappear from this earth.

That evening I start reaching out to my connections. I need to get ahead of this. I message the private investigator who helped me with proving Guido is Gio’s son. At first he’s reluctant to become involved, but I assure him that he will be compensated double whatever he’s expecting and that I won’t mention his name to anyone. He can remain anonymous.

I’m flooded with relief when he agrees.

After that I’m still tense and anxious, but at least I’m not going to be caught off guard when this whole thing comes crashing down.

Putting my phone away I make my way downstairs. Dinner will be served soon. I have to put on my brave face and confront whatever shit his sons are going to be handing out tonight.

But half way down the stairs I hear screaming and shouting and instantly know something is very wrong.

I run down the stairs, two at a time, almost tripping. Bolting into the dining room, Santino has Guido pinned to the floor, and he’s punching him, over and over again while Guido screams and does his best to fight back.

“Get off him.” I scream, but my voice is lost in the chaos.

Romeo and Dante are standing to the side. Romeo is smiling. Dante looks horrified.

“Get off him.” I scream again, trying to grab Santino’s shirt and pull him away, but he swings backwards, and I lose my grip and fall hard onto my ass.

Giovanni bursts into the room and grabs Santino, lifting him in the air as he tugs him off Guido . He pushes Santino away and stands between the two of them.

“What the fuck is going on?” he snarls angrily.

Santino immediately starts accusing Guido .

“He stole from me. That fucking little dickhead went into my room and stole from me.” He shouts.

“When?” I say in desperation. “H’s been in his room all day. He doesn’t even come into your side of the house.”

“What, you have eyes in the back of your head? Don’t defend him. I found the money under his pillow.”

“Money?” I stammer in disbelief.

Guido has never stolen in his life. And he doesn’t need money. There is no reason for him to risk everything to steal from Santino.

I look at Giovanni, desperate for him to put an end to this.

“Apologize.” He says to Guido .

“What?” I snap in disbelief.

“If the boy stole, he needs to apologize.”

Guido is standing, his hands shaking as he listens to the accusations. Blood is flowing from his nose and one eye is already darkening with a blue bruise.

I step in front of him, protecting my son because apparently his father isn’t going to.

“My son would never steal.” I snarl, like a lioness defending her cub.

Giovanni bites down hard and shakes his head.

“Apologize.” He says again.

Santino is smiling so coldly it makes me want to slap him.