Page 22 of Twisted Trust (Mafia Lords of Sin #10)

MAEVE

C an this day possibly get any worse?

My face-to-face with Detective Andrew Hogg pales in comparison to where this taxi is taking me.

A one-on-one session with Marcella for a dress fitting.

No one told me that the mother of the groom gets the final say on the wedding dress.

In any other situation, I’d be relieved to have something off my plate, but this feels like a test.

Or a trap.

I don’t trust Marcella Gallo, not even for a second. She plays the pristine woman, acting like she’s nothing but elegance and refinery, but she’s the reason I fled New York for Las Vegas. Well, one of the reasons but definitely the last.

The last time I tried to speak to her, other than her disregard for me in Levi’s penthouse, was a few months after Scott was born.

I fell dreadfully ill, battling one infection after another, and one terrible night, I feared I wouldn’t live to see Scott reach six months.

So I reached out to Levi’s family, specifically his mother.

I knew his family wanted me dead, but I hoped something about my situation would reach Marcella’s cold heart.

I was so terrified of dying and leaving Scott with no one that I saw no other choice.

Mother to mother, I prayed Marcella’s desire to see her grandchild would overrule any other thoughts of hatred she felt toward me.

But she never replied. Instead, a man turned up on my doorstep and threatened to kill me if I didn’t leave the city, telling me it was all for my own good and my own survival.

So I took Scott and I ran, vowing never to reach out to anyone ever again.

Now I’m to attend a dress fitting with the same woman who sought to kill me. It’s weird how things turn out.

By the time the taxi pulls up to the boutique, my nerves are shot.

It’s one thing after another today and I don’t know how much more I can take.

With any luck, the dress isn’t hideous and I can just nod my way through the entire thing and return home to my son.

Leaving him behind was hard enough, but I couldn’t bring him to the police station.

I pay the driver and stumble out of the taxi, smoothing my sweaty hands down my jeans and heading inside. I’m greeted by a man at the door who raises one brow at me in silent question.

“I have an appointment, I think? With Mrs. Gallo?”

“Right through the back there, last curtain on the left,” he replies curtly.

I don’t miss the way his questionable gaze flicks down me, but I don’t have the mental capacity to hold space for his judgment.

I’m trying to remember how to act like a regular person but my mind buzzes like a hive, and my stomach twists like a writhing pit of snakes.

And then I see him.

Chip. He’s standing outside the curtain in question. Our eyes meet briefly with a silent question held in mine, but he merely drags the curtain to the side and closes it after me when I walk into the room.

The oval room is rather small with a single circular stage in the middle under some soft spotlights.

Multiple black sofas ring the perimeter of the room and another curtain directly across from me is pulled aside.

I glimpse some sparkling fabrics through the gap, but they barely hold my attention because for some reason, it’s not Marcella I’m facing.

It’s Levi and his cold expression is sucking up all the air in the room.

“Levi, what are you doing here?”

He paces slowly around the other side of the stage, not speaking.

“Am… am I supposed to be meeting your mother?”

Levi snorts very subtly. “I sent her home.”

“Is she alright?”

“She’s fine. But you?” Levi’s sharp gaze locks onto me as he continues to slowly walk around the stage toward me. “How have I let you trick me twice?”

Exhaustion pulls like a rough rope through my mind and I briefly close my eyes. “I’m too tired for your guessing games.”

“Five years ago, I thought you were the love of my life. This random woman with such a spark in her eyes, who was frankly a terrible hostess but an incredible lover. I thought I’d found the one person who saw me as a real person and instead, I got you.

A traitor who took the secrets I entrusted her with and ran straight back to her fucking boss. ”

The hell is he talking about?

A prickling warmth pulls down my spine and a sudden wave of nausea cramps through my gut while my knees press together. Before I can speak, he continues on.

“And five years later, I find you doing the very same thing again only this time, instead of betraying me to my enemies, you’re talking to the fucking cops?”

“What?” How the hell does he know that? “Were you following me?”

“I hardly think that’s the issue,” he barks as his anger rises.

“But no, I had to track you because when I called to check up on you, they told me you’d snuck out and left Scott in the hands of security.

I thought to myself, what could be so fucking important that she leaves her son with strangers?

And then I see with my own eyes, you’re getting coffee with a detective? Having a cozy little chat, were you?”

He’s so close I can see the dark brown ring that hugs his honey-gold iris. Eyes I used to lose myself in, and now they bring me nothing but fury.

“Was it all a setup to get back in my life? Was Cameron a setup by you? Is that kid even yours or is he as fake as you?”

Something inside me snaps.

Deep down, something cold breaks apart and seeps through me like venom flooding into my veins. Before I can stop myself, I’m slapping Levi so hard that his head whips to the side and he has to take a step back.

“How dare you!” I yell as fury surges through me so rapidly that I can barely breathe.

“How fucking dare you! I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.

Five years ago? I have no fucking clue what you’re accusing me of, but I can tell you right now that I didn’t do anything to hurt you!

I went to bed and woke up to the news that you were dead, understand?

No fucking warning, no explanation! I grieved you! ”

He lifts his head and I slap him again as hard as I can muster. My palm stings hotly as tears burst into my eyes.

“I mourned you for months and then a year later, I find out that you’re alive and well!

Who the fuck fakes their death to break up with someone, huh?

And then when I tried to reach out because I was sick and scared, I get some asshole telling me that I have to leave if I want to survive because you want me dead .

That your whole family wants me dead! So don’t you stand there and call me some traitor when you’re the one who lied! You destroyed us! You broke me!”

I hit him again. Then again. When he doesn’t lift his head, I slap his shoulder and his arm over and over with both hands.

“I didn’t do shit!” Tears stream down my cheeks. “And now I’m back in this hell because of you, Levi! It’s all you!”

Suddenly, he surges up and catches both my wrists and pushes me backward. I wrestle against him until his movements push me back, sending me down onto the couch, and then he’s over the top of me with fire blazing in his eyes.

“I saw you talking to the cops!” he yells, seemingly unfazed by my struggles.

“Because of you!” I sob. “It’s all because of you! My life is ruined because of you!”

“So you run to the fucking police?”

“No!” I sob, finally ceasing my struggles.

“You forget that I’m just a normal person, Levi.

I’m not from your world. I have normal shit to deal with and when you took me to the hospital after I was mugged, guess what they did?

They had to call the cops because of the gunshot wound and they’ve been looking for me ever since! ”

Levi finally seems to hesitate. His eyes roam over my face for a few long minutes, then he sinks back into the couch and releases me, allowing me to sit up. A sob hiccups out of me as I kick at his thigh to force distance between us.

“Why?” he asks, and his jaw clicks with his restrained anger. “Why were they looking for you?”

“You want to know why? Fuck you, that’s why.” Scrambling in my pocket, I drag out the letter the detective gave me at the station and shove it hard against his chest. “There was an old warrant out for me and you put me back on their radar!”

Levi catches the paper before it can fall. “A warrant? For what?”

“I’m being sued.” Tiredness seeps back into my bones and I slump forward, holding my head in my hands.

“My old landlord is suing me for 800 bucks for overdue rent and utilities. So you see? Whatever twisted picture you have of me in your mind is bullshit. I’m just a person, Levi.

A regular fucking person dealing with shit like this! ”