The Business Arrangement | Mafia Romance 18+

Chapter Eleven: The Hunt (Part 3)

POV: Henry 

Maya's hand trembles in mine, but I maintain my mask of confident mob boss nonetheless.

"I'm going to take care of this," I repeat, leading her to the couch. "Stay inside. I'll station Trevor outside the door while I'm gone. There'll be two more of my men on the ground floor. Don't open the door for anyone, understand?"

She looks up at me, brows furrowed with worry.

"I don't understand. What are you going to do?"

"What I should have done from the beginning."

It's a half truth.

In all honesty, what happens today will depend on the support I'm able to scrounge up. I can manage well enough on my own, but if I'm going to win this fight the way I want to, I'll need my mother's connections to the other families. Given that she's currently not speaking to me, I don't think it best to bring Maya along when I ask for that help.

"But where are you going? Why do I have to stay here?" Maya's grip tightens on my hand, pulling me back to her.

"I need to pay my mother a visit. I'll be back by tonight."

Her face falls.

"Oh. I understand."

Fuck this.

I'm not about to leave her here thinking this is all her fault.

"Look at me."

She does, albeit reluctantly. Her eyes shine with worry, but I lean down and kiss her one last time. Her lips are soft against mine. Warm and perfect and fucking mine.

I squeeze her hand tighter, then pull back.

"Keep calling Charlotte. Try and convince her to stay home if you can."

She nods. To my relief she looks a bit more determined now that I've given her a task. With luck it'll keep her busy, and I'll have figured all this out by the end of the day.

"I'll see you tonight," I say, by means of farewell.

There's no time to argue. Every minute I spend here is a minute wasted. It only takes a second for me to load and slide both of my favored handguns into the harness beneath my suit jacket. Another for me to slip extra ammunition into the inside pocket. Maya watches silently. I'm halfway out the door before she responds.

"Henry?"

I pause in the doorway.

"Be careful," she whispers.

And somehow, despite everything, the sheer resilience in her tone is what pains me the most.

She shouldn't have to deal with this.

An angel like her should be free to live her life without fear. I may be a devil, but I'm going to do everything in my power to make that a reality.

"I will," I say.

Another promise I might not be able to keep.

But I'm going to try.

The second the door closes behind me, my true feelings rise to the surface.

Pure, unadulterated rage.

"Guard Maya. I'm going out," I text.

Trevor arrives outside the door within a few minutes of me hitting send. I quickly fill him in on the situation.

"Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment," he warns, as I enter the elevator.

It's needless advice, but I know he must be thinking of the last time we were caught in a situation like this. I can't imagine the pain he must feel having to watch the past repeat itself. What thoughts must be going through his mind right now.