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57. She Reassured Her Husband

GWEN

"How did you discover my secret?" Leaning forward, I propped my elbows on the café table and steepled my hands. "I've been ever so careful."

Kayleigh's eyes had popped open wider than a naïve deer frozen to the highway, but they screwed shut when Ben stepped closer. His hands curled around the back of her chair. She sucked in a sharp breath.

"Boss." His harsh whisper floated above her head. "You shouldn't—"

My palm flipped up. "Silence." Memories of Liam's calculating eyes transformed my own. I was ice. "You know better than to question me. Do not force me to take out my frustration on your pretty face again."

Ben gripped the chair tighter to hide the tremor of silent laughter shaking his shoulders. Okay, so I wasn't fooling him with my performance, but Kayleigh was on the edge of her seat. Her fingers danced nervously in her lap.

"I knew it," she breathed. "Ian said I was crazy...but..."

Marnie's head tipped closer to mine. "Let's not rule out that possibility just yet," she muttered.

Frowning, I narrowed my eyes on the woman sitting across from me. I wasn't sure how much longer I should string along Kayleigh's delusions to satisfy my curiosity, but the mention of Ian caught me off guard. Had he shouted that at Kayleigh when she refused to comply with his twisted demands, or...?

"Tell me," I insisted.

Kayleigh's lips twisted again in that strange smile. "Marcello is always surrounded by men. They're all usually so busy staring at my tits they don't bother watching what they say. One morning, a couple of them were having a bitch session about how he was in a foul mood over his son. The traitor who was under your thumb now. The one who betrayed the family over a woman named Giulia." She glanced sideways at Ben's hand before he yanked it off the chair and stuffed it into his pocket. She smiled like that proved her point. "That's all you get for free."

Once upon a time, I would've been desperate to feed this information into my case file and work with Wayne's team to drag every last mobster in for questioning. Connect the dots. Solve the puzzle. But whatever—whoever—was disrupting the underworld had nothing to do with me anymore. I hadn't found my new place in the world, but I knew I wouldn't find it looking behind me at what could've been. I had no reason to keep playing Kayleigh's games.

"How much is it worth to find out the rest?" Kayleigh continued. "And to keep me quiet?"

"I'd say it's worth..." I tapped my chin. "Abso-fucking-lutely nothing." I plastered on a copy of her sweet smile and waved goodbye. "Ta ta!"

"But—but—"

"But nothing. Bye."

Kayleigh's lip curled. "You think I won't tell anyone the truth?"

"The truth?" I laughed. "Tell this fantasy to whoever you want. Sing it from the rooftops. The person you think I am doesn't exist. They're a ghost. A boogeyman the mob uses to warn people that their time is up. Nothing more."

"I know what I heard." She jerked a look over her shoulder at Ben. "I know about him."

"Eh. Him." I lifted a shoulder. "He's striking out on his own after leaving the, um"—I coughed into my fist—"family business. I hired him for personal security." I smiled through all the lies. "You need that when your husband's being stalked by a couple of lunatics."

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm not crazy, and you know it."

"Kayleigh, I'm flattered you think I have enough free time to be a mafia hitman. Truly. But if I'm a ruthless killer, would I just stand by when you tried to take away one of the most precious people in the world to me? Believe me, you'd be the first on my list." I sat back, chuckling to myself. "Maybe I should make an...offer...to Marcello Morelli myself."