Mafia Queen

Chapter Thirty Eight

Angelo

At first, I thought I was hearing things. Charlotte couldn't have possibly agreed to leave the restaurant and go home with Niko. I must have misunderstood.

It wasn't until I watched his car pull around and him help her inside that I fully grasped what was happened. I stood in stunned silence, staring blankly at the feed, wishing I could reach through the screen and knock some sense into that woman.

"What the fuck is she doing?" Marco tossed his headset and darted to the back doors of the van. Axel stopped him, standing in between Marco and the doors and keeping him inside. "Get the fuck out of the way, Axel. They're getting away."

"What do you think you're going to do? Burst out of here and stop them? Let's pretend for a second that we aren't on a crowded street full of civilians that could get caught in the crossfire. Nico would recognize you immediately. The entire thing would be blown and you would pretty much sign Charlotte and Luca's death sentences."

Marco was fuming as he turned to me, desperate for some kind of backup. "You're just going to let this happen?"

"No." I snapped out of my trance and into action. "Axel, get to the wheel and follow them. Marco, you stay back here with me and help me see what we can get from the footage."

They both did as they were told, and I followed Marco over to the TV screens.

"Fuck!" He hissed, slamming a few buttons. "He must have a blocker installed. The camera will record everything, but it will be delayed. We won't get the playback until she's somewhere without the wall."

"So she's out there, with Niko, and we don't have eyes or ears on her?"

Marco sighed, rubbing his forehead. "For right now, yeah."

"I specifically told her not to pull this shit. God damnit, I knew she wasn't ready for this. I'm going to kill her."

"You might not have the chance." Axel's voice broke, and I suddenly realized the van was still. Why weren't we following them? What was going on?

"What do you mean?" I gritted my teeth.

Axel dropped his eyes. "They lost us. His driver must have picked up on the fact they were being followed."

All the air had been sucked out of my lungs as I slammed my fist repeatedly into the siding of the van. A still from earlier was stuck on one of the TVs, Niko with an evil grin on his face as if he was staring right at me and mocking me. I punched the screen, shattering it to my feet as his voice played over the speakers.

I was hoping you'd say that.

Charlotte

As soon as the door to Niko's car shut, an overwhelming panic consumed me. The windows were completely tinted and I couldn't even see out of them, and there were no door handles or anything I could use to open the door. I was literally trapped.

What the hell was I thinking? I was leaving the safety of Marco and Angelo and going with the same man who kidnapped my husband and killed all kinds of other people. Why hadn't I listened to Angelo? Niko was obviously intrigued, and I should have waited until we could make a better plan. Instead, I was sitting inches away from a ruthless man who wouldn't hesitate to slice me open if he even got an inkling that I wasn't who I said I was.

"Do you bring your women with you when you travel?" Niko asked.

"A few of them." I said, twirling the end of my pony tail nervously. "Some of them have clients here, and I would hate to miss a potential opportunity."