Conquered by the Mafia Boss

“No problem. It’s probably the closest I’ll ever get to having the same experience.” She gives me a kind of a sad smile as I look at her. “Tommy’s not really the fatherly type.”

Thinking of Tony, I smile. “Yeah, that’s what they all say.”

I shoot off a quick text to him, telling him that I’m heading home just as the subway lurches forward. My phone buzzes and I read his response:

Dinner better be fucking ready when I get back home.

I snort to myself when I read that. He’s joking, right?

It’ll be ready when it’s ready. We just got done shopping.

The message comes back frighteningly quickly, as if he’s watching the screen, just waiting for me to reply.

You’ll have it ready when I get home or you’ll get my hand across your face. Or a belt.

The hostility in the message runs right through me like a sword. What the hell is with him? Cold horror ripples through my stomach and I don’t hear the roar of the subway, or Melanie’s chatter in my ear.Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

Then another text pops up on the screen:

It’s your choice.

They’re the same words Rafael used to hiss in my ear.

Oh God. No, please don’t let that mean what I think it does.

The phone clatters to the floor.

Dimly I hear Melanie’s reproving yell. “Elena!” When I make no move, Melanie picks it up for me. “What’s wrong?”

He fucking got him. He has Tony. Why else would Rafael’s voice come out of Tony’s phone?

“Oh my God.”

“Jesus, what’s wrong?” Melanie’s whitened face turns toward me.

Panic spikes my heart as a horrible image of Tony’s bloodied body flashes in front of my eyes. No, I can’t lose him. I cannot fucking lose him!

“We have to hurry-I have to go home, now!”

“We’re on our way,” she says in a bewildered tone. “Will you tell me what the hell’s going on?”

I look at the subway map, the French names blurring as tears spill from my eyes. Three stops. Three fucking stops.

“Something happened to Tony.”

“What? I didn’t see-” she looks at my phone and reads the texts, biting her lip. “I-don’t see anything suspicious-”

“It’s the sort of thing my ex would say. He has Tony’s phone, which means that-” I can’t bear to finish the sentence, but my voice chokes off in a sob.

He’s probably dead.

“Whoa, don’t you think you might be overreacting?”

I stare at her as impatient rage fumes in my chest. “No, I’m not! I know my ex and I know Tony-this isn’t the way he talks to me.”

I stand up as the door hisses open to my stop, but Melanie grabs my arm and forces me down.

She flinches when I glare at her. “What the hell are you doing?”

“We’re not going to your apartment!”

People filter out of the car as I struggle with her. “Let go of me!” I snatch my arm from her grip.

“Listen to me. If you’re right-”

My voice rises in a snarl. “I know I’m right.”

Her hand reaches out and closes over my wrist, her fingers biting me. “Then he could be waiting for you there. It’s too dangerous.”

She’s right. I don’t stand a chance against my ex. He’s probably just hoping I’ll take the bait and run back home.

The door hisses shut and for some reason the image of a coffin lid closing for the last time burns in my head. A wave of crushing despair slams into my shoulders from above, like a heavy weight. My knees strike the ground. The car echoes with my sobs as passengers give me concerned looks.

Melanie’s gentle hand falls on my head. “Hey, you don’t know what happened. It could be a prank or-or something.”

My eyes burn as I stare at the phone screen, the words bleeding as my eyes well up. I know exactly what happened. That bastard found Tony and probably took him by surprise, and by now he’s probably-he’s gone. Thrown in a ditch somewhere or buried. Jesus-the pain in my heart feels as if it’s going to kill me.

No, I can’t accept that. I sit and gulp down air as my lungs contract. Melanie grips my shoulder hard and whispers in my ear all the bullshit that she thinks will help me feel better.

“We’ll find Tony. Tommy might know something.”

Melanie gets on the phone with her boyfriend as I shake in the seat, staring ahead but not really seeing anything. The phone is hot in my hand, and a wave of nausea overcomes me when I look at it. It’s contaminated. It’s an extension of the man who did nothing but abuse me for months, and now he’s extinguished the only light in my life.

Fucking hell, get a grip on yourself.

Trembling a bit on my feet, I walk out of the car with Melanie fast on my heels. Shopping bags bounce against my legs as I hurtle up the stairs. A silver Mercedes rolls against the curb and Tommy’s anxious head leans toward the window.

“Get in.”

Melanie opens the trunk while I shove the bags inside and then I climb in the backseat as Melanie joins him in the front.

“Tommy-have you heard from Tony?”

He gazes at me from the rear-view mirror. “No, sorry.”

“We need to find him. I think Rafael might have-” the breath hitches in my throat and I swallow hard, clearing it, “might have done something to him.”

Tommy’s eyes widen as he pulls from the curb and drives us away. “What makes you say that?”