Lahat ng Kabanata ng Running From The Mafia CEO: Kabanata 41 - Kabanata 50

Lucien My phone vibrates against the polished wood of my desk, the screen flashing a name I hadn’t expected to see. Guiliana’s father. I hesitate for a second, finger hovering over the green icon. He’s never been someone who makes calls without purpose, and I know that purpose is likely something calculated, measured, and precise. I swipe to answer.“Lucien,” his voice greets me, warm but measured. “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”“Not at all,” I reply, masking the subtle edge in my voice. “What can I do for you?”He clears his throat. “I wanted to speak in person. It’s important.” There’s a pause, deliberate, as if he wants me to understand that this isn’t a casual meet-and-greet. “Would you be able to come by my office this afternoon?”I glance at the clock. Early enough to catch him without the day winding down, but late enough that my schedule isn’t interrupted. “I’ll be there in an hour,” I say.The drive is quiet, the hum of the city muffled by the soundproof glass of my car. I

“He’s your mom’s boss,” Celia says before I can peel my tongue off the roof of my mouth.Adrianna’s eyes widen. “Her boss?”She lets go of Celia’s hand and marches over to me, folding her arms across her chest when she stops a few feet away. Her chin lifts, just like her mother’s, ever so high and challenging. “I don’t like you.”The words sting more than they should. But I swallow it down. I’d rather change her mind than let it break me.“Why?” I ask gently.She huffs, clearly unimpressed. “Because of the mean woman. The woman who was mean to Mommy.”My gaze snaps to Celia.She sighs, like she’s already tired of the subject, rolling her eyes. “It’s nothing. Some woman we ran into at the mall.”“No,” I say, pushing to my feet. “Please tell me about her. If Maya’s being threatened in any way, it’s my responsibility—as her boss—to step in.”Celia blinks once, pursing her lips dramatically. “And why would that be your responsibility?” Her tone sharpens. “The woman called her a low-level

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVEMaya“124 Broadway Road. 20 minutes.”My hands are shaking as I stare at the text from my stalker. This has to be a joke. But it isn't. He has made that we'll known. I have barely slept since last night. I’m constantly jolting awake, thinking that someone is going to grab Adriana. There is no telling what this stalker wants. I’m not even one bit ashamed that I laid awake with my arms around her.My head is already hurting, thinking about who it is. And so are my eyes.Maybe if I didn’t work for the FBI once upon a time, I would have easily figured out who this person was. But even I know that I have a long list of enemies. There is no telling who it could be.God, I miss the old Maya. The current me has everything to lose.“We're going to be late!” Adriana screams, heading downstairs with her bag. I plaster a fake smile on my face, just as I have done this whole time.“We can't have that now, can we?” I ask, quickly putting her in the car and securing her seatbelt

I open my eyes to someone pounding on the door, only to realize seconds later that it’s not the door. It’s my head. My head is literally splitting, like someone took a hammer and went to town. I struggle to sit up, but gravity forces bile from my stomach to my throat. I barely make it to the bathroom, dropping to my knees with my head down the toilet bowl, before I’m hurling everything out. It feels like my intestines are about to make a break through my mouth too—and I’m gripping the edge of the bowl, begging them to stay in place while I puke out everything else. What did I do last night? I don’t have to think too far. The answer comes to me like the walk of shame, ringing alarm bells in my still-aching head. Drink. That’s what. I had two glasses, or three, I can’t recall, before Antonio came along. Then he forced a glass on me that I couldn’t ignore, because, tada—Paris! After that…I shake my head, frowning when my memories come up blank. After that? I turn away from th

Lucien It’s none of my business. I shouldn’t care if Maya is sleeping with my brother. She’s an adult who’s unspoken for. Antonio’s a…pig, but he’s a pig who wouldn’t be able to coerce someone like Maya into doing anything unless she said wanted it. But I wish it’d remained between them. I wish I’d never known what happened in Paris. I would’ve died a better man not knowing that my brother and the woman I spent the night in the same room, after racking up a bill that was so high it caught my attention. He just had to send me the pictures. Maya scoffs, her lips pulled tight to the side. “What do you mean by sleeping with your brother? Are you trying to get something from me?”“Something?”She’d deny it. Of course. It’s not my business to know. I’m the man who blackmailed her into working for him and turned up at her apartment, demanding to spend time with his daughter, whom he never knew about until he decided to go searching for her mother. She hates me. But it seems there's e