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“Crystal, Sir.” She snapped after a few seconds of her deep gaze being buried into mine, her nose flaring in anger before she retreated to the spare bedroom, banging the door behind her.
I exhaled heavily, my frustration making my head pound harder than before.
What the fuck is happening? What was she talking about?
“What the hell did you just do?” Liam asked from behind me.
“I have no fucking idea! I couldn’t let her leave. I would never stand a chance if she left. I have no fucking leverage. You and I both know that even if she left, I would be forced to keep my word and leave the Amatos alone. A deal is a fucking deal and Francesca got one thing right, we agreed to marry, not to stay married.” I confessed as my body fell heavily on the couch.
I used her own moral standards against her. How I’ll take this thing between us to where we were just a few hours ago was beyond me.
“What the fuck happened in that club, man? I can’t believe you would do something like this, not now, anyway.” Liam asked, taking a seat beside me.
“Again, I have no fucking idea. I’m damn sure I didn’t sleep with anyone. I don’t know what Francesca saw, but that wasn’t me. It couldn’t be me,” I tried to replay the whole night in my head, but my memories ended right where they always did. Me talking to Gio in my office.
“Max called to tell me what happened.” He motioned to Max, who stood by the far wall, the reproval still strong in his gaze. “When I got to you, you were passed out cold, alone in your office. Sitting in your chair. I’m guessing someone drugged you. And if someone did, it means it was someone on the inside. That means we have a fucking rotten apple in our garden,” Liam said, and he was completely right.
“The last thing I remember was talking to Gio. He wanted to sort out some routes that have been having trouble. Those damn shipments that keep getting hijacked. I told him to leave because I was suddenly feeling exhausted,” I explained. “That’s my last memory before waking up just a couple of minutes ago.”
“Did you have anything to drink or eat at the club?” he asked, trying to force my foggy memory.
“Now that you mention it, yes. Whiskey. Gio had just served it when I arrived.” That fucking rat! My people were loyal. Doubting them would have never crossed my mind.
“Francesca wanted to see you. I tried calling when we were on our way to the club. When I couldn’t reach you, I texted Gio, asking him to pass on the message.” Max said, making it clear to me that, for some odd reason, Gio had staged whatever Francesca saw.
“That fucking weasel. He set me up,” I growled, anger boiling inside my veins. “What the hell would he stand to gain with this? Who was the blonde, Max?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen her at the club.”
“I trusted that fucker,” I hissed. I was always extremely careful with the people I hired. I knew their secrets, as dark as they could be. And up until today, I had never had a reason to suspect Gio.
“Max, hunt him down. I want him in the basement of the club before he gets a whiff that we’re onto him.”
“None of this leaves this room,” Liam added. “We can’t be sure who to trust right now. If we need anyone else, bring in Mike and Jimmy. After putting their lives on the line for Jamie, I trust them with my life.”
“Max, anything you’d like to add?” Liam stood, stalking towards Max in a slow, hunt-like prowl, his distrust seeping into his tone.
Max stood taller, his chest growing in a defensive stance. He was more than ready to take Liam on if need be.
“He’s clean.” I vouched.
“How can you know for sure? He took her to the club without your consent.”
“Francesca isn’t a woman who waits for a man’s consent,” Max said, stirring both pride and jealousy in me at the sound of his words. They were true, though. That much I knew about my wife.
“That seems like a frail excuse to me. Don’t tell me a soldier can’t hold a woman back.”
“I said, he’s clean,” I repeated, standing to diffuse the tense atmosphere that had settled in the room. “Max, give us a moment.”
“Sure. I’ll be outside.”
Liam stood down, watching Max walk out the back door towards the emergency stairwell, his frame still tense and ready to defend his honor if need be.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Max has secrets. Deep and dark, and I know them all. He’d never betray us. There’s too much to lose for him,” I explained, taking off to the kitchen and getting a bottle of water from the fridge. “Fuck, it’s like I ate sawdust.” I took a huge gulp out of the bottle before speaking again. “How the hell am I going to make this right with Francesca? She fucking hates me.”
“She’s still your wife.”
