Page 55 of Possessive Mafia Bodyguard

“And you betrayed me to the Irish.” His words land like heavy rocks in the middle of the room.

It feels like a metal band is crushing my chest, constricting my airways and applying too much pressure to my heart to think straight. I don’t understand the accusation. Where did this even come from?

“I didn’t. I would never betray you to anyone…”

“Where were you last night, Tamara?”

“I…” I think about Finn barricading his bedroom door with a chair to make me feel safe, and tears sting my eyes. I haven’t cried since my mom died, and I refuse to cry now, especially in front of Leonid. “I was with Finn. The Irish enforcer, but it isn’t what you think. I’ve never told him anything about you.”

It’s a lie though. I told Finn about the Petrovs shortly before I made a hole in his brother’s hand. I also told him about the private discussion between the Ivanov siblings that took place after the Irish left the meeting.

Leonid sits forward again, and now there’s no mistaking the disappointment in his eyes. “As I thought, Tamara.”

“Are you…” I suck my top lip and blink furiously to hold back the tears. Finn is making me soft, and I’m not sure how to be this person without ripping my seams apart and baring my insides for all to see. “You’re not… You’re not going to make me leave, are you?”

His eyes flinch with the first sign of emotion he has shown since I entered the room.

“This is your home. You and Ivana have been with me since you were eight years old, and I’m not about to turn you out onto the streets now. So, no, I’m not going to make you leave. On the contrary. I want you to stay here until you’ve earned my trust again.”

“You’re going to keep me prisoner?” My thoughts are racing.

I shouldn’t have come back this morning. I should’ve stayed with Finn, the man who promised to never stop me from flying away.

“No. You’re going to follow orders and stay in the house until I’m ready to believe you.”

“You can’t do this! You can’t tell me when I can and cannot leave the house. I’m not a child. I can come and go as I please and I don’t need your fucking permission to look for my sister.”

“You’re right, Tamara.” He spreads his hands wide as if in defeat. “You are free to go, but if you leave, you don’t take any weapons with you.”

“Fine.” I huff like a child, achieving the opposite effect to the one I wanted.

“You will also not be allowed back into my home.”

There it is. The sting in the scorpion’s tail. The deadly blow delivered without a hint of emotion.

“You just said⁠—”

“I said I wouldn’t ask you to leave. But if you choose to walk away from me, then you should understand the implications of your actions.”

“But… I have nowhere else to go.”

“Then stay. I’m disappointed that you would throw your life away when it is because of you that the Irish mob are involved in the war between us and the Petrovs.”

I take a moment to process the accusation. “They believed that you were responsible for the trafficking operation.”

I wish I could swallow the words before they’ve even melted into the ether. But it’s too late. Leonid knows that this information didn’t come from him, same as he knows that there is only one other source I could’ve heard this from.

“I don’t understand how you think that this is my fault,” I conclude.

“You disobeyed my orders to attend the Calumet Harbor and report back to me in Ivana’s place.”

“I followed your orders!”

My voice is shrill with impatience and frustration at Leonid’s calm manipulation of the conversation. Sure, I’ve seen him weave circles around business associates and rivals, but he’s never used this tactic on me before, and I feel like the mouse that walked straight into the trap.

“Wait. What?” One important detail is seeping through my increasing resentment and waving a banner at me to pay attention. “Calumet Harbor?”

Leonid narrows his eyes at me, waiting for my next outburst.