Captive of my mafia crush

Chapter 12

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13:09

“Christian,” I say, pressing my hands to my chest and willing him to see the truth in every ounce of me, “I swear to you, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I am not intentionally keeping something back – if there’s something I’m missing? I don’t know what it is.”

“Think hard, Iris,” Christian says, still staring down at me. “What is it that you know? About your boyfriend, or his debt? Why would they still be chasing you?

I stutter through all of it then – everything I know about Steven’s debt, what they showed me on the video last night, what Steven said on the Facetime, even the little scraps I know about Steven trading crypto. But honestly,

even as I say it, I know that it’s nothing.

Christian continues to clench his jaw, shaking his head down at me as the pieces fail to come together. He opens his mouth to demand something new, getting angry now – but then Nico, of all people, interrupts.

“What if it’s not something she knows,” he says, and both Christian and I snap our attention to him. “What if it’s something she has?”

“What are you talking about?” Christian snaps.

“Well, she obviously doesn’t know sh it,” Nico says, rolling his eyes a bit. “This Steven guy really did a number on her,” he continues before shifting his eyes to me, “though you were kind of an idiot for just handing him your paychecks without asking any questions about this debt you were paying off -”

“Enough,” Christian growls, his voice low.

Nico puts up his hands in a gesture of peace and moves on. “But, seriously, if she doesn’t know anything, maybe she has something

I stare at him for a second and then gesture at my body with my hands. “I think we established last night that I came here with nothing”

“Here with nothing.” Nico says, tilting his head to the side and holding my gaze. “But what did you bring to the club last night?”

My eyebrows go up and Frankie stands up straighter next to Nico, looking at him, impressed. “A bag,” I say, turning back towards Christian. “I brought my black duffel, like I always do. In it is my phone, and my clothes for

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Chapter 12

after the shift, and some of my books so I could study between sets.”

My head whips to Frankie when he suddenly laughs. What?

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“That’s just so geeky for a stripper,” he says with a shrug and a smile. “Seriously, do you do like, a sex y act? A geeky stripper could seriously sell -”

teacher

“Frank!” Christian snaps and Frankie works very hard to wipe his face of his glee. But he fails, just a little bit, so instead he turns his face away so Christian can’t see it.

I look back up at Christian, who is shaking his head, staring up at the ceiling. “No, it doesn’t make sense,” he murmurs. “If there was something in your bag, they’d have recovered it. Even after we took you, Bonetti would have had his guys combing the place.”

I bite my lip, thinking, and then I go still as I realize something. “Unless…someone grabbed it for me,” I whisper.

Christian reaches out and grabs my arm – not hard, or cruel, but certainly full of demand. My eyes go wide and my stomach fills with butterflies because..

Well, da mn it, because I kind of like it, when he grabs me that way, all bossy. Go d, what is wrong with me?

“Who?” he demands, his brows low over his eyes.

“Anthony,” I whisper, nodding. “If he could, he would have taken it on his way out. We watch each other’s backs like that”

“Number?” Nico says, pulling out his phone, and I turn towards him even though my arm is still held in Christian’s. Anthony’s number easily falls from my lips.

“Why do you know that by heart?” Christian asks softly as Nico dials and lifts the phone to his ear, stepping a few feet away. I hesitate and then slowly look up at Christian. The corner of his mouth turns up in a sad smile. “That boyfriend – he wouldn’t have liked seeing another guy’s name in your phone, would he?”

I blush, ashamed, and lower my eyes as I shake my head.

Christian doesn’t say anything, and both of us turn our attention to Nico as he talks quite quickly to someone on the phone. Suddenly he looks up at me, gesturing me to come forward, and takes the phone from his ear. As! walk over, he puts it on speaker.

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Chapter 12

“She’s right here,” Nico says, his voice a little angry. “She’ll tell you herself.”

“Anthony?” I ask.

“Oh my go d, Iris,” he gasps. “Are you okay!?”

“I’m fine,” I say, all in a rush, “seriously, I’m fine, are you!?”

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“I am – what the hell happened last night!? One second you’re counting cash, then you’re being accosted by thugs, and then you’re being carried out of the club over the shoulder of some other mafia thug! What the hell?!”

Nico’s eyes darken a little to hear himself referred to as a thug, but he doesn’t say anything.

“Um,” I say, looking up at Christian, who slowly shakes his head, silently telling me not to spill any secrets right now – not even to my friend. “Listen, Anthony, all I can say is that I’m fine-”

“Which is what you would say if you had a gun to your head!”

“I don’t! I promise I don’t! I’m literally having coffee in a very fancy apartment!”

Anthony goes silent for a second. We all wait.

“Fine,” he snaps. “Prove it.”

“What?” I breathe.

“Make a noise with the coffee cup, now! Before you whoever has you can fake it!” I lean over and quickly grab a spoon off the counter, tapping it on the ceramic mug..

“Can you hear it? A spoon, on a mug-”

“Now stir it!” he demands. I sigh, doing as I’m told and holding the mug close to the phone so that he can, absurdly, hear me stirring a spoon in the coffee. “Fine,” he says, with a heavy, relieved sigh. “Okay, fine, I…” believe you. A little bit. Now, why are you calling me from your kidnapper’s apartment?”

“Anthony” I say, eager. “Did you take my bag?”

}

“How did you know that?” he breathes, shocked. I beam at the phone and then up at Christian.

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Chapter 12

“Did you really?” I ask, laughing a little. “With all my stuff in it!?”

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“Yes,” he sighs, “you messy bi tch, I grabbed your bag after you got hauled off by that hot guy – seriously, who was that? Is he there!? If so, I am leaving you to your fate-”

Nico’s face instantly brightens.

I roll my eyes and open my mouth to reply, but Christian nudges me with his elbow, showing me a post-it note on which he’s written “tell him you’re sending someone to get it.”

I do as I’m told, giving Anthony the details and then hanging up the phone after thanking my friend profusely and assuring him I’m okay, and that no one’s going to come to his house and kill him. As soon as Anthony’s even slightly on board, Nico hangs up his phone.

“Messy bit ch?” he says, raising an eyebrow at me with a smirk.

“He was talking about you,” I say, crossing my arms and giving him a little glare.

Frankie, of course, laughs while Christian tells Nico to hit the road. Nico sighs, clearly unhappy to be the one playing delivery boy, but he heads for the door and grabs a set of keys from a basket as he goes.

“So, do you believe me?” I ask, looking up at Christian. “That I have no idea why they’re chasing me- what they want?”

“That all depends,” he says, turning his head and glaring down at me. “On what’s in the duffle bag.”

I sigh, staring at him and shaking my head. “Honestly, Christian,” I say, my voice soft. “After everything we’ve been through? You seriously don’t trust me?”

says.

He takes a long moment before he replies. “I want nothing more in the world than to trust you, Iris,” he “But after everything I’ve been through? I’ve learned that even the people you love the most in the world can turn on you when the incentives are high enough.”

My heart aches for Christian even as my mind turns, wondering what on earth he could have faced in the past thirteen years that turned him so cold.

And honestly, to turn him into the man who stands before me? Honestly, it must be so bad that I’m not sure I want to know.

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