His Mafia Queen

Rage

GABRIEL

Two of my capos and I are headed all the way out to a goddamn state park to meet up with a guy about a thing. I'm in a bitch of a mood, ever since seeing Riley at Catherine's gallery.

My mind's been reeling ever since that little debacle. After Riley had run out, I'd demanded to know if Catherine realized I was dating Riley.

She claimed that she didn't, and I left without saying goodbye, trying to catch up with Riley. She was nowhere to be found, and now she's not answering my calls.

Serves me right for not telling Riley that Catherine was back. Serves me right for trusting Catherine, whose motives are unclear at best, and devious at worst.

I heave a sigh.

"You okay, boss?"

"A lot of shit in my brain right now. Let's just get this over with."

I turn to my phone and text Riley for the fifth time, trying not to sound like I'm begging her to call me back. If she doesn't get in touch with me by the time I'm finished tonight, I might resort to begging — or, more likely, banging on her door and trying like hell to explain myself.

This is all my fault, and guilt is clawing at my skin. How could I fuck up with Riley so badly? She's only been open and caring with me, and I repay her by keeping secrets.

I'm a fucking idiot, and I need to make this right. She's the best thing that's happened to me in years.

I stare at the phone's screen, willing Riley to text back before the car stops. She doesn't, and the driver pulls into a dark parking lot.

"Fuck," I mutter.

We all get out, and one of the capos, a burly guy who is a friend of my father's, pops the trunk.

"Give me one," I say.

The capo, Tony, hands me a semi-automatic. It feels cool and heavy and familiar in my hands.

I pull back the slider. "Let's go."

The driver and the second capo stay behind, while Tony and I walk in the dark woods, down a path. The moon is only half-full, but bright enough to lead the way. One of my guys has brought a traitor here, a footsoldier who hasn't paid what I'm owed.

"I can't fucking believe we're doing this again," Tony says, referencing our previous meeting with Bruno.

"No shit," I say bitterly. I'm more annoyed that this requires all my attention right now. I can't even look at my phone to see if Riley returned my text.

We come to a clearing, and I see our guy standing near a tree. When we reach him, I spot the traitor roped to the trunk.

"Nice job," I say to the loyal man. "Get the fuck out of here now and let us deal with it. And don't worry, you're getting a nice Christmas bonus for this."

The guy runs off, leaving Tony and I facing the man tied to the tree. He's already bloody and half conscious, but lucid enough to know he's in deep shit.

"Take it easy," I say. "We just want to talk."

"It wasn't me who took the money. It was Big Al."

"Big Al." I shake my head. Dude's trying to pin his theft on one of my oldest guys. "Really?"

"You're going to kill me for something I didn't do. You need to believe me, it was Al."

I inspect my gun in the moonlight while Tony crosses his beefy arms.

"Are you sure? Sure it wasn't someone else?"

"No, it was Al. It's all his fault."

Al would never betray me like that. Plus I've got video of this fucker stealing cash from my warehouse.