“You are talented, I give you that. Even with all the resources at my disposal, it took several days to figure out your identity and several more to figure out where you’d gone after you stole from me. To be honest, I’m surprised that you had the balls to stay in my city after that,” he said calmly, but there was a dangerous undertone to his voice that hadn’t been there before.
I didn’t like it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I countered, feeling more and more uneasy by the second.
“Are you telling me that you don’t know the Montagna family?” He cocked his head.
I swallowed hard. I did know that name.
Now it all started to make sense. My thighs trembled beneath me, and I did my best to keep standing up. It wouldn’t be good for me if I showed my fear.
I’d been taken by one of the biggest mafia families in New York. I hadn’t heard whispers of them in some time, but by the looks of things, they were still here in the city. Thriving even.
“Does that mean something?” I replied, figuring it would be best to play the clueless girl for as long as possible. Maybe he’d let me go if I just kept playing dumb.
“You’re a pretty thing, but that doesn’t mean that you get to be coy with me,” he replied. His voice had turned somehow harder, and my core squeezed tight with anxiety. My stomach felt like a thousand butterflies were fluttering and pitching inside it and I did my best to swallow back my rising panic. I lifted my chin, pulling my shoulders back and standing as tall as I could.
“Fuck off,” I sneered. For a moment, his upper lip furrowed with anger at my reply, but I ignored it as best as I could and then it was gone.
He sighed. His disappointment radiated off him in waves and I grew exceedingly uncomfortable at what that might mean for me.
He seemed almost weary and that was the most unsettling part of all.
“Let me go. I don’t know anything,” I demanded, and he chuckled quietly. His arrogance radiated off him in waves and he shook his head. He didn’t believe me. I gritted my teeth, trying to remain strong even in the face of danger.
“You stole from me, Miss Everson. You will not be released until you return what was not yours to take,” he countered.
“I didn’t take anything from you,” I scoffed, and he shook his head again. He didn’t believe me. How could he know? I had been so careful to avoid the cameras at the mansion, but what if I’d missed one somehow? What if I’d overlooked something else and he had evidence?
I had assumed the cache had belonged to some rich family with old money that had been gone on vacation for some time. The deeds to the house hadn’t mentioned the Montagna family. Nothing had.
I’d unwittingly robbed the safehouse of one of the biggest mafia families in the world.
I was fucked. Absolutely, positively fucked.
He cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest. I shuffled from one foot to the other, waiting for him to break the silence and give me some sort of clue about what was going to happen next.
“You sold a piece of jewelry to a friend of mine. It was a one-of-a-kind ruby necklace that had been in the Montagna family for more than fifty years,” he explained, almost as if he could read the questions in my mind.
I knew the one he was talking about, but I was careful not to show that recognition on my face.
“He’s the one that told me your name,” Jon continued.
I didn’t know what to say. I turned my head, wanting to be out of his ire for only a second until I figured out my next move.
“He also told me about your very special set of skills and how much that skillset is valued on the open market,” he added.
Fucking hell. I lifted my chin bravely, trembling slightly as my mind raced through possible next moves.
He smiled tightly, clearly enjoying watching me squirm. “So, let me tell you how this is going to go, Miss Everson. You’re going to be searched. You may choose whether you want to be searched by my men here, or by the police. Either way, I will find what you stole from me and then you will be dealt with in the manner that is fitting for a girl like you,” he threatened.
“What does that mean?” I asked nervously, and he smirked suggestively.
My mouth went dry.
I swallowed hard as he sat back in the chair. He crossed his legs and reached to the side, grasping a glass full of whiskey and taking a long sip. Under his suit jacket, I saw a bulge on the side of his hip that could only be a gun holster. I knew how to shoot. Maybe if I could get my hands on his gun, I could threaten my way out of here. I bet it was loaded, which would at least be something good going my way.
My legs were trembling, and I did my best to put on a brave face. No matter how this turned out, I was going to face it gracefully.