REDEMPTION | MAFIA ROMANCE | SMUT

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Brad appeared in the doorway. "Bossman." His tongue swept a toothpick to the corner of his mouth. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Raising the whiskey bottle to my lips, I watched Alexa and Chloe exit the club via security monitors. Alexa's shoulders heaved while she sobbed. Wiping tears from her eyes, she listened to whatever impassioned speech Chloe provided.

"Fuck." Killing the surveillance, I twisted in the seat, facing the window, to oversee the club's dispersal. The DJ powered the aloft lights, letting everyone know that the night had come to an end, and customers, knocking back alcohol, made their way to the exit. "Alexa was falling for me, Brad," I admitted as he perched on the desk. "It cannot happen."

Alexa will get over it.

I will get over it.

Peeling the bottle's label, I scrunched it into a ball and hurled it over my shoulder. "We had to break it off eventually."

"They just flagged a taxi to the penthouse." Brad's thumbs tapped the phone, replying to the security detail. "Hate to be the bearer of bad news and all, but Alexa is kinda living with you."

My jaw muscles ticked. "Alexa will not hang around. She will be gone before sunrise."

Brad went to the window. "What about work?" He gestured to the night staff cleaning the bar. "It's awkward now, right?"

She is not coming back. "What would you do?"

He snorted. "I'd get the hell out of dodge."

"Bajramovic has yet to rear his ugly fucking head. I want eyes on Alexa at all times," I gave orders, absently rotating my thumb ring. "Ensure safety measures: twenty-four-hour security and background checks on impending employers and employees. She might not have a job or a place to call her own, at least not yet, but both will occur shortly."

Nate joined the office and passed me a brown envelope.

"Obtain her bank details," I continued, tearing through the seal, "and wire funds across. Be generous. I am not okay with her struggling to make ends meet. Knowing Alexa, she will dispute the balance. I want it done either way."

"Boss," they said in unison.

Skimming the document, I asked, "What is this?"

Nate turned the page. "Flamur was using this joint to meet with his mistress." He pointed at highlighted payment transactions. "I didn't get much from the hotel manager, so I had to hack their servers to do some investigating. Kathy Pearl used her mother's maiden name to make a reservation.

Adaline Rutherford.

"Kathy always had company--Mr Rutherford. Now, I had no luck with surveillance. You cannot see her lover entering or exiting the hotel. I decided to go further." He handed me another printout. "Bajramovic was incognito. If it weren't for the Albanian number plate, I would have overlooked him. Is it a coincidence that Kathy and Flamur stayed at this very hotel every Friday? Personally, I smell a fucking rat."

Swivelling in the chair, I laid evidence across the desk. "Come again."

Nate scratched his jaw. "I think it is safe to assume Kathy and Bajramovic were sexually involved." His tattooed finger tapped an image of Pearl by the hotel's entrance. "To be honest, their arrangement is too unfathomable to decipher. Surely, she did not climb into this man's bed willingly?"

"Alright, tossers. Hear me out." Brad snatched the image and tore it down the middle. "Pearl came here for him. It makes sense. She came from nowhere, robbed you blind. Bajramovic came from nowhere, robbed you blind," he rearticulated. "It is clear as fucking day how this story ends."

"So, Kathy formed a bond with her childhood captor," I pondered, lighting a cigarette. "He convinced her to come here, pull the wool over my goddamn eyes and swipe shit right from under my nose. And she succeeded. She took money from the safe alongside confidential clientele records and handed him the goods. Meanwhile, Bajramovic brushed palms with Darren, offered him a sweet deal and persuaded him to deliver Gateway. Again, it was a victorious operation, but this does not explain why Kathy tried to kill her sister. Moreover, why did Alexa hide this information from me?"

"How do you know Alexa kept anything from you?" Brad mused, sharing a questioning glance with Nate. "Perhaps she doesn't know about her sister's love affair. We can all agree that Kathy's violent act traumatised Alexa."

Kathy's alliance with Bajramovic sickened me. "Stockholm syndrome," I said, and they both nodded. "It is the only reasonable explanation." Leaning back in my chair, I tossed the evidence aside. "I shouldn't have killed Kathy. That bitch should be downstairs, hanging from my fucking ceiling, brooking cycled torture." Anger resurfaced. "Reach out to Reginald and demand more intel. I need to find this son of a bitch and put an end to this nonsense."

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