Lahat ng Kabanata ng Taken by the Mafia King: Kabanata 431 - Kabanata 440

PaigeI drifted from the common room across the hall to the dining room. A couple of women circled the long table, laying out plates and cutlery for lunch. I nodded at them then glanced through the doorway to see Andi in the kitchen, swinging her hips in time with a dance beat blaring out of her radio. Everything looked normal. Everything looked good. I smoothed my hands down my pants and tried to make myself actually believe it. Of course, that caught the cut on my palm, still healing after almost a week because I kept accidentally opening it back up. A few dots of blood oozed up, and I wiped them away.Almost a week, and I was still jumpy. I was starting to feel ridiculous.The front door swung open, and I turned. We weren’t expecting anyone.A woman in six or seven layers of clothes stumbled in, and I sprang into action. Clearly, she needed our services. Judging by how many clothes she was wearing, I’d guess she was living on the streets. I grabbed my phone, texted Lily and Lauren,

PaigeTom and I sat at the kitchen counter as Miranda delivered steaming plates of a squid-ink pasta she’d been dying to try out.“Thank you,” he said. “Now please, take the rest of the night off. I know you worked through your break for this.”Her cheeks turned pink. “But—”“I’ll text you my review.” I smiled.After another split-second of hesitation, Miranda hurried off, and Tom and I waited until her bedroom door shut behind her to laugh.“Man, I feel like a dick, but this food looks cursed,” he said.I stared down at the pitch-black pasta. “It’s definitely spooky. But she busted her ass. We have to give it a fair shot.”We both gathered forkfuls of pasta, and Tom held his up to me as if to cheers. I knocked my fork against his with a smile, then took a bite.“Holy shit,” Tom said.I nodded. “Wow.”It was leagues better than most of Miranda’s dishes, the flavors complex and beautiful. We ate in silence for several long minutes, just enjoying the food and each other’s company. Then,

TommasoThe next day, I walked up to the Mansion. I’d given Marino’s staff the next few weeks off with pay. Construction was starting.Palmer, the butler, opened the door. “Sir.”Well, almost everyone. Palmer had proven himself trustworthy, and I liked having someone on site who wasn’t from Mel’s construction company. She did good work, but I hadn’t technically told Paige my idea yet. If she hated it, I needed someone making suggestions that would work just as well for a women’s shelter as they would whatever other criminal enterprise I could think of to slot in here.I nodded at him and stepped inside. A few muscular women were setting up interior scaffolds and mustering tools, but none of the work seemed to have started yet. It only took a few minutes to find Mel in the chaos. She stood in the middle of the kitchen, directing women in hardhats this way and that.“Conti,” she said when she saw me. “You’re not gonna be a micromanager, are you? I’ll take the wife if so.”I smiled. Some

TommasoAs the sun rose, I strode down the tarmac of the smallest airport outside of Philly with the space to fit the jumbo jet we needed for the trip to Egypt. I’d meant to come set this up last night, but I couldn’t leave Paige. She’d spent the whole evening bouncing back and forth between being so fragile I worried any breath of wind would shatter her, and tough as nails. Paige hadn’t wanted to pack, at least right then, so we’d gone out to the shooting range like she was originally planning and emptied clips into the targets until the light disappeared. Her aim was much better than it had been. It had improved enough that I wondered if she hadn’t been coming down to the range to practice even before these half-days. She was obviously wound like a spring, and I could do nothing but cross my fingers that energy released at the right time.At the end of the tarmac, next to a massive hangar, stood Killian. He nodded as I approached then waved to two men wearing coveralls. They opened

Tommaso“Yep, those containers go on the left, next to the army-green ones.” I pointed toward the safest section of the cargo hold where we were keeping all of the ammo and anything else that might explode. I trusted Mostafa’s information, but I didn’t want to risk a stray bullet ending the whole plan early.A few of the hundreds of men milling around slotted the last boxes of ammo into place, then moved on to the body armor we were using to insulate the ammo from the guns. Staring into the belly of the beast like this, it was hard to deny just how little of the cargo hold was taken up with the luggage of the several hundred people on board. Weapons of war crowded every other inch.Killian clapped me on the shoulder. “The ladies are here, but a couple of the mercs are getting antsy about not knowing the destination. You want me to handle it or you?”I looked at my old friend. Since we’d gotten the plan in place, he’d really started treating me like an equal. This was my show, and he k