Page 144 of Auctioned to the Mafia Don

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Two lines.

Stefano’s child. My future. A decision neither of us gets to make alone.

“I need to call Victor,” I say. “I need to find Stefano.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Maya

Iknow someone is in the apartment before I reach my bedroom.

The hallway is too quiet.

Not empty. Quiet.

Alex has taken the twins downstairs for hot chocolate after I told him I needed a minute. Erin wanted to stay. Heath watched me with that guarded concern he gives doors that do not open fast enough. I made a joke, told them I was fine, and sent them with Alex because they are learning that adults can ask for space without disappearing.

The apartment should be still.

Instead, there is a flutter in the air behind my bedroom door. A faint odor of rain and cold wool. The pressure of another person holding themselves motionless in the dark.

My hand goes to the drawer by the entry table.

The gun is cold when I wrap my fingers around it.

I move down the hall without making a sound, each instinct sharpening at once. The bedroom door is partly open. No light leaks through the gap. No movement. Just that same wrongness in the air, thick enough to taste.

I push the door open with my shoulder.

“Don’t move.”

The command leaves me before I see him clearly.

Stefano stands near the window, half-shadowed by the curtains. Rain darkens the shoulders of his coat. His hair is damp. There are dark circles under his eyes I have never seen before.

He turns toward me slowly.

My gun is aimed at his chest.

For one heartbeat, neither of us moves.

Then his gaze drops to the weapon in my hand and comes back to my face.

“Maya.”

My name leaves him like it hurts.

I should call Raven.

I should tell him to get out.

Instead, I hold the gun steady and stare at the man who walked away from me in Boston without looking back.

“You have exactly five seconds to explain why you are in my bedroom.”

He doesn’t respond.

“You broke into my apartment.”

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