Chapter 2 - The Friend
Mave stared at the dark screen of the phone as her heart hammered against her ribs.
Her mother had been a quiet, exhausted woman who worked in a bakery.
The idea that she had stolen anything from the Russian mafia was completely absurd.
Mave immediately dialed the only person outside this house she trusted.
She typed in Sarah's number from memory.
Sarah was the friend from the diner last night, the one whose radiator had supposedly blown.
The line rang four times before going directly to a generic voicemail box.
Mave ended the call and tried again.
It went straight to voicemail a second time.
Panic began to claw at the edges of Mave's rational mind.
She grabbed her apron and rushed out into the grand hallway.
She needed to ask Leo for a car to go check on Sarah's apartment.
She approached the heavy oak doors of Leo's study and raised her hand to knock.
The door was slightly ajar.
Mave paused when she heard Carmine's gruff voice echoing from inside.
"The customs inspector is taken care of, boss," Carmine said smoothly.
"And what about the girl?" Leo asked, his tone dangerously flat.
"I had my men follow her friend home from the diner last night just like you asked."
Mave covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a sudden gasp.
Leo had ordered his men to stalk her best friend.
"Good," Leo replied coldly.
"Keep watching the friend until I figure out exactly who Mave is talking to."
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Mave backed away from the door with trembling legs.
She was completely trapped in a house with a man who was hunting her only friend.
