Captivated by the deadly mafia boss

Kasia

I wake up again to an empty bed, rolling over to his side of the bed and pulling his pillow to me. It smells of him, all spice and leather. This is the third time in as many days that he’s left before sunrise.

I’ve been his wife for two weeks. My father hasn’t tried to contact me in any way. It’s a good thing that he stays away. It means I don’t have to be the one to ignore him. I don’t have to be the bad daughter.

But I can’t help but wonder why he’s disappeared. Maybe I finally ran out of purpose for him.

My alarm on my phone dings. Time to get out of bed and do something with myself. I’ve been sending out resumes and applying for teaching jobs in the area. Most of the schools have already hired for the upcoming year, so the options are limited. I’m still unsure how this will work since Dominik has a man following me everywhere I go, but I’m hopeful.

For the first time, I cradle hope like the fragile being it is. He’s promised I can work. I can have some purpose besides simply being Mrs. Staszek, but I’m not sure any school district will approve of me bringing an armed guard into the classroom.

When I grab my phone, there are several email notifications. Maybe I’m getting an interview.

Sitting up in bed, I swipe open the app and thumb through the garbage until I find a long-awaited message. My stomach trembles as my thumb hovers over the icon. Finally, the private detective has something for me.

Dominik made me promise not to continue my digging into the accident, but this isn’t continuing. This is simply reading a message. I don’t have to act on it, and if it turns out to be something worth looking into, I’ll let Dominik know.

Kasia, I found a link you might find interesting. Too dangerous to put it in writing. Can you meet me today, two o’clock usual place?

I stare at the message. I haven’t heard from this guy in weeks. Dominik knows about him, so why isn’t he going to Dominik? Why ask me to meet him?

I stare at the empty side of the bed. He might not be home until late. I can text him, but I know his answer. He’ll tell me to leave it and he’ll look into it.

This isn’t about his sister. This is my responsibility.

I wait another minute before answering him. Hoping, I guess, that some sense will ease into my mind, but it doesn’t. So, I promise him I’ll be there.

Just as I hit the send button, there’s a knock on the bedroom door that startles me.

“Kasia, are you up?” It’s Margaret.

I blow out a breath. It’s not like Dominik has me on video surveillance or anything.

“Yeah. One sec.” I scoot out of bed and grab the robe next to the bed. It’s a rare morning that I wake with my pajamas still on.

After tying my robe’s belt around my middle tight, I open the door. Margaret’s there with a large smile.

“Just wanted to be sure you were up. You said you wanted to be up by eight.”

“I did. Thank you. I have an alarm on my phone, you don’t have to worry about me, Margaret.” She’s kind and attentive. Much like my mother was.

“Well, I also made crepes for breakfast and I didn’t want them to get too cold before you came down.” She shrugged.

“You spoil me.”

“You deserve to be spoiled,” she says with a serious tone. “Mr. Staszek just called; he’s going to be gone for the evening. He said he’d call you later this afternoon.”

“I want to go out this afternoon. Are any of the guys around? I know Dominik won’t like it if I go out alone.” It would make things easier if they were all with him or off doing jobs. But I have no luck in this department.

“Of course. Tommy is here today. I’ll let him know you have plans.” She turns to go. “Don’t forget, crepes!” She waves as she walks away.

Tommy will be with me all afternoon, but I can work with that.

I think.

* * *

“Are you ready to head home?” Tommy asks me as we head to the car after the fifth store I made him follow me around in. I haven’t bought anything; I’m not even looking for anything. Apparently, Tommy dislikes window shopping as much as I do. But there’s a purpose this afternoon, so it’s not so annoying to me.

I check the time on my phone.

“Almost.” I look down the street. “I’m thirsty. Let’s stop in there.” I point at the diner two storefronts down.

“There’s a bottle of water in the car,” he reminds me.

“I want something to eat, too. C’mon, Tommy. I’ll buy you a BLT.” I slide my arm through his and tug on him.

He looks down at me, annoyance dancing in his eyes.

“Fine. But not too long, all right? Traffic back home is gonna suck if we stay out here too much longer,” he complains, but walks with me to the diner.

When we enter the diner, there’s plenty of open tables, but it’s the one in the far corner booth that has my attention. Erik DeGrazio is already in our booth, sucking down a beer. He looks up when the door shuts behind us, and his face drops when he sees Tommy.

Getting rid of him will be almost impossible.

“Think you need to use the washroom?” I’m terrible at this.

He looks at me like I’ve grown a second head. “No. I’m fine. Let’s just get you something to eat.” He heads toward a booth in the other corner of the restaurant at the windows.

I stand frozen staring at DeGrazio. Considering all the times I had to sneak around behind my father’s back trying to get close to my sister when I was grounded from her, you’d think I’d be better at this.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” I blurt out. Tommy stops at the booth and turns to look at me. Two other people also look up from their food to see what lunatic just made such an announcement.

“Okay, then go.” Tommy gestures toward the back of the diner.

“Right,” I say and hurry away. Thanks to my utter failure at being casual, I can feel his stare on my back as I make my way to the restrooms. As I pass Mr. DeGrazio’s table, I catch his eye and jerk my head toward the restrooms. His gaze darts away from me toward Tommy, and he stays planted.

Once I get inside the two-stall restroom, I wait. Hopefully, Tommy lost interest when I was out of sight and is sitting at our booth.

The door opens and Mr. DeGrazio peeks his head in.

“What are you doing?” he asks in loud whisper.

I grab hold of his arm and tug him inside.

“That’s one of Dominik Staszek’s guys out there.” He points to the door.

“I know.” I nod. “Just be fast, and I’ll get back out there before he gets all nosey. So, what did you find?”

He frowns. “I tried calling him, but he didn’t answer my call.” He pulls out an envelope and shoves it at me. “Here’s what you need to know, do whatever you want to do with it. I’m done. Like I told him, I’m not looking into anything else. And I won’t take any more money from you. But this-” He points to the envelope. “Is worth what you’ve paid so far.”

“Is this everything you already told Dominik?” I press before he has a chance to run off.

“There’s more here than I remembered when I was talking him.” He shrugs. “Helps to talk to a man when he’s sober if you want all the information. But I’m done, Kasia. No more.” He smacks his hands together, washing himself of me.

“I got it.” I look down at the thick envelope. “Thank you.” My words are said to an empty room. He’s gone.

I straighten out the prongs of the envelope and open the top. Pictures, reports, and handwritten notes are haphazardly stuffed inside. I pull out the pictures, flipping through them quickly. Accident scene pictures – I’ve seen most of these already. I skip the ones with my sister and mother still inside. The police reports don’t have much information in them that I don’t already have memorized.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

His notes though, these are what I want. I quickly read over the scribbles. His handwriting changes several times. I can tell exactly when he’d been drinking and when he’d been sober.

“Kasia!” Tommy knocks on the door. “Kasia, are you okay?”

“Just washing my hands!” I yell back and keep sweeping my eyes over the notes.

By the time I’m done reading, I’m grateful for the toilet being so close. I run inside an empty stall and vomit. Even the bitter taste left behind once my stomach is completely emptied is better than the sickness inside my soul.

The door to the room bursts open.

“Kasia.” Tommy’s behind me. “Kasia,” he lowers his voice as I sink to the floor of the bathroom, the damning papers clutched to my chest. He squats next to me. “We’re going home.”

I tighten my hold on the papers when he tries to take them away from me and he gives up.

“Can you walk or am I carrying you?” he asks, and I can tell he’d rather not touch me. Carrying the boss’s wife might not give him any positive points with Dominik.

My mind blanks, and I switch to autopilot. Standing up, I turn sideways and move around him out of the stall. The toilet flushes as I walk through the door back into the diner. A waitress stands at our table, pouring coffee into a cup.

“We’re not staying,” Tommy says to her with a hard tone. I don’t wait to hear her response; I walk out the front door, down the street to where Tommy parked the SUV.

“What happened, Kasia?” he asks as he straps me into my seat. I give a little shake of my head. I can’t make my mouth work yet.

My door slams, then he’s in the car. Once we’re on the road, he pulls out his phone and makes a call.

If everything I read is right… No, I can’t think of it. My stomach swirls again, just thinking it.

“I don’t know. Just tell him to get home.” Tommy’s yelling into his phone.

I lean my head back against the seat.

“Then as soon as he can, dammit!” Tommy drops his phone into the middle console.

“Kasia.” He touches my arm. “Are you sick? Do we need to go to the hospital?”

He pulls onto the expressway, heading west. We’re leaving the city for home.

“No. I just want home,” I say and close my eyes.