Undressed By The Mafia God-Chapter 156: It Happened Fast

"Well, get on with your questions and get out."

If she sounded irritated enough, maybe he would hurry the hell up.

Voss pulled a small notepad from his coat pocket and flipped it open, clicking his pen with a soft snap.

"Who shot you?" Voss asked.

"I don’t know. It happened fast."

"Hmmm..."

"I was told the bullet was removed before you got here. Why?"

"Was it?" Veronica tried to deflect.

"Where were you shot?"

Veronica resisted the urge to sigh. "on my way home. Close to the house actually."

"By home, you mean Luciano Genovese’s home?" Voss asked, knowing Vee had been lying since he began his questions.

"yes."

"I see. Did he shoot you, Miss Scalese."

The question was so absurd it almost made her laugh.

"You really will do or say anything to take him down, wont you? No, Luca did not shoot me." Vee answered. She watched him carefully as she said it, searching for any shift in his expression. But Voss barely reacted. His pen continued scratching lazily across the page.

"Well, get better soon. I will be coming around to ask some more questions."

Of course he would.

"Nothing I give you or say to you will help you. Why don’t you just leave me alone?"

Veronica’s patience was wearing thin. Her leg hurt, her head hurt, and the last thing she needed was some detective poking around her life.

Voss finally looked up from his notepad. "I told you, you are my window to Luca’s world. and what a very open window." Voss said, gave a small salute and walked out. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Uggghhhh!" Veronica groaned. She dropped her head back against the pillow dramatically, squeezing her eyes shut. The tension she had been holding in her shoulders loosened slightly now that Voss was gone, but the irritation remained, simmering just beneath the surface.

God, that man was exhausting.

"Really sis..." Valentina moved closer. She had been sitting quietly through the entire interrogation. "Who shot you? Ricardo wont tell me anything either."

Veronica opened her eyes slowly.

Valentina’s expression was tight with worry.

"Its fine, Tina." Veronica shifted slightly, wincing as a sharp sting shot through her thigh. "its just badluck. I was going home, and a stray bullet caught me in the thigh."

Valentina frowned immediately.

The explanation sounded weak even to Veronica’s own ears, but she forced her face to remain calm.

Marco had positioned a guard outside the door to keep watch over her and Valentina had overheard Marco telling the guard that Mrs Genovese wasn’t allowed in.

Mrs Genovese.

Who was Mrs Genovese? Luca’s mother, sister in law?

Valentina kept all of these questions to herself though and just sat there with her sister.

The pale hospital lighting washed some of the color out of her face, and every now and then her jaw tightened slightly — a quiet reaction to the pain she refused to complain about.

Vee had always been like this. Tough when she didn’t need to be. Secretive when it would probably help to just talk.

The name Mrs Genovese lingered in her mind again. Whoever that woman was, Marco clearly didn’t want her anywhere near Veronica.

That alone made Valentina suspicious.

But she didn’t ask.

Not yet.

*****

When Marco saw Luca’s call earlier, to say he was relieved was an understatement.

The phone lighting up with Luca’s name had felt like a lifeline and a death sentence at the same time.

He was on his way to pick him up from the airport.

The city moved past his windshield in a blur of late afternoon traffic, horns blaring, taxis cutting too close, pedestrians rushing along sidewalks.

His mind was somewhere else.

It had been a challenging few days but the days ahead were going to be even more challenging.

Luca was going to go off like a bomb and when that happened, it would leave many problems in his wake for both him and Veronica.

But still, he had to tell him exactly what had happened and what he had done also.

That part sat heavier in Marco’s chest.

Because some of the decisions he had made over the last forty-eight hours had been necessary.

Necessary didn’t always mean Luca would approve.

The airport was its usual chaos of rolling luggage, impatient travelers, and the constant murmur of announcements echoing from the high ceilings. Marco leaned against the hood of the car, scanning the crowd automatically.

The moment he stepped out the airport doors, Luca found him.

Marco straightened slightly.

Marco had been Luca’s lieutenant since the very beginning.

He knew the man’s tells, he knew when there was something too heavy to say.

And right now the weight of it was practically written across Marco’s face.

Marco pushed himself off the car and walked toward him, already feeling the words forming in his throat.

Words that were going to make this entire situation far worse before it ever got better.

"Hey boss. Welcome back." Marco said wearily.

"On a scale of one to ten, how pissed off am I going to be?" Luca asked.

"A hundred doesn’t even come close." Marco muttered.

Understanding dawned slowly, a dark weight settling over him.

"Veronica..." he whispered, barely audible. "What happened?"

Marco opened the back seat. "We’ll talk in the car, boss." He climbed into the driver’s seat. His eyes flicked to Luca in the rearview mirror, reading every subtle twitch, every suppressed reaction.

Luca’s mind raced ahead, picturing scenarios. Did she see someone else? Did she betray him?

But the words that came out of Marco’s mouth were nothing Luca would have ever thought could happen. In fact, he realized with a sickening twist in his stomach, it would have been better if she had fucked someone else.

"Miss Scalese has been shot. She is currently recovering in the hospital. She is fine, out of the woods, nothing to worry about, Luca."

The car seemed to shrink around him. The city’s noise faded into a muffled hum as the words landed like lead in his chest.

Luca’s mind screamed for a moment of clarity that didn’t exist.

(Brought to you by janelle Fox)