Mafia Heir

Chapter 32

Charlotte

Nathan Elliot was deathly intimidating. The threatening scowl he wore was even more fearsome than Luca's and even the tone of his voice sent chills down my spine. The scent of his cologne mixed faintly with cigar smoke was enough to make my stomach turn. As he stood towering above me, everything about him made me feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, I was glad to be on his side of the table. He was here in defense of me, and I could use all the help I could get right now.

"Elliott." Grant scoffed. "I should've known."

"You two should be completely ashamed of yourselves." Nathan pushed the chair back and metal made a horrible scratching noise as it slid across the floor. "This entire investigation is a sham. You'll be lucky if we don't sue you for false imprisonment." 

I didn't understand much of what he was saying, but I liked the sound of it. At least it was getting the two of them off of my case.

"There was no false imprisonment. Charlotte was free to go at any point." Grant countered. 

"It wasn't presented to her that way. You brought her in here on bogus charges to try to make her implicate Mr. Catalano in whatever laughable crime you think he's done this week. Your accusations are completely baseless. Charlotte received her insurance payment completely legally. The payment from Catalonia was a business venture. Mr. Catalano makes a lot of money, and it's not any of your business what he decides to do with it. You certainly weren't complaining when he donated a similar amount to the police force last year."

"It becomes our business when he pays her off to keep her quiet." Detective Cullen interjected.

"That wasn't what happened! He wasn't..." I started to say, but was quickly interrupted.

"Don't say another word, Charlotte. They know it's not, otherwise they would have charged you." Nathan said, more for their benefit than mine. He pulled a packet of papers out of his briefcase and set it on the table in front of the men. "This is a cease and desist order. If either of you tries to question my client about this mockery of an investigation again, you'll be found in contempt."

Grant rolled his eyes and scanned the paper. What Nathan said must have been true because neither of the men tried to argue.

"Charlotte, you don't have to listen to him." Grant stared at me intently. "I'm willing to bet you've never seen this guy before, this is just another attempt of Luca's to keep you quiet."

"Charlotte is a smart girl Mr. Fallon, I'm sure she can see which one of us is trying to help and which one is trying to railroad her into admitting to things she knows nothing about."

Grant ignored Nathan completely. "I can help you."

I stood up slowly. "You said I was free to go at any point, and I'd like to do that now." 

Grant looked stunned. He expected me to crumble and run to him as I did so many times before. Take him back and do whatever I could to make it work. I wasn't that person anymore though; I didn't even recognize her.

"Please leave me alone, Grant. I'm happy, I love Luca, and I wish you could accept that." His face fell again.

"I think that concludes this interview. Goodbye, gentleman." Nathan loaded up his briefcase and started to head towards the door. I quickly followed suite, but Grant gripped my arm stopping me.

"He's going to kill you, Charlotte." Grant pressed a small piece of paper into my hand, locking eyes with me. His voice was so low I was the only one who could hear him. "Look these names up. Luca is involved in every single one of these cases, and if you stay with him, you'll end up on this list, too."