𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

26 | Growing Suspicions of the Ringleader

TOM

"Darling, promise me you stay on the phone the entire time okay?" I said on the call to Y/N as Haz escorted her inside her home.

"I've got my AirPods in don't worry," she chuckled back.

After her boss had said some questionable things to her, we thought it would be safest if she stayed with me. At first, she thought that seeing me would have blown the issue out of proportion, and suggested that she go home and not see me for a while. But I reminded her that this woman she worked for had been inside her house long enough to see that she had a framed photo of the two of us.

Also, side note, that's really bloody cute that Y/N had printed a photo of us and put it in her living room. I wonder which picture it is. I'll ask her.

I didn't want Y/N going back home alone. I know she's self sufficient and she's a bad ass and she's now well versed with a gun but she barely knew anything about this Priya women. And neither did I. So I called Haz to come over with two of the other boys to drive Y/N to her house to collect essential things and bring them to my house.

I instructed Haz to stay with Y/N the entire time whilst the other two boys circled around the house and doorways. I felt a bit bad because Haz had to leave Robyn to do this, but he said that Robyn had been asleep since four in the afternoon.

"You inside? Everything look the same?" I asked, wondering whether Priya was the one inside her house or perhaps someone she had hired. Maybe there were hidden cameras, fuck I don't want to know.

"I'm going to my office first," she said quietly.

"Locked and loaded darling?" I said to her, making sure that she had her gun ready as well as Haz. She hummed a quick 'mhm' back to me.

"Everything looks good boss," Haz said loudly so that I could hear.

Haz always said that to me, he called me boss just to rile me up. Initially he did it sarcastically once I had been appointed Godfather, but now the habit has stuck and he says it without thinking.

I heard her rummaging through her drawers and unplugging her laptop. She walked me through everything she was doing like a narrator in a film, explaining the story to the viewers.

"I'm taking all of my hard drives. I-I just need them all with me," she sighed, walking into her bedroom to pack clothes.

I reminded her that clothes aren't a necessity and she immediately told me I was a 'horny bastard' for saying so. What I was actually trying to say was that clothes were easy to buy, she should be focusing on bringing over the most important things until we know it's safe for her to return home.

"I'm just getting like, a suitcase worth. And like my skin care and makeup. And I've obviously got all the stuff for your legal case and my hard drives and my laptop and my notebooks," she said.

"Is Haz still there with you?" I asked.

"Yeah he's fixing his hair in my mirror," I laughed, watching Haz stroke back his fringe in the vanity.

I was pacing around my house listening to Y/N pack her things and run me through it. I was concerned about this Priya woman and the information she not only knew about Y/N, but what she potentially knew about me.

As far as Mafia bosses go, I'm probably one of the more discreet. I don't publicly associate myself with The Family, I don't represent myself in courts and I never flaunt my expensive lifestyle on social media. I know many bosses post their flashy lives every second of the day and leave a trace of where they go and who they're with; it's fucking dumb.

"I think I'm all good," she said to me on the phone, telling Haz that she could carry her own suitcase because she'd prefer if he had his hands free. I agreed, as chivalrous and gentlemanly as it was to offer, I needed Haz ready to protect Y/N if all goes south.

"Hey darling, how much do you know about Priya anyway? I mean, you've been working for her just over a year and you never seem to go to an actual office," I said sitting down on the couch and biting at the corner of my nail.

I was nervous, I can't lie about that.

"Um, well she emailed me out of the blue and said she knew about my previous work. She asked to meet with me and we went to this really nice restaurant. She offered me the job, and yeah... She just emails me whenever there's jobs available and I tell her when they're done and she transfers me my money," Y/N explained, informing me that they were back in the car on the way to my apartment.

"Wait, so how many times have you seen this woman face to face?" I asked curiously.

"In person, just that once. But we have video chats a lot for work," she said taking her phone out and changing our call to a FaceTime so I could see her.

"You work for someone you've met once?"

"Well, after covid happened I thought it was pretty normal to not have to see colleagues face to face all the time," she shrugged.

"Do you know anything about her life outside of work?"

She shook her head.

"Do you tell her anything about your life outside of work?"

She shook her head again.

"Do you have like, other colleagues? Do you talk to them about your life?" I asked finally.

"All my colleagues think my name is Aisha, they've never even seen my face. They've just heard my voice," she explained.

"So Priya is the only one who knows your name is Y/N and can contact you directly... And she somehow knows where you live and she knows about me... Fuck, this is really sus Y/N, I'm not so sure I trust this woman," I groaned.

"I mean, in this line of work of illegal hacking and Priya running her own like, pay-for-hire criminal ring, everything you've just asked about is super normal. You aren't supposed to know a lot about peoples personal lives cos it just puts you more at risk. You get in, do the job and then get out... The only worrying thing so far is that she knows I have a photo of you inside my house. And who knows, maybe she's just threatening me to make sure I stay in line and stay quiet..."