Underboss’s Ex, Mafia’s Queen Chapter 02

Underboss’s Ex, Mafia’s Queen Chapter 02

Vincent’s jaw tightened. “Giselle, enough. Lena, she didn’t mean—”

“Didn’t mean what?” Giselle snapped, raking her eyes over me—my soaked uniform, my chapped hands. “You want it back? Fine. As a favor to Vince, I’ll sell it to you for fifty thousand dollars. Cash. Right now.”

Fifty thousand dollars.

I was broke, having pawned every single heirloom my mother had left me after cutting off my family and draining all my savings on Vincent’s fake medical bills. No matter how hard I worked, I could never scrape together that kind of money.

I stared at Giselle’s smug grin, then looked at Vincent. He didn’t dare meet my eyes. He just let it all happen.

A cold, hard resolve tightened in my chest.

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll buy it.”

All I wanted was to get my mother’s ring back. Then I would cut all ties with these people for good.

“You’ll buy it?” Giselle giggled, clutching her chest as if she’d just heard the funniest joke alive. She nodded at the cooler still in my hands. “You’d be stuck running deliveries well into your golden years just to pay for this. Do you even know what’s inside? This single catering order is worth more than your entire lifetime of earnings.”

Before I could react, she snatched the cooler and threw it to the floor. A sharp crack echoed through the room.

The wooden casing cracked apart, its lid flinging open violently.. Sashimi, caviar, A5 Wagyu beef—the twelve-thousand-dollar feast—spilled across the marble countertop.

Giselle ground her stiletto heel into a piece of bluefin tuna.

“See that? Twelve thousand dollars, gone to waste. You’ll never touch anything this nice again. You don’t belong in this world, Lena. You never did.”

Snickers rippled through the room.

“Pathetic.”

“Queens is exactly where she belongs. That’s the right crowd for lowlifes like her.”

“Maybe she could trade her body for cash. Rich older men eat up that naive, innocent look of hers.”

Giselle basked in the crowd’s attention. She twisted the ring off her finger and held it between her perfectly manicured nails.

“Vincent claimed this ring was extremely valuable.. But look at you. If it were really worth something, how could you be so broke?” She sneered. “It’s nothing but worthless cheap trinkets.” She spun around, threw open the floor-to-ceiling window, and tossed the ring out into the storm.

The ring sailed through the downpour and sank into the inky black waters of the East River.

“No!”

I lunged for the railing. If someone hadn’t grabbed me from behind, I would have jumped right after it.

“Lena!”

It was Vincent. He hauled me back, his arms locking tight around my waist.

“Let go of me!”

I struggled wildly, watching the last glint of gold disappear beneath the river’s surface.

Rain and tears blurred my vision.

“Calm down! It’s just a damn ring!” His voice was hoarse, panicked, edged with irritation.

Just a ring.

My mother’s final dying words were engraved on the inner band.

I went limp in his arms, my blood turning to ice.

“Vincent,” I said softly, staring into the distance. “We’re done.”

Vincent froze, then let out a laugh.