Silvia was calmly seated when the door to her office was kicked in, looking up with a bored expression as the Mafia King strode in like he owned the place.
What Nikolai would never know was that it took everything she had to maintain her facade, it felt like her heart was being torn in two. If Nikolai was here, seeming in perfect health except for the bandage on his face then Angelo had to be...
She couldn’t bring herself to think about it, her breathing became unsteady, her hands trembling which she tried to hide under the desk.
"Your hands where I can see it, Silvia." Nikolai drawled, inviting himself to take a seat.
Silvia wanted to curse at him for choosing Angelo’s corner sofa despite all the other chairs available, but there were at least ten men in her office, and all of them had their weapons pointed at her. She would be dead before the first word dropped.
So she forced herself to lift her hands, smiling woodenly. "What have I done to warrant Mafia King Nikolai visiting in person?" She said smoothly despite the chaos in her ribcage, putting her hands down.
Nikolai didn’t hesitate to plunge right into it, after all, this was all to spend the time until the assassin woke up. "Just a simple question, I won’t take much of your time."
He intended to keep to his words about not hurting her, and seeing as the hitman had been traced back to her, she would also owe him a favor.
Silvia swallowed with difficulty, if Mafia King Nikolai was here, it meant that he had found out that she was involved with Angelo. Silvia knew that it wasn’t that Angelo had ratted her out but that Nikolai had recognized him from their night out.
"Go ahead," She said slowly, losing her ability to be witty in the face of Angelo’s death.
"Why did your little assassin take the job?" Nikolai asked, his tone was careless, a lit cigar between his fingers.
Silvia couldn’t hide her surprise at that, "You’re not going to ask who commissioned the job?" She blurted out.
Frequency had a code of secrecy that couldn’t be broken in any circumstance, but Silvia had been more than willing to sell a random person out in exchange for Angelo’s return if he was still alive.
Nikolai leaned back on the sofa, "I don’t give a shit," He continued calmly despite his crass words. "I’d encourage them to keep trying even, I’m bored."
Silvia bit her lip at this, she should have tried harder to stop Angelo, Mafia King Nikolai was completely insane.
His gaze was sharp as he tore into her, blue eyes dark. "You didn’t answer my question."
Silvia didn’t need to be reminded a second time to start speaking, "Is he alive?" She asked instead, her eagerness bleeding through her bored mask.
"That’s not what I asked," Nikolai said coldly, the white smoke around his face giving him an ominous aura.
Silvia didn’t bother pretending, now that she had gotten the confirmation that Angelo was alive, there was some life in her eyes, and her hands stopped trembling. "I believe it would be better to find out from him yourself, Mafia King Nikolai," She said coquettishly.
Nikolai rose to his feet, realizing that despite the fact that he had the assassin’s life in the palm of his hand, Silvia would not be telling him anything more.
Silvia remained seated when the Mafia King started for the door, her heart starting to hurt again. "If you’re interested in who commissioned the job, I’d be willing to negotiate." She forced herself to say, watching in panic as Nikolai left through her smashed-in door.
Nikolai didn’t slow down but Silvia’s words had piqued his interest. Frequency’s integrity depended a lot on the fact that Silvia never revealed the company’s secrets but she had been so willing to throw a negotiation at his feet.
He paused now, turning around, "What’s his name?"
Silvia had thought that her words had gotten through to Nikolai and was starting to get some hope, only for it to be dashed to the floor. The Mafia King really didn’t care about who commissioned the job but seemed very interested in Angelo. He was still alive but in Nikolai’s clutches, all of her hair would fall out from worry in a month.
"Angelo," She croaked out, "Angelo Caddel."
The Mafia King turned around at that and left, other than her ruined door, he had done nothing else to her company. Silvia knew she couldn’t call herself lucky because Angelo was still in the monster’s clutches.
She rose to her feet and paced, her expression twisted with worry as she tried to think of ways to bargain for Angelo’s freedom. Her secretary showed up then, he was a hulking Alpha, panic on his face until he caught sight of her unharmed.
"Leave me for now, Kris." She dismissed him.
The Alpha hesitated, despite his formal clothes, there was a wildness about him that even a dress shirt couldn’t tame. "You’ve got a package," He said quietly, his voice raspy and low.
Silvia hesitated, curious. "Bring it over."
Kris strode in, standing uncharacteristically close to her like a habit he couldn’t break. Silvia didn’t mind the hulking Alpha standing right next to her, his presence steadied her in a way.
It was an unassuming envelope, and when she ripped into it, she saw a room card. Silvia clutched it hard enough for it to dig into the palms of her hand, it was either it cut her or she broke it.
Kris stood anxiously next to her, unsure of if to intervene or not when Silvia dived into his arms. She hid her face in his chest her words muffled.
"It hurts, Kris. Why does it hurt so much?"
Kris barely heard her words but he didn’t give a response, standing solidly like a brick wall. This was a side of his mistress he had never seen before, it made him freeze up.
Silvia pulled away after only a few moments, her eyes were painfully dry but red-rimmed and she looked defeated. "Have someone fixed the door, I’ll leave early."