Page 118 of Mob Queen

I hear Miller’s bellow of a laugh.

We’re in a good place. I’m the boss outside the bedroom, he’s the boss inside of it. He knows it, I know it, and it works.

Chapter 36

Jeremy

What a day.

I walk into the bedroom and toss my suit jacket to the floor. Frankie is already in bed. She’s got her laptop opened and is working on something. “What is it?” she asks.

“What?”

“You’re angry.” I sit on the side of the bed and run my hands through my hair, stressed. The bed dips behind me, and I feel Frankie massaging my shoulders. “Talk to me. What is it?”

Frankie isn’t a tender person, but in this moment, she’s not her normal authoritarian self. She’s soft, and I like that about her. “It’s work.”

“What about it?”

“I’m not going to talk to you about it.” Her hands squeeze my shoulders with too much force. “Hey.” I turn to look at her, a cheeky grin tugs at her lips.

“Give me the abridged version, nothing specific. Maybe I can help.”

“By killing people?” I say and shake my head.

“If that’s what’s needed.”

“We’re not killing anyone, Frankie.”

“Tell me what’s going on.”

I loll my head back as she continues to massage my shoulders. “This feels nice,” I say and angle my head for a kiss.

“Don’t become a marshmallow on me, Miller.” Frankie squeezes my shoulders with an easy, friendly warning. She’s letting me know this is outside of her normal, and in truth, I’m okay with it. “Now, keep talking.” She stops massaging my shoulders, sits behind me and wraps her legs around my hips while she plays with my hair.

Who the hell is this woman? Is she a clone of Frankie? It doesn’t matter, I’ll take her tenderness as long as she’s willing to give it. Because I know, at any moment, she’ll become the hard-ass she always is.

“I had another visit from Tyler today. He’s my...”

“I know who he is,” Frankie cuts me off. “I told you; I can make him go away.”

“No,” I say adamantly as I rub at the tension on my temple. “You’re not killing him.”

There are a few seconds of silence before Frankie asks, “Why did he come to see you?”

“He’s digging, and wants to know how I got that tip. I’m afraid it’ll only be a matter of time before he gets a warrant and investigates me. Which will link me to you. And then, I don’t know what’ll happen.”

“My offer to ?”

“No,” I snap. “We’re not killing him.”

“I can pay him off. Everyone has a price. And if he doesn’t, I could always convince him to leave you alone.”

“And how would you do that?”

“I’m positive he has a family member he loves,” she says with ease. I turn to look at her, staring into her molten dark eyes. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t kill them. But I could motivate him by threatening or maybe even kidnapping them.”

“Frankie, no. Violence, kidnapping, killing, paying people off isn’t the answer.”