Signed To The Mafia King - Chapter 37: Chapter 37

LUCA
I had no damn clue who was stupid enough to steal from me.
The Alvarados? Maybe. My father had said they had something planned.
Had they found out about three shipments and decided that they wanted a part of it?
I didn't think so. This was too bold. Too messy. They weren’t reckless enough to pull something like this.
Or was I wrong?
I held the steering wheel tighter, my foot pressing harder on the gas.
Victoria’s name went through my mind, and I nearly laughed. No chance. She didn’t have the power for this.
Even if she wanted to pay me back for refusing to keep her as my mistress, she wouldn’t be this reckless.
Would she?
I clenched my teeth and shook the thought off as I pulled up to the building. My men were inside, waiting. I had called three of them I trusted most for a meeting.
The second I walked through the door, the conversation cut off.
Viktor stood by the table, arms crossed. Dario leaned forward, elbows on his knees. Rafael was near the window, unreadable as ever.
I didn’t sit.
"Tell me."
Viktor straightened. "Shipment disappeared after entering Alina’s territory."
I stared at him. Let the words sink in. They weren't telling me anything I didn't know already.
I winced. “Is there nothing else?”
Dario couldn't meet my eyes. “We kept tracing them though cameras like you said. The cameras lost it there. That’s just the fact."
"You’re saying Alina took my guns?" Was Dario trying to suggest my wife had ordered the guns to be stolen?
"We’re saying that’s the last place they were seen."
My pulse pounded against my skull. No. Alina wouldn’t.
Would she?
I hated the damn question even forming in my mind. I knew she wouldn't.
I glared at all three of them. "She had nothing to do with this."
Rafael didn’t look convinced. "Then explain how your shipment made it into her territory."
Something twisted in my chest. I knew Alina. I trusted her. But the fact was still sitting there, pushing at the edges of my mind.
I exhaled hard. "Shut the hell up and get out there. You want answers? Find the shipment. I don’t want theories. I want facts."
No one argued. Viktor grabbed his coat. Rafael flicked his cigarette away. The others moved.
I stayed a second longer, breathing through the rage burning under my skin.
Then I turned and walked out.
I moved to go pick up Alina. We were going through her territory together.
And my men were already pulling camera footage. If there was something to find, we’d find it.
Because I’d never been this damn angry.
And I’d never been this worried.
By the time I pulled up at home, Alina was already outside, pacing back and forth in front of the door.
Her hair was up in a bun, a pair of sunglasses pushed onto her head, her arms crossed loosely over her chest.
She looked too gentle. Too innocent for the kind of anger sitting under my skin.
I barely had the car in park before she opened the door and slid in.
She pulled the seatbelt over her shoulder and glanced at me. "So, where do we start?"
I didn’t answer right away.
Because for the first time, a thought I didn’t want to have edged into my mind.
Did she know anything about the guns? I'd never doubted Alina before, but these guns were freaking expensive.
I knew her. I trusted her. But trust didn’t mean shit when millions of dollars’ worth of guns disappeared in her territory.
Alina turned her head slightly, frowning. "What?"
I exhaled through my lips and forced the words out. "Did you have anything to do with this?"
Her eyes narrowed so fast I almost regretted asking.
Almost.
She turned in her seat fully, her expression sharp. "Are you fucking serious?"
I kept my eyes on the road. "I have to ask."
Alina let out a slow, disbelieving breath. "Why the hell would I want your guns? I don’t even know what kind of guns they are."
I knew her. I knew she wouldn’t, but I also knew how shit worked in this life. The moment you let your emotions override logic, you lost.
So I’d asked. And she hated that I had.
Good. Because I hated that I had to ask too.
I didn’t say anything else. Just pressed harder on the gas, moving us deeper into her territory.
We spent the next hour moving from one establishment to the next, talking to people, asking questions. It was a waste of time.
No one knew anything. No one saw anything.
And the longer this went on, the more I could feel my patience snapping thread by thread.
Alina noticed. She always did.
She shot me a look as we left another useless meeting. "You need to breathe."
I dragged a hand down my face, forcing the frustration down. "You think I have time for that?"
Before she could answer, her phone rang.
She pulled it out, looked at the screen, then turned to me. "Pull over."
I frowned. "Why can’t you take it here?"
She was already unbuckling her seatbelt. "It’s business."
I wanted to argue. I wanted to tell her to sit her ass down and take the damn call right here where I could hear it.
But the look in her eyes told me not to push. She wasn't going to tell me, she wasn’t asking for permission. And I didn't particularly want to command her.
Jaw tight, I pulled over.
Alina stepped out, phone to her ear.
She walked a few feet away, back turned to the car, her voice low.
She’d been tense all day, but now she looked different. Not just focused. Not just annoyed that I’d asked if she was involved.
Worried.
A few minutes later, she climbed back in, shutting the door harder than necessary.
I was already looking at her. "What?"
She took a breath, then turned to me.
"Mikhail says a shipment just arrived at one of our warehouses." She met my eyes. "And whatever it is, it isn’t ours."