A Mafia Heiress Poured Ice Water Over the Waitress—Then Her Brother Asked for the Waitress’s Employment File

I stepped back from Leandro, my heart racing, but I forced myself to meet his dark gaze.

"She has until Friday," I whispered, glancing nervously up and down the empty, cavernous hallway. "Someone called her. She was terrified. She said she'd get the money by then."

Leandro’s expression didn't change, but the air around him seemed to drop ten degrees.

"Did she use a name?" he asked quietly.

"No. But she said if this person came to the estate, you would kill them both."

Leandro reached out, his knuckles brushing lightly against my cheek. I flinched, but he just traced the line of my jaw with a terrifying gentleness.

"You did well, Maya," he said softly. "Keep pushing her. When addicts are cornered, they make mistakes. I need to know where she's getting the cash to pay them off."

Before I could respond, the heavy footsteps of Arthur Perry echoed from the grand staircase. Leandro instantly stepped away from me, his face turning into an impassive mask.

"Leandro!" Arthur boomed. The patriarch of the Perry family was a massive man with silver hair and eyes as cold as a winter sea. "In my study. Now."

Leandro nodded once, didn't look at me again, and walked away.

For the next two days, Stella made my life a living hell. She made me iron her silk sheets three times. She ordered me to sort her jewelry by color, then screamed at me for touching her things.

But I watched. I watched as she grew more frantic, pacing her room late at night, chewing on her manicured nails until they bled.

On Thursday afternoon, while she was in the shower, I made my move.

I slipped into her walk-in closet and searched the pockets of her winter coats. In the third coat—a heavy mink—my fingers brushed against hard plastic.

I pulled it out. A cheap, prepaid burner phone.

I quickly turned it on. No password. There was only one text message in the inbox, received ten minutes ago.

Pier 44. Midnight. Come alone or the video goes to your father.

A video? It wasn't just drugs. It was blackmail.

Suddenly, the shower water stopped running.