Mafia Lord's Mute Sweetheart

Chapter 158: Chapter 158 Where the hell is he today?

Naomi frowned.

She had known Cedric for a long time and this wasn’t normal. He was usually confident and annoyingly certain of himself. Even when something went wrong, he rarely allowed it to show on his face. He was the kind of man who carried his authority like a second skin.

But today, he looked genuinely disturbed. There was a heaviness in his posture, a tension in his shoulders that she had never seen before.

Across from them, Liam leaned back in his chair and studied his friend. His sharp eyes moved over Cedric’s face, taking in the rigid jaw, the distant gaze, the way he hadn’t touched his drink.

"Bro, did something happen at the business?"

Cedric didn’t answer.

Liam exchanged a confused glance with Naomi.

"Seriously, what’s going on with you?" he asked again. "I’ve never seen you like this."

Cedric’s jaw tightened. The muscle in his cheek twitched.

His mind kept returning to the conversation with Daisy. Her words replayed over and over, each time cutting a little deeper.

I will give you a divorce.

You can marry Jessica.

I don’t want alimony.

He had expected those words to make him happy. He had spent years telling himself that Daisy was the obstacle between him and Jessica. She was the reason he couldn’t fully commit, the reason his relationship with Jessica had never been simple.

So why couldn’t he stop thinking about the look on Daisy’s face when he accused her? Why did her quiet acceptance bother him so much?

Liam leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees.

"You’re unusually quiet."

Cedric finally picked up the glass sitting in front of him and took a slow sip. The liquid burned slightly as it went down but it did nothing to ease the knot in his chest.

"Nothing happened."

Naomi tilted her head, her red hair falling over her shoulder.

"You’re lying."

Cedric’s eyes flickered toward her.

She immediately stopped smiling. There was something in his expression that warned her not to push too far.

Liam, however, wasn’t as easily intimidated. He had known Cedric long enough to know when he was hiding something.

"You look like you want to punch a wall."

Cedric gave him a cold look.

"I don’t."

"Then why do you look like that?"

Cedric didn’t answer. His fingers tightened around the glass, the crystal warm against his palm.

Liam watched him carefully before asking, "Did someone piss you off?"

Cedric’s lips pressed into a thin line.

"Maybe."

"Who?"

Cedric looked down. For some reason, Daisy’s face appeared in his mind again. Her quiet eyes. Her little nod. The way she had simply accepted that he loved someone else and most irritatingly, the fact that she had been willing to leave without asking him for anything.

Cedric’s expression darkened.

"I don’t know."

Liam stared at him.

"You don’t know who made you angry?"

Cedric leaned back against the sofa and closed his eyes for a moment. The dim lights of the lounge flickered behind his eyelids.

"Forget it."

But he couldn’t forget it. Not tonight. And the more he tried to push Daisy’s words out of his mind, the more clearly he remembered them.

❀┈┈┈┈❀

Meanwhile, at the same time, somewhere inside a crazy nightclub, the music was still pounding through the walls even though the private room at the back of the building was almost completely silent. The muffled bass vibrated through the floor, a distant heartbeat that seemed to mock the tension in the air.

The man sitting in the chair was shaking so badly that the metal legs kept making a faint sound against the floor, a constant, nervous rhythm that matched his racing pulse.

Rafael sat across from him, completely relaxed. He leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other, his arms resting loosely on the armrests. He looked almost amused, like he was watching a particularly entertaining show.

"So..." He tilted his head. "Spying is actually a pretty cool job, isn’t it?"

The man’s lips trembled. Sweat dripped down his forehead, staining his collar.

Rafael smiled. It was a friendly smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

"Don’t deny it. Come on. You’re working for our rivals, sneaking around our company, stealing information and sending it to them." He gave a small chuckle. "Honestly, I almost admire the confidence. It takes guts to do something this stupid."

"I-I didn’t..."

"Don’t."

Rafael’s smile disappeared. The single word was enough to make the man go silent. His mouth snapped shut and his shoulders hunched forward.

Rafael leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, his green eyes fixed on the trembling man.

"You know what I find funny?" he asked calmly. "You thought nobody would notice. You thought you could just waltz in, take what you wanted and walk out like nothing happened."

The man swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously.

"I swear, I didn’t betray anyone. I only—"

"You only what?"

"I... I was forced."

Rafael raised an eyebrow.

"Forced?"

The man nodded desperately, his head bobbing up and down like a puppet.

"They threatened my family. My wife. My kids. They said if I didn’t help them, something would happen to them. I didn’t have a choice."

Rafael stared at him for a moment. His expression was unreadable.

Then he sighed, a long, slow exhale.

"That’s a better excuse than the one you gave me five minutes ago."

The man looked confused, hope flickering in his terrified eyes.

Rafael’s lips curved into a small, almost friendly smile.

"Unfortunately, it still doesn’t change what you did."

He stood up and casually adjusted the sleeves of his shirt. The movement was unhurried, almost lazy.

The men standing behind him immediately straightened, their postures shifting into readiness.

Rafael glanced at them.

"Take his phone."

One of them stepped forward and took the man’s phone from his pocket. The man flinched but didn’t resist.

"Check everything. Messages, calls, files. I want to know exactly what he sent and who received it."

"Yes, sir."

The terrified man began shaking harder, his whole body trembling.

"Please..."

Rafael looked at him. His expression was calm, almost bored.

"Relax."

He walked toward the small table near the window and picked up a glass of water. He took a slow sip, his back turned to the man.

"I’m not going to yell at you."

The man stared at him nervously.

"That’s worse," he whispered.

Rafael paused. Then he laughed, a low, genuine chuckle.

"At least you’re honest now."

He took another sip.

Normally, Alessio would have handled something like this personally. There was something strange about Alessio. He didn’t need to raise his voice or threaten people every five seconds. He could simply look at someone with those cold green eyes and suddenly grown men remembered every mistake they had ever made.

Rafael glanced at his phone. No messages. He frowned.

"Where the hell is he today?"

He had expected Alessio to be here. Instead, his brother had disappeared somewhere without telling him much.