by W Winters
“He raped and murdered her mother. She cries at night in her sleep because of him.”
The dark pit of sadness that narrowly exists within me expands at the memory of the first night I realized the power he had over her. “I had to give her this,” I explain and my last word hisses from my lips.
Jase is the first to nod in agreement, followed by Declan and then, finally, Daniel.
“They’re all going to be coming for us now,” Daniel says, but this time his voice welcomes the challenge. The moment of wondering what my brothers think of me, what they think of her, ends as quickly as it came.
I answer Daniel the only way I know how. With the only acceptable answer there is.
“Let them come.”
Chapter 32
Aria
I don’t know how long I’ve been shaking. My hand trembles as I reach for the faucet and turn the scalding water even hotter. My skin is bright red, but I can’t feel anything. Everything is numb and out of my control as I lean against the tiled wall. My knees quiver and my body begs me to heave. The heavy diamond on the necklace ever present around my neck hits the tile of the stall and I hold on to it as if it can save me or take me away.
Is this what it feels like to kill someone? I’ve only seen two people die in front of me before.
My mother was the first. And the second ruled my life until the fateful day Carter changed my life forever.
I remember thinking about that second time when I watched someone’s life being taken in front of me, right as I stood at the side of the bar. Completely unaware that when I entered, my entire life would change forever. I just wanted my notebook back.
I suck in a deep breath of the hot steam as I lean my head back against the tile and close my eyes. The memory takes me back to only weeks ago, but that memory is far better than the reality of my bloodstained skin.
Shoving my hands in my pockets to keep them warm, I let my fingers trace over the keys to my car. It’s the only weapon I have.
And keys are a weapon. I’ve seen someone slice a hole in a guy’s throat with a key. I stood there numbly as the man’s hands tried to reach his neck, but my father’s men gripped his wrists and pulled them behind his back. Blow after blow, each one puncturing his skin as he was restrained and unable to defend himself.
A chill flows over my skin at the memory and it takes me a minute to realize I’m not breathing.
I remember the sound of sneakers kicking small rocks across the pavement. The sound of the busy street at the other end of the alley.
Three men my father employs were supposed to be escorting me back home from the studio I wanted to rent, but they decided to take a detour.
And I stood there in shock; it all happened so quickly.
Mika was with me then. His thin lips tipped up into the evilest smile I’d ever seen. That smile held pure joy. Joy at my shock? Or my horror? Maybe my pain, because I knew the man they’d killed.
Mika’s dark black hair was slicked back. His beard was shaved off and it was only stubble that caressed his skin that night. Conventionally speaking, Mika’s a good-looking man with a deep, rough voice that can bring any woman to her knees.
But I’ve seen who he really is. And knowing he’s the man I’ve come to see and make demands of, sends a spike of fear through me.
But I won’t let anyone steal from me. I can’t let them push me around and let them think I’m weak. And like my father says, it’s time for me to demand respect. It’s what the Talverys do.
My eyes slowly open to the sound of the water hitting the bare tile. Every movement, every noise, makes my body tense.
I try to steady my breathing, ragged from the memories. The one of the night I was taken, and the other of that night two years ago when I saw a man murdered. I didn’t leave home for a long time after that, and I never moved out. My father wanted it that way anyway.
I thought I knew what fear was before I walked into that bar. I was wrong.
Staring at the lifeless corpse of a man whose existence has tormented you for years is true fear. It wasn’t until his head rolled away from his body on the carpet, that I could even consider the possibility that he would never hurt me again.
My gaze drifts to the pool of water at my feet. The water contains dark red splotches until it swirls and morphs to pink as it flows to the drain.
First, I watched my mother’s death.
Then the death of a man who betrayed my father.
And now I’ve killed the man who betrayed both of my parents.
I wait for a sense of relief, or victory—righteousness, maybe. But nothing comes. There’s only a hollow emptiness in my chest and a flood of unwanted memories.
The sound of the glass door to the shower sliding open nearly tears a scream from my throat.
Mika, my father, Stephan… of all the men responsible for me leading a life riddled with fear, none of them compare to the man standing in front of me. The steam billows around him as it exits the shower stall, allowing the chill of the cooler air to leave goosebumps along my skin.
Carter’s gaze narrows as he assesses me, glued to the wall and still shaking, still struggling to do anything. I’ve never felt so weak in my life as I do right now.
Killing Stephan may have felt freeing during the moments the knife sliced into him, but I’ve never been so chained to memories as I am in this instant.
“What are you doing?” His deep voice comes out a question, but I don’t think he expects me to answer.
“I can’t stop shaking,” I tell him in a staccato cadence that reflects my inability to do anything clearly. Each word is forced out as I grip my wrist with my other hand and will it to stop, finally letting go of the gem.
Carter doesn’t answer me. Instead, he steps into the stall, still clothed. He hisses through his teeth as the hot water batters his arm and splashes along his bloodstained shirt, now sticking to his skin. He turns the faucet, cooling the water until it’s only warm and no longer scalding hot.
The cool air feels refreshing as it caresses my skin more and more the longer he stands in front of me with the door open. My head feels light and the panic that was all-consuming only a moment ago, wanes.
In one breath, Carter strips from his shirt. In another, he closes the door behind him and pulls me into his arms. The warm water gently splashes along my back in time with Carter’s soothing strokes. It takes a moment for me to return the embrace, to wrap my arms around him and press my cheek to his bare chest.
His heartbeat is steady as he holds me and it’s calming. So calming. The trembling subsides quicker than I could imagine.
My eyes close and I welcome the darkness of exhaustion until Carter clears his throat, startling me from the comfortable silence.
“I’m sorry for telling you that I wouldn’t be with you,” he says and his voice rumbles up his chest. I stay tense against him, caught off guard. I barely remember his words from earlier. Everything happened so quickly; of everything that happened tonight, the last thing on my mind is the threat he gave me before I knew his intentions and every piece of the puzzle fell into place.
An apology is something I would never expect from him.
Carter is never sorry. Carter is unapologetic in everything he does.
Without an answer from me, he continues, “I shouldn’t have said that. And I’m sorry for it.” Another moment passes, and the cloudy haze slowly dissipates until I can peel myself away from him. My nakedness and the reality of what I am to him are slowly coming back to me.
Today has been a whirlwind of emotions. The most prevalent being pain.
I swallow thickly before stepping away from him and out of the flowing streams of water to tell him it’s okay.
I don’t know what else to say.
Pushing the wet hair from my face, I look him in the eyes and the intensity in his gaze sets my body on fire.
“It’s not okay. And it won’t happen again,” Carter replies as his eyes darken and he moves in the su
ddenly small shower, stalking toward me to place both of his palms against the tile wall on either side of my head.
His broad shoulders eclipse everything else as he towers over me, and the sheer power that radiates from him forces a deep urge of need down to my core. The pulse is uncontrollable and threatens to overcome my senses.
It would be so easy to fall into his arms. To get lost in the lusty haze that is Carter Cross.
“I forgive you,” I tell him in a single breath and try to swallow down the desire. Suddenly, I’m hotter than I was before. All over, and all at once.
My nipples pebble and my fingers itch to reach out to him, to spear my fingers through his hair and pull his lips down to mine.
But Carter doesn’t kiss me. He never has. My gaze stays pinned to his lips as he lowers them, oh, so slowly, but they pass my own and travel to my shoulder. His rough stubble grazes my neck and makes my pussy throb. His tongue sweeps along my skin and a heat flows through me that I can’t deny.
If I could hold on to this moment and hide from the pain of my reality forever, I would.
Just as I dare to reach up, to let my fingers travel along his shoulders and then higher, a sudden knock at the door cuts sharply through the moment.
The white noise of the shower dims as Jase’s voice carries through the door, calling out to take Carter away from me.
Don’t go, my heart begs me to plead with him. I can’t be alone right now. I’m not okay.
Carter nudges the tip of his nose against mine, letting a soft hum of approval vibrate up his chest before telling Jase that he’s coming. He lowers his voice and looks me in the eyes as he tells me, “Finish here and wait in bed for me.”
The command and heat in his eyes is something I could never refute. “Yes, Carter,” I answer obediently, and it only makes the heat between my thighs grow hotter.
It’s not until he’s gone that I realize how much I want him.
How much I need Carter Cross right now. I have no one else.
And how much that very fact scares me.
Chapter 33
Carter
“He said he’s cooled off, but the fucker’s already talking.” Jase updates me the second I step into the den. The adrenaline from tonight had subsided. The ringing in my blood had dulled.
Until I saw Aria still shaking.
One look at her delicate form trembling from the aftershocks changed everything. The normal rush of triumph was replaced instantly by something else. Something I don’t care to look farther into right now.
I need a drink. A strong one, at that.
“We knew we couldn’t trust him,” I answer my brother as the ice clinks in the glass. I fill it with three fingers of whiskey and let it sit on the ice to chill. The amber liquid swirls as I consider every aspect of what we could face from Romano.
I know his friends. I know his enemies. And most owe far more to me than they do him.
“Do we need to send anyone a reminder?” I ask my brother as I lift my eyes to his and throw back the whiskey. If anyone wants to prove themselves to Romano, I need to shut down that train of thought before it turns into anything tangible. A small reminder of what we’re capable of could silence any ideas anyone has of turning on us. It’s best not to entertain any delusions of grandeur they might have.
Jase shakes his head but doesn’t return my gaze. Instead, he taps his finger against the back of the chair he’s standing behind before continuing. “He messaged Talvery,” Jase tells me as the whiskey burns its way down to my gut.
I cock a brow at his statement. “Is that intel from our informant?”
“From one of them,” Jase answers with a confidence I respect.
“So, he told Talvery that I allowed his daughter to kill her enemy. That’s interesting, isn’t it?” I can’t hide the amusement that plays along my lips.
“Not exactly. He only confirmed that we have Talvery’s daughter.”
A sneer of cynicism comes out as a grunt. “Of course, he did,” I say absently as I fill the glass once more.
“And then he left a message for us.” I don’t breathe or move until Jase tells me, “He says he understands and that he enjoyed the show.”
“Fucking prick.” I let the words slip out before downing the alcohol in a single gulp. He’s a coward. Pitting Talvery and me against one another while pretending to stay by my side. Revenge will be sweet when it comes time for that.
The whiskey is still burning down my chest as my brother asks, “Are we still with him? The guns have shipped. We have the upper hand. We can still pull back from our deal.”
“Or side with Talvery?” I ask him and Jase tenses. “We could drop Romano and give the guns to Talvery.”
“Why would we do that?” Jase asks with a glimmer of distrust in his voice as he walks closer to me and then settles against the side table, leaning against it and waiting for me to answer. The adrenaline returns full force as if knowing it would be a fatal mistake to put any trust in Talvery. His greed knows no bounds and to aid him could backfire immediately.
I watch the ice in the glass, seeing nothing but Aria. Hearing her pleas to spare her father.
The way she molded her body to mine in the shower was intoxicating. But she’s still holding back. I would do anything to have her completely. This could be it.
But the risk is considerable.
Give it time, I hear a voice urge in the back of my head, but it can’t be mine. Patience can go fuck itself.
“Of course… Aria.” My brother answers his own question given my silence and then runs a hand down the back of his head. It takes him a moment before he reaches for a glass and then takes the bottle of whiskey from my hand.
I let him. I already know she’s making me think differently than I should. Making my actions unpredictable. She has a control over me that’s undeniable and more and more apparent each day.
“You’ve never let anyone come between you and business before.” He downs the first shot, not waiting for a reply. Sucking the whiskey from his teeth, he asks, “Why her?”
Silence descends upon us. I’ve never told anyone the complete truth. About how I wanted to die all those years ago. I was so close, and she stopped it.
Before tonight, I hadn’t told them that I’d hated her for it. I didn’t tell anyone that I’d prayed for it all to end. That at my greatest moment of weakness, I’d given up.
Until she stopped it all.
Jase considers me for a moment. He’s my second-in-command. My partner in all of this. And I never told him. I didn’t want to speak the truth to life. “I need to know what she means to you at least.”
“Everything.” I don’t hesitate to answer him, although my voice comes out lowly and full of possessiveness.
“And she wants you to side with Talvery. The man who tried to have us all murdered in our sleep? The man who set our house on fire?”
“She doesn’t know.” I’m quick to defend her and even I feel the irritation of it. As if it seeps from the tone of Jase’s voice straight to my head.
“She doesn’t know shit,” he responds with slight agitation, but one look at him and he looks away, staring at the liquid swirling in his glass.
“She’s loyal.”
“She doesn’t owe him her loyalty.” He finally looks at me. He’s not telling me anything I don’t know already. “Does she know about her mother?” he asks.
“It’s a rumor. We can’t prove it.” Even as I answer him, I know I’m merely playing devil’s advocate. I’d do anything in my power to give her hope for the one thing she wants. Mercy toward her father.
“I’d planned to torture it out of Stephan,” I tell my brother, reminding myself. I’d intended to give her truth tonight, along with the vengeance she so desperately needed. “I lost sight of that goal.”
Jase only huffs, although when I glance at him there’s a shimmer of delight in his eyes and a smirk on his lips before he sips the expensive whiskey.
“She’ll neve
r believe me.” As I give Jase yet another excuse, I feel a vise around my heart. Squeezing it tight. “She would never side with me over her father.” The truth is damning.
“I don’t mind telling her.” The ease with which he speaks catches me off guard. He must see it in my face though because he shrugs and adds, “I’ll be gentle, but I’ll make her understand.”
“I don’t want you getting between us.” The rise of anger is something I didn’t expect. Clearing my throat, I return to the whiskey. One more and then I go back to my Aria.
“She’s fucking with your head,” Jase says with a hard edge before adding, “I’ve never seen you like this.”
“Like what?” I ask him, daring him with my tone to question me. Although, I already know the answer.
“Indecisive and emotional. We should have already annihilated them. You’re taking your time and stockpiling more weapons and men than necessary.”
“I don’t want her to hate me.” I expect to see shock in Jase’s expression. Maybe even disgust. She’s a weakness I never intended, but one I refuse to give up.
Although he’s taken aback, he doesn’t argue, and a tiredness sets in his dark eyes. The weight of everything I’ve been feeling is settling down on his shoulders now.
I propose to my brother, “We have to choose. Talvery or Romano.”
“I’ll die before siding with Talvery,” my brother confesses without a hint of emotion. It’s merely a fact. And one I can support and respect, given everything Talvery has done. “I’d rather take them both out.”
Feeling the heat and buzz of the liquor slinking its way into my thoughts, I merely nod and then roll my tense shoulders. I’m tired. Not just of tonight. But tired of fighting.
There’s no way to make it end though. The moment a man stops fighting in this business, is the moment he’s executed.
“We’ve pissed them both off, so it’s better to choose a side and make sure they don’t put their past behind them to take us on together. Just because Romano slipped him intel doesn’t mean anything more than he’s fueling the flames between them… but he knows what he’s doing. He’s redirecting Talvery’s hate.”