“How are you alive, you piece of shit. I hate you. I’ll kill you again,” I scream.
Grabbing the stem of a broken champagne glass from the mess on the table, I charge at him again, only to be pulled back easily by Dante. This time I’m pulled into Dante’s arms and held firmly against him, quieting my struggle, forcing me to give-in, and calm down. Unintentionally forced to acknowledge the ghost standing in front of me.
“This isn’t real. Tell me this isn’t real,” I whisper to myself, dropping the crystal from my hand.
Declan smiles, but it always looked unnatural on his face, one only a mother could love. No matter how attractive he is outside, he’s rotted and twisted on the inside.
“Oh, I assure you, darling girl, I’m real. You’ve been gone so long, I bet you felt like you were seeing a ghost. We have so much to catch up on. Let me start—I run the O’Bannion crew. It’s a real ‘rags to riches’ story. I’m at the top, but I’m still missing one thing.” Declan crosses his arms over his chest, twisting his wedding ring with his thumb. “Care to guess?”
His voice is still as cruel as I remember, and I almost choke on the bile trying to come up from the sound of it. My eyes cut to him, and I wish I could shoot him again.
Dante stills behind me, and I can tell it’s sinking in. He understands why I just came undone. He turns me around to look at him, touching my face so gently with the hand that’s holding his gun, that I close my eyes, so I can block out everything but his touch and the scratch of the hard metal against my cheek.
“This is the guy? The one they sold you to?” Dante grinds out angrily, his chest heaving as he points the gun back at Declan. “The one you thought you killed.”
I nod, unable to even answer. I never want to say the words again.
Dante moves me to stand in front of me, and I clutch the back of his jacket, willing my body to stop trembling from my anger.
“Don’t address her, or I’ll cut your fucking tongue from your mouth. In fact, you tell me why I shouldn’t blow your head off now…”
I feel Dante take a step forward but stop abruptly. I step to the side to see the two guys flanking Declan lift their shirts, exposing the guns they’re carrying. Shit.
“There’s one reason,” Declan answers arrogantly, “and here’s another…because then you’d make her a widow, admittedly something she tried to do herself eight years ago when she shot me on our wedding night. Except I didn’t die, Sarah, and now I’ve finally found you.”
Declan looks at Dante and grits out cruelly, “I’ve come for what’s mine.”
Fuck. My head whips to look at everyone in the room. I did this. This is my fault. I brought this here, but each set of eyes I look into don’t reflect anger toward me. No, everyone is glaring at Declan like they want him dead.
I look up and see Dante’s jaw tensed, the muscles rippling as he grits his teeth. Taking a deep breath, I slip my hand into his and step up to his side, the other finding its way to my choker. “I’ve never belonged to you Declan. You can’t own what you’ve never had.”
He sneers, and I stand straighter. Not today, motherfucker.
“Always such a smart mouth. It should be fun breaking it in,” Declan answers.
A rumble in Dante’s chest vibrates all the way down his arm as he shakes his head. “I’m gonna make you choke on those words. You may have these assholes with you now,” he barks, motioning to the gunmen, “but they won’t be there forever. I will though. I’ll never stop, and I won’t just stop with you…I’m gonna chop down your whole goddamn family tree.”
Luca’s voice comes from Dante’s right. “You aren’t taking Sarah. You tell the rest of the Irish we’re coming. E taglieremo la testa dal serpente.” And we’ll cut the head off the snake.
A deep laugh pulls from Dante’s chest from whatever Luca said, and Declan looks between them, his eyes growing wild with anger.
Declan steps up to Dante’s face, smiling wide. “You have forty-eight hours to deliver my bride to me, or you’ll get your war.”
He barely gets the words out before Dante’s head connects with Declan’s skull, sending him stumbling backward. Guns click, two pointing at Dante as his stays on Declan. I squeeze Dante’s hand, but Declan begins to laugh from his bent stature, holding up a hand and waving it.
“Put them away. I’m fine. I’m fine.”
Dante’s quiet rage is so palpable that I’m feeding off it, as if it’s being siphoned from him as he lowers his gun. I dig my nails into my leg, watching as Declan stands and wipes a trickle of blood from his busted eyebrow.
“I was warned about your temper. It could take down cities, they said…” Declan laughs again, pulling a handkerchief from his breast pocket. “You definitely live up to it.”
Declan’s eyes swing to mine as he blots his face. “You always were a survivor, but this time you hid in the lion’s den.”
His face swings to Luca, as he begins to pace. “You’ve got one brother who’s so calculating and vicious, that he may have stepped away from the mafia, but nobody would ever dare to question him for fear of what he’d do.”
Declan looks at the handkerchief with disgust, seeing his blood, and puts it back to his cut. He walks past me and Dante and points to where Dominic is standing protectively in front of Drew.
“And his twin, or should I say the mob’s Priest…that’s your real name, right? The one you go by when you take confessions of the men you kill. I have to say…you live up to your reputation the most. It’s the eyes—you’re dead behind them.”
My eyes tip to Dante, who gives nothing away. I’ve heard rumblings before about what Dom did and still does for his “family,” but I didn’t give them any weight.
Declan looks back at me, amusement in his eyes. “You didn’t know any of this? Even though you’re in bed with a man who rivals even my power and viciousness? And I was the monster you ran from?”
I hate his smug grandiose attitude as if he’s the better choice.
My voice is cutting and angry as I deliver my words. “These people are my family. They protect those they love. There’s nothing but honor in that. You bought and tortured me before you tried to rape me. The only monster in this room is you. And I will watch you burn in hell, Declan. In fact, I kinda hope I get to strike the match.”
His face contorts as he straightens his jacket, pulling it in place harshly. “Forty-eight hours. In the meantime, I’m sure you’ll all need a motivator, so I left you a gift as a reminder of what we Irish do best.”
Declan smiles and turns, pushing his hands into his pockets as he strolls out past the abandoned mask station, tossing his back in. His henchmen follow him, walking straight out of Church.
The closing door echoes through the empty space, and Dante’s arms pull me into him as he kisses the top of my head. An exhale releases in a whoosh as I realize I’ve been holding my breath. Dante shoves his gun into the small of his back and pulls out his phone, turning to Dom. “Where the fuck is everyone? The security, the extra guys…there better be a fire.”
All their phones start to buzz. A crease forms in my brow as the guys look to each other.
Dante answers his phone angrily, “Where the fuck is everyone?”
Whatever is being said immediately silences him, Luca, and Dom. I know it’s bad because I watch the life in his eyes dim, making him the scariest person I’ve ever seen.
This is the gift Declan warned about. I know it.
“What’s happened?” I question.
“Jesus Christ, he did it before he walked in here…that’s why I didn’t see any of the guys when we walked in,” Dante growls, gritting his teeth.
Luca brings his fists down on the table as he hangs up his phone. “That motherfucker came in here…knowing. He fucking knew, Dante.”
Dante’s hand lowers from his ear, and he looks at Dom, where Drew’s face is buried into his chest as her shoulders shake. Dom lowers the phone from his ear and shakes his head.
My he
ad shifts to Luca as he puts his arm around Gretchen and holds her close, still visibly angry as he whispers into her ear.
My hands shoot to Dante’s face, and I survey his features; it’s as if pieces of him are dying, and I don’t know how to help him.
“What happened?” I plead. “What did you all just find out?”
His eyes connect to mine, and all I see is fury. “Declan blew up the apartment. The building’s a fucking mess of fire and scrap metal… Sarah, we think Matteo was inside. He was fucking inside.”
SHE SHAKES HER HEAD AND pushes away from me.
“Who can confirm it?” she spits out angrily. “Who can confirm he was inside? I won’t treat him like a dead man before I see his body. Find him. Dante…you have to.”
I nod my head, holding her cheek in my hand. “I’ll find him. It’s going to be okay. I’ll find him, Billy.”
I press a kiss to her forehead, and she melts into me, hugging my waist.
“He’s fine. You know Matteo—he’s probably off with some girl.”
I know she’s clinging to that hope because Matteo is close to her. But where she’s hopeful, I fear the worst.
Antonio and Vincenzo bust through Church’s doors, making Drew let out a gasp, and my head swings in their direction as they stop to look at us.
They look like hell, as if they ran all the way here.
“What the fuck is going down, boss?” Vin rages. “We thought you were still at your place… Jesus, Dante. We all rushed straight there.”
“Who the fuck told you to go there because it wasn’t me. I was here. By myself…left open to be fucking shot. Declan played us. Who helped him?” I roar.
“Matteo,” Antonio states cautiously. “The text came from his phone to all of us.”
“Then they took his phone,” I shoot out. “Matteo’s no rat.”
“Agreed,” Vin and Antonio say in unison.
Sarah buries her head into my chest as I start giving directions.
“We need to get everyone to the safe houses. The city isn’t a good place to be right now.”
“I already took care of the kids.” Antonio nods to my brothers, and Gretchen lets out a breath, walking straight for him and wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Thank you.” She nods, pulling back and rubbing his shoulder.
Nico comes in from the back entry of Church with a few of the guys and interrupts her gratitude. “Boss. What the hell is going down? We’ve got the cars out back and ready.”
I rub Sarah’s back and look down at her.
“Go with the girls, Billy. I’ll be there soon,” I say softly, but she raises her eyebrows and shakes her head. “I don’t have time for this shit. You need to park your ass where it’s safe.”
She grabs my tuxedo jacket and pulls me close to her. “I walked into this family eyes wide open. It’s not perfect, but we take care of each other, and that means you, too. You take care of everyone else, but I take care of you. I can’t do that burning a hole in the carpet from my pacing in some safe house.”
My entire body dips to wrap my arms around her waist, picking her up to level her face to face with mine.
“I love you, Billy. Just give me twenty-four hours. I can’t think straight if I’m worried about you. I need to sort out my next move, and I can’t do that with you here.”
She plants a kiss on my lips, her hands cradling my face. “Then I’ll burn a hole in the carpet, but if you wait longer than twenty-four hours, I’ll set the place on fire.”
I wink and jut my chin for her to kiss me. She does as she’s told, and I pull back, placing her back to her feet.
“I love you,” she calls out to me, walking backward.
“It’s not enough,” I answer back, smiling reassuringly as she turns and takes Nico’s arm. “Take care of my girl.”
“With my life.” Nico nods and walks them out the way he came in.
My eyes stay fixed on the hall she disappeared into until I know she’s gone, feeling the weight that’s on my shoulders. Dom comes up beside me and pats my shoulder. “This is the part you weren’t looking forward to. But you’ll always have enemies, and they’ll always try to hurt you where you’re the most vulnerable.”
My palms press against the table as I bow, letting my head hang down between my shoulders as I take in a deep breath and let it out.
“Dante,” Luca says lowly, pushing a tumbler of amber liquid under my face on the table. “We need to sit down and plan a war.”
I nod from where I’m bowed, taking one last moment, then straightening up. “First, we find Matteo. If he’s alive, we keep him safe. If he’s dead, we bury his body, and then we make sure to take twenty of theirs as payment.” My head swings to where Antonio and Vincenzo are standing, “Vin, call the doc…have him check the hospitals.”
“Done.” He pulls his phone from his pocket and walks away.
“Office,” I say to my brothers, waving Antonio over to walk with us.
The rest of the night travels by in a blur. More of my men file into Church as the four of us hole up in the office to strategize how to take down the entire Boston crew.
We sit around the desk, me behind it, and listen to Luca as he works out each life we’ll take like a puzzle piece for the bigger picture. He’s detached and calculating, but this is always who is he; just like when he hugs his with wife and child, that’s who he is, too.
We’re the most dangerous when those two purposes intersect. Declan has threatened those who matter most to us. And now he gets the worst versions of who we are.
Dom pushes some papers out of the way to place his drink down on the desk. “What I don’t get was why the family was doing work for him…his reach far exceeds theirs. They were unneeded. If he wanted her all these years, he could’ve taken her. I don’t buy the ‘I just found you’ bullshit he was spewing.”
I nod. “Yeah. I hear that. He’s a sick bastard, that’s clear, but there’s a bigger reason.”
“It’s the drugs,” Luca pipes in, crossing his arms and sitting against the desk.
Antonio walks to the small bar in the corner and grabs the bottle of scotch. “That makes sense. He’s been starving her family. Only allowing them to make enough, so that he keeps them begging him—willing to do whatever he wants.”
Dom’s eyes grow wider as he connects more dots. “He’s giving crumbs. Her family is so desperate for pennies that he’s been using them to do his dirty work, dangling the fulfillment of the drug buy-in over their head. But why?”
Luca shakes his head. “Sarah’s been a sick hobby until now, probably something to satisfy his cruelty.”
I put my hands behind my head, letting out a breath before I speak. “The deal he made for her was behind closed doors. Nobody knew—he couldn’t exactly get everyone involved to search for her without raising questions. So, he used her family. The question is what’s changed…why now?”
Antonio pours himself a glass and looks up. “From what we pieced together with our guy in Boston, Declan took the crew by blood. He killed anyone who stood in his way during his climb, and we think that his sudden immediate interest in Sarah has more to do with who she’s in bed with…he came for her to start a war with us. She’s a means to an end.”
Motherfucker.
“All this time, she worried she was bringing trouble to our door, but it’s us who brought it to hers,” I say to myself before speaking louder. “He wants our streets for his filthy drugs. And he knew that if he laid down this ultimatum, I’d push back, and we’d go to war. He could blame me and go unaccountable—not having to answer to the other families in his crew,” I add, rapping my knuckles against the desk.
Luca takes a swig of his drink and levels a look at me. “And if our backs are turned in the middle of a war, shit slips through. We know how much he likes to pull that distraction shit. Chicago would be his before we even fought for her.”
I let out a small huff as we all sit in silence, letting it sink in. Declan wou
ld’ve had us.
“He’s smart,” Luca muses. “We just have to be smarter.”
My phone buzzes, and I look down to see it’s Nico. “Everything okay?”
“Golden. Girls are dropped and protected. She’s good, Dante—worried about you, but all good. She left her purse and phone at Church, but the other two have theirs. She wanted me to tell you that.”
“Thank you. Get back, you’re needed.”
“Done.”
I hang up and look up at the room. “Girls are good.”
Nobody responds, just gives a nod as we get back to business. The more everyone speaks, the more my mind flips through scenarios. I recline back in my chair, listening to Antonio and Luca debate whether or not to consult with the other families on the Irish side, when a thought begins to form.
“What’s in your head, Dante?” Dom questions, tilting his head in to listen but not disrupt the others.
“It’s something Luca said when Declan was here…he said we’d cut the head off the snake. Declan’s an arrogant cocksucker. He came in here with only two men. How’d he know you two weren’t carrying? He cleared everyone with that explosion, but he knew the three of us were together.”
Dom rubs his jaw as he answers. “You think he’s bought into the idea that he’s powerful? That he walked in assuming you’d have to respect him because he’s another boss.”
I nod, running a hand over my head. “Yes. He’s not one of us…he doesn’t come from tradition. Declan doesn’t know how shit works. Take what Antonio was saying—he bloodied the ladder his entire climb, and that makes him the kind of person who isn’t very popular with those he leads, because he isn’t really one them.”
Dom tenses, seeing my thoughts before I say them.
“You want to take him first? Bet on that everyone will back down once he’s taken care of, but…”
I cut him off, answering honestly, still working through the idea.
“Clipping Declan could mean the kind of war that makes everyone fair game; because if I’m wrong, there’ll be no holds barred.”
“Are you willing to risk her?” Dom looks at me, waiting for my answer. I can see the worry in his eyes. He’s not sure I won’t do just that.
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