Sergio snorted out a laugh. “Sometimes, I forget you’re Phoenix’s kid, not Chase’s.”
“I can’t figure out if that’s a compliment or an insult,” I said.
“Depends on the mood I’m in.” Sergio grinned down at his handiwork and tied the last stitch. “You know there’s a method to our madness, right?”
“Yes.” No. I mean, I did, but some of the rules made no sense.
“I can feel your temper rising, Little Phoenix.” Sergio pulled her IV and started cleaning her up.
“Riddle me this,” I started, helping him gather all the bloody gauze. “Why the hell was it okay for all of you guys to be hopping into bed with each other—but we have to take blood oaths at sixteen not to kiss behind the damn tree in my back yard?”
“So many good memories at that tree.” Sergio peeled off his latex gloves and looked up. His eyes were a staggering blue that reminded me he was more than another made man. He was powerful, and he was Serena’s other uncle.
I was surrounded by Abandonato men who would rip my dick through my mouth if they knew it had been anywhere near their favorite princess.
Literally.
“Love triangles may look fun on TV or in books, but they start wars in the mafia, and history has a way of repeating itself. You know the whole Nixon, Chase, Tracey drama.” He rolled his eyes. “Nearly snuffed out the Alferos. It was like our own rendition of Romeo and Juliet, and then you have the whole De Lange Family line who not only betrayed all of us but betrayed Chase. Imagine marrying someone close and finding out that the power between you felt uneven. That was how Chase’s first wife felt. We thought marrying from within would keep the families strong. Instead, it nearly destroyed us. So, when you think about it that way, it makes sense.”
I sighed. “So, what you’re saying is, love causes wars, hate ends them?”
“No, I’m saying when emotions run high, and you have a gun, well, not the best combination, you know?” He shrugged. “We learned an important lesson from our pasts. Sometimes when you’re too close the way all of the kids are, it causes jealousy, it causes fights, and we need you guys to be strong, not distracted by all the sex you wish you were having.”
I burst out laughing. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about the sex we’re not having, I mean have you seen how many scrunchies Breaker wears on his wrist?”
Sergio narrowed his eyes. “I thought that was just to piss Tex off.”
“Nah.” I laughed. “Go check out his Snapchat, man. So many girls, so many I’ve lost count. If he hasn’t slept through half of Eagle Elite by the time he graduates, it’ll be because it’s a choice.”
“Could have lived my whole life without the mental picture of nineteen-year-old Breaker naked and earning scrunchies instead of notches in his bedpost.”
“Oh, don’t worry man, he has those too.” I patted him on the shoulder.
“If Tex ever asks, this conversation never happened. He would shit a brick if that kid got someone pregnant.”
“He’s a fan of Trojan so I wouldn’t really worry about—”
“Yeah, I stopped listening at Trojan.”
“Smart man.” I nodded.
“The smartest,” he agreed with a slow grin. “You need help getting her to her room?”
“I got it; I might crash in one of the guest rooms, though. It’s late, and Trace makes better eggs than my mom.”
Sergio made a face. “It’s like she’s trying to poison people.”
“Thank you!” I threw my hands up. “She just tries so hard.”
“The food can tell. It revolts on purpose,” he teased, just as Dante walked into the kitchen like he’d just taken a pleasant stroll down the road.
He had recently showered, no blood, huge grin.
Man, the guy loved taking care of dead bodies, sick bastard.
“Things good?” Sergio asked.
“I enjoy the cement.” He cracked his knuckles. “Just had to update you guys on a few things. Everyone still in the basement?”
“Tex is home, but everyone else is here.”
“Good.” His eyes flashed for a minute, and then he glanced down at Serena. “Shit, that’s a lot of stitches.”
I winced. “It was necessary.”
“Doesn’t make it feel any better when you wake up screaming in pain.” He pointed out. “Serg, you ready?”
“Yeah.” They started talking in hushed tones, leaving me the task of carrying Serena to her bedroom upstairs.
I gently picked her up in my arms and walked up the steps, taking them one at a time, one foot in front of the other, until I finally made it into her large bedroom at the end of the hall.
I flicked the lights on and laid her on her bed and looked around for a T-shirt I could toss in her general direction.
“You look lost,” she mumbled, not opening her eyes. “I guess it has been a while.”
“Ah, the morphine’s talking. Great.” I finally settled on a plain white T-shirt and held it out to her. “Think you can move enough to put this on?”
She groaned and then opened an already swollen right eye to look at me. “I can barely see, what do you think?”
“I forgot how much fun you are when you’re high.”
Her smile was dopey as she lifted her arms for me to dress her.
Grumbling, I pulled what remained of the sweatshirt and her tank off her body, leaving her completely topless.
“Wait.” She slumped forward. “Shower, I have blood everywhere; I need to shower.”
I sighed in irritation. “Serena, you can barely keep your eyes open, you’d most likely drown standing up.”
“That’s why you’re here, friend.”
“Yeah, not your friend, and even if I were in that territory, I wouldn’t risk getting shot in your home just because the blood makes you woozy.”
“You’re helping me. She held up two fingers that Sergio had taped together, the swollen broken ones. “Two.” Had she even said one? “I really, really want to forget tonight, not just the blood, I just—please?”
I gritted my teeth. “It’s weird when you’re polite.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Decision made, I went over to her door, closed it, and then held out my hands. “All right, lets hurry and get you naked and washed.”
“So romantic.” She slumped forward and then winced when I tried to take off the remnants of her leather pants.
She was half-naked when I got them off her feet, and then I had the trying task of pulling off her lacy red underwear.
I cleared my throat and quickly tossed them aside, then lifted a girl I refused to stare at, into my arms again, and walked into the bathroom.
I placed her on her feet and then turned on the rain shower. She steadied herself against the wall while I made sure it was hot.
And then she stumbled into me, nearly sending me into the water with my clothes on.
With a curse, I shook my head. “You can’t do this alone at all, can you?”
“Not sure I can even hold soap right now.” Her lower lip trembled.
Shit. She rarely cried.
It was probably the drugs, the dead body, the circumstances… hell, take your pick.
“Don’t cry.” I hugged her tight.
“I still hate you.” She sniffed against my chest.
“Yeah, well, I’m not your biggest fan either, princess.”
“Let’s hurry before my dad shoots you.”
“Gotta love a story with a happy ending.” I peeled off my shirt and then kicked off my jeans while she leaned against the counter, shoes gone, socks gone. I was completely naked and trying like hell to think about anything that wasn’t her pink skin.
“Ouch.” She hissed once we were under the hot spray. “It stings.”
“The stitches have been cleaned already, so let’s just get the rest of you clean, okay?”
“Are you gonna wash my hair now then braid it later?” She slumped forwar
d, forcing me to catch her slippery body against mine.
I ground my teeth. “You know I’m shit at braiding anyone’s hair but Izzy.”
“True.” She laughed, and then the laugh somehow turned into a sob as I held her tight. “Everything’s so messed up. I messed up!”
“You didn’t mess up.” I cupped her cheeks. “We were all there. You acted on instinct, and nobody can fault you for that—least of all me since I looked like the lucky target. Besides, we can’t trust anyone.”
“Not even each other.” Her eyes searched mine.
I gulped. “Not true. We can trust each other. Trust has nothing to do with liking someone and everything to do with knowing that at the end of the day, that person’s going to have your back.”
“Is that your roundabout way of saying you trust me despite your hate?” She at least wasn’t crying anymore.
I said the only thing I could, the only thing that would keep her safe, and me alive. “My love doesn’t matter, not when you have my trust. You’re like the keeper of souls, Serena, you keep mine safe, just like I keep yours safe. What use is love when we have that?”
She nodded. “You’re right.”
“Damn right, I am.” I grabbed the body wash and started rubbing it down her shoulders. “Now, try not to pass out.”
We didn’t speak the rest of the time, and while I tried like hell not to get aroused, it was impossible.
I just hoped she was too high on morphine to remember that my cock very much wanted to show her comfort in about a billion different positions and ways.
No matter how many times my brain and heart told my body to rein it in, my body just ignored it and kept wanting, straining, begging her to pay attention.
We were rinsing off when her hand brushed up against me.
I froze.
She acted like it was an accident, and maybe it was.
But then her other hand did it.
And before I knew what was happening, I was pinning her against the shower wall. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Her sleepy gaze found mine. “Touch?”
“Serena.”
“You grabbed boob tonight.”
She had me there. “I was taunting you.”
Her healthy hand reached down and squeezed my cock so tight I nearly spent myself against her fingers. “Consider yourself taunted.”
“We even now, Serena?” My voice cracked.
“I think we’ll always battle for that position, don’t you?”
“War’s boring when both sides are always on equal footing.”
“Mmm.” Her hand slowly pulled away.
Our foreheads touched as water dripped between our faces. Mouths were inches apart, her chest heaved.
I squeezed my eyes shut and gave my head a shake, hoping reality would set in.
She wasn’t mine.
I wasn’t hers.
She looked away like she didn’t want me to see the truth of the pain in her eyes.
And I let her do it because I couldn’t trust myself not to pull her against me and make it better.
Make us better.
I turned off the shower, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around her as gently as I could.
No words were spoken as we got her ready for bed, and when I went to open the door, it was to see Trace standing on the other side of it, her expression one of concern, not accusation. “How is she?”
“Sleeping it off, she wanted a shower, I tried—”
Trace cut me off with a hug. “Thank you. Can you stay with her, do you think? The guys are still downstairs meeting, and your mom stopped by to talk about a few things.”
I wanted to ask what things, but instead, I nodded and said, “I’ll keep the door open.”
“Don’t.” She smiled. “I trust you.”
She walked away, and when I clicked the door shut, I whispered into the air. “You shouldn’t.”
Chapter Nine
Serena
I didn’t want to wake up.
Not because I wanted to die.
But because Junior was sleeping next to me, and even though he was hilariously on top of the bed rather than inside the sheets, he was there.
And he hadn’t been there, by my side.
For so long.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and put the metaphorical mask of hate back on because it was all I had.
And I would take him in whatever capacity I could.
If that wasn’t his love, then so be it.
“Is the cease-fire gone?” His voice was raspy, deep, full of that sort of sleep that makes a girl shiver in all the right places. Hating him was a full-time job, especially with a voice like that, the body of a god, and the stupid teal eyes that always seemed to see past even my bullshit.
For the first time in forever, I admitted the truth, I admitted my weakness and whispered. “Just two more minutes.” And then my hand inched across the comforter and gripped his.
I could feel his pulse beneath my skin.
The memories came full force.
“This,” Junior gripped me by the thighs and then grabbed my hand and pressed it against his naked chest. “Will always be yours.”
“Even though it’s not supposed to be?” I asked.
“Sometimes, hearts can’t help but beat for the wrong person, and who am I to deny what my heart craves even if it ends up killing me?”
“Don’t joke like that.”
“I would die for your love,” he whispered. “And the last words I would utter would be worth it, fucking worth it.”
Tears filled my eyes. “I love you so much.”
“As long as we both shall live,” he murmured against my lips.
“As long as we both shall live,” I said right back, clinging to him like he was my life, my very soul.
Two days later, he had taken the heart I’d so freely given him and thrown it in my face.
I wasn’t counting.
Maybe Junior was because seconds later, he slowly pried his hand away from mine. I felt the loss in my chest, the pain was so severe—so much worse than the wounds from the night before, because there was no morphine for this sort of pain.
After all, there were no stitches strong enough, brave enough, for a broken heart like mine.
Best it stayed broken, so it never had to feel that first slice.
The pain is never in the days after you lose your heart to someone.
The pain is in the moment you realize that your forever is no longer your future, but your past.
Junior slowly rose from the bed and put on his bloodied-up shirt from the night before.
I watched him move around the room and gather his things, and then I watched him walk to the door, hesitate, like he wanted to look back—and instead, square his shoulders, yank open the door, and keep walking.
He didn’t see the tear that rolled down my cheek.
To the outside world, I was in physical pain.
But my soul knew—it was all the things on the inside that Sergio would never be able to fix.
Ten minutes later, I was dressed in sweats and slowly walking downstairs toward the kitchen.
I blinked in surprise.
Everyone was there?
I mean, we did family dinners, not family breakfasts.
The little ones were in the living room, and by the sounds of it, Frozen Two was on again for the millionth time.
Breaker and King were sitting with them along with Violet, Claire, and Izzy.
Did that mean we weren’t invited to breakfast?
Loud laughter had me shuffling further into the kitchen. Ash was sitting on Junior’s lap in a vain attempt to block him from stealing all the bacon.
Tex was holding a plate of eggs hostage while Chase yelled about getting his man hair on it.
The wives were making mimosa’s like they were ready to go on vacay, and I was genuinely confused.
“What’s going on?” I yawned.
“Sweetheart?” My dad
turned, his expression worried, and then I was in his arms, resting my head against his chest. He always smelled so good, always felt so strong, like he could save me from the world, and I never doubted he could.
Not once.
“How are you feeling?” He kissed the top of my head.
“Like I had a spa weekend?” I teased and then stood on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m sorry I messed up last night—”
“No.” He cupped my chin. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that. But I can’t be sorry that you’re going to lead this family one day, kinda makes an old man wanna cry.”
Uncle Chase burst out laughing. “Like you did while watching Frozen Two?”
I couldn’t see it, but I imagined my dad was giving him a middle finger behind my back.
Typical.
Mom came over and hugged both of us. “Other than the eye, you don’t look horrible.”
“Man, all these compliments are gonna go to my head.” I squeezed her back.
Uncle Tex lifted his mimosa into the air and tapped it with his fork. “We have news.”
My Aunt Mo grabbed a bottle of champagne and lifted it with him.
“You’re pregnant again!” I guessed.
Mo gave me a horrified look. “Do I look like I’m pregnant?”
“No, just say no,” Tex said quickly, earning a swat in the back of his head from Mo. “What’d I do?”
She just took a swig from the bottle.
“All right, so Dante brought something to our attention last night after disposing of another body, which by the way I hear congratulations are in order not only was she armed with a knife and two guns, but she was De Lange. Well done Serena—”
“Hear! Hear!” Ash lifted his mimosa.
Chase shook her head at him. Ash lowered his hand and winked.
I sighed.
“Anyway…” Tex cleared his throat. “Even though things are a bit tense, we’ve been through way worse—”
Andrei chose that moment to stroll in with his wife. “Who ate all the bacon?”
“Do you mind?” Tex growled. “I’m trying to make an announcement.”
“Here you go, man.” Ash handed him the plate.
Andrei winked and then scowled at the mimosas and pulled what we all knew was a vodka flask out of his jacket and dumped some in a cup with orange juice, took a sip and handed it to Alice like he was testing her drinks now or something. Then again, a lot of people wanted them dead, so maybe not the worst plan of action.
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