Pierce lets me go to turn on the water, making it fall like rain from above. The room quickly fills with steam and wraps around my naked body. Pierce steps inside, gently pulling me in behind him.
The jets from the side massage my sore muscles while Pierce lathers my body with soap. I am perfectly capable of cleaning myself, but I don’t want to stop him. His face is so concentrated and determined, like he needs to do this for me.
“They want you back, Shiloh.”
I look up at him as his words slice through me. Pierce doesn’t take his eyes off his task of washing me. I shiver even under the hot spray.
I don’t want to go back.
“I’m not sure I want to give you back.”
chapter twenty-two
pierce
WHEN I STEP off the plane in Miami, I wish I brought Shiloh with me. She’s become my confidante, someone to talk to when I needed to work things out in my head. Someone I can actually trust.
Instead, I left her at the island. I will only be gone the day, visiting the shipyard to spot-check some of our ships. They have been moving swiftly and easily through customs lately thanks to our deal with Harold. The old man is holding up his end of the deal. To make matters better, his wife was caught shoplifting from a boutique in New York last week. I made her charges disappear, so we own Harry just a little longer. Just as I was starting to wonder what we would use against him once his stepdaughter turned eighteen.
Our customers in Europe have been satisfied with the product we are trading. There have been no more raids or surprise inspections since after the funeral two weeks ago. That’s how I know something is wrong: The Blackards would not just surrender Europe. They have been quiet for too long.
Hans and I wait at the rooftop bar at a nightclub I own in Miami. Under the Sea was the first club I opened when I came into my own money while working under my father. Now I own several clubs in major cities up the East Coast.
During the day the place has a different feeling than at night when packed with people, alcohol, and music. During the night hours you feel like you’re under the water, dancing on the ocean floor.
Memories of Shiloh now taint this place for me. When I walked in the front doors, I remember how I was fascinated with her reaction. For the first time I wasn’t watching to see how the place was operating. I was only concerned if Shiloh was impressed or not.
I’m pulled from the memories of dancing with her that night when Hans’s cell rings. He answers before cursing and muting the phone.
“Jake is here,” he tells me. “Along with Cyrus Stone.”
My body tenses and I know the quiet of the last two weeks have ended.
“Fucking Jake,” I spit. “He flipped on us.”
Jake was our contact in Vegas. He was supposed to meet with us to relay any news he learned out west. When he asked to meet, I thought he had news of who killed Luca. Now I know this is a setup.
“Bring them up,” I say.
We have men guarding the property under the guise of bartenders and bouncers. Of course, Cyrus will see right through it, but he’s not stupid enough to do anything in one of my clubs.
Moments later a few bouncers come out, pushing Jake and Cyrus in front of them.
“Mr. Stone. How nice to see you again,” I greet as he sits at the bar with us. Jake is bruised and sporting a cast. I’m guessing he didn’t invite Cyrus out of his own free will.
“Mr. Gallo, I’m sorry to pop in, but I have something you will be very interested in,” he says, signaling over a bartender who promptly gives him the middle finger.
“I’m not interested,” I tell him. “I won’t trade.”
“I have another offer.”
“I have a flight to catch so get on with it,” I say, irritation thick in my voice.
“Back to your private island where you’re hiding away with the pretty blond?” Cyrus smirks but it comes off forced and pained.
Less than two minutes into this meeting and I have his weakness.
“So you see why I would like to get back quickly.”
I smile and his hands flex for just a second before he reaches inside his suit jacket and pulls out an envelope. He slides it down the bar to me.
“Inside you will find what you have been looking for.”
I take the envelope and tear open the flap.
“What is that exactly?” I ask.
“Proof we have your girl. Her name is Sarah Walsh.”
I pull out photos of a young woman, walking down the street. She’s blond and strangely familiar.
“Also goes by Candy when on stage.”
My hands freeze when I see the girl in a skimpy nurse custom on a stripper pole. Images of that night flash in my head.
Victor confronting me. People screaming and running as they tried to flee the gunshots on the roof. They pain of the bullet in my shoulder. The girl with blue eyes and blond hair promising to save me.
My promises to a girl I thought I would never find.
“Sarah Walsh?” I repeat, my own voice sound far away. I never believed they really had the girl.
“Yes, Walsh.”
Walshs are loyal to Blackards. They are one of the seven families.
Hans takes the photographs from my hands to see for himself. I hear a quiet curse when he lands on the strip club I was found at, bloody and unconscious.
“You want the girl, we want something in return,” Cyrus says, the confidence growing with each word. He thinks he owns me.
I look up at his cocky smirk and sparkling eyes. He’s drunk with the little bit of power Marcus gave him for the day. Suddenly, I see myself in him.
Cyrus is pretty much a son to the man that never had children. It’s just Marcus and his mother running a crime empire in a city of sin and corruption. Where my father has me to train and groom to one day takeover, Marcus has the fucker that sits next to me with a shit-eating grin.
But I see the desperation. I paid off anyone I could to sever ties with the Gallos, basically choking them. If they wanted into Mexico, my men were there to highjack their trucks and planes. If they stepped foot in New York or Chicago, they didn’t leave alive. I waged a full war on them with no intentions to stop until they are leveled or submit.
I keep my face neutral as I scan the photos. Parts of that night are filing in the blanks. I see her wide eyes staring down at me as she holds a blood-soaked rag to the wound. Her voice rings in my ears, telling me it will be okay.
On the inside, a storm swirls. On the outside, I am still as stone. One of the first things I learned in life is never let anyone learn how badly you want something. The moment they do, that is your weakness.
In a way, I knew this moment would come. I wasn’t very quiet about looking for the girl. I flaunted Shiloh in public, waiting for the right people to see. I was prepared to trade Shiloh when the time came. Handing Shiloh over to the Blackards is no longer an option to me. I gave her a chance to leave, and she chose to stay. I have to trust there is a reason for her choices.
“What is that you want?” I ask as I slide the photos back to him.
I tell myself I don’t want to see her go out of respect for her own wishes. Not because I actually started to like having her around.
“A compromise,” Cyrus says. “An agreement and understanding between the families.”
I laugh at him. That would never happen.
“What do you really want? Money? A boat? Shiloh?”
Cyrus tenses at the mention of her name but he tries to hide it.
“No money, or boats. We don’t want Shiloh anymore. Exactly what I said I wanted: an agreement.”
I raise an eyebrow and lean against the bar, motioning with a wave for him to explain how in the hell he thinks that can happen.
“You want Sarah. She wants an easy life. One full of luxury and money where she doesn’t need to strip to pay her way anymore.”
“Mr. Walsh owns a hotel chain. Why does she need to strip for money at all?”
>
“Mr. Walsh disowned her when she ran off as teen with some biker boyfriend. Now he refuses to support her, especially after she helped you … unless she gets a legit job or marries.”
“And I come in how? If you have a point, I would like you to make it soon.”
“Marry her.”
“What? I don’t think I heard that right.”
“Marry Sarah Walsh. Make her a wealthy and powerful woman by being your wife. Unite the families.”
“You are crazy if you think an arranged wedding to a woman I don’t even know will end the feud between the coasts. There’s too much history and too much blood.”
“It would. With a Walsh becoming a Gallo, there’s a connection there that will not be betrayed by either side. The killing can stop.”
I stare at Cyrus.
“This is about Europe. You guys want a piece of that. This isn’t about ending the fighting, it’s about getting your piece of Europe.”
He doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t have to. They want to connect the Gallos to the Walshs and Blackards. With that alliance, they can also trade overseas. We would run this country’s trade by air and water. The smaller organizations would never stand a chance.
“Think about it,” Cyrus says. “You owe Sarah for saving your life. This is what she asks for.”
“She asks for an alliance between two of the most powerful crime organizations in the country? Like she gives a shit.”
“She asks for you. You without betraying her family by being with you. Wealth and protection are what she seeks. Your cousin died trying to find her.”
“I don’t want her bad enough to tie myself to you people.” But then all Luca’s work, his death, would be for nothing.
“No, of course not. Not with Shiloh around. Why would you ever want another woman?”
I see the jealously and anger flare in his eyes. He quickly laughs to cover it, but it’s too late. I saw it.
“That is not all we offer,” he starts. “We give you Sarah and you make her your wife. As a wedding gift to you, I will deliver the man that killed your cousin.”
That has my attention.
“You will give me the man responsible for Luca’s death if I marry Sarah?”
“Yes,” Cyrus says, holding his hand out to shake. “I will deliver him myself.”
I stare at it, wondering just how badly I need to avenge Luca’s death.
chapter twenty-three
shiloh
SOMETHING IS WRONG. I could feel it the second I woke up. I was sweating and panting. I twisted around to find I was alone, but I didn’t feel like I was moments before. I could’ve sworn I was being held as I slept.
Pierce never came home yesterday like he said he would. I stayed up as late as I could, waiting to hear his plane approaching.
I rush to the balcony and hang over the railing so I can see runway. The plane is here now so Pierce must be home.
I quickly dress and run to knock on his bedroom door. He doesn’t answer so I head downstairs. I knock on his office door but no answer there either. I notice there are a few more guards than usual. There were only two when Pierce left with Hans. I already see three I don’t know just as I pass through.
Something is very wrong.
I make my way through the house silently. I hear Eli and Roy arguing in the kitchen, so I pause outside the door to listen.
“How the hell am I supposed to prepare a meal for that many people with such short notice?” Roy says.
“Same way I need to get that many rooms ready,” Eli complains.
“This is crazy,” I hear Julie add. “Who the hell gets married on a Friday anyway?”
I take another step closer so I can hear better.
“That’s your question? Not who the hell is this woman? Or why would Pierce marry a girl he barely knows?” Eli snaps.
Pierce is getting married?
My world starts to spin around me. I grip the wall for support because my knees feel like they are going to buckle.
“This wedding is a huge mistake. I don’t care if it is the girl that saved his life.”
My lips move, but I’m wordless. I saved his life that night, not the girl in a nurse costume.
I feel my knees finally give in but before I hit the floor, arms band around me. I hit a hard chest and feel myself being pulled away from the kitchen.
“Shiloh.” Hans’s voice is in my ear. “You weren’t supposed to hear all that.”
That sparks some anger in me. I push myself back up and spin to face him.
Hans looks down at me, sympathy written all over his face.
“It’s something he has to do, Shiloh. You have to understand.”
Understand?
“Pierce is a Gallo. His family always comes first.”
I stomp away, heading for Pierce’s office, but Hans grabs me before I can start banging on the door.
“Don’t,” he hisses. “He needs to do this. You need to step aside.”
He says “step aside” like I can just walk away.
The door swings open behind me, but I hold Hans’s glare. Suddenly, I’m not ready to face Pierce yet. I don’t think I want to know what he has to say.
“Come in, Shiloh.” His voice is deep and calm behind me, sending a shiver down my spine.
With one last look at Hans, I turn and step inside the office, closing the door behind me. I watch as Pierce goes to stand behind his desk, like it will protect him if it’s between us.
“I’m getting married,” he says. “To the woman that saved my life.”
I shake my head. No. She didn’t save your life. I look for a pen or marker so I can tell him and pull all this to an end. I find a marker and pull off the lid.
“Her name is Sarah Walsh,” he says, stopping me in my tracks. “Our marriage would end this war between the Gallos and the Blackards.”
I wish I could laugh and at the irony and complete unfairness here. It’s so fucked-up it’s almost funny.
I know this woman isn’t a Walsh. I know this for a fact because we grew up learning about the loyal families like it was common fact. We each would wed one eventually.
My sister just married the one and only Walsh son.
Pierce carefully watches me as if he is expecting me to do something insane. I stare at the marker in my hand, knowing I can’t tell him the truth now. I can’t ever tell him.
My fate is sealed. My father set this all in motion so I can’t ever reveal that it was me that helped Pierce find that woman. I just lost the protection I thought I had.
“Please don’t look at me like that,” Pierce whispers.
I uncap the marker and write on the closest paper on his desk, not caring what it is.
Why?
“I don’t want to see your hurt,” he answers.
I round his desk, pushing him in the chest. He won’t meet my eyes because he doesn’t want to hear me. I wish I could scream at him. I punch at his chest in frustration and defeat. I can’t make him listen to me.
I want to cry, but I can’t remember ever crying before. I won’t let this man be the one to cause that. I pound on his chest one last time before he grabs my wrists, halting my weak attack.
“Shiloh.” His voice is hoarse. “I made a deal, and I’m a man of my word.”
That he is. Only to the wrong person.
Temerate: (v.) to break a bond or binding promise.
“The Blackards have something I need. I have something they want.”
The sting I feel can’t be hidden as I physically flinch from his words.
What? What do you want?
“I want Luca’s killer. They will give me that if I form this alliance between the families.”
I deflate, letting my fist uncurl and my shoulders drop. Family will always be first him. That’s something I can’t fight.
“I also agreed to let you leave if you want, on your own free will.”
I shake my head because that is not what I want to hear. I never
felt imprisoned or trapped like I had back home. I finally felt free.
I had my chance to leave and I didn’t take it.
“I’m so sorry,” Pierce whispers. “I wish it never came to this, but it has.”
I pull back, looking up at him. I tug at his shirt when he still won’t meet my eyes. Buttons pop off as I rip the shirt open and shove it down his arms. I push the marker to his skin, forcing him to listen to me.
He doesn’t stop me as I draw on the flesh just over his heart. I can feel it pounding under my hand as I in my words in his chest.
Shiloh was here.
My words find him. He snaps his head up, quickly grabbing the back of my neck in a smooth and flawless action. I’m pulled closer until our lips hoover only millimeters apart. Our eyes battle without speaking.
Then I’m moving, but I don’t break away to watch where I’m going. The back of my knees hit the arm of the sofa.
“I promised you would get hurt,” he whispers against my mouth. “I wish I could take that away.”
Pierce slides his fingers under the straps of my dress, pushing them off my shoulders. The dress falls and pools at my bare feet. His lips close the distance as we fall to the couch. Our kiss is desperate and painful, fighting for every last second of it. Both of us know this will be our last time. I feel it in the frantic way his hands move over my body. This is our goodbye. We both know I can’t stay once he is married. It will hurt too many people.
“This mouth,” he growls, “will haunt every night of mine.”
Good. His will haunt me too.
“Those tiny gasps you make will play over and over my mind.”
His fingers drift lightly over my panties, making me gasp. I arch my body into him, wanting so much more. Needing this last moment with him.
I force his shirt the rest of the way off and press my hand over my handwriting as he shoves his pants down. His heart hammers under my palm, racing just like my own.
“Fuck you, Shiloh,” Pierce hisses as he slowly pushes inside me. “Fuck you for making me want you like this.”
I dig my nails into his shoulders as his lips take mine. Pierce pushes so slowly inside me, I want to scream. He takes his time, giving me inch by inch as I clench around him.
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