Trigger (Pericolo #3)

by Kirsty-Anne Still

  “What is the likelihood of that happening?” I ask, chewing my lip in anticipation. “I saw the men who worship him at the meeting the other night, Dante. He has an army. We’re just us.”

  “My plan never involved them,” he admits. “It’s only ever involved him and me.” Suddenly, Dante’s face darkens, and a blackness flows into his gaze. “And each of them is a cowardly cunt. Not all of them are there for loyalty. Most are there because Marcello holds something over each of their lives. You know how the bounty is over your head; Marcello has each of them marked. In the event of his death, a lot of men go free.”

  “You say you’re no one’s hero, but after this, you’ll be one,” I tell him, threading my fingers through his. “You’ve no idea what you really are in the eyes of everyone else, Dante Valentino.”

  Dante doesn’t reply, just keeps a smile on his lips as he comes toward me. However, before he can kiss me, the door flies open and Jackson enters looking more than a little annoyed. Jumping down from the stool, Dante leaves me to fix Jackson a drink as he and Jodi look a little exasperated. All I knew was that Marcello wanted Jackson and Jodi at the house to discuss their wedding anniversary, and apparently, more came of that. It’s further verified as Jodi grabs herself a glass and comes and sits with me, pouring a tall glass of wine and topping off my own.

  “Find anything important out?” Dante asks as he practically thrusts the tumbler into Jackson’s hand.

  “Marcello doesn’t trust Ryleigh,” Jackson admits, and I feel an ebb of defeat rush through me. “He’s convinced she is nothing but corruption for the Valens, and until she does some big kills, she is worth nothing.”

  Dante sits while nursing a whiskey and scoffs.

  “He doesn’t have to trust me,” I state, setting my glass of wine down. And just like that, I’ve found my fight again. “I’m not here to be his best friend. I’m here to ensure that sins are repaid. I want him to suffer for every person he marked and killed.”

  “How do you propose that?” Jackson asks, unwilling to let this go.

  “I don’t know, but I want it to leave an impression,” I admit, giving him the sweetest of grins. “I was always told the bloodiest were the best.”

  “How did you ever become this twisted?” Dante asks me, tossing his comment across the room with a look of awe on his face. “It’s fucking delicious, little wolf.”

  He uses his original nickname on me, and I grin like a fool. While I love being his queen, his equal, sometimes when I hear the name ‘little wolf’ roll from his mouth, I feel my heart skip a beat. It’s unexplainable, but the name causes me to lose control a little and feel like I’m doing something right.

  “Well, you’re not helping her,” Jackson mocks, throwing his comment dryly at his brother.

  “She never had a reason or a chance to embrace what is it she wants from life, and I’m merely her one chance. She’s of sound enough mind to say no,” Dante argues, shrugging. “Some people just prefer to live dangerously.”

  I giggle, feeling my blush hitting my cheeks. “Sometimes the devil is a lot hotter than he should be,” I remark, cocking my brow at Dante. “I couldn’t say no.”

  “Sorry, but I’ve sat on the sidelines of this little love story,” Jodi starts, sitting straighter. “What are the exact details here? How did we get from the sexual tension to this? Because I’ve watched you two fight what seems to be the same battle, but ignore it.”

  “That’s because we have,” Dante admits but doesn’t elaborate.

  So I take charge.

  “Jackson put me in contact with Derek, a private investigator, a few months back. I wanted to know more about my past than the little I remember and the rumors that have followed me my entire life. Derek found that I was part of a crime wave and one of two survivors.” I watch Jodi slowly starting to piece the fragile pieces together as I speak. “Seeing my family in that file, slaughtered for no apparent reason, I wanted justice. I’ve never had that and I’ve certainly never had closure as to why I ended up alone in this world.” Sheepishly, I look across the room and to the man I’ve fallen for. “Then Dante entered my life.”

  “Actually,” Dante interjects, pointing at me. “You entered my life, little wolf.”

  “Irrelevant,” I mutter, mockingly. “Basically, I found out that Dante was the other survivor. He wasn’t in the original report Derek put together, but after further digging, he found more official information. It involved Dante. At that point, things were tense between Dante and me, so when I tried to discuss it with him, he wasn’t interested. I couldn’t blame him. I said something and put a lot of pressure on him.”

  “It was actually entirely my fault,” Dante interrupts again. “I fucked up big time.”

  “Hang the fuck on,” Jodi exclaims, bracing her. “Did the Dante Valentino just fucking own up to fucking up?”

  Dante sits up, leaning forward so the glass hangs between his legs, encased in his hands. There’s a ghost of a smile on his lips, with that same wash of regret, and my heart pangs viciously in my chest. I thought we were passed this, but apparently, Dante is a rare man who doesn’t give up taking the blame when he finally admits to it.

  “I’m a lot of things, Jodi, but I am more because of my girl,” Dante confesses, finally looking up. “She told me she could learn to love me and I ran scared.” He stands up, heading over to the crystal decanter, and pours himself a new drink. “Because, in reality, I have the ability to be as cowardly as those bastard men who trail behind my grandfather.” He turns back to face us, looking happy with his admission. “As I said, I am a lot of things, but I am more because of Ryleigh.”

  “So I can see,” Jodi murmurs softly, a sharpness of pain in her voice. “You’ve never shown this side to us, Dante.”

  I hate how hurt Jodi looks as she admits that, but I cannot apologize for pulling a part of Dante out of himself and enabling him to give a damn for me. I cannot feel remorseful for being the one he chose to love. I will not be apologetic for having a man finally fighting for me.

  “It’s not your fault,” Dante admits, sorrow masking his eyes. “It’s my own. I kept you all at arm’s length regardless of how hard you pushed to love me. But how I love you and how I love Ryleigh couldn’t be any more alien than they are to one another.” He shoots her a sincere smile, trying to make her realize he is a changed man. “I can only promise that I’ll be better to you than I have been over the years.”

  “Oh, shut up,” Jodi replies, tensely. “Just because you’re a difficult ass doesn’t mean I love you any less, but I wish we could’ve had this Dante years ago.” Jodi rolls her eyes, waving off his remorse. “I told you she would change you, but you were adamant that she was nothing to you. I fucking told you how you would regret ever treating her like you treat everyone else.”

  “I almost lost her once, Jodi,” Dante professes, his voice becoming taut. “I’m not running that risk again. You have nothing to worry about anymore.”

  “How does Amelia feel about this?” Jodi asks, cocking a brow. “I know she doesn’t like Ryleigh that much. Which is a ludicrous idea to me, but there’s something she hates.”

  At the thought, my stomach bottoms and I gulp deeply. In coming into this life, I’ve made myself enemies and gained a family, but Amelia Abbiati is a woman who hated me before she even met me. I learned that when she met me with that first icy gaze.

  “Amelia will have to put up with it,” Dante growls. “And recently, she’s been so consumed by the men who rile her father the wrong way that she’s not answered any of my calls. Love did a number on her because Zane wasn’t strong enough to believe in her.”

  “And you and Ryleigh are different?” Jodi asks, exchanging a dubious look with her husband.

  “Fuck yes, we are!” Dante roars. “I know what Ryleigh is about, and she knows what I am. There are no secrets. We are both striving for the same outcome.”

  “Which is?”

  “Revenge and freedom,” Dante declares pro
udly.

  “Is that true?” Jodi asks, finally looking at me for some input.

  “Exactly that,” I admit, breathing evenly. “I have no memory of my family but of that night, and I can’t live my life knowing I was so close to getting closure and not getting it. I can’t stand the fact that all of my memories of my family are mostly of the night they died. They stole everything.” I feel a lump forming in my throat and breathing becomes an almost impossibility. “What you need to understand, Jodi, is that I applied for a job at the club for money... I never expected to get myself a family and a man who actually loves every single piece of me and a chance to actually do some good and rid this world of the worst monsters.”

  “So what, you’re now vigilant peacemakers?”

  “Something like that,” Dante remarks, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. “After Marcello, I don’t want to be a killer. I’ve seen men die for all sorts of reasons, some justified and some not. I’ve killed in cold blood. I don’t want every day of my life marked by the men I have to kill in order to keep some sense of loyalty alive. I only want to remain loyal to those I care about.” He settles a heavy gaze on Jodi, his face hardening. “And that is you, Jackson, and Ryleigh.”

  “And Amelia’s not part of that?” Jackson asks, stepping forward. “She’s your best friend, man.”

  “I know,” Dante slowly admits, sounding sorrowful at the thought. “But she’ll never be free unless Salvatore is dead. I can’t take on killing my grandfather and him and be confident I can survive. I’ve worked years to get out from under Marcello. I can’t work years to get her out from under Salvatore’s power. I can’t delay getting free any longer.”

  “You promised her that if you got out, you got out together,” Jackson says, confused by Dante’s newfound plan.

  “That was before she became a true killer.” Dante falls down onto the seat he was on, no longer caring about the walls he lived behind. Instead, he places his hands on his head, pushing his fingers through his hair to cradle his head in defeat. “I can’t save everyone, and I’m a selfish bastard for taking Ryleigh and wanting to run. I can’t be everyone’s savior in this life.” A mournful look flashes in Dante’s eyes. “She’s too far gone now to be saved,” Dante states, sadly. He’s divulging the real truth to Amelia’s demise. “That Maverick bastard was the final straw. We’ve lost her for good now.”

  “How can you know that?”

  “How can I know that?” he asks Jackson, finding a new anger. “Because when I was last with her, I tried to get her to come with me and it was like she was gone. The Amelia we knew and loved is no longer there because the Dio Lavoro finally got her! They used her heartache to break her. She’s gone and the only person able to bring her back from rock bottom is the fucking bastard who put her there!” I watch the man I love look broken over not being able to save his best friend, and it pains me to know nothing will change. “So while I fail her, I won’t fail you three when you’re all I have left.”

  “Okay, okay,” Jackson relents. “She will come back to us, though. It might not be today or tomorrow, but she has Enzo and he will fight for her. Regardless of Sal, she still has brothers who will be there when she wakes up to the fallout of her actions.”

  “She’s going to hate herself,” Dante confesses, shaking his head in disdain at the thoughts. “If I hate myself, then she’ll hate herself.”

  “Look, as Jackson said, she has her brothers. They won’t give up fighting for her, just like we never did you.” Jodi forces a smile, trying to be the optimist for us all. “One day, we will look back on this and laugh so hard, but for tonight, can we just figure out some sort of play so we have an idea how we’ll get to that point?”

  “It’s started,” Dante says, finally standing to go over to all of the money. “I want you and Jackson to take half of this now, hide it wherever. I don’t trust anyone else with it.”

  “Ryleigh?” I hear my name as Jodi reaches out to grab my hand, clearly noticing how I didn’t move to follow her. “Is everything okay?”

  I nod, giving a small smile. “Yeah.”

  “Don’t lie,” Jackson says, showing his input. “You’ve been the quietest you’ve ever been.”

  I try to even my breathing, but I see how brokenly Dante looks at me, and I feel my entire body thrum to life with pain. I have watched all three of these people walk into my life, take a place by my side, and tear shreds into one another all because of me.

  “I’ve been nothing but trouble since I followed you to the fight club.” Dante doesn’t miss my admission even though I speak quietly. I try to offer him a reassuring smile, but I fail to make it convincing. “I’ve pulled your entire lives apart. I’m still pulling them apart.”

  I feel a wave of claustrophobia crash upon me as they all watch me unravel. In front of men who could kill me without drawing a fresh breath, I am strong and bold. But in front of people who have loved me and nurtured me over the passing months, I’m weak. It’s because I don’t have to hide who I am with them. I don’t have to be something I’m not, but in the light of that, I feel like I am destroying all that they’ve worked for just by stepping into their lives.

  “No, Ryleigh,” Dante is quick to say, rushing across the room to me. “Why would you say that?”

  “Why wouldn’t I say that?” I ask him, sounding more and more alarmed. “You and Jackson barely speak on good terms, Jodi walked away from that business meeting, and it’s all because of me. You’ve turned your back on Amelia. I’m upping the bar in your plans, and I’m going to be a distraction for you even when I try not to be. I was never part of your plan, and now I’m one of the most important parts of it.” I close my eyes as pain lances through my chest. “I’m nothing but trouble. I’ve always been nothing but trouble.”

  I dip my head as a backlash of my upbringing lances through me. I was broken from a young age, but no one ever took the pieces of me to fix back together. Instead, people trampled upon them, shattering them further, causing delicate irreparable splinters – until now.

  It may have taken twenty years, but I am finally with people who are willing to put me back together and love every crack that scars me. The thought terrifies me.

  “Ryleigh?” Dante whispers and he breaks me. My head sinks lower as the tears begin to fall in full force. “Look at me, cara. Look at me and talk to me. Why are you crying?”

  I look up, knowing I cannot keep this to myself.

  “I never had something to fight for until now,” I admit, sniffling. “I don’t know why it’s upsetting me so much tonight.”

  “You don’t need to cry over this, mia regina,” Dante murmurs, brushing his knuckles across my face to rid it of tears. “We will get through this with our family, and we’ll fight until it’s over. You, me, Jackson, and Jodi... and eventually Amelia, too.”

  “Hang on. I never said I’d allow Jodi and me to join you in this,” Jackson bites in, bitterly. “I still think you’re both being fucking crazy!”

  “Jax,” Jodi says, trying to argue with her husband.

  “Jackson, we need you on our side,” Dante argues, desperation punches into his words.

  “No, because, in you doing this, I run the risk of losing not one sibling but two.” Jackson throws his hands up, shaking his head as he becomes unable to accept all that is happening before his eyes. “I’m sorry, but you’re my family as well. You two and Jodi are the only ones I have left in this world and I know my opinion’s worth shit, but I cannot stand here and watch you two do something so dangerous.”

  “Jax,” Dante starts, placing a hand on Jackson’s shoulder. “Make no mistake that I will be celebrating with you when I finally have Marcello’s last breath. I see no other outcome, but to beat the man at his own game. He has messed with my life, tormented me into this monster, but in Ryleigh, I found my salvation. She deserves this as much as I do. This is the only way to avenge what has happened to us. We survived in order to make sure we had retribution. You will call that a notion of
a crazy man, but in reality, I’m a desperate man.”

  “And that’s the dangerous part,” Jackson argues, his voice getting tenser. “You’re desperate for revenge. You always have been. It’s consumed you for years, Dante. You’ve obsessed over seeing your grandfather finally fall, but now look at what you have to lose. You don’t repay revenge by death or by bloodshed. It just means you keep losing.”

  With that, he points directly at me.

  “I have everything to lose and everything to gain, though,” Dante admits, his tone lowering. “I can live without this apartment and the cars. I can live without the money and the power. But I cannot live with myself knowing I could do something about what happened. I cannot live knowing I didn’t fight for us.”

  Jackson looks every inch of the defeated he sounds. “I’m never going to change your mind.”

  “Then stop trying,” Dante responds, exasperated. “I’m doing this with or without your approval, Jackson. It’s the only way I get myself out of a life I hate. I am tired of this life, and it’s wearing me down daily. For the first time in a long time, I have a reason to get up.” He comes to my side, putting his arm around me. “Don’t stop me from securing her place by my side, Jax. Like Jodi, you got your queen, and now I want mine.”

  “And she is already yours,” Jackson argues. “You can have her and not have to do anything stupid.”

  Dante shakes his head “This life will destroy us if we stay in it.”

  “It’s crazy, but I understand it,” Jodi suddenly says. “Jax, we have spent years watching Marcello orchestrate a good eighty percent of Dante’s life. He barely allowed you two to go into business, but I had never seen you happier than when you had complete control of your lives. Marcello has nothing to do with the clubs, not since you paid him back for the money he invested. He holds no power over your businesses.” Jodi reaches for her husband, holding his hand. “You know how I loved living in that moment with you two. There was no dread, no bad omen looming. We were able to work free of Marcello. It’s time we got to do that for the rest of our lives.”