I look at him, and suddenly all the pieces start to fall into place.
“The Devil Hounds are part of the Romano empire.”
It’s not a question. My father already knows the answer.
“What they did here, last night, it was a warning. Because they aren’t going to stop, Piper. And I’ve made Vanni aware of that, told him everything he needs to know. And as it’s been my lifelong ambition, as it was my father’s and grandfather’s before me, to bring down the Romano empire, to end them once and for all, I think myself and this club need to work together, to make that happen. I get what I’ve always wanted – everything the Romano family have. And Vanni Colletti gets what he needs back – his territory, as well as a wealth of new business contacts.”
“It makes sense, don’t you think?”
I look up to see Vanni enter the room. “You’re OK with this?”
“I think it’s a perfect solution to the problems both me and your daddy are experiencing, baby girl.”
“What about your chapter back in Nevada? I mean, you’d have to stay here, right? In California?”
“Chase is looking after things back home. I’ll be staying here, ‘til we’ve seen off those Devil Hounds for good.”
I look back at my father. His face is an image of calm, and it sends a shiver tearing through me, but there’s an inevitability to this situation that I have no power to change, I know that now.
“Are you going to put your own men in here?” I ask, crossing my arms tighter against myself.
“Travis Lane and Bonna Moretti are going to be joining this chapter. I’m also sending a few men over to a couple of other chapters where a little trouble seems to be starting up again, but they aren’t being sent here to take over, Piper. Vanni knows that. They’re being sent here to help, they’re my contribution. Although, I myself am also relocating here to Los Angeles. For the foreseeable future.”
I don’t know how that makes me feel. I don’t. For so long I’ve despised my father, for the way he let Vierra treat me, for the way he could turn from being a man who loved his daughter into a man who wanted her dead. So having him so close to me again… can I trust him?
“Your mother’s coming, too, Piper. She misses you.”
“And whose fault was that, huh?”
“Can we start again? Please?”
“What? Forget you had a hit out on me? Yeah. Why not?”
My sarcasm doesn’t escape him, but it doesn’t make him angry, either. It’s almost like he’s accepted that this is what he’s done to me, I’m this person now. Because of him.
“I love you, Piper. You’re my daughter, and I’m sorry. For what happened.”
“Frankie Cabbetto apologizing? Now I know I must be dreaming.”
“We can make something good happen here. Between my world and this one we could create a powerful team.”
I look at Vanni, and his expression tells me he’s buying this, it’s a done deal. He’s allowing his club to be infiltrated by one mob family in order to bring down another club ran by a rival mob family. This is fucking crazy! It’s another bloodbath waiting to happen.
“It’s the only way, Piper.”
Vanni’s words signal the end of this conversation. My father’s edging his way back into my world and there isn’t a thing I can do to stop that from happening now. There’s no safe place for me to run to anymore, no escape. But I’m alive. And that’s the only thing I can be grateful for right now. The only thing…
Vanni
I wanted to kill him. I wanted to tear out his heart and hurl it against the wall, watch the life drain out of him as he slumped to the floor. He touched my girl, he don’t deserve to live. And if it hadn’t been for Frankie Cabbetto’s intervention Logan Sandero would be nothing more than a broken mess in the gutter. For Piper’s sake I’m allowing him to live, but he isn’t going unpunished. He can’t be a member of this club anymore, he needs to leave, go far away, ‘cause the longer he stays here the more likely I am to change my mind and end his sorry life. I just got more important things to focus on now, like making sure my wife stays where she’s supposed to, and keeping my club standing.
I watch Piper’s interaction with her father, and it’s obvious that once upon a time they were close. She may think she left that princess past behind but there are traces of it still there, it’s just that, this princess can hold a gun, shoot men dead, and that only makes me more determined to keep her by my side. I’ll make her into that stronger, tougher woman she needs to be, if she’s gonna stick this life out, which she has to, now. She has no other choice. And I can’t let her go, I won’t, let her go. I fell in love with that woman the second I saw her sitting at my bar, and all this shit, it hasn’t changed that fact. I still love her, and she needs me, no matter what she might think. So we lose Logan Sandero, and we gain men from Frankie Cabbetto’s army – men Piper grew up with, men she knows, they won’t be a threat, not in that way. The only people who need to start worrying now are those asshole bastards who tried to do us over last night. They got no idea what’s coming to them, ‘cause once we got our new army in place a new game begins. One they’re not gonna win.
Logan
I throw some clothes into a holdall and carry it out into the hallway, throwing it down beside my half-helmet. I can hear Reba upstairs, she’s taking a shower. It’s about the fifth one she’s taken since we got back from Venice last night, says she can’t get the stink of him off of her. She needs to know she’s safe now, maybe it’s just gonna take a bit of time for her to get that into her head.
The sound of running water stops suddenly and I glance upstairs before I head into the kitchen. We should eat, before we leave. So I find some eggs in the fridge, I’m guessing they’re OK, they haven’t been there too long, and the remains of a packet of bacon I opened a few days ago. There’s bread out on the countertop, I’ll make some sandwiches, even though she’ll come down and tell me she isn’t hungry. But she needs to eat. We’ve a long journey ahead.
I’m just taking the bacon from the pan when she walks in, dressed in jeans and one of my shirts, she has no other clothes. We’ll need to pick out some stuff en-route to wherever the hell it is we’re going, because I don’t know yet. Where we’re going. We’ll think of somewhere.
“I’ve made us sandwiches.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“I don’t care. I don’t know how long it’ll be before we eat again so, just take it. For me.”
She reluctantly picks up the sandwich and takes a bite as she slides up onto the stool by the counter, and I watch as egg yolk runs out from between the bread, landing on the plate in a sticky, yellow puddle.
“This isn’t how you wanted things to work out, is it?”
Even she knows that’s a rhetorical question, but I’m guessing she still wants some kind of answer.
“No. No, it isn’t.”
“You were gonna leave with Piper, weren’t you?”
I put my sandwich down and wipe my mouth with my forearm, reaching over for the mug of coffee behind me. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Reba. Me and Piper – it was nothing but a dangerous fantasy. It was stupid. A mistake.”
“I don’t think you mean that.”
“With respect, Reba, you don’t know who I am anymore.”
She drops her gaze and takes another bite of her sandwich, Jesus, this is so fucking hard.
“And now you’re left with me.”
“Come on, it isn’t like that.”
“It’s exactly like that, Logan. Vanni gave you an ultimatum, you leave with me or he kills you. He was never gonna forgive you for what you did, that was never gonna happen. So you had no choice.”
“And I’m fine, about leaving with you, OK? Maybe it’s even for the best.”
She frowns slightly, placing her sandwich carefully down on the plate, right on top of that puddle of yolk. “I think we’re both very different people now, Logan.”
I close my eyes and b
reathe in deep, this is more messed-up than I ever thought it could be, but how did I think it was gonna end? That Piper and me would somehow find a way to go skipping off into the happy-ever-after followed by a line of fucking fairies and dancing cartoon rabbits? Life isn’t a Disney movie, I was deluded to even think I could have her. I shouldn’t have gone there, she wasn’t worth this much pain.
“Yeah. We are.”
She slides down from her stool and comes over to me, gently placing her hand on my chest and that sends a small but familiar shiver trickling up my spine. It’s like a tiny sliver of the past is trying to push its way forward, make me remember how I used to feel about this woman. Like I ever forgot? I never forgot, I couldn’t. I just pretended I had. Everything I did from the second she walked out on me, I did it to try and forget her. Everything. And that included thinking I loved Piper Colletti. And I’m not sure that I did, love her. I just told myself that’s what was happening, and then when Reba showed up – I tried to convince myself more and more that loving Piper was the way my life needed to go. And that almost got me killed.
“We can start again, Logan. As those different people. Forget the past, what we had back then, forget it. We can make new memories, build a new life, we can do that.”
I take her hand and lift it to my mouth, kissing her fingers, and the taste of her floods my mouth, fills me up with something strong and real and – Piper was never real. Not to me.
“I loved you so much, Reba.”
“I know, baby, and I am so sorry…”
I press my fingers to her lips, I don’t want to hear her say sorry again, I’m tired of that word. “I can’t promise you anything right now, do you understand? Everything’s so fucked up and my head, Jesus, it’s all over the place, so right now, I can’t promise you anything…”
My phone ringing distracts me and I reach around to pull it from my pocket, looking at the caller ID.
“Who is it?” Reba asks, stepping back from me.
“Piper.”
Just saying her name is like a kick to the gut, but I need to hear her voice, even though it’s the last thing I should do. I should ignore her call, delete her number, I shouldn’t do this. But instead I press the phone to my ear, and I wait, for her to speak first.
“Logan?”
“Does he know you’re calling me? Does Vanni know?”
“No. He’s with my father… Do you know what’s happening? That my father’s…?”
“I know, Piper. Bullet told me. Are you OK?”
“Yeah. I guess I am.”
“Vanni hasn’t hurt you, has he? I mean…”
“No, he hasn’t hurt me. I think we’re gonna be fine.”
“And that’s OK for you, is it? Fine’s OK?”
“Do I have another choice?”
There’s a pause, a moment of silence between us and I lift my gaze as Reba leaves the room, heads outside, she doesn’t want to listen to this.
“It could never have happened, in reality. Could it? Me and you. It was a ridiculous idea from the start.”
“You got under my skin, Piper. And I needed you, I really did… Shit! I still need you now, I’m tired of fucking lying to myself. I’m tired of the crap and the lies and the notion that something’s impossible purely because some fucked up asshole says it is…”
She stays silent as I trail off, a little taken aback by my outburst, but all of a sudden I’ve been hit with the kind of clarity I’ve never experienced before. I don’t want this, what’s happening with Reba. I don’t want to be pushed into a life with a woman I will always care about, but I don’t love her. And I don’t want to settle for second best, not anymore. I want to be fucking happy, Jesus, don’t I deserve that?
“Do you still want us, Piper?”
“Are you crazy? What the hell are you talking about? You’re leaving…”
“Not without you.”
“Don’t do this, Logan, please…”
“Do you still want us, Piper? ‘Cause I don’t think you called me just to say hi. So tell me the truth, baby. Do you still want us?”
There’s another pause, another moment of silence, all I can hear is her breathing. But I need her answer, I need her to tell me what she wants.
“Yes.”
Her voice is low yet I hear that word loud and clear.
“I still want us.”
“Then I’m not leaving without you.”
I’m not leaving without her. Whatever it fucking takes…
Piper
I end the call and place the phone down on the nightstand, drawing my knees to my chest. What the hell have I just done…?
Seventeen
Logan
I have to keep my head down, until I can find a way to get Piper out of there, ‘cause Vanni’s got her on a tight rein now. He doesn’t want her out of his sight, she’s confined to the compound. He’s not letting her go back to the condo in Venice, he isn’t allowing her any kind of freedom. It’s gonna take some time before he builds up enough trust in her to allow her to go anywhere without him knowing, and that’s only gonna make things more difficult for us. I don’t want to hang around here for too long, I don’t want Vanni finding out I haven’t left, although, Reba has. I don’t know where she’s gone, she doesn’t want me to know, she can’t deal with the fact I just can’t go back there. I can’t. When I told Piper that I meant it. I’m looking forward now, to a different future. I just have to make sure that future exists, we have to be careful, but I’ll fight for that woman now. I’ll fucking fight for her…
Piper
He pushes inside me, takes me gently, his thrusts slow and measured and it’s confusing, because this isn’t the Vanni I knew before…. before Logan? I close my eyes and imagine it’s Logan inside me, pretend it’s him I can feel, but his touch, it’s so different to Vanni’s.
I wrap my legs around my husband’s waist, rocking my hips back so he falls deeper into me, and I stretch my arms up above my head as his mouth covers my nipple, his tongue flicking over it and I moan quietly. We’ve never had sex like this before, it was always a little rough, a lot twisted, that was the way he liked it; the way we’d both wanted it. This is different, and it’s unsettling, why’s he changed so much? He’s still the same arrogant, self-assured man in front of his brothers, but with me he’s different. Is he trying to prove something?
A knock at the door interrupts us, and that’s when I see the old Vanni reappear as he lifts his head and turns it toward the door.
“What?”
“Frankie’s here, Van.”
“I’m fucking busy, Bullet. Tell him to wait.”
“You’re telling my father to wait?” I almost laugh at that, I can’t help it. Nobody ever told Frankie Cabbetto to wait, not if they valued their balls.
“I’ve got my dick inside his little girl, Piper. You want me to tell him to come on in?”
I’m more settled when he’s like this, the Vanni I married. The Vanni I love? I think I already know the answer to that one.
“Five minutes, Bullet. Get him a drink, the club girl of his choice, anything to keep him happy. And get away from the fucking door.”
He waits a second, then he turns his attention back to me, and this time his thrusts are a little faster, a little harder, he’s back as that man he was before, and I’m much more comfortable with that. A changed Vanni would be so much harder to walk away from. He’s still offering me safety, just a very warped and twisted kind. And with my father in town I now have twice the safety I need, all the security I could wish for, no-one is gonna hurt me here. Yet, I don’t want that safety anymore. I want to take a risk with a man I’m falling in love with. I want Logan Sandero.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Vanni yells as he comes in a barrage of heavy spasms, shooting his toxin into me with a force so strong it knocks me back into the mattress. He slips his hands under my ass, rocks my hips back even further, and I cry out loud as he pulls his cock out of me and replaces it with his fingers.
He’s touching me so deep inside it’s crazy! But it feels so good, and for a few minutes I actually forget about everything Logan and I are planning, I just focus on Vanni as he finger-fucks me to a climax that shakes my body to its very core, causing me to cry out again, the sound echoing off the walls until my cries dwindle down to nothing more than a low groan.
He pulls his fingers out of me, sliding a hand onto the small of my back as he pushes me up, and I straddle him.
“That was good,” I whisper, because he needs to hear these things. He needs me to be the good wife, the perfect old lady. Before I leave him.
“Good?” He raises an eyebrow and throws me that smile and the wave of guilt I feel is real. The fear that shoots through me, that’s real, too. But I need to suck it up and pretend, for a little while longer.
Protection (Death Knights MC Series Book 1) Page 18