by Tiffany Jade
Mason and Drew turn back to join the rest of the guys and I find Liv in my arms again. She squeezes me tightly.
"You okay?" I lean down to whisper in her ear, smirking at the shiver that rushes through her.
"Your mother is missing with your half-Russian, apparently stupid, and definitely about to die, brother and you are asking ME if I'M okay?!" she squeezes even tighter. "How are you not freaking out right now?" She pulls back a little, wrapping her arms loosely around my waist.
"We gotta move bro." Nate appears at my side. Thank God for the rescue.
"Can you take her back to her room?" Nate nods as Liv's eyes lower at me in a glare.
"You cannot be fucking serious right now! All of this and you are going to lock me into my room all by myself? Fuck that Grayson." As her voice rises I can hear the guys chuckling behind me.
Fucking fabulous. I take a deep breath.
"I have a surprise for you in your room." I give her a small smile as I try to distract her. Daxon's eyes light up.
"I'm going with her!" He rushes over and grabs Liv's hand, pulling her away from me.
"No!" Liv swats at him. "Dammit Daxon, hold on!" She turns from the door Daxon had almost had her out of. "You!" She points at me, I can feel my eyebrow shoot up. "You better come give me a better idea of this plan Grayson Demonte, because I'll be damned if you lock me away like a helpless princess for the whole weekend. We already had this damn talk!" I look directly at her because I can already imagine the amused looks on the faces of the men behind me and if I have to see them, it'll just piss me off.
My mother was the only woman who had ever spoken to me like that. Even my sisters didn't try it. Well Serafina had once but she learned right fucking quick that that was not her place.
Liv's eyes stay locked on mine. Angry, confused, and concerned. I can hear the guys start fidgeting behind me as the silence takes on its own presence.
This woman will be the death of my fucking reputation around here.
I walk to her and place a kiss on her cheek.
"I know damn well you are no helpless princess, Queen." Some of the fire leaves her eyes. "I will be by before dinner, but really I have something for you in your room. Please, go enjoy some time before everything explodes around us." Her eyes soften and she smiles. She reaches up and gives me a kiss.
"See that wasn't so bad now was it?" she gives me a mischievous ass wink and heads for the door where Nate is standing, his face bright red as he chokes back his laughter.
"Don't fucking push it Liviana," I growl out, just causing Nate, Dax, and Liam to lose it. I think even Luca snorted. I shake my head as Liv links arms with Nate and Dax, a ridiculous grin on her face.
He glares at me as I smile. I probably get too much joy out of softening the hard ass man, but maybe it's good for him to know he's not always going to be in charge. I blow a kiss over my shoulder, making him shake his head again as the guys all bust up in laughter again. I catch the slight turn of his lips as he hides his smile.
"So what's my surprise?" I ask as the boys and I head down the hall to the stairs.
"What part of surprise do you not get Liv?" Nate rolls his eyes feigning annoyance.
"You know Nate, I have no problem fighting with you too." I smirk over at him as they both chuckle. The small sense of control they were all allowing me to think I had made me smile. Big bad criminals, with soft spots for the women in their lives.
As we reach the door, I notice Daxon is full on vibrating with energy now. I can't imagine what Grayson would have waiting for me that would excite him that much. I reach out for the handle, ready to find out, but Daxon pulls me back.
"I uh—" he clears his throat, "need to clear the room!" Without waiting for my response, he walks into the room. And after only about five seconds, the sound of skin meeting skin, reverberates through the room.
Nate busts up laughing as I feel my heart jump.
"What the hell!" I rush into the room, my eyes landing on Daxon. His eyes are wide as he holds a hand over his bright red cheek.
"I deserved that," he mumbles, rubbing his face gingerly. My gaze bounces to take in who had obviously, just smacked him across the face, and got away with it.
"Damn straight you did Daxon!"
"No way!" She flips around with a giant smile as she hears my voice. "Jenna?!"
"Uhhhhh the one and only!" She rushes over and wraps me in a hug.
"Oh my God." My arms wrap around her and we both hold on. Until it hits me. She should not be here.
I push away.
"Wait!" I flip around to Daxon, who is now pouting on the couch while Nate giggles. As I stomp up to him, his hand instantly guards his face.
"What the hell is she doing here Daxon?!"
"Why am I the only one getting yelled at?" he mumbles as he stands.
"Cause your idiot brother isn't here." Daxon's lips twitch as he cautiously approaches me.
"I'm not going to smack you," I roll my eyes at his slow pace.
"I might!" Jenna pops up next to me, wrapping an arm around my waist.
"Be good!" I scold her, but smile. She rolls her eyes.
"Dax, seriously, this can't be safe." He shrugs.
"Our safest choice at this point." My head tilts in confusion. "Look, Serafina is evil as shit but she's not stupid. And you and Grayson not hating each other are about as obvious as her plan to murder us all this weekend."
Well so much for trying to be conspicuous. Daxon shakes his head.
"Clearly, you are on our side. She knows this. With you not helping her now, and especially now that Dean is in the wind and she doesn't know what he is going to do, the only way for her to feel any sort of control right now is to come for you. But, she knows that if you are on our side, we have you under constant surveillance, so the easiest way for her to get to you..." Dax motions towards Jenna, who gives a teasing curtsy.
Whoever picked her up must have explained some of what was going on because she does not look surprised. Pissed and ready to fight someone, yes. Surprised, not even a little.
"What about my sister?" Fear grips me as the thought enters my head. "She's the only family I have left."
"No she's not, you have us now." Grayson’s voice makes me jump. "And we protect our own."
"How the fuck do you DO that?!" as I speak, he walks around us and I am met by the heart flutter inducing wink he shoots my way. He looks over at Daxon, noticing his cheek, he shakes his head while the corner of his mouth begins to turn up.
"Jenna, how was your trip?" Jenna gives him a better greeting, letting go of me and wrapping an arm around him.
"A private plane stocked with champagne and every Will Smith movie ever released—" Jenna shrugs nonchalantly, like she rides in private jets on the regular. "I guess I can't complain." Grayson chuckles as he returns the hug.
"Oh. Sure. Grayson gets a hug and I get smacked." Daxon continues to grumble, but backs away as Jenna's eyes shoot daggers his way.
"My sister?" I step between the two to diffuse the situation. They continue to glare, so Gray grabs my hand and leads me to the couch. He pulls me into his lap as he sits, his arms loosely wrapping around me. I resist the urge to just curl up on him and ignore the rest of the room.
"Trust me, she's being watched by the best." He grabs my chin, making sure I meet his eyes. "No one will touch her, her husband, or your niece. I promise." The conviction in his voice is clear. I take a breath as I nod.
"Why didn't you just have someone keep an eye on Jenna?" The smirk he had been fighting since seeing Daxon's face, comes out in full force.
"Cause that," he nods over to where Jenna has Daxon backed into a corner, "is entertaining as fuck." I roll my eyes as Gray chuckles. "If you knew how much shit he gave me about you in the beginning, you'd think he was getting exactly what he deserved."
"She is going to kick his ass."
"Eh," Gray shrugs, "it'll be good for him." I can't help but giggle now. It does look funny, Jenna's small fr
ame backing giant, muscled, and tattooed Daxon into wherever she pleases.
"Why is she really here?" I ask, resting my head on his shoulder. He sighs.
"She was being followed, and that was before Dean left. God knows what she would have done with his intentions up in the wind. Taking our mother means he's solidly not on our side, but that leaves his ties with Serafina and her father up in the air. She may have lashed out in an attempt to show Dean and Devlov that she was with them." As the shiver at his words races through my body, Grayson’s arms tighten around me. The strength providing a comfort I desperately hold onto. "One of my men grabbed her when he counted six other men following her home from the gym—"
"Is he okay?" Grayson laughs at the question.
"He has a black eye and a bruised ego, but yeah he's good."
That was my Jenna. As if sensing we are talking about her, she glances over her shoulder, wiggling her eyebrows before turning back to Dax. She'll cut him some slack in a minute, the fire in her eyes was turning to amusement.
I close my eyes and tuck myself into the warmth of Grayson's chest. I soak in the sound of his heartbeat, strong, steady.
"I thought you weren't going to come until before dinner."
"I missed you," his voice rumbles against my cheek, making me burrow in even more.
"Mhmmm." I feel him shake his head.
"Okay, and I thought Dax might need backup. But I think he's good now." He nods, I peel myself away from the safe haven of his chest and smile as I watch Daxon pull Jenna into his arms. She halfheartedly struggles before giving in and hugging him back. I look back at Gray.
"I knew it wasn't all about me," I tell him sarcastically, earning an eye roll.
"Oh Queen, when are you going to realize?" Gray shakes his head before gently lifting me up. "I have some things I have to go take care of before tonight." I raise my eyebrows at him.
"You still haven't—"
"I know," he cuts me off, leaning back down he presses a kiss to my lips, lingering long enough to almost make me forget anything I had thought I was going to argue with him about. "I'll be back," he straightens up.
"You girls need to find Jenna a dress for tonight." Grayson clears his throat as Daxon and Jenna look our direction. He shoots Dax a look.
"Oh yes," Daxon grabs Jenna's hand. "Would you be my date tonight at the rehearsal dinner?" Jenna rolls her eyes.
"Do I have a choice?" I start laughing along with Nate and Gray as Daxon throws his hands up.
"I give up, you are impossible woman!" He heads for the door. Jenna winks at me.
"I'll have some dresses sent up, you can pick a new one too if you'd like." Gray pulls me up into a hug.
"Why would I change my dr—" he plants a kiss on my cheek.
"I'll be wearing red." With one last look, him and the boys head out the door. Jenna and I look at each other.
"What the hell have you gotten us into Liviana?" she scolds but her eyes sparkle.
"Well, you said you were bored with college and wanted a new adventure." I throw myself down on the couch and laugh as she plops next to me.
"Okay, next time I say I'm bored, let’s just go to the beach or something yeah? This whole mafia, falling in love, assassination attempt, I might not make it through the weekend thing—like I didn't want my life to turn into a Lifetime movie." Jenna throws herself back and rests her head on the arm of the couch.
"Ah, this would never make it on Lifetime, our boys are the bad guys." I shrug as her eyes pop open, we both crack up. "I'm really scared that you're here right now J...but really glad too." She smiles over at me.
"Me too Liv. Me too." There is a quick knock at the door before Nate walks in, dragging a covered rack behind him.
"When I became the fucking errand boy, I—" he mutters under his breath as he wrestles to get the rack in the door.
Jenna and I both giggle again. "Well let's go find me a dress for what is sure to be the most interesting night of my life." Jenna stands and walks over to help Nate.
Definitely the most interesting. And God I hope not the last.
Chapter 35
"Oh. My. God." Jenna pauses and huffs as she leans back in her chair, away from what’s left of her giant cheeseburger. "Tell me why we are eating before a rehearsal dinner?"
"Cause Daxon is kissing your ass in a way he's seen work for Gray?" I smile around the straw of my vanilla milkshake. "Plus, we will definitely not have any sort of appetite at this dinner."
Jenna gives me a sympathetic look. "This has to be so draining on you," she reaches over to squeeze my hand. "Is he worth all of this?"
"Yes." The word leaves me with no hesitation, making her eyebrows rise as she chuckles. But the laughter is quickly gone from her eyes as she sighs.
"Dax?" I ask, rising to clear the table of what was left of the food Dax had dropped off just a little bit ago. Jenna had hid in the bathroom as soon as he had walked into the room.
"I just don't know Liv," she takes a breath. "Like, this is a lot dude," she waves her hands around. "What do they even do?" I continue cleaning and she huffs again. "Do they sell drugs Liv? Make a living killing anyone who crosses them? Is it weapons? Do they sell guns? Where is all of this money coming from? I mean, I got here on a private fucking jet Liv. Who has that?!" I stare down at the table as I freeze. "Do you even know Liv? Did you ever even find out what happened with Serafina?"
"I don't know." I whisper as it all finally hits me as to just how clueless I am. How little I've been told. How much I've just accepted. I fall into my chair. "Wow. I really don't know." I look up at Jenna, whose face blurs as my eyes fill with tears. "I know Dean's family is supported at least somewhat by drug money, but Grayson... I know nothing really." Jenna walks around the table and wraps an arm around me.
"There is no argument from anyone, I'm sure, that Grayson loves you. Okay maybe SeraHo," Jenna smirks at me as I giggle through the tears falling now. "We all know he does, but I think part of that right now means he owes you the truth."
"It is horrible timing Jenna. How am I supposed to demand he tell me all of these things with all the stuff he has to have on his mind right now?" Jenna shakes her head at me.
"You are risking your life for this man. And not only your life but like, um hey girl I'm here too!" I can feel my eyes widen as it all sinks even more in. "I mean, I'd like to know if me getting shot at tomorrow for your love life is going to be worth it." I smile faintly as she jokes to lighten the mood a bit and pulls me into a hug. "I think it’s time you got some damn answers Liv." I nod.
She's right. I had bit back the questions on the tip of my tongue every time they had arisen, just so as not to add more stress to the chaos that was the Demonte boys. But we had eight hours until a rehearsal dinner where a man who was supposed to love me, had to put on a show of loving another woman, for a room full of people, whose lifestyles I knew nothing about.
I was supposed to arrive for a wedding tomorrow, and watch the love of my life, wait at an altar for a woman who was going to try to murder him in front of my eyes. And then almost guaranteed, would turn on me.
There was a big chance that I wouldn't make it through this weekend. And I had no idea what the reasoning behind it all really was.
"Well this is some bullshit." Jenna cracks up as I shake my head and stand, heading for the door.
"Where are you going?!" her voice rises as she sees me reach for the handle. "We aren't supposed to leave!" I roll my eyes and yank the door open, and sure enough just as I guessed...
"I thought nobody was going to be babysitting us?" Nate at least has the decency to look sheepish as he pushes me back into the room. "Don't you have anything better to do than play guard dog? Like some super-secret mafia business planning or something?" I can hear the anger in my voice, and I know it's being directed at the wrong person, but damn it, I'm annoyed.
"You are my super-secret mafia business," Nate smirks at me as Jenna laughs behind me. I roll my eyes. "You really think Gra
yson is just going to trust anyone with making sure you girls stay put. If it's not someone trying to get to you, he knew just because he told you to stay put, you'd find some fucking trouble to get into. And look at this!" He motions between the door and me. "Liv, looking for some fucking trouble. Do you hate me? Do you want Grayson to murder me before all the fun? You want to see how sexy I look with a black eye huh Liviana." Nate wiggles his eyebrows at me, easing some of my anger. Damn these boys and their charisma.
"I need to talk to Grayson, Nate, like now." Nate shakes his head.
"That's a no-go, I'm supposed to keep you secure until Luca is ready for the dinner and trades me spots so I can get ready. Sorry Liv, no recess today." Nate heads back for the door, thinking his word is final, but I beat him to the handle.
"Okay, I'll just go find him on my own then." I turn the handle slowly, soaking in Nate's glare.
"I said no Liviana."
"I didn't ask for your permission Nathaniel." Nate's eyes pop wide and Jenna loses her shit over on the couch. He glares over at her as she tries to contain her chuckles.
"You are a giant fucking pain in my ass." He points at me before swatting my hand away from door. "Hold the fuck on." He turns around muttering something about how glad he was that his fiancé at least kind of listened to him as he pulled out his phone. He holds it up to his ear and waits for the deep voice on the other end.
"Pronto."
"Yeah I need eyes—Queen." Nate flips around to continue to glare at me.
"Why?" Luca's voice comes through the phone loud, clear, and not happy.
"Cause she doesn't fucking listen." Nate says the words through gritted teeth, I send him a huge grin. I can hear Luca grunt over the phone.
"Clear." Nate shoves the phone back in his pocket.
"Let's get this over with." He opens the door and peeks out, both ways. "Liam will be on his way to watch you," he speaks over his shoulder to Jenna and then walks into the hall before he can deal with any more female arguments.
"Good luck," Jenna smiles gently as I look back at her, I nod as I head out to meet Nate in the hall.